John Fund:
President Obama is back selling his health-care law with the manic intensity of a late-night-infomercial pitchman who knows that if he doesn’t move the product, it could be discontinued.
Here’s Obama aiming his comments at young people this Wednesday: “The product is good. It’s affordable. This is a big deal, to quote Joe Biden. And if you’re a student-body president, set up a conference on campus. If you’re a bartender, have a happy hour.”
But it’s the president who may need a drink after viewing the latest poll numbers on young people’s attitudes towards Obamacare. At the heart of the health-care law is the following premise: Enough young and healthy people will sign up for new health insurance through the government’s excuse for a website to provide enough income for insurance companies so the planned subsidies to older and sicker uninsured people can keep flowing.
About 40 percent of those who sign up for new plans will have to be under 35 for this cost-shifting scheme to work. If they’re not, then to avoid having everyone’s premiums start to dramatically spike upwards, Obama may have to bail out insurance companies, the least popular and least trusted private-sector provider of services outside of used-car lots. Explaining that to voters may be beyond anyone’s rhetorical gifts.
Obama’s most pressing problem is that young people aren’t buying into his sales pitch. A new Harvard University Institute of Politics poll of those under 30 years of age has devastating news for Obamacare.
Only 29 percent of uninsured young people say they will definitely (13 percent) or likely (16 percent) enroll in new plans via the exchanges. Despite an avalanche of public-service ads, thousands of “navigators” — glorified sales reps — recruited from Obama-friendly nonprofits, and numerous celebrity endorsements, the product isn’t moving.
The Harvard study found that the president’s job approval among young people is down to 41 percent. A full 57 percent of young people now oppose Obamacare, with those believing it will lower the quality of health care outnumbering those who think it will improve the quality by more than two to one. The Washington Post concludes:
Hence the ”pivot” back to ”income inequality.”
Obama’s best pivot won’t work.
It’s all ”words, just words.”
He’s already parted company with reality. He thinks he can still sway us by hitting the campaign trail and blathering on about “income inequality” and “investment” and “green energy” while us peasants face massive job losses and unaffordable insurance. He still believes he’s magical. “He came amongst us!” quoth Tingles.
The polling decline will quickly turn into a rout. The shoes will be flying soon enough.
If he really is a puppet of a secret Dr. Evil-style Soros-cabal it won’t be long before he will become more valuable to them as a martyr.