Doubletake: Bill Clinton says Obamacare is the 'craziest thing in the world'

Friday, October 07, 2016 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Bill Clinton, Obamacare, criticism

---

(NaturalNews) Has former President Bill Clinton gone senile, or is he merely finally letting his true feelings about President Barack Obama be known?

Either way, Clinton just dropped a political bombshell on the current holder of his former office.

As reported by the The New York Post, Clinton was speaking to a group at a rally in
Michigan when he called Obama's signature piece of legislation –
Obamacare – "the craziest thing in the world."

"You've got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care, and then the people who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half and it's the craziest thing in the world," Clinton said.

He's not wrong. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, monthly premiums have skyrocketed, while deductibles and other out-of-pocket health expenses are hitting families hard.

In addition to individuals, Clinton also said that the law is really hampering moderately successful small businesses – those not doing badly enough to be subsidized or fall just above the cut-off. That claim is also true.

"On the other hand," he continued, "the current system works fine if you're eligible for Medicaid, if you're a lower-income working person. If you're already on Medicare or if you get enough subsidies on a modest income that you can afford your health care."

That's true also – but only to a point. Gaining access to health insurance is not the same as actually having access to a healthcare provider.

Still, Clinton noted that those who are really "getting killed" under Obamacare are small-business people and individuals who make just a little more than others who get subsidies, though the "subsidies" are paid for by taxpayers.

The former president's criticism comes as the Washington Free Beacon discovered private audio of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, also criticizing Obama's signature law.

The Affordable Care Act "has done a lot of good," Hillary can be heard saying, "but I'm gonna fix some of the things that need fixing," arguing that Obamacare is like any other new program in that it has to be tweaked from time to time.

As has been the Clintons' mode of operation, they say one thing one day to one audience, then another on another day to a different audience. As CNN reported in September 2015, Hillary Clinton said she would never allow Obamacare to be repealed "on my watch."

Fully attaching herself to Obama's biggest public policy accomplishment, Clinton vowed to block any repeal effort that Republicans might mount, if she wins in November.

Throwing political opponents under a bus

"I will tell you, I am not going to let them rip away the progress we made," adding she would block attempts to "tear up that law."

"Not on my watch," she reiterated.

The Clintons love to throw people under the bus, especially if they think it will ingratiate them to their supporters. In an impromptu response to a heckler at a campaign event for his wife in Ohio, the former president defended his 1994 crime legislation.

In responding to a young person in the crowd who said he can't vote for someone who sends thousands of people to prison, Bill Clinton shot back, "Hillary didn't vote for the '94 crime bill even though Sen. [Bernie] Sanders did."

Of course, as first lady, Hillary was not allowed to vote on legislation. But more than anything, the exchange continues to show the division between his wife and Sanders, who was much more popular early on with Millennials and younger voters, a key demographic Hillary Clinton consistently has had difficulty wooing to her campaign.

All in all, this isn't any way for the Clintons to treat a president who kept Hillary out of jail.

Sources:

NYPost.com

RealClearPolitics.com

BusinessInsider.com

Newsmax.com

FreeBeacon.com

WashingtonExaminer.com

CNN.com