MSNBC COLUMN: …
Failed Prediction #2: The ACA won’t meet its enrollment goals
OK, so maybe some consumers would enroll, Republicans eventually said, but the ACA would inevitably lose the numbers game when the enrollment projections proved overly ambitious. In reality, both this year and last year, enrollment totals exceeded the Obama administration’s preliminary projections.
Failed Prediction #3: Insurers will want no part of the ACA system
Conservatives were absolutely convinced that private insurers would refuse to participate in the ACA’s exchange marketplaces, repeating the prediction over and over again. This also proved to be the opposite of the truth, as insurance companies have been eager to compete for Americans’ business.
Failed Prediction #4: The economy will suffer terribly because of ‘Obamacare’
Among Republicans, there was near-certainty that 2014 – the first full year for ACA implementation – would be an abysmal year for the American job market. After all, it seemed obvious to the right that “Obamacare” would crush job creation and push unemployment higher. In reality, 2014 was the best year for American job creation since the ’90s; the unemployment has shown sharp improvement; and there’s literally no evidence that the ACA had an adverse effect on economic growth at all… (more)
EDITOR: Unfortunately, for most of us, facts don’t matter. Partly out of tribalism and genetic influence, we are inclined to be either Liberals or Conservative. Short of a Pearl Harbor or the Great Depression, most people will rationalize, forget or ignore information contrary to beliefs and continue to spout the same views.
Okay, in the case of the Neo Cons and the Tea Party, this may be true of just about all of them.
