“if the Dow has gained 62% since its March 9, 2009, low, I would expect that the markets have done this after digesting the realities of President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package, his pending $1 trillion health-care bill, his projected $1.6 trillion budget deficit for fiscal 2010, and the end of the Bush tax cuts in 2011, etc.”
A few days later on Sunday night, I was watching the House debate ObamaCare and I could literally see history repeating itself. The last time Republicans voted lock, stock and barrel against a signature Democratic initiative by a near identical margin was the Clinton Administration’s Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Back then, the GOP had predicted similar dire consequences of a deep recession, significant job losses and horrendous deficits – by the time the 1990s ended, we had actually achieved diametrically opposite results!
Nonetheless, it was with trepidation that I waited for the markets to react on Monday to the reality of ObamaCare. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) had closed at 10735 on Friday evening and when it dipped 40 points at Monday’s opening bell, my heart sank. But that initial dip was more related to overnight trends in overseas markets according to most analysts. By the end of the day on Monday, the DJIA eventually closed up 50 points at 10785. On Tuesday, President Obama signed ObamaCare, officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, into law. Lo and behold, the DJIA went up another 100 odd points and closed at 10889. In fact, all three major stock market indices –S&P 500, Nasdaq composite, and DJIA–are now at 18 to 19 month highs!
So after nearly a century of trying, Democrats finally made a new, bold declaration of independence that we are indeed endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of “Universal Healthcare.” At the end of the day, the American people are going to realize that Democratic presidents have always delivered on the seminal issues of our times including Social Security, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Medicare and now Healthcare Reform.
As President Obama gets ready to hit the road to enlighten the American people on the immediate benefits that will flow from ObamaCare, it is imperative that he links the economics of healthcare to the future health of our economy. Also, he can make a simple case to his skeptics – wider coverage, healthier people, more economic output, and hence more jobs. It’s a “trickle down” argument that even conservatives will appreciate.
Finally on a lighter note, the passage of ObamaCare comes with fringe benefits such as self-imposed exile to Costa Rica for some prominent naysayers, the repudiation of tea over coffee as the quintessential American beverage, and hopefully the defeat of fear-mongering as a political tactic by deep-pocketed interests groups! Republicans might want to think twice about running on a repeal platform because a brand new USA Today/Gallup poll out today shows that Americans by a 49%-40% margin already favor ObamaCare as “a good thing.” Once the people get used to a good thing, they are not likely to give it up and candidates promising to take it away could face voter backlash – to be forewarned is to be forearmed! Let the healing begin!
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