Will tomorrow’s mid-term elections spell doom for House Democrats and open the door to potential repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?
In the past two days, I decided to quiz a couple of experts who also happen to be friends: Marsha Simon and Tim Donner.
Marsha Simon, PhD, Health Policy Expert President, MJ Simon & Company
Marsha is a former Ted Kennedy staffer and prominent health lobbyist whose firm MJ Simon & Company partners with Spectrum. She is an expert in legislative strategy, nonprofit management, and public policy research, with over 20 years of experience, including nearly a decade working for the United States Senate.
Tim Donner is a film-maker, baseball radio show host, and President of One Generation Away, an independent, nonpartisan education, research and public policy organization.
John: What’s your prediction for Tuesday’s elections?
Marsha: Republicans will take the House, Democrats will hang on in the Senate, but with smaller voting margins. The Democrats will run for cover and avoid major legislative initiatives for at least the next two years.
Tim: Republicans will take the House. This wave is extraordinary, given that we’re going to see two waves in a row. It’s never happened before in U.S. politics, with the second wave reversing the first. There’s a decent chance the Senate could topple, too. Generally, in a wave election, both Houses go.
John: If people are angry with the new health care reform legislation, why?
Tim Donner, President, One Generation Away
Marsha: The anger is more with a sense of misplaced priorities than with the specific provisions of the health reform bill. I think voters are angry about the state of the economy and do not see the relevance of health reform to their immediate problems. Health reform is based on employer-based, private insurance – especially the early market reforms such as coverage on parents’ policies for young adults – and those without a job have none.
Tim: People are extremely unhappy with the new health care legislation, most of which they cannot understand. And it’s an impediment to increasing unemployment. Companies have cash, but they remain on the sidelines, because they don’t know the cost. (more…)
Today or tomorrow the Department of Justice is expected to announce Google will have to pay half a billion dollars in fines for ads run on its network that sold illegal drugs. For the better part of a year, Google had been battling with online ’pharmacies’ about the products they sell.
