jasencomstock:

“Normally, politicians sell their programs to the public before enacting them into law. Representative democracy is premised on the consent of the governed, not the idea that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Expansions of the welfare state have always been controversial, but this is unprecedented: massive social legislation passed by a single party over the objections of a clear majority of voters. What’s next?”

—

James Taranto (via sds)

this is NONSENSE.  in 2008 who won the white house and both houses of Congress?  Which party enacted health care reform?  Q fucking ED.  If the Republicans and James Taranto don’t like that they can move to Rasmussen land and enact policy via push polls.

There’s a difference between electoral victory and a mandate for specific policies. Bush made the same mistake with Social Security reform after his reelection.

How can you say there was (is) a mandate for this bill when a vast majority of the public opposed it, and disapproval ratings dropped significantly for Obama and the Dems? Scott Brown’s Republican win in one of the most die-hard Democrat states in the union was very clearly a referendum on Obamacare.