Prodding the bear

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

Think of Donald Trump as a bear residing precariously in a zoo. Every day his many enemies swagger by and poke him with sticks, verbally abuse him, and do everything they can to undermine his purpose. For the most part, the bear handles his antagonists with the contempt they are due, but sometimes the bear gets cranky.

A grumpy bear becomes newsworthy. Big media sharpens its sticks. Critics hone their tongues. Talk show hosts go on point for the bear tangled in the thicket. Soon there is snarling and snapping while political hooligans use the distraction to advance their purpose.

Meanwhile Trump rolls on.

Economic growth second quarter was three percent. It hasn’t been that high in years.

Tax reform sits on the horizon.

China has cooperated in confronting North Korea.

Allies have been reassured.

The Supreme Court makes sense.

Unemployment is within parameters not shocking.

For a clumsy bear, Trump is doing okay by sensible measurements. Most are pleased with freedoms in place, expanding job opportunities, and a shot at more dollars in the paycheck. Only lefties are unhappy with the bear’s direction, but they’re gloomy about everything so why pay attention to yet another litany?

Following is a case in point.

While libs proclaim the success of Obamacare, an October 26 newspaper article revealed this introductory paragraph: “Premiums for the most popular “Obamacare” plans are going up an average of 34 percent, according to a study Wednesday that confirms dire predictions about the impact of political turmoil on consumers.”

Thirty-four percent!

That’s not good despite all the social justice and redistribution involved. You see, all Obamacare really accomplished was satisfactorily massaging liberal sensibilities. Dysfunction, the leftist signature, is the real result.

Well, that report wasn’t good news for liberals because people will notice Obamacare’s personal financial impact far more than social justice pretended. It turns out propaganda is really just that.

What to do to save face and a rotten program?

Blame it on Trump!

From paragraph three of the same article: “The consulting firm Avalere Health crunched newly released government data and found that the Trump administration’s actions are contributing to the price hikes by adding instability to the underlying problems of the health law’s marketplaces.”

There you go!

It wasn’t that Obamacare was a lousy plan from the day of inception. It wasn’t that insurers have been driven from the marketplace. It wasn’t that people forced to pay for the plan have seen their premiums skyrocket while they deductibles and co-pays rise to the point of potential destruction.

Nope, none of those things. It was Donald Trump all along.

I have a few questions.:

1. Exactly how did the data reveal Trump was the Obamacare villain? It’s called Obamacare, not Trumpcare.

2. How does one assign a cost percentage, a concrete, to “instability,” an abstraction?

3. How did Trump’s efforts to reform Obamacare translate to a 34 percent increase in cost for just one year?

4. Why were premiums etc. rising horrifically even before Trump took office?

5. Why is Trump the only one advocating healthcare reform while Democrats and Republicans can’t even agree on the first step?

Trump isn’t the problem, folks. Not on this one.

You can see why the bear is a little grumpy. Perhaps everyone is poking sticks at the wrong grizzly. Maybe we should stop doing that and lend a hand instead.

The old bear could use a little help instead of an endless stream of attacks designed to distract, delay and cover for those responsible.

Larry W. Anderson is a retired educator, author and Bearcat.