Rod St. Aubyn: Is The Iran Deal The Next Obamacare For Democrats?
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shakes hands on January 14, 2015 with US State Secretary John Kerry in Geneva. Zarif said on January 14 that his meeting with his US counterpart was vital for progress on talks on Tehran's contested nuclear drive. Under an interim deal agreed in November 2013, Iran's stock of fissile material has been diluted from 20 percent enriched uranium to five percent, in exchange for limited sanctions relief. AFP PHOTO / POOL / RICK WILKING (Photo credit should read RICK WILKING/AFP/Getty Images)
With the recent vote on the Iran Nuclear Accord I was reminded of the many similarities with ObamaCare. Time will tell whether other similarities come to reality.
Public Support
ObamaCare did not have the public’s support when it was presented to Congress for a vote. Even now after it has been fully implemented, it still does not have overwhelming public support. There are components of the law that the public likes, but overall the public is still skeptical and opposed.
With the Iran Nuclear Accord numerous public polls show little support. A PEW poll conducted 7/14 – 7/20 and again on 9/3 – 9/7 asked if they approved or disapproved of the agreement. The results show a growing disapproval:
Similar polls also show minimal support. A Quinnipiac Poll done from 8/20 – 8/25 showed 25% supportive versus 55% opposed.
Back Room Deals
During the final hours of passing ObamaCare, many backroom deals by the President and Democrat leadership were struck to get enough votes. Now after those deals were exposed, the Cornhusker Kickback, GatorAide, and the Louisiana Purchase have become infamous.
We don’t know yet what type of deals were made to secure enough Democrat votes for passage of the Iran Nuclear Accord. On the House side, Debbie Wasserman Schultz who is Jewish and was leaning against the agreement and is the DNC Chairwoman, recently announced that she would vote to support the agreement after visiting with President Obama.
Transparency
There was a lot that the public and Congress did not know about ObamaCare when the legislation was finally voted on. Who can ever forget Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s famous quote about ObamaCare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it”?
We have since found out that the Iran Accord contains several side deals which have not been shared with Congress as promised by Secretary Kerry. The US House is arguing that the deadline clock to act on the agreement has not officially been started since these side deals have not yet been shared.
Flawed Product
How many times have we heard from Democrats that they acknowledge that ObamaCare has some flaws and can be fixed? If they knew that it was flawed, why weren’t those flaws fixed before it was passed?
Just like those comments, many Democrats have often said that this Iran Accord is not perfect, but we can’t get a better deal. How do we know?
Election Impacts
The public reacted to their dislike of ObamaCare during the past two elections resulting in a larger Republican majority in the US House and control of the Senate by the Republicans in the last election.
The public has a strong distrust of the Iranian government. They dislike their rhetoric about “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” The Iranian government has already publicly stated that they disagree with the Obama Administration’s interpretation of parts of the Accord. It is just a matter of time that Iran will violate this Nuclear Accord. And how will this administration deal with it?
It is my belief that just as ObamaCare was a factor in Democrat losses in elections, Democrat’s support of the Iran Nuclear Accord will result in more future Democrat losses. Just as with ObamaCare, the public does not forget when their Representatives and Senators do not vote as the public wants.
