Flashback: When Pelosi Said Obamacare Is 'Affordable' 14 Times In 80 Seconds

Andrew Mullins | October 25, 2016
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If you missed the news, President Obama’s marquee legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, just got a whole lot less affordable.  

Across the United States, Obamacare premiums are set to skyrocket for customers, hitting an average hike of 22 percent across the country. While the premiums increase will vary from state to state, customers will see their rates rise from 3 percent in some states to 116 percent in others.

While Obamacare’s rising premiums are awful for taxpayers and people who struggle to afford insurance, the irony about the “Affordable Care Act” is only too real, and not at all unexpected.

Back before Obamacare became the unintentional punchline joke for congressional candidates, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried very hard to sell the legislation to the American people. During a 2014 press conference, Pelosi worked overtime to stress the “affordable” part of the Affordable Care Act.

And she didn’t just make a passing remark about the Affordable Care Act being “affordable." She hammered away at her point a whopping 14 times, all in less time than it would take to load HealthCare.gov on your browser.

Question from Press: Is Obamacare a winner or loser politically?

Pelosi: Well, you have to ask every member, but I believe that it's a winner. And, by the way, it called the 'Affordable Care Act.' It's called the 'Affordable Care Act.' I know you didn't intend any compliment or derogatory... it's called the 'Affordable Care Act.' And the Affordable Care Act... when people know what it is and see what it means to them. And that's a case we have to make. We're grownups. When Franklin Roosevelt moved forward with social security, he said, 'I'm so convinced about this, now make me do it. Everybody has to spread the word as to what this is. As the President said yesterday, 'Change is hard. It always is.'

She then proceeded to interrupt the follow-up question, and dig her grave even deeper.

AffordableAffordable. There's a reason. Affordableaffordableaffordableaffordableaffordable. The reason they changed the name of it is because opponents want to get away from the word "affordable." And that's why I'm patient  with some of these comments. Whatever it is, it's infinitely more affordable than the path we're on without the Affordable Care Act.

This entire interaction is just too good. Not only did Pelosi tell us 14 times that Obamacare would be, well, “affordable,” she said it for the purpose of discrediting anyone who would dare to think otherwise.

(Every Obamacare Skeptic Right Now)

With a taxpayer price tag of nearly $2 trillion (that’s right – trillion), one would argue that the Affordable Care Act was never, ever really “affordable” to begin with, but that’s not the point. Next year's rising premiums are going to bring the cost of Obamacare home for millions of Americans. And while many of Obamacare skeptics are having a definite "I told you so" moment, we can't forget that the legislation is a mere six and a half years old, and its impact on the economy is only just beginning to take affect.

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