CT Blue

Seems Mitch McConnell has a little problem; one many of us have seen coming for some time. The Kentucky version of Obamacare has been a huge and popular success there, so Mitch has to pass through the eye of a needle so small it would daunt the tiniest camel. He has chosen to do so by lying:

McConnell has recently begun arguing that while Obamacare should be repealed, the state of Kentucky should be able to keep the Kynect system as it is, even if the federal law the system is based on were to be uprooted completely.

“If Obamacare is repealed, Kentucky should decide for itself whether to keep Kynect or set up a different marketplace,” McConnell campaign spokeswoman Allison Moore told TPM on Tuesday.

That doesn't quite add up to the editorial board of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

“Repeal the federal law, which McConnell calls 'Obamacare,' and the state exchange would collapse,” the editorial said on Wednesday. “Kynect could not survive without the ACA's insurance reforms, including no longer allowing insurance companies to cancel policies when people get sick or deny them coverage because of pre-existing conditions, as well as the provision ending lifetime limits on benefit payments. (Kentucky tried to enact such reforms in the 1990s and found out we were too small a market to do it alone.)”

The editorial goes on to say that Kynect wouldn't be able to survive without the federal funding from Obamacare.

“Kynect is the Affordable Care Act is Obamacare — even if Kentuckians are confused about which is which,” the editorial continued.

via TPM

At Kos, they've urged McConnell's opponent, Allison Grimes (donate today) to aggressively call McConnell out. McConnell is counting on confusing voters; many oppose Obamacare and love Kynect. Propaganda does stuff like that. I've been saying (not on this blog, but to my long suffering spouse) ever since McConnell's initial blunder that the best person to make the argument against McConnell would be Kentucky's popular Democratic governor, Steve Beshear. Kynect is one of his greatest achievements. He would have instant credibility if he explained to the people of Kentucky that the program they love is the same program they've been taught to hate and that Mitch McConnell has sworn to destroy. Well, much to my disappointment (for purposes of this post), I discovered while writing it that Beshear is doing exactly what he should be doing. This is what comes of having a day job; I think of something in the morning, and by the time I get a chance to write about it, events have overtaken it.

But, I'll make a silk purse out of this sow's ear. This is my good news post for the week. The Democrats, at least in Kentucky, are learning how to fight. Personally, I think McConnell is toast, so long as the Democrats continue to milk this issue correctly.