Americans For Prosperity's Attack Ads Against Obamacare Aren't a Solution to Anything

Impact

Most Americans can barely navigate the current health care system, and millions remain uninsured. However, Obamacare is on its way to changing the way the U.S. does health care for better or for worse (according to your unique point of view). But for those who are in need of a Obamacare for Dummies book, have no fear. Americans For Prosperity will have you covered to make sure you have an opinion on the matter: that Obamacare is pretty much the worst system we could ask for, thus letting the bipartisan bickering continue despite its continuing implementation.

The fact is, Obamacare is certainly not going to be the perfect system that fixes all of America's health care woes, and any group or individual who has a strong opinion on the issue should speak out if he or she feels it will be helpful to the public. However, Americans For Prosperity, a conservative group, is looking to run ads bemoaning the flaws of Obamacare, asking people to check their "Obamacare risk factors."

The group will be spending over $1 million dollars on their campaign attacking the program, which is widely interpreted as an attempt to attract swing voters to the Republican party. 

One of the ads the group is running includes a mother of two, who asks "How do I know my family is going to get the care they need?" — a direct attempt to stroke the fear that choosing one's own doctor will become a more difficult and costly feat.

No matter how you slice it, the health care system is confusing as-is, and it will not become simpler by running a flood of ads. First, no one is happy with having to pay taxpayer dollars to fund an uninsured person's medical bill. At the same time, no one wants to bare the thought of either younger people or older folks being the ones who have to foot the bill. It seems that most Americans would agree that they want to be humane and give everyone a chance at living a healthier and longer life. Yet in order to achieve this, the funds will have to come from somewhere. 

The problem with these ads is not that they are completely untruthful or that they are extravagant, rather, the issue with them is that they offer complaints without providing solutions. If neither our current healthcare system nor Obamacare is the correct approach, then groups like Americans For Prosperity would be better off spending their time and resources lobbying for a bill they actually believe is more fit for Americans than creating ads that seem to be aimed at scoring political points more than anything else.

The resources for people to formulate an opinion on Obamacare are out there. But not only is it difficult to fully predict the outcome, many Americans will not bother to look for themselves. 

Though the anti-Obamacare campaign Americans for Prosperity is running as of now appears to be more about fighting Democrats than health care reform, the fact is that Obamacare, like any other system one could propose, is imperfect. However, if no alternative systems or changes are suggested, such campaigns against the program are almost no different than inaction.