POLITICS: Former Senator Manchin Claims He Would Not Have Voted for Obamacare, Endorses GOP Health Savings Accounts – USSA News

Confessions rarely arrive with fanfare. Sometimes they slip out on a Friday afternoon C-SPAN broadcast, hoping nobody’s listening. But some of us were paying attention—and what we heard was worth the wait.

Joe Manchin spent years as the Democrat who occasionally made sense. The West Virginia senator built a reputation as the moderate who’d buck his party when their proposals drifted too far left. He frustrated Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership more times than anyone can count—and honestly, that alone earned him a grudging respect from our side of the aisle. The lone voice of reason in a caucus that often seemed allergic to common sense? That was Manchin’s brand.

But here’s what most people forget—and I suspect the mainstream media hopes you never remember: Manchin wasn’t in the Senate when Obamacare passed in 2010. He arrived later that year, inheriting a healthcare landscape his party had already transformed. He defended pieces of it over the years, as Democrats do. The party demands loyalty to its sacred cows, after all.

So when the now-former senator and Independent sat down recently to discuss healthcare policy, what he revealed should have made front-page news. It didn’t, of course. But that’s why you’re reading this.

The admission nobody expected

Manchin finally said what conservatives have argued for fifteen years. And he didn’t tiptoe around it.

From Breitbart:

“I was not for Obamacare. I wasn’t there then…I would not have voted for it as a Democrat, the way it was presented. There need to be guardrails put on it… And the Republicans are right. The health savings accounts, those are ways, basically, you make decisions, you own your own 401(k)…you should own your healthcare.”

Let that sink in for a moment. A career Democrat—one of the supposedly “good ones”—admitting he wouldn’t have supported his own party’s signature legislative achievement. And not just criticizing it, mind you. He’s actively endorsing the Republican approach. I had to replay it twice myself.

What actually works

Manchin didn’t stop at criticism. He laid out what conservatives have championed for decades: market-based solutions. Health savings accounts. Personal ownership. Individual responsibility. You know, the stuff we were mocked for suggesting.

“You should get rewarded for healthy lifestyles,” he explained. “The market would drive the prices, more competitive.” Then came perhaps his most damning observation about our current system: healthcare is “the only market in America we don’t shop.”

Think about that for a second. We compare prices on everything—groceries, cars, televisions, even dog food. But healthcare? We’ve surrendered that decision-making to bureaucrats and insurance middlemen who couldn’t care less about your wallet. Why do we accept this? Because Democrats told us government knew best.

Fifteen years too late

Look, I’ll give Manchin credit for honesty. It takes something to contradict your own team’s sacred cow, especially one they’ve spent over a decade defending like it’s holy scripture. But let’s be clear about what this really represents.

Conservatives warned about Obamacare from day one. We said government-run healthcare would limit choices, raise costs, and create dependency. We were called heartless. Racist, even. We were told we wanted people to die in the streets.

And now? A Democrat confirms what we knew all along—the whole thing was flawed from the start.

With President Trump and Republicans back in control, there’s finally an opportunity to implement the market-driven reforms Manchin now praises. Health savings accounts. Real competition. Actual ownership of your healthcare decisions. The solutions were always there. Washington just wasn’t ready to listen.

Funny how common sense finds its way home eventually. Some people just take the long road getting there.

Key Takeaways

• Former Senator Joe Manchin admitted he wouldn’t have voted for Obamacare as a Democrat.
• Manchin endorsed Republican-backed health savings accounts and market-driven reforms.
• Conservatives warned about Obamacare’s flaws for fifteen years—now a Democrat agrees.
• With Republicans in control, market-based healthcare solutions finally have a path forward.

Sources: Breitbart

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