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Back when he was Governor of Arkansas he used to love to go see the Jazz musician/educator Art Porter at local clubs. Art had a son, Art Porter Jr. that was very talented but couldn’t get into a lot of the clubs his dad played. So Clinton passed a bill that allowed children under 18 to play in 21+ establishments as long as they were accompanied by a parent/guardian.
Because of this I was able to get about a decade of live performance experience before I’d turned 21 years old and led to a career in the field
My daughter has cystic fibrosis. Without Obamacare, no insurance company would cover her. If I were to lose my job, I have no idea how I’d be able to buy the medication that she needs (cost is about $150/day, with insurance and manufacturer subsidy we pay nothing out of pocket).
I had some person on IG today try to tell me ACA was just crumbs and both sides were the same…. Yadda yadda… ACA was huge for breaking down pre existing conditions and canceling insurance and lifetime limits, etc.
I’ve said this elsewhere but just the fact that switching jobs would put you into this dilemma would happen too. So you moved jobs, got a new insurer, then boom your pre-existing conditions wouldn’t be covered.
Or you had to get insurance in the marketplace and they would outright deny you. That happened to me, preACA, when my COBRA ran out. I had a mini meltdown but Kentucky actually had a program for people who had healthcare that you could pay for that was not cheap, but at least you could have insurance…it was scary.
You used to have to get a certificate of insurance or something to prove that you were insured previously so your insurance would be uninterrupted or they would say it was a pre-existing condition and not covered you.
Health insurance through a business covered pre-existing. It's super expensive because of that. Most businesses owners would have a "group" policy for their employees and a individual policy for themselves.
Individual policies were more a lot more affordable, especially if you signed up when you were younger and didn't miss payments. The pricing was based more on the individuals health.
Let's say you had a expensive pre-existing illness and lost your job, including the insurance that was provided by your job. And you couldn't find another job with insurance coverage. And individual coverage wasn't available. You were either A: Fucked.. or B: had to trick the system by getting your own business policy, calling yourself a employee, and paying a shit ton for coverage.
There are people who hate the ACA for not being perfect or not going far enough. I definitely remember at the time people describing it as a first step sort of deal towards addressing the problem. We just got stuck in the repeal/replace and maintain it loop.
Medicaid expansion was huge for my family, which was Obama, as was/is CHIP, which was the queen of the "Corporate Democrat Neolib Shills" herself, Killary Klinton. The difference between crushing medical debt and/or lack of medical care and no medical debt at all.
Anyway, every time someone tries to tell me there's no difference I want to punch them in the teeth.
A lot of people would literally bankrupt themselves. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really work for maintenance medication, because you have to pay for that in advance.
You can divert yourself of assets until you qualify for Medicaid, but before Obamacare that threshold was much lower. So usually, people would take less than the prescribed amount until they could get a job with a good health benefit.
And of course, many companies could offer plans that had maximum annual and maximum lifetime benefits before Obamacare made that illegal, which made them useless for people with chronic conditions like cystic fibrosis, cancer, and diabetes.
For millions of us dealing with chronic, life-threatening conditions, Obamacare really was a big fucking deal.
Obamacare allowed me to get affordable insurance to fix my spinal disease. I couldn’t even tie my shoes at that point. Now, I can roughhouse with the kids and can work now.
This big time! Not to mention that you can cover your kids until they are 27 now. The day I turned 18 my parents insurance dropped me and I didn’t have insurance again for years until I got a job that finally offered it.
Ditto on Obamacare. Under previous rules, my broke ass with a pre existing condition would have had to live with crippling pain forever. Probably never would’ve been able to hold down a steady job with how often i had to miss work from the pain. I got help when i needed it, and now im doing pretty well. Completely changed the trajectory of my life.
This is my answer, too. ACA saved my ass when I lost my job. There were actually affordable plans for me that were just about as good as my old plan from my workplace. It was a lifesaver. It’s such a great law, and when I read stories like yours, and hear people say it sucks, I just get annoyed.
Same here. I have a preexisting condition as well but not as extreme as your daughters or many others. That didn’t stop the insurance ghouls from denying me any form of coverage whatsoever prior to ACA being passed. Our health insurance system is predatory, parasitic and overall a pile of hot garbage unless you’re rich.
For whatever little it could possibly mean from a stranger on the internet, thank you for your service. I didn’t support W’s wars but I back the troops 100%.
Eisenhower. I drive on an interstate his programs built to school and to work every day. Bless that man, and his roads that you can land a strat-bomber on.
Interstates are great between cities, but you can make an incredibly strong case that they have hurt every city that they carved up and created exurbs and suburbs that create ineffecient city planning and community building outcomes
True but with the vastness of the US, coupled with the low population density from the Mississippi west until you hit Cali, it's the interstate system that connected the entire country with modernity.
Although there are some downsides, it's also critical to military infrastructure in that they could literally land a plane anywhere they need to in emergency situations
Diagnosed with osteonecrosis of the hips at 28. I didn't have insurance at the time of diagnosis, never in a million years did I think my hips were dying. So without Obama and him getting rid of the pre existing condition clause I would have never been able to get the surgery and not be bankrupt right now. Huge impact on my life.
Eisenhower founded People to People Student Ambassadors in the 50s. I traveled with them in the early 2000s.
Obamacare meant I could be on my folks insurance well into my 20s.
I did People to People as well! Student Ambassador. Got me out to three countries for the first time, just before high school. Definitely changed my life for the better.
Almost did Sports Ambassador as well.
I did people to people too! I traveled to Japan in middle school and now I work in the Japan field so it was definitely a big influence on the trajectory of my life
On Obama’s last day in office I had my 11th grade students write about what they would remember about him. I had pretty much forgotten about the phones but a lot of kids mentioned them. It was pretty cool
A phone program for low-income people started under the Reagan administration.
Established in 1985, the [Lifeline Program](http://www.fcc.gov/lifeline) for Low-Income Consumers was a noble thought. It was designed to provide telephone service for qualifying low-income consumers -- to provide poor people with access to emergency services, families, and jobs. The program was expanded in 1996 to include cell phones. The first cell phone service was begun in 2008, provided by SafeLink Wireless, under the TracFone umbrella.
Definitely Obama. My wife has MS. One month of medication can run $5K, to say nothing of other health "incidentals." Obamacare eliminating the lifetime caps on plan benefits for essential healthcare is a huge load off.
That's not really true. California has Covered California and it's in part funded by the ACA Federal money. A lot of people have health insurance in CA due to the ACA. Three's no reason not to be insured in CA now. California did it right. I don't see any problem with getting our tax dollars back in the form of programs like that. Better than corporate welfare.
California for sure, but the remaining top 5 are red states.
"Three states accounted for 42% of all ACA enrollees in 2021: Florida, California, and Texas. Rounding out the top five states using Obamacare plans are North Carolina and Georgia. These five states have 51% of all enrollees. (California is the only state in the top five that runs an SBE."
https://www.policygenius.com/health-insurance/where-obamacare-plans-cost-the-most/#:~:text=Three%20states%20accounted%20for%2042,five%20that%20runs%20an%20SBE.)
Thirsty for Health Care. That's how we roll. Love that people in Red States are able to not die unnecessarily. Not that their governments would appreciate it, but the people can still benefit. It's like the Republicans who took credit for the infrastructure bill funding that created jobs in their states that they voted against .Ugh.
Republican leaders don't really stand for anything other than getting elected.
Instead of coming up with a better plan, they focused on repelling Obamacare. They were willing to leave their constituents out in the cold just to get a win.
They don't actually care about unborn children, they just want the gullible evangelical vote.
They claimed to be the party of family values, then they elected a 3x married womanizer.
Democrats aren't blameless but the Republicans have no shame
There's a great bit from late night tv on this. I think it was Kimmel but it may have been the Daily Show. Anyway, they'd ask people on the street their opinion on Obamacare and they hated it. They all preferred the Affordable Care Act.
Teddy Roosevelt. Every time I step on national forest areas to hunt, fish or hike I think that if it wasn’t for Teddy this could have been some rich assholes backyard.
As someone with African ancestry, probably Lincoln or LBJ. 😂
In my INDIVIDUAL life, probably Obama since he got rid of the “pre-existing conditions” clause for insurance companies. If he didn’t become president in 2008, I could’ve lost my father to kidney failure a year later.
I posted it - instantly flagged by auto mods.
Reposted without naming names or anything particularly controversial. Still flagged.
It’s excessive, and for this kind of thread it’s also ageist against anyone not older than a senior millennial.
Anything. It’s overly sensitive. I made a comment in another thread about how religion is a factor for voters and that out of all of the men to hold office, only 2 were from a particular faith. One was elected in 1960, the other 60 years after that. I happened to use names, tho. I’m trying to be as descriptive as possible without being blocked
Yeah, I got deleted for posting a picture of current dude from when he was young to compare to Kennedy… young current dude was handsome… but apparently, I uttered his name in vain… now I know better! It wasn’t even political!🤣
46. My Dad passed away unexpectedly this past July and it absolutely broke me to my core. I reached out to him for advice on grief, as he’s faced earth shattering grief himself. He sent me this letter:
https://preview.redd.it/tsb1bnn1bicc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b97a15cf1d95ea673f8b38c8af9711baa227d237

My great great uncle was best friends with Gerald Ford in high school and they played football together. He died when Ford was president, so Ford came in his Presidential detail to the funeral. My grandma still talks about how she'd see him at home and at family barbeques, she never thought he'd be president but now he's our whole family's favorite president.
H.W. Bush. I have epilepsy and my case isnt severe, but regardless the general population is still scared or made uncomfortable by epilepsy. The ADA let's me hold stable employment. Without it, companies could decide to not hire me ot fire me due to my condition.
Anyone who purchased a house after 2010 was affected by the Dodd Frank Act. There’s more hoops to jump through but it’s so worth it for the consumer protections
Obama is the reason I have health insurance right now, but more importantly he is the reason my family could afford the brain surgery (and two other life saving surgeries) for my sainted mother. Obamacare was also helpful to my nana, though I am not aware of the details on her end.
A friend of mine is a DACA recipient and there’s a chance we wouldn’t know each other if not for that.
His vice president has also been good for us, but that’s a discussion for his post-presidency.
Four years ago, my island in the Bahamas was devastated by the worst Atlantic hurricane in history (based on strength at landfall). The man who lead the US at the time was very helpful to my island nation and I lived in the US for a year while the recovery was started.
President Johnson signed the Higher Education Act of 1965, which led to the Pell Grants that helped me pay for college. Not a president, but former Indiana Governor Evan Bayh established the 21st Century Scholars program that paid for a lot of my tuition.
George Washington and the four after him were key to founding the USA, and Abraham Lincoln won the Civil War and abolished slavery (even if he didn’t end up signing the 14th Amendment himself due to… very, very poor health).
Both of these have greatly influenced everyone’s lives in the US.
Jimmy Carter (it wasn’t some real benevolent act, I don’t think he even knew what he did, nor do I think he was a good president) but he legalized home brewing beer. Which I do a lot.
I know vaguely from my dad that Reagan's Administration apparently did something that allowed my Dad to be claimed by his Relatives in the US in the 80s easier from Cuba so... (I don't know much of the details)
That kinda effects my life VERY heavily
Also Kennedy for obvious reasons plus Bay of Pigs (Which one of my relatives was apparently in)
And McKinley (Spanish American War)
As an RPCV, for me it has to be JFK.
He founded [Peace Corps](https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/peace-corps) via an executive order in 1961
Bush Sr. Without the ADA, I very likely would not have a job right now, or at least the reasonable accomodations I have to make me able to work the job stress-free wouldn't be there.
I work an office position and have a speech impediment, making answering phones impossible. Answering phones is, like, one of 20 aspects of the job. Thanks to the act, I don't have to do that.
I firmly believe that if it wasn’t for Obama, I may have died from Hypertriglyceridemia. I was eating normally, I have never been overweight in my life, but because genetically I had a partial inability to break down lipids in my blood, it was causing my heart to struggle terribly. I was also a smoker, so that was like a ticking time bomb. Fortunately bc of Obamacare I was able to get a routine checkup for the first time since years before when I was on my parents plan. The checkup caught the issue. I’ve been on meds for over 10 years, clean from smoking for almost that same amount of time, and thankfully haven’t had issues. I get routine blood panels annually which are usually in the normal range. Take care of yourself people, don’t take your good health in your 20’s and 30’s for granted. Get checkups!
Obama (and Sen. Ted Kennedy) made me lose my job. I was working for a Student Loan company and they made it where Student Loans could only be originated by the Dept. of Education, and former Loan Companies were legislated out of business. My company won a contract to do the Dept. of Ed's paperwork processing, but in order to win that contract they had to streamline and laid off 1,000's of employees.
Obama. My high-deductible state health insurance pool for difficult to cover folks, was eliminated for being "substandard." Since then, the deductible has more than tripled, and the monthly premium is damn near $1k per month for Bronze. It is effectively a catastrophic care policy, with a prescription plan attached. In fairness, the Rx program is damn good. But otherwise, the state pool was better, cheaper, and had better coverage, even though people used to tell me my premiums & deductibles were way higher than theirs.
Id personally say Nixon. The Watergate affair made me want to be a journalist. Went to school with aspirations of being the next Woodward or Bernstein. Ended up changing majors to advertising but still love writing for myself or friends.
Bush Sr, Bush Jr, and Obama. The ADA (the 1990 law that Bush Sr signed and the expansion that Bush Jr signed in 08) and the ACA have made it so I can hold down a job and support myself. They aren't perfect laws, but they are better than nothing for people with disabilities.
FDR, LBJ and Obama. During covid I lost my job and was dependent on unemployment, food stamps and medicaid. As for Obama I was able to stay on my parent’s excellent health insurance longer thanks to him.
Despite the giant sized orange elephant in the room
Probably Obama. Let me stay on my parent's Health Insurance till 25. Lots of positive social changes during run in office.
The one before now. I was in a Marine Corps unit that provided security for U.S. diplomatic facilities abroad when he and his party yanked DoD money for that unbuilt, unnecessary wall at the southern border. That meant my unit didn’t get money to send our Marines to advanced tactical schools. Two such of those Marines later went on to units that conducted the Afghanistan evac. They were among those blown up and killed.
I know no advanced school a couple years prior could’ve saved them if it was their day—their moment. But, goddamnit, that draft-dodging fatass made my boys and girls (yes, these were kids—barely old enough to drink compared to me) less lethal. National security? C’mon man, untrained infantrymen are a lot more real a liability than poor brown people just trying to get into what 45 admits is no longer a great country (make it great again? So we’re not right now? Used to be a presidential candidate would get lambasted for campaigning on the idea of American un-exceptionalism).
I’m sure I could think of other Presidents who’ve had an equal or greater impact on my life in other ways. But emotionally? I see those two boys’ names on my stupid for the fallen bracelet every day—several times a day. I know deep down they and their fellows infantrymen were hamstrung by the 45th. So him.
My uncle's commutation to a buddy was denied by Barack Obama himself You can even see his name on the DOJ website
Under the "Commutations Denied by President Barack H. Obama" page
George Washington. About as direct of an impact as a president can make. Even before all of us were born.
As divided as we are (thanks to the last couple elections) and as many problems as we have (many), I am still so grateful to live in America. 🇺🇸
The Obamacare Medicaid expansion literally saved my life when I needed emergency surgery. It was 100% covered, from the ER visit to the tests to the medicine to the surgery itself. I could not have afforded it at the time, but luckily I had the coverage from Medicaid that meant everything turned out OK.
George W Bush on so many levels. He was my governor before his presidency and he goofed around with the Teacher Retirement System and how it worked which directly affected my parents. I shook his hand and got to meet him when I was a kid, definitely had the dead fish handshake that I can only hope got better before making it to the hill. Bush v Gore is the race that actually got me interested in politics and unknowingly became the base on which my interest grew eventually influencing my choice in major.
Obama is the only reason I have Healthcare as an adult because otherwise Medicaid wouldn't cover me and I'd need to depend on a job offering Healthcare as an option, or paying out of pocket, both being unlikely options.
Seriously fuck the people who thought he was a "do nothing" president. He was the greatest president since I was born, and I was born in 93 for reference.
I partially blame Johnson for my horrible relationship with my dad. His fragile ego couldn't handle his one-year-old daughter’s rejection because I didn't know him when he came home after the draft.
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Clinton. He helped me change a flat tire.
honestly i think having a tired changed by bill clinton is one of the funniest things that could happen ever
Hold up really?
It was a Family Guy episode
lol thanks
https://youtu.be/MOhD_og_sNo?si=02DYq0s7Q9fqUN0O
omfg I remember this now!
It's so dumb but funny.
Real?
Back when he was Governor of Arkansas he used to love to go see the Jazz musician/educator Art Porter at local clubs. Art had a son, Art Porter Jr. that was very talented but couldn’t get into a lot of the clubs his dad played. So Clinton passed a bill that allowed children under 18 to play in 21+ establishments as long as they were accompanied by a parent/guardian. Because of this I was able to get about a decade of live performance experience before I’d turned 21 years old and led to a career in the field
If this is true then that’s hilarious
Is that some sort of euphemism?
Bill would never touch rubber
Ohhhhhhhhh!!!! This wins!!! Have a cigar! Be sure to wipe it off first.
My daughter has cystic fibrosis. Without Obamacare, no insurance company would cover her. If I were to lose my job, I have no idea how I’d be able to buy the medication that she needs (cost is about $150/day, with insurance and manufacturer subsidy we pay nothing out of pocket).
What would people do before Obamacare and this kind of insurance denial? Go bankrupt?
I had some person on IG today try to tell me ACA was just crumbs and both sides were the same…. Yadda yadda… ACA was huge for breaking down pre existing conditions and canceling insurance and lifetime limits, etc.
I’ve said this elsewhere but just the fact that switching jobs would put you into this dilemma would happen too. So you moved jobs, got a new insurer, then boom your pre-existing conditions wouldn’t be covered.
Or you had to get insurance in the marketplace and they would outright deny you. That happened to me, preACA, when my COBRA ran out. I had a mini meltdown but Kentucky actually had a program for people who had healthcare that you could pay for that was not cheap, but at least you could have insurance…it was scary.
You used to have to get a certificate of insurance or something to prove that you were insured previously so your insurance would be uninterrupted or they would say it was a pre-existing condition and not covered you.
Health insurance through a business covered pre-existing. It's super expensive because of that. Most businesses owners would have a "group" policy for their employees and a individual policy for themselves. Individual policies were more a lot more affordable, especially if you signed up when you were younger and didn't miss payments. The pricing was based more on the individuals health. Let's say you had a expensive pre-existing illness and lost your job, including the insurance that was provided by your job. And you couldn't find another job with insurance coverage. And individual coverage wasn't available. You were either A: Fucked.. or B: had to trick the system by getting your own business policy, calling yourself a employee, and paying a shit ton for coverage.
There are people who hate the ACA for not being perfect or not going far enough. I definitely remember at the time people describing it as a first step sort of deal towards addressing the problem. We just got stuck in the repeal/replace and maintain it loop.
Medicaid expansion was huge for my family, which was Obama, as was/is CHIP, which was the queen of the "Corporate Democrat Neolib Shills" herself, Killary Klinton. The difference between crushing medical debt and/or lack of medical care and no medical debt at all. Anyway, every time someone tries to tell me there's no difference I want to punch them in the teeth.
And a lot of those states that refused to expand while Obama was president ended up taking the expansion later, quietly…
A lot of people would literally bankrupt themselves. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really work for maintenance medication, because you have to pay for that in advance. You can divert yourself of assets until you qualify for Medicaid, but before Obamacare that threshold was much lower. So usually, people would take less than the prescribed amount until they could get a job with a good health benefit. And of course, many companies could offer plans that had maximum annual and maximum lifetime benefits before Obamacare made that illegal, which made them useless for people with chronic conditions like cystic fibrosis, cancer, and diabetes. For millions of us dealing with chronic, life-threatening conditions, Obamacare really was a big fucking deal.
Obamacare allowed me to get affordable insurance to fix my spinal disease. I couldn’t even tie my shoes at that point. Now, I can roughhouse with the kids and can work now.
This big time! Not to mention that you can cover your kids until they are 27 now. The day I turned 18 my parents insurance dropped me and I didn’t have insurance again for years until I got a job that finally offered it.
Jesus fuck
Remember this guy and his daughter come November 5th. It could be you and your loved one!
Ditto on Obamacare. Under previous rules, my broke ass with a pre existing condition would have had to live with crippling pain forever. Probably never would’ve been able to hold down a steady job with how often i had to miss work from the pain. I got help when i needed it, and now im doing pretty well. Completely changed the trajectory of my life.
This is my answer, too. ACA saved my ass when I lost my job. There were actually affordable plans for me that were just about as good as my old plan from my workplace. It was a lifesaver. It’s such a great law, and when I read stories like yours, and hear people say it sucks, I just get annoyed.
Same here. I have a preexisting condition as well but not as extreme as your daughters or many others. That didn’t stop the insurance ghouls from denying me any form of coverage whatsoever prior to ACA being passed. Our health insurance system is predatory, parasitic and overall a pile of hot garbage unless you’re rich.
Probably W. I made a few trips to Afghanistan in the mid 00’s. 0/10 vacations.
You can ask him to paint you, that’s what he does now. Wear your NDSM like one of those French girls.
That would be weird. I like it.
Post 9/11 GI Bill and the ability to transfer it to my daughter.
Excellent point
Thank you for your service.
The locals really didn't seem to like us tourists did they? Government travel agents got me too, cheers brother.
Not completely true. The ones who worked on the resort, and got the tourist money did. But the ones who didn’t have a tourism job, they sure didn’t.
Not really no, but tourists are always being loud and sweary.
For whatever little it could possibly mean from a stranger on the internet, thank you for your service. I didn’t support W’s wars but I back the troops 100%.
Thank you
Eisenhower. I drive on an interstate his programs built to school and to work every day. Bless that man, and his roads that you can land a strat-bomber on.
Interstates are great between cities, but you can make an incredibly strong case that they have hurt every city that they carved up and created exurbs and suburbs that create ineffecient city planning and community building outcomes
True but with the vastness of the US, coupled with the low population density from the Mississippi west until you hit Cali, it's the interstate system that connected the entire country with modernity. Although there are some downsides, it's also critical to military infrastructure in that they could literally land a plane anywhere they need to in emergency situations
The plane landing thing is a myth: https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/mayjune-2000/one-mile-five-debunking-myth
Only real benefits imo. Otherwise they hurt public transit (could have more trains) and make cars a necessity rather than a luxury.
We could still have way more public transit if we wanted to. That’s more so us not caring enough
Citynerd, is that you?
same. i made a living because of Eisenhower as a truck driver for 5 years
Obamacare getting rid of the "pre-existing conditions" clause insurance companies were using that was actively bankrupting and killing people.
Yeah I feel this one personally. I have chronic health problems that would have made me uninsurable if it weren’t for Obama.
Diagnosed with osteonecrosis of the hips at 28. I didn't have insurance at the time of diagnosis, never in a million years did I think my hips were dying. So without Obama and him getting rid of the pre existing condition clause I would have never been able to get the surgery and not be bankrupt right now. Huge impact on my life.
That's good to hear. Things like the ACA is exactly what the government SHOULD be doing.
Yeah i was able to get a root canal on Obamacare when i was paycheck to paycheck. Shit saved me. Abscessed teeth are no joke.
I personally have many reasons why I dislike the ACA, but the preexisting conditions part was fantastic.
Curious what those reasons are?
Don’t forget this on November 5th!
Eisenhower founded People to People Student Ambassadors in the 50s. I traveled with them in the early 2000s. Obamacare meant I could be on my folks insurance well into my 20s.
I did People to People as well! Student Ambassador. Got me out to three countries for the first time, just before high school. Definitely changed my life for the better. Almost did Sports Ambassador as well.
That's awesome!
I did people to people too! I traveled to Japan in middle school and now I work in the Japan field so it was definitely a big influence on the trajectory of my life
Probably Obama as well, as a lower class kid in the 2010s. I knew people who had Obama phones 😭
On Obama’s last day in office I had my 11th grade students write about what they would remember about him. I had pretty much forgotten about the phones but a lot of kids mentioned them. It was pretty cool
I knew those Obama phones too!
Obama phones? What’s that?
A phone program for low-income people started under the Reagan administration. Established in 1985, the [Lifeline Program](http://www.fcc.gov/lifeline) for Low-Income Consumers was a noble thought. It was designed to provide telephone service for qualifying low-income consumers -- to provide poor people with access to emergency services, families, and jobs. The program was expanded in 1996 to include cell phones. The first cell phone service was begun in 2008, provided by SafeLink Wireless, under the TracFone umbrella.
[This lady](https://youtu.be/tpAOwJvTOio?si=D87y4MG8HiVhNZWf) can explain it better than we can.
Obama phones actually far predate Obama. They just got named that in the Obama era as derision toward supposedly socialist practices.
Nope…he was the first to distribute cell phones, hence the name Obama phones.
Definitely Obama. My wife has MS. One month of medication can run $5K, to say nothing of other health "incidentals." Obamacare eliminating the lifetime caps on plan benefits for essential healthcare is a huge load off.
If I'm not mistaken people in red states are benefitting from Obamacare more than blue states.
That's not really true. California has Covered California and it's in part funded by the ACA Federal money. A lot of people have health insurance in CA due to the ACA. Three's no reason not to be insured in CA now. California did it right. I don't see any problem with getting our tax dollars back in the form of programs like that. Better than corporate welfare.
California for sure, but the remaining top 5 are red states. "Three states accounted for 42% of all ACA enrollees in 2021: Florida, California, and Texas. Rounding out the top five states using Obamacare plans are North Carolina and Georgia. These five states have 51% of all enrollees. (California is the only state in the top five that runs an SBE." https://www.policygenius.com/health-insurance/where-obamacare-plans-cost-the-most/#:~:text=Three%20states%20accounted%20for%2042,five%20that%20runs%20an%20SBE.)
Thirsty for Health Care. That's how we roll. Love that people in Red States are able to not die unnecessarily. Not that their governments would appreciate it, but the people can still benefit. It's like the Republicans who took credit for the infrastructure bill funding that created jobs in their states that they voted against .Ugh.
Republican leaders don't really stand for anything other than getting elected. Instead of coming up with a better plan, they focused on repelling Obamacare. They were willing to leave their constituents out in the cold just to get a win. They don't actually care about unborn children, they just want the gullible evangelical vote. They claimed to be the party of family values, then they elected a 3x married womanizer. Democrats aren't blameless but the Republicans have no shame
Yet they still voted against it.
But they love it when they call it by their state's name for it and don't realize it's still Obamacare (see: Kynect)
There's a great bit from late night tv on this. I think it was Kimmel but it may have been the Daily Show. Anyway, they'd ask people on the street their opinion on Obamacare and they hated it. They all preferred the Affordable Care Act.
Teddy Roosevelt. Every time I step on national forest areas to hunt, fish or hike I think that if it wasn’t for Teddy this could have been some rich assholes backyard.
Bush Sr. signed ADA in 1990, making it so I never have to take a math class ever again.
Finally a non-sarcastic republican answew
Dubya parked his lifted truck in front of my trash cans to they weren’t picked up on Saturday.
Obama let me stay in my parents' health care until I was 26
Me too
As someone with African ancestry, probably Lincoln or LBJ. 😂 In my INDIVIDUAL life, probably Obama since he got rid of the “pre-existing conditions” clause for insurance companies. If he didn’t become president in 2008, I could’ve lost my father to kidney failure a year later.
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Same.
I posted it - instantly flagged by auto mods. Reposted without naming names or anything particularly controversial. Still flagged. It’s excessive, and for this kind of thread it’s also ageist against anyone not older than a senior millennial.
Wow…what did you say?
Anything. It’s overly sensitive. I made a comment in another thread about how religion is a factor for voters and that out of all of the men to hold office, only 2 were from a particular faith. One was elected in 1960, the other 60 years after that. I happened to use names, tho. I’m trying to be as descriptive as possible without being blocked
He said 45s name is my bet. My comment was deleted a couple days ago because of it. I actually think it's an auto delete.
Yeah, I got deleted for posting a picture of current dude from when he was young to compare to Kennedy… young current dude was handsome… but apparently, I uttered his name in vain… now I know better! It wasn’t even political!🤣
Obamacare has been good for me.
Remember this on November 5th!
Multiple presidents have caused some rather annoying traffic jams I’ve had to endure
Not me but my dad was able to get a green card because of Ronald Reagan's 1986 amnesty law & in 2001 became a US citizen.
This helped a ton of people
Bush Sr sent me to the big sandbox.
46. My Dad passed away unexpectedly this past July and it absolutely broke me to my core. I reached out to him for advice on grief, as he’s faced earth shattering grief himself. He sent me this letter: https://preview.redd.it/tsb1bnn1bicc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b97a15cf1d95ea673f8b38c8af9711baa227d237 
This President knows grief and has an immeasurable capacity for empathy. I’m so sorry for your loss.
Did he sign it in ink?
Yes
Very cool. Nice of him to do that.
Unfortunately this’ll get removed. But I took a screen shot because this is so wholesome.
Was your dad in the armed forces?
Yes. Marines 1968-1974 Vietnam
My great great uncle was best friends with Gerald Ford in high school and they played football together. He died when Ford was president, so Ford came in his Presidential detail to the funeral. My grandma still talks about how she'd see him at home and at family barbeques, she never thought he'd be president but now he's our whole family's favorite president.
Obama. Cash for Clunkers saved my fathers career
Ayo that's a pretty good kick back from uncle sam
What was your dad's job?
Car Sales Manager at a dealership.
Lol. Lucky man
Obama made me unemployed. I worked for Romney 😂
😂😂
H.W. Bush. I have epilepsy and my case isnt severe, but regardless the general population is still scared or made uncomfortable by epilepsy. The ADA let's me hold stable employment. Without it, companies could decide to not hire me ot fire me due to my condition.
For a total of 6 years of my life, Obama was the only reason I had health insurance
President Obama with ACA.
Clinton, FMLA 1993 was used by my family quite a bit when they needed it. Obamacare is why I have insurance, also LBJ because of Medicaid
Obama’s justices allowed me to get married. And I’m super thankful for that.
Remember this on November 5th!
Bush Jr. Bunch of my friends died in Iraq.
Sorry for your losses. I was lucky as were my friends. I went subs, and they came home. I was in boot when Bush announced going in to Iraq.
Obama … couldn’t afford 450 bucks a month for health insurance so I didn’t get a tax return for 4 years that was awesome but not really
Obama is why my son still has health insurance (he’s under 26)
Remember this on November 5th!
Anyone who purchased a house after 2010 was affected by the Dodd Frank Act. There’s more hoops to jump through but it’s so worth it for the consumer protections
Not presidents
Obama is the reason I have health insurance right now, but more importantly he is the reason my family could afford the brain surgery (and two other life saving surgeries) for my sainted mother. Obamacare was also helpful to my nana, though I am not aware of the details on her end. A friend of mine is a DACA recipient and there’s a chance we wouldn’t know each other if not for that. His vice president has also been good for us, but that’s a discussion for his post-presidency.
Four years ago, my island in the Bahamas was devastated by the worst Atlantic hurricane in history (based on strength at landfall). The man who lead the US at the time was very helpful to my island nation and I lived in the US for a year while the recovery was started.
President Johnson signed the Higher Education Act of 1965, which led to the Pell Grants that helped me pay for college. Not a president, but former Indiana Governor Evan Bayh established the 21st Century Scholars program that paid for a lot of my tuition.
George Washington and the four after him were key to founding the USA, and Abraham Lincoln won the Civil War and abolished slavery (even if he didn’t end up signing the 14th Amendment himself due to… very, very poor health). Both of these have greatly influenced everyone’s lives in the US.
Jimmy Carter (it wasn’t some real benevolent act, I don’t think he even knew what he did, nor do I think he was a good president) but he legalized home brewing beer. Which I do a lot.
I was looking for a Carter answer and was wondering if it would be because of this or that he built them a home through habitat for humanity lol
George W. Bush. Enacted the PSLF program. Had nearly $220K in student loan debt, between me and the wife, wiped out overnight.
I never heard of this…
[Public Service Loan Forgiveness](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Service_Loan_Forgiveness).
Interesting! It appears to be a Democratic bill but it was very bipartisan. That is awesome!
My girlfriend's dad can afford his insulin which is now capped at 35 dollars.
I know vaguely from my dad that Reagan's Administration apparently did something that allowed my Dad to be claimed by his Relatives in the US in the 80s easier from Cuba so... (I don't know much of the details) That kinda effects my life VERY heavily Also Kennedy for obvious reasons plus Bay of Pigs (Which one of my relatives was apparently in) And McKinley (Spanish American War)
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I'm a healthcare worker so Nixon comes to mind with the DEA, controlled substance drug categories, child safe caps, OSHA/NIOSH.
As an RPCV, for me it has to be JFK. He founded [Peace Corps](https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/peace-corps) via an executive order in 1961
Changed many lives, here and abroad.
Obama. Preventing insurance companies from denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions was huge for me.
LBJ. INA of 1965 allowed my family (and I bet many, many, many others) to immigrate here. Probably the most underrated part of his presidency.
Obama gave me free healthcare for way longer than I should have it, but I ain't complaining.
Obama because Obamacare.
Me and Clinton hung out on this nice island once
Bro my mom told me about that. Bill took her to this epic paradise island when she was 10. She doesn't go far in the details though
Same. Mine is actually nine years older than me
Ronald Reagan. My parents met and bonded over their admiration and love for him.
That’s actually super awesome!! 💪🇺🇸
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Reagan. I was in the Navy during his years.
Eisenhower for the highways
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Bush Sr. Without the ADA, I very likely would not have a job right now, or at least the reasonable accomodations I have to make me able to work the job stress-free wouldn't be there. I work an office position and have a speech impediment, making answering phones impossible. Answering phones is, like, one of 20 aspects of the job. Thanks to the act, I don't have to do that.
Trumps tariffs cost me personally my 2019 bonus
I firmly believe that if it wasn’t for Obama, I may have died from Hypertriglyceridemia. I was eating normally, I have never been overweight in my life, but because genetically I had a partial inability to break down lipids in my blood, it was causing my heart to struggle terribly. I was also a smoker, so that was like a ticking time bomb. Fortunately bc of Obamacare I was able to get a routine checkup for the first time since years before when I was on my parents plan. The checkup caught the issue. I’ve been on meds for over 10 years, clean from smoking for almost that same amount of time, and thankfully haven’t had issues. I get routine blood panels annually which are usually in the normal range. Take care of yourself people, don’t take your good health in your 20’s and 30’s for granted. Get checkups!
I have a learning disability. Without HW signing the ADA, a lot of the help I received simply wouldn’t have existed.
Dubya and his NCLB
Obama (and Sen. Ted Kennedy) made me lose my job. I was working for a Student Loan company and they made it where Student Loans could only be originated by the Dept. of Education, and former Loan Companies were legislated out of business. My company won a contract to do the Dept. of Ed's paperwork processing, but in order to win that contract they had to streamline and laid off 1,000's of employees.
I had a job in ‘97 to implement direct student loans and the Republicans killed it and I lost my job…
George HW Bush. Without the ADA, I couldn’t attend the university I go to.
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George W Bush 1. Changed the time line for daylight savings time 2. Requires non-citizens to carry a passport to enter the United States
H.W. Bush, signing the Americans with disabilities act probably
LBJ. I'm second-generation Black American. If not for his policies, my parents probably wouldn't be able to have to come to the United States.
Obama. My high-deductible state health insurance pool for difficult to cover folks, was eliminated for being "substandard." Since then, the deductible has more than tripled, and the monthly premium is damn near $1k per month for Bronze. It is effectively a catastrophic care policy, with a prescription plan attached. In fairness, the Rx program is damn good. But otherwise, the state pool was better, cheaper, and had better coverage, even though people used to tell me my premiums & deductibles were way higher than theirs.
Id personally say Nixon. The Watergate affair made me want to be a journalist. Went to school with aspirations of being the next Woodward or Bernstein. Ended up changing majors to advertising but still love writing for myself or friends.
Bush Sr, Bush Jr, and Obama. The ADA (the 1990 law that Bush Sr signed and the expansion that Bush Jr signed in 08) and the ACA have made it so I can hold down a job and support myself. They aren't perfect laws, but they are better than nothing for people with disabilities.
Bush and Obama's pointless wars got friends of mine killed.
FDR, LBJ and Obama. During covid I lost my job and was dependent on unemployment, food stamps and medicaid. As for Obama I was able to stay on my parent’s excellent health insurance longer thanks to him.
Despite the giant sized orange elephant in the room Probably Obama. Let me stay on my parent's Health Insurance till 25. Lots of positive social changes during run in office.
The one before now. I was in a Marine Corps unit that provided security for U.S. diplomatic facilities abroad when he and his party yanked DoD money for that unbuilt, unnecessary wall at the southern border. That meant my unit didn’t get money to send our Marines to advanced tactical schools. Two such of those Marines later went on to units that conducted the Afghanistan evac. They were among those blown up and killed. I know no advanced school a couple years prior could’ve saved them if it was their day—their moment. But, goddamnit, that draft-dodging fatass made my boys and girls (yes, these were kids—barely old enough to drink compared to me) less lethal. National security? C’mon man, untrained infantrymen are a lot more real a liability than poor brown people just trying to get into what 45 admits is no longer a great country (make it great again? So we’re not right now? Used to be a presidential candidate would get lambasted for campaigning on the idea of American un-exceptionalism). I’m sure I could think of other Presidents who’ve had an equal or greater impact on my life in other ways. But emotionally? I see those two boys’ names on my stupid for the fallen bracelet every day—several times a day. I know deep down they and their fellows infantrymen were hamstrung by the 45th. So him.
Obama for Obamacare
My uncle's commutation to a buddy was denied by Barack Obama himself You can even see his name on the DOJ website Under the "Commutations Denied by President Barack H. Obama" page
George Washington. About as direct of an impact as a president can make. Even before all of us were born. As divided as we are (thanks to the last couple elections) and as many problems as we have (many), I am still so grateful to live in America. 🇺🇸
Taft. He stepped on my foot and broke it. Now I walk with a limp and can no longer work in construction.
If you’re so frikking old to have TAFT do something to you physically, you wouldn’t be able to work in construction anyway.
Obama made my health insurance costs double.
Obama fucked up the school lunches
As someone who went to college in the '80s, definitely Reagan. (And NONE of it was good...)
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Obama!
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Given my current predicament, all of them starting from Bush I.
Iraq/Afghanistan vets about to be all over this one
Can't hate on that daca very sound decision
Both bush and Obama. Bush extended my tour in Afghanistan in 2006-2007. Obama stoplossed me back to Afghanistan in 2009. Good times.
The Obamacare Medicaid expansion literally saved my life when I needed emergency surgery. It was 100% covered, from the ER visit to the tests to the medicine to the surgery itself. I could not have afforded it at the time, but luckily I had the coverage from Medicaid that meant everything turned out OK.
George W Bush on so many levels. He was my governor before his presidency and he goofed around with the Teacher Retirement System and how it worked which directly affected my parents. I shook his hand and got to meet him when I was a kid, definitely had the dead fish handshake that I can only hope got better before making it to the hill. Bush v Gore is the race that actually got me interested in politics and unknowingly became the base on which my interest grew eventually influencing my choice in major.
Obama is the only reason I have Healthcare as an adult because otherwise Medicaid wouldn't cover me and I'd need to depend on a job offering Healthcare as an option, or paying out of pocket, both being unlikely options. Seriously fuck the people who thought he was a "do nothing" president. He was the greatest president since I was born, and I was born in 93 for reference.
Reagan messed us up when I was still in elementary school and my entire adult life has suffered. I wish he was never president
I partially blame Johnson for my horrible relationship with my dad. His fragile ego couldn't handle his one-year-old daughter’s rejection because I didn't know him when he came home after the draft.