The Affordable Care Act has been a hot topic of debate since House Republicans shut down the federal government in an attempt to undercut the law and a website glitch that impaired its debut on October 1. However, instead of using malice to attack the law or advocate for it to be completely gutted, conservatives have decided to inject a bit of humor into the debate.
A new ad, sponsored by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, capitalizes on the online insurance exchange's website fiasco, while targeting the looming implementation of the individual mandate, which requires all Americans to purchase health insurance or face a penalty, with a few exceptions.
The video uses footage from an actual Affordable Care Act commercial but adds a comical twist. Whether or not you believe the underlying message in the spoof, which is titled "Obamacare: More Than A Glitch," it's still a fun video that has now gone viral, attracting more than 420,000 viewers on YouTube.
Although the ad slams the individual mandate as being un-American, the theory behind it was ironically endorsed by the commerical's sponsors back in 1989, notes IVN.
"The lineage of the individual mandate can be traced to page 51 of the Heritage Foundation's 1989 study and policy recommendation, 'A National Health System for America,'" writes IVN.
The report states that:
"Liberals have resisted the use of market mechanisms in their efforts... [Conservatives] too share the blame for today's problems. They so far have refused to recognize that some form of comprehensive health care system in America is politically inevitable... Refusing to recognize this, conservative law-makers generally have confined themselves to trying to block popular liberal proposals to extend a flawed system, rather than offering their own plan..."
Watch the Obamacare parody below: