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The Inadvertently Depressing Thing About That Depressing Political Ad

David Catanese calls this ad, from populist third party candidate Jack Davis in New York's 26th district, the "most depressing ad ever":

It is pretty sad. But what strikes me is the assumption that the loss of a job automatically leads to the worker's spouse losing health insurance. When informed that her husband has been laid off, the wife asks, "How can we pay for my chemotherapy without health insurance?"

The answer is... the Affordable Care Act! Remember that? It was a big fucking deal. And of all the things conservatives are claiming about it, I don't really see them contesting the basic proposition that it will provide some form of subsidized health insurance to people who can't obtain health insurance under the status quo. The fact that Davis's ad simply assumes the old status quo in which job loss translates into loss of health insurance underscores the degree to which even the uncontested elements of the new law have failed to sink in with the public.