I like "Obamacare"

I call the health insurance reform legislation that President Obama spearheaded "Obamacare." I prefer this to any of the alternatives because it is simple and everyone knows what it means. The alternatives—such as "PPACA" (short for the official name of the legislation, which is "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act") or "ACA" (short for "Affordable Care Act" which is short for PPACA)—are all some combination of unwieldy, opaque, pedantic and propagandizing.

Some people object that "Obamacare" is negative propaganda. I disagree, but I've still felt a little sheepish using it knowing that the pedants object. No more. For today I received an email from Jim Messina, the campaign manager for Obama's reelection campaign, entitled "I like Obamacare."

In it, Mr. Messina urges me to "Let everyone know: I like Obamacare."

I don't take many hard policy positions on this blog, and I'm not prepared to take such a firm stance at this time. (Plus, the natural follow-up questions if I were to take such a position would be, "Well, do you like like Obamacare?" and "Do you want to marry Obamacare?"—which would be very uncomfortable to answer.)

I am, however, prepared to say this: I like "Obamacare." The word. And since the Obama administration has now officially endorsed it, I think it is something everyone in this country, whether red-stater or blue, can get behind.