Opinion

Obama shuts down debate

When President Obama trumpeted the 8 million figure representing people who had signed up for ObamaCare, he didn’t just declare it a victory. He declared the debate over — and told Republicans “it’s well time to move on.”

Now, we understand the eagerness of politicians to declare debates over. It’s certainly easier than defending ObamaCare’s broken promises, or even providing the breakdowns behind that 8 million top-line number that would let us measure if the program is getting the sign-ups it needs.

Increasingly, however, it seems that the “shut up and move on” trope has become the go-to response of liberals on a number of serious topics they’d rather not have to discuss in open debate.

Climate change? We’re told there’s 100 percent agreement among scientists that the climate is changing, human activity is the cause and America should upend its economy to stop it from happening.

Abortion? Roe v. Wade is “settled law,” so anyone who believes the Supreme Court may have decided the case incorrectly must be unfit for office.

Remember, these are the same folks who pride themselves on openness, tolerance and, as the president put it in his inaugural, “restoring science to its rightful place.” So how is it that if you disagree with them — or ask for objective measures behind their claims — instead of having your objections answered you find yourself called a denier, a racist or guilty of a war on women?

If President Obama were really confident the debate about ObamaCare is over, he’d be giving us the hard evidence instead of telling us we shouldn’t be asking for it.