Are You Kidding Me?! Health care "heroes"
By Emily on 08/28/2009 @ 03:50 PM
For right-wingers, it seems this summer’s real blockbuster should be “A Star is Born: Boost Your Career By Blocking Health Care.” And, unsurprisingly, GOP leaders are fighting for top billing.
There have been a slew of outrageous moments from top Republicans lately, so I thought I’d do a quick round-up of the most appalling scenes.
It's me! It's me!
Well, we finally figured it out. While we were blaming tea baggers and behind-the-scenes conservative operatives for the health care hold-up, it turns out one man’s taking all the blame... er, credit…for himself.
Senator Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, told a crowd this week that he’s hard at work to block health care, and we have him to thank for the drawn out, painful reform debate. “If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care.” Ah, the sweet sounds of bipartisan compromise. Glad to see you’re looking at the big picture, Mike!
Short and (not so) sweet
John Guedry, a GOP congressional candidate hoping to replace freshman EMILY’s List Rep. Dina Titus in Nevada’s 3rd district, didn’t dress up his thoughts on reform, saying in a recent interview that “health care is a privilege, not a right." I can’t help wondering what the 530,000 medically uninsured Nevadans would think about that.
Guedry, a banker, also said he was opposed to a public option and in favor of decreased insurance regulation. Still a year out from the election and already he’s toeing the party line so well – and taking his cues from some stellar mentors.
Clear as mud
Unlike Guedry’s blunt approach, RNC Chairman Michael Steele has opted for a song-and-dance routine when it comes to the health care debate. During an NPR interview with host Steve Inskeep yesterday, Steele’s backwards logic was hard to follow – even for him.
While promoting the GOP’s latest strategy of defending Medicare and simultaneously accusing the government of an inability to manage anything, Steele got confused, annoyed, and even accusatory toward his interviewer. An excerpt:
Mr. STEELE: …And sure, there are issues in the insurance market that we can regulate and that we can control better to maximize the benefits to the consumers. That's something that, yeah, we can rightly reform and fix. If the...
INSKEEP: Wait a minute, wait, wait. You would trust the government to look into that?
Mr. STEELE: No. I'm talking about the - I'm talking about private - I'm talking about...
INSKEEP: Who is...
Mr. STEELE: ...citizens. I'm talking about...
INSKEEP: You said that's something that should be looked into. Who is it that should look into that?
Mr. STEELE: I'm talking about those who - well, who regulates the insurance markets?
INSKEEP: That would be the government, I believe.
Mr. STEELE: Well, and so it - wait a minute, hold up. You know, you're doing a wonderful little dance here and you're trying to be cute, but the reality of this is very simple. I'm not saying the government doesn't have a role to play. I've never said that. The government does have a role to play. The government has a very limited role to play.
INSKEEP: Mr. Chairman, I respect that you feel that I'm doing a dance here. I just want you to know that as a citizen, I'm a little confused by the positions you take because you're giving me a very nice nuanced position here.
Mr. STEELE: It's not nice and nuanced. I'm being very clear.
"Compassionate" conservative
There are no funny punch lines for this story because, despite our outrage at Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn’s behavior at a recent town hall, this just brings home how much is at stake in the health care debate.
During the town hall, a woman cried while describing her battle to get her insurer to pay for treatments for her husband, who suffered a traumatic brain injury. Coburn responded by saying that “the idea that the government is the solution to our problems is an inaccurate, a very inaccurate statement” – after telling her his office would try to help her individually.
Watch the video from CNN’s Rick Sanchez. It speaks for itself.
Read My Lipstick
Comments
Leave a Comment