Driving Republicans Crazy
2013-11-01 - by
Whatever else it does, Obamacare drives Republicans into a frenzy of hype, hypocrisy, irrationality and overreaction.
Exhibit A: Republicans in Congress are outraged that website glitches prevent Americans from signing up for a program Republicans compare to slavery. Why are they complaining? They should take a cue from George Holding, take a nap and chill out.
Exhibit B: Republican governors who probably know better (like Pat McCrory and unlike Ohio’s John Kasich) reject Medicaid expansion, even though it would help millions of Americans and save hundreds of millions of dollars. Politically, the governors have no choice. They’re terrified of the Tea Party.
Exhibit C: Obamacare is a classic Republican policy, hatched by the Heritage Foundation, once championed by Newt Gingrich and put into law (no matter how much he denies it) by Mitt Romney.
How is it a Republican policy? Well, it starts by saying: no more free ride; everybody has to get insurance. The rest of us don’t have to pay all your medical bills. (See: “takers.”)
Obamacare achieves that goal through another thing Republicans should like: the free market. Instead of government providing the insurance (which would be “socialism” like Medicare) you have to buy insurance from an insurance company.
Finally, expanding Medicaid means people can afford to get primary and preventative care, which is cheaper, instead of waiting until they’re really sick and going to the emergency room, which is really expensive – and we all end up paying for.
We have national health insurance now. Your taxes, insurance premiums and medical bills already have a hidden surcharge that pays the bills for people who don’t have insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
If Obamacare fails, the logical next step is to put everybody on Medicaid/Medicare. I half-jokingly suggested that in a blog last week. Then two conservatives said the same thing: Marc Landry in the N&O and Ross Douthat in The New York Times. (Needless to say, I’m reconsidering my position.)
All this shows how Obama Derangement Syndrome is driving the Republican Party farther and farther to the right – and farther out of touch with more Americans. Now, Democrats have plenty of problems, but they look much more rational right now than Republicans.
Driving Republicans Crazy
2013-11-01/
Whatever else it does, Obamacare drives Republicans into a frenzy of hype, hypocrisy, irrationality and overreaction.
Exhibit A: Republicans in Congress are outraged that website glitches prevent Americans from signing up for a program Republicans compare to slavery. Why are they complaining? They should take a cue from George Holding, take a nap and chill out.
Exhibit B: Republican governors who probably know better (like Pat McCrory and unlike Ohio’s John Kasich) reject Medicaid expansion, even though it would help millions of Americans and save hundreds of millions of dollars. Politically, the governors have no choice. They’re terrified of the Tea Party.
Exhibit C: Obamacare is a classic Republican policy, hatched by the Heritage Foundation, once championed by Newt Gingrich and put into law (no matter how much he denies it) by Mitt Romney.
How is it a Republican policy? Well, it starts by saying: no more free ride; everybody has to get insurance. The rest of us don’t have to pay all your medical bills. (See: “takers.”)
Obamacare achieves that goal through another thing Republicans should like: the free market. Instead of government providing the insurance (which would be “socialism” like Medicare) you have to buy insurance from an insurance company.
Finally, expanding Medicaid means people can afford to get primary and preventative care, which is cheaper, instead of waiting until they’re really sick and going to the emergency room, which is really expensive – and we all end up paying for.
We have national health insurance now. Your taxes, insurance premiums and medical bills already have a hidden surcharge that pays the bills for people who don’t have insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
If Obamacare fails, the logical next step is to put everybody on Medicaid/Medicare. I half-jokingly suggested that in a blog last week. Then two conservatives said the same thing: Marc Landry in the N&O and Ross Douthat in The New York Times. (Needless to say, I’m reconsidering my position.)
All this shows how Obama Derangement Syndrome is driving the Republican Party farther and farther to the right – and farther out of touch with more Americans. Now, Democrats have plenty of problems, but they look much more rational right now than Republicans.