There was a time when Republicans made arguments that took facts seriously.
I wonder if they ever will again?
Here are two examples of why I ask the question.
At a hearing on the problems with the Obamacare website, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) charged the programmers and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid with breaking privacy laws under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA).
One of his exasperated colleagues, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), had to point out to Mr. Barton that since Obamacare eliminated pre-existing conditions from insurance applications, there are no medical questions on the application form. Further, for this very reason Obamacare doesn’t fall under HIPPA rules that protect the medical information of people moving from one policy to another.
The second example is Republican rage over people having their existing insurance policies cancelled because of Obamacare.
The President lied to the American people, Republicans charge, having assured them if they had health insurance they liked they would be able to keep it.
Here, again, are the facts.
About 15% of Americans who have insurance get it on their own. The policies are always for one year and can be terminated by the consumer or the provider yearly.
As things stand, if you have a policy with good benefits, it costs you a lot. If you have one with few benefits it costs you less, but still isn’t cheap.
Most of these polices don’t meet new guidelines under Obamacare because they deny insurance based on pre-existing conditions, drop people because of high medical expenses, offer no preventive services such as annual check-ups, and set rates arbitrarily with no accountability.
These are the policies people are losing because most insurers are doing away with them.
In their place people can now get insurance that offers better coverage at a cheaper price.
And Republicans don’t like it!
So the President lied to the American people because Obamacare doesn’t do things the Republican way – which is, make people pay more and get less.
As I said, I wonder if Republicans will ever again take facts seriously.
If they do, they will be able to take on Democrats because of genuine policy differences as they once did.
That kind of debate is what made our country strong, and could again.
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Yes, that kind of debate will make our country stronger, more livable. and better for everyone. Unfortunately, I see nearly zero chance of that happen with the current crop of radical ideologues we have in Congress, particularly in the House, but there also are some in the Senate. They thrive on baloney and half truths of the sort you describe above. I am convinced their goal & purpose is to destroy President Obama and they have NO interest in the general welfare of the American public, except those who think like they do. The only hope I see is that the vast majority of them are thrown out of office in the next election. I have serious doubts that they will become rational and get down to serious work on their own.
Well, that’s not very encouraging, Wally. I guess I’m hoping for some cooler heads to take over the Senate and House Republican caucuses, sooner rather than later.
I strongly hope so also, and very strongly hope that you are right. I just am not a very optimistic hoper on this one. I have seen some clips of Ted Cruzs father recently. He makes Ted sound like a rank amateur. That is really frightening. People listen and respond to people like this