(Jeff Danziger’s website)
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They say there’s a helium shortage, possibly because the Repubs were bloviating against “Obamacare” all weekend. Per Greg Sargent, at his Washington Post blog:
…Pressed by Chris Wallace to say what he would do to insure the 30 million people who will get insurance under Obamacare, McConnell at first dodged the question, instead launching into a litany of complaints about the law. He repeated the debunked claim that it would cut $500 billion from Medicare. Asked the question again by Wallace, McConnell actually laughed, and said he’d “get to it in a minute,” before claiming the best thing we can do for the health system overall is to get rid of the law and all of its “cuts” to health providers. He labeled Obamacare a “monstrosity” and vowed that there would not be a “2,700 page” Republican reform bill.
Asked a third time how Republicans would insure those 30 million people, McConnell said: “That is not the issue. The question is how you can go step by step to improve the American health care system.”…
WALLACE: You don’t think the 30 million people who are uninsured is an issue?
MCCONNELL: Let me tell you what we’re not going to do. We’re not going to turn the American health care system into a western European system.
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It’s worth pointing out that this is basically Mitt Romney’s position, too. The Romney campaign has acknowledged that he would not replace Obamacare with across-the-board protections for people with preexisting conditions. And the New York Times recently took a look at the alternatives Romney has proposed, and concluded that they would deemphasize the goal of “reducing the ranks of the uninsured.”
So, “I got mine, forget you” is now the official Republican policy on health care. Pro tip to the Angry Turtle: When even Fox News (as represented by Mike Wallace’s Idiot Spawn) looks askance, you may want to reconsider your cover story.
Or maybe McConnell’s just decided that courting The Crazification Factor is his best bet. “Today’s Opinion Poll” at the WaPo:
Do you agree with Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the President’s health care law?
Yes – 73%
No – 27%
Total Votes: 24,348
Monday Morning Open Thread: Toxic GasbagsPost + Comments (36)