Is Ruth Marcus the Next Linda Douglass?
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009When I read Ms. Marcus’s Washington Post op-ed, my first reaction was to wonder if she’s shooting for Linda Douglass’s job as WH health care propaganda minister. Her accusation that Republicans unjustifiably used scare tactics was quickly ‘backed up’ with criticizing the House GOP’s arguments:
Kentucky Republican Brett Guthrie: “The bill raises taxes for just about everyone.”
Not true. The bill imposes a surtax on the top 0.3 percent of households, individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million.
Ms. Marcus differentiates taxes from the ‘choice’ on obeying the mandate to buy an expensive health insurance policy or paying a fine instead of buying the health insurance. I’m betting people won’t differentiate between a tax, that onerous mandate or the fine. I’m betting that they’ll just think of those options as money out of their pockets. Whether you call it a fine, a mandate or a tax isn’t important to a family’s financial situation. They’re just out alot of money.
Georgia Republican Tom Price: “This bill, on page 733, empowers the Washington bureaucracy to deny lifesaving patient care if it costs too much.”
Not true. The bill sets up a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research “in order to identify the manner in which diseases, disorders, and other health conditions can most effectively and appropriately be prevented, diagnosed, treated, and managed clinically.”
The minute I hear that an unaccountable bureaucrat will decide “the manner in which diseases” can be “effectively and appropriately” treated”, especially when I know that someone like Ezekiel Emanuel will be administering the program, is the minute I’m thinking the worst.
The legislative language doesn’t prevent the CCER from telling Grandma to take a pill to alleviate the pain her cancer is causing vs. actually treating and possibly beating the cancer into remission. This administration has been quite clear that they plan on cutting treatments to senior citizens.
Michigan Republican Dave Camp: “Americans could face five years in jail if they don’t comply with the bill’s demands to buy approved health insurance.”
Not true. The bill requires people to obtain insurance or, with some hardship exceptions, pay a fine. No one is being jailed for being uninsured. People who intentionally evade paying the fine could, in theory, be prosecuted, just like others who cheat on their taxes.
This is stunning. Ruth Marcus unknowingly just highlighted something that the Democrats don’t want you to know: that the Obama administration will fine you for buying health insurance that isn’t nannystate-approved. (more…)