Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Disgusting

If the Republican debates have shown anything, they have revealed just how low and hateful and disgusting a level the Tea Party has dragged the party.

This bit in last night's debate, where CNN's Wolf Blitzer is asking Ron Paul about what, if anything, to do for a healthy 30-year old man who, having opted not to buy health insurance, suddenly has a life-dependent need for health care?  Paul's answer -- that freedom is all about personal responsibility -- intimated that the man would be on his own and would have to live with the consequences of his decision not to have health insurance, and that the government ought not to step in to pay for his care.  The Tea Party audience cheered him on, but that was just the beginning.  When Blitzer asked Paul if we should just let him die, you will hear people in the crowd shouting, "Yes!" 

I think it's a perfectly valid argument to have about whether there should be laws protecting individuals who are sick and unable to afford health care.  If Republicans like Paul (and his son), Bachmann, and Paul Ryan want to leave the decision with each individual on whether or not to buy health insurance or deal with the cost of it on his own, then let's see Republicans go all the way with it.  Propose a repeal of the emergency room care law on top of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.  Repeal Medicare and Medicaid altogether.  Send everything related to health care back to the wallets of the consumer, and let the market and competition take care of the pricing and access.  Sure, there are going to be some people who will just not be able to afford being in the system.  If some people who can't afford cancer-detecting MRIs, or HIV medication, or kidney dialysis, or life-saving surgeries, have to die to ensure that we have a free market, so be it.  Maybe, just maybe, that's one way to keep illegal immigrants from infiltrating our borders, eh?  America is the land of the free, the land of opportunity, not the world's biggest welfare state.

Exactly how many elderly seniors who belong to the Tea Party, and who currently receive Medicare, really want government to give their health care insurance to the private sector?  Yeah, I thought so (go ahead and click on this one!).

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