To understand why Wisconsin GOP/Tea Party Senator Ron Johnson wants even deeper cuts to the public provision of health insurance to millions of Americans either not in his millionaire class or with genes as lucky or perfect, you have to remember that his limitless obsession with Obamacare goes way back.
A public official with even the most minimal sensibilities or sense of American history would never issue the news release which Johnson put out on January 19, 2011, just 14 days after being sworn in as a Senator:
But for the record, Johnson was borne in 1955, so he puts Obamacare and the health care it extended to millions of his fellow citizens as worse for "our freedom" than, say, the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.
Or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Or the attempted assassinations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
Kris Khristofferson said that "freedom's just another word for nothing else to lose."
For Ron Johnson, preserving "our freedom" means being free to make sure people in need through no fault of their own get no helping hand in the land of the free.
A public official with even the most minimal sensibilities or sense of American history would never issue the news release which Johnson put out on January 19, 2011, just 14 days after being sworn in as a Senator:
“I truly do believe that the passing of Obamacare is the single greatest assault on our freedom in my lifetime.Johnson could parse "our freedom" to fit his beliefs, just as he parsed the word 'cut' to deny that the Senate's tax-cut bill deeply cut Medicaid.
But for the record, Johnson was borne in 1955, so he puts Obamacare and the health care it extended to millions of his fellow citizens as worse for "our freedom" than, say, the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.
Or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Or the attempted assassinations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.
Kris Khristofferson said that "freedom's just another word for nothing else to lose."
For Ron Johnson, preserving "our freedom" means being free to make sure people in need through no fault of their own get no helping hand in the land of the free.
On his telephone "town hall" last night between extolling the virtues of the free market and high risk pools for people with preexisting conditions, he told the citizens that we can't afford to "prop up" people with premium subsidies and Medicaid. Some of the (predominantly critical) callers included a doctor from Richland Center who said getting healthcare isn't like buying something on the "free market," (referring to Medicaid funding of nursing home patients), a woman from Barron County explaining why his comparison of preexisting conditions with bad drivers was ridiculous, and another woman asking "How does cutting taxes help people in Wisconsin?" Not his best hour.
ReplyDelete“Johnson could parse ‘our freedom’ to fit his beliefs, just as he parsed the word ‘cut’ to deny the Senate's tax-cut bill which deeply cuts Medicaid actually did not cut Medicaid.”
ReplyDeleteI think you meant -either- (1) “to deny... [it] actually cut Medicaid.” -or- (2) “to assert... [it] actually did not cut Medicaid.”
Otherwise the double negative, by “denying it actually did not cut Medicaid”, is affirming that it actually did — an act of honesty I doubt you are attributing to him.