Health Care’s Biggest Hypocrite — Or Hero
By TIMOTHY EGAN
NYT
For Democrats who see their political prospects this year as a tossup between catastrophic and merely horrible, there is hope on the horizon from a most unlikely source. No, not Rush Limbaugh, who recently praised his medical experience in the government-mandated, heavily unionized health care system of Hawaii. Mahalo to him.
One of the most prominent supporters of the main ideas behind the health care plan passed by the Democratic Senate is a top Republican prospect for president in 2012 — Mitt Romney.
He is not, of course, backing the Democrats. No, that would be political suicide. But until recently, he proudly claimed paternity for sweeping changes in Massachusetts that look an awful lot like Obamacare, as it will be known for the next two election cycles.
For now, the public doesn’t have a clue about Republican contributions to the biggest proposed change in American social policy in a generation. No surprise. Not a single one voted for the Senate bill.
Instead, the party’s voice has been dominated by people who make things up, and then condemn the rhetorical phantoms of their making. For that kind of skillful ventriloquism, Sarah Palin was recently awarded the “Lie of the Year” from Politifact.com, the public policy fact-checking service. She got a rare “Pants on Fire” designation for her whopper about nonexistent death panels.
(More here.)
NYT
For Democrats who see their political prospects this year as a tossup between catastrophic and merely horrible, there is hope on the horizon from a most unlikely source. No, not Rush Limbaugh, who recently praised his medical experience in the government-mandated, heavily unionized health care system of Hawaii. Mahalo to him.
One of the most prominent supporters of the main ideas behind the health care plan passed by the Democratic Senate is a top Republican prospect for president in 2012 — Mitt Romney.
He is not, of course, backing the Democrats. No, that would be political suicide. But until recently, he proudly claimed paternity for sweeping changes in Massachusetts that look an awful lot like Obamacare, as it will be known for the next two election cycles.
For now, the public doesn’t have a clue about Republican contributions to the biggest proposed change in American social policy in a generation. No surprise. Not a single one voted for the Senate bill.
Instead, the party’s voice has been dominated by people who make things up, and then condemn the rhetorical phantoms of their making. For that kind of skillful ventriloquism, Sarah Palin was recently awarded the “Lie of the Year” from Politifact.com, the public policy fact-checking service. She got a rare “Pants on Fire” designation for her whopper about nonexistent death panels.
(More here.)
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