The Hypocrisy of Healthcare Protestors

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The hypocrisy of healthcare protestors

Editor's note: Glenn Greenwald is on vacation this week. Darren Hutchinson of Dissenting Justice is guest-blogging today.

In a previous post on my own blog, I questioned the seemingly sudden concern about the perils of "big government" among healthcare reform protestors. Many of these individuals undoubtedly failed to contest (and probably supported) governmental excess that led to "senseless wars, government regulation of uteruses, police intrusion into the bedrooms of consenting same-sex adults and the maddening state and federal governmental effort to make sure that Terry Schiavo remained in a persistent vegetative state." On Wednesday, an article distributed by the Associated Press confirmed my original understanding of the protestors' opposition to big government: It is selective and contradictory.

Big government for you, but not for me!

Although the Associated Press article does not analyze the irony of the protestors' positions, it nonetheless presents a factual basis for concluding that many of the activists suffer from selective opposition to big government. Consider the following passage:

Nancy Snyder says she kept quiet when abortion was legalized and prayer in schools was eliminated. Not this time.

"They did it for prayer, they did it for abortion, and they're not going to do it for our healthcare," the 70-year-old nurse from Philipsburg, Pa., said Wednesday as she and her husband Robert, 74, a retired coal miner, waited in a long, snaking line for Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter's town hall meeting.
Apparently, Snyder believes that it is perfectly fine for the government to dictate the reproductive choices of women and to force kids to pray in school. Expanding the availability of healthcare is outlandish. All of these situations, however, involve "big government."

Big government for me, but not for you!

Ironically, many of the people whom the article portrays as fuming over "socialized medicine" probably have state-sponsored health plans. Accordingly, if the protestors actually applied their anti-government rhetoric to their own lives, many of them would lose health insurance coverage or would have to spend a fortune to obtain it.

One protestor is a public school teacher, who undoubtedly has a public-sponsored health plan and pension (along with his salary). In other words, the individual is living on the taxation of others. Another person has a 74-year old husband, who is likely on Medicare -- the largest government-sponsored health plan. Even if these individuals have "private" plans provided by their employers, the public still pays for roughly 1/3 of the costs of these plans through favorable tax treatment (for further discussion, see here and here).
According to a recent Gallup report, only 13.3 percent of Americans with health insurance purchase their policies on the open market. The remaining individuals are enrolled in either state-sponsored plans or in employer plans that are heavily subsidized by state and federal tax policy. The notion of a free market in health insurance is a myth for the vast majority of Americans.

Big government for Bush, but not for Obama!

It also seems like many of the protestors have conveniently repressed their memories of George Bush's expansion of government, including his role in the expensive bailouts of the financial sectors and of the auto industry. Bush and Paulson proposed the financial sector bailout and ushered it through Congress. Bush also structured a $17.4 billion bailout for the auto industry, claiming authority to do so pursuant to the financial sector legislation. Despite this very recent history, the protestors apparently blame Obama exclusively:
For many opponents the health care overhaul amounts to the final straw. After seeing Obama bail out banks and car dealers, push a major energy bill and pass a $787 billion economic stimulus package that hasn't driven down unemployment, overhauling the $2.5 trillion U.S. health care system is a step too far.

Certainly, the fact that Bush also accelerated public spending and cut taxes simultaneously should have concerned these proud stewards of the national treasury, but only Obama's spending has caused them to mobilize. The protestors are acting, to use Ron Paul's language, like "born-again fiscal conservatives." If Obama is wrong for spending more during an economic downturn, Bush was definitely wrong for spending more while intentionally taking in less.

PS: After I wrote this article, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, became an even bigger hypocrite on the issue of healthcare reform. See: Today's Shameless Hypocrite Award Winner: Senator Charles Grassley
 
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no bigger hypcocrites than liberals, who not so long ago were marching and demonstrating their asses off, now calling conservatives who do the same hypsocritical and unamerican and unintelligent. go figure.
 

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Me thinks somebody has been drinking lefty Kool-aid...:drink:
 

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Meanwhile in the real world....What the Hell is this?

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/95MXQmjc7KQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/95MXQmjc7KQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
 

Conservatives, Patriots & Huskies return to glory
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I think the contradictions of the President and lies of Pelosi and Reid are more relevant, but I can't pretend to understand leftie logic.

Kinda like trying to understand a chick.

Imagine trying to understand an extreme leftie loonie chick like Maureen Dowd? now that would be some fucked up shit.

You couldn't even be sure if she actually thought about the words she chose to speak, she might just be practicing ventriloquism or something.

:ohno:
 

Yo Mama Does It
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no bigger hypcocrites than liberals, who not so long ago were marching and demonstrating their asses off, now calling conservatives who do the same hypsocritical and unamerican and unintelligent. go figure.

amen brother, they can dish it but can't take it. Liberals are like bullies that finally get their ass beat. They whine and cry about fairness. Fuck fairness. The world aint fair, the strong survive and the weak die. Deal with it.
 

Yo Mama Does It
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Or we just Quit!

Sincerely,

Sarah P

Hey i will give u that one because i am not a Palin fan in term of politics. i would do her but not vote for her. The other thing is that conservatives will eat our weak, not protect them like liberals do their cronies when they shit in their pants.
 

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Or we just Quit!

Sincerely,

Sarah P

Nope...Sarah wins her battles. :103631605

Senators exclude end-of-life provision from bill

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<!-- end .secondary-media -->
<!-- end .related-media --> <abbr title="2009-08-13T10:55:31-0700" class="timedate">Thu Aug 13, 1:55 pm ET</abbr>
<!-- end .byline --> WASHINGTON – Key senators are excluding a provision on end-of-life care from health overhaul legislation after language in a House bill caused a furor.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Thursday that the provision had been dropped from consideration because it could be misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly.
 

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Meanwhile in the real world....What the Hell is this?

<EMBED height=344 type=application/x-shockwave-flash width=425 src=http://www.youtube.com/v/95MXQmjc7KQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1 allowScriptAccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></EMBED>



Seriously? Honestly? This is the kind of garbage in the White House we got now?

Anyone who want's to rebuke my comment.......save your breath.


"Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan.
 

cunning linguist, master debator
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Robert Gibbs is a total arse clown...how he got that job, well, speaks volumes about Obamination
 

Honey Badger Don't Give A Shit
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A very pertinent point raised within the essay in the OP:


According to a recent Gallup report, only 13.3 percent of Americans with health insurance purchase their policies on the open market. The remaining individuals are enrolled in either state-sponsored plans or in employer plans that are heavily subsidized by state and federal tax policy. The notion of a free market in health insurance is a myth for the vast majority of Americans.
 

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Palin taking Obamacare down like a moose in the Alaskan wilderness:

Palin Responds to Dr. Death Panel: "How convenient that he disavowed his own work only after the nature of his scholarship was revealed"

Oh my. What are they going to do with Dear Sarah?

She's killing them with her honest analysis of their plan to nationalize health care.

Last night Rahmbo's brother "Dr. Death Panel" Ezekiel Emanuel attacked Sarah Palin on her death panel accusations saying the claims were "outrageous." Later in the day the Senate decided to remove the death panels from Obamacare legislation-- the same provision that Emanuel said was not included in the bill.

This morning Sarah Palin answers Zeke.

""How convenient that he disavowed his own work only after the nature of his scholarship was revealed."

Ouch!

Sarah's latest facebook posting continues to blow holes in the democrat's plan to takeover health care.

She's taking Obamacare down like a moose in the Alaskan wilderness:


I join millions of Americans in expressing appreciation for the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to remove the provision in the pending health care bill that authorizes end-of-life consultations (Section 1233 of HR 3200). It’s gratifying that the voice of the people is getting through to Congress; however, that provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation; it was just one of the more obvious ones.

As I noted in my statement last week, nationalized health care inevitably leads to rationing. There is simply no way to cover everyone and hold down the costs at the same time. The rationing system proposed by one of President Obama’s key health care advisors is particularly disturbing. I’m speaking of the “Complete Lives System” advocated by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the president’s chief of staff.

President Obama has not yet stated any opposition to the “Complete Lives System,” a system which, if enacted, would refuse to allocate medical resources to the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled who have less economic potential. [1]

Why the silence from the president on this aspect of his nationalization of health care? Does he agree with the “Complete Lives System”? If not, then why is Dr. Emanuel his policy advisor? What is he advising the president on? I just learned that Dr. Emanuel is now distancing himself from his own work and claiming that his “thinking has evolved” on the question of rationing care to benefit the strong and deny the weak. [2] How convenient that he disavowed his own work only after the nature of his scholarship was revealed to the public at large.

The president is busy assuring us that we can keep our private insurance plans, but common sense (and basic economics) tells us otherwise. The public option in the Democratic health care plan will crowd out private insurers, and that’s what it’s intended to do. A single payer health care plan has been President Obama’s agenda all along, though he is now claiming otherwise. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what he said back in 2003:

“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan.... A single payer health care plan – universal health care plan – that’s what I would like to see.” [3]...

Last year, I issued a proclamation for “Healthcare Decisions Day.” [6] The proclamation sought to increase the public’s knowledge about creating living wills and establishing powers of attorney. There was no incentive to choose one option over another. There was certainly no financial incentive for physicians to push anything. In fact, the proclamation explicitly called on medical professionals and lawyers “to volunteer their time and efforts” to provide information to the public.

Comparing the “Healthcare Decisions Day” proclamation to Section 1233 of HR 3200 is ridiculous. The two are like apples and oranges. The attempt to link the two shows how desperate the proponents of nationalized health care are to shift the debate away from the disturbing details of their bill.

There is one aspect of this bill which I have not addressed yet, but it’s a very obvious one. It’s the simple fact that we can’t afford it. But don’t take my word for it. Take the word of Doug Elmendorf, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. He told the Senate Budget Committee last month...

There's more.
Go Sarah!
Posted by Gateway Pundit
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/08/palin-responds-to-dr-death-panel-how.html

@)
 

Honey Badger Don't Give A Shit
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Combining discussion of the imaginary "death panel" provision of current health care reform legislation with the imaginary notion that Sarah The Quitter is still relevant anywhere outside Facebook makes for a Kook Exacta!

Those holding the proper ticket should proceed to the Payout window and get your cash.
 

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Combining discussion of the imaginary "death panel" provision of current health care reform legislation with the imaginary notion that Sarah The Quitter is still relevant anywhere outside Facebook makes for a Kook Exacta!

Those holding the proper ticket should proceed to the Payout window and get your cash.
Get her Obarma. I can just see that vein in your neck bulging with Sarah hate.~~:<<That's it, whip the bitch.
 

Honey Badger Don't Give A Shit
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Get her Obarma. I can just see that vein in your neck bulging with Sarah hate.~~:<<That's it, whip the bitch.

I appreciate the sentiment, but that's not my NECK that's bulging

On Barman's FantasyIsland, Sarah the Quitter is bent over a stack of pillows in a nice cool breeze room with an ocean view.

And she's talking non-stop, "Golly, oh my, that ol' media is just making stuff up about me and I think we really need to get up a fresh Facebook post to set them straight!!" as I'm pouring in the Modestly Endowed (but very enthusiastic) Li'l Barman

Afterwards, she promises to keep playing the dumb bitch if I promise to keep the reporters away from our private Island retreat

Meanwhile, we both feel naughty about being Heaths and doing it like bunnies.


And then we live happily ever after
 

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