Sixteen House Republicans Get Brief Glimpse into Real World
First of all, congratulations to the sixteen freshman House Republicans who volunteered to forfeit their own taxpayer-financed medical coverage. Even if it’s just a cheap publicity stunt, they’re learning something. Whatever their underlying motives, they’re stepping momentarily out of their cozy little bubble where every whim is catered to by taxpayers and corporate donors. They’re getting a brief glimpse of how the other ninety-eight percent lives.
The linked article names two of the sixteen House Republicans.
Richard Nugent (R—Florida) said:
“I have a niece who has pre-existing conditions, and I worry about her if she was ever to lose her job.”
Joe Walsh (R—Illinois) said his wife has a pre-existing condition and will be needing a medical procedure soon. He’s currently contributing to a medical savings account. He said:
“I can simply, honestly say that this is going to impact my wife and I to a fairly serious degree, like it would any average American out there…It’s a cost we will feel, a cost I will have to pick up. I won’t turn down benefits because I have something to fall back on or because I’m independently wealthy.”
Well, it’s a start. Hopefully a few more “Self Reliance!” Republicans will start practicing what they’ve been preaching.
Labels: Joe Walsh, Richard Nugent
posted by Tom Harper @ 4:42 PM
13 Comments:
Teah, it is a good thing. Maybe now they'll begin to understand why health care reform is so des-erately needed.
So a few of them have decided to not be hypocrites. Unfortunately most of them, like their hero Ayn Rand, will line up at the GUBMINT trough. Just ask Michele Bachmann, who has collected nearly a quarter of a million dollars in GUBMINT farm subsidies.
They'll be hypocrites because they CAN be hypocrites. They know how stupid their base is.
Don't buy the stunts.
Koch will cover these weasels when they need it.
They ain't like you and me.
They've already sold their souls.
My best guess is that they're preparing the ground to say that they're just like us, and if they can give it up, so can we.
Because we are all giving it up.
That was the meaning of Obamacare.
I don't get what their point is. Federal employees can use an exchange where they choose among various plans from different companies. With the exception of the one with a health savings account, they're still buying private-sector insurance. The exchange probably adds an element of competition, but I've never heard of it greatly reducing the price. If there is much of a price advantage, it's probably because they're allowed to buy as part of a large pool of insureds.
If they were eligible for full coverage at taxpayers' expense the way military members and their dependents are, these Republicans' choice to make their own arrangements would begin to make sense.
From the Politico story, it appears they're newly elected, so they've just come from where the rest of us are. Again, it's not like they've had years in Congress benefiting from a freebie setup.
Is this just window dressing or am I missing something?
Yeah, well, just don't hold your breathe.
Grandstanding should be called out when it is spotted. This is grandstanding. The amount of political hay they reap is what will matter to them in the long run, not their constituency.
Bah. If they were truly self-reliant, they'd work 36 jobs to pay for college to learn the intricacies of genetics in order to alter their own genes, thereby getting rid of the preexisting condition, but nooooo, they take the lazy hippie way out no wonder America's losing to the Russkies!
Dirty hippies.
we don't need healhcare reform we need medical insurance reform.
J: I hope this is the start of something, but I'm probably too optimistic.
JR: That's true, for every politician like the 2 in that article, there are hundreds of hypocrites.
Ex-Wiz: Good point, the Kochtopus will pay for their photo ops.
SW: It's probably just window dressing, but I have this incurable optimism.
Anonymous: I'm not.
MRM: Grandstanding, political hay -- yup, that sounds about right.
Randal: 36 jobs, is that all? Come on, slacker, you can do better than that.
Anon. 9:35 a.m.: Damn right.
Anon. 12:22 p.m.: True. For some reason it's always referred to as "health care reform" even though the insurance industry is the real problem.
Joe Walsh R-Illinois
You mean Rocky Mountain Way?
Erik
I agree with the rest, this is all an attempt to make these guys look like folksy guys who are just rolling their sleeves,making sacrifices, and buying hamburger helper with the rest of us. while "Ma" has her "roomatizm".
Most Congressmen come in pretty well set up these days. If not funded by their backers and PACTS. Former lucrative Private Incomes, born of privilege or even like Alan West, had a full Veteran's care and doesn't need Congressional Benefits -but is taking them anyway.
Comparing their Congressional benefits to that like a private employer shows how out of touch they are as you can't just vote for your employer how much benefits he's going to give you and pay for like they can.
Erik
Erik: Poor Joe Walsh; doesn't have health insurance, plus he lost his license and can't drive.
You're right, most of our "representatives" are either already wealthy and/or well-connected, and have no idea (or interest) in how the riffraff lives.
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