January 21, 2014

Republican Track Record Never Counts*

 

During the Iraq war, I was mystified that no matter how big of a disaster it became, Republican after Republican popped up on the news shows and defended
During the Iraq war, I was mystified that no matter how big of a disaster it became, Republican after Republican popped up on the news shows and defended it and justified it, even though Saddam Hussein did not have any WMDs which was the whole pretext for the war. For years, despite the daily violence, bombings and bloodshed, Republicans - "pro-life" Republicans - stuck to the script with a straight face and declared, "we're making progress."

Of course, they turned whatever good news there was, such as an election or a school re-opening, into the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve combined (the right does the same thing with climate change and frigid January temperatures). And they got away with it because it was progress!

You'd think Republicans would have been afraid to go on television at the time because they would have looked foolish trying to defend the indefensible and their Congressional vote for the war. But you'd be wrong because they knew their spin and propaganda weren't going to be challenged. So they ran to the studios without remorse or embarrassment and defended the indefensible, as well as their vote. And they got away with every word of it. Speaks volumes about our so called "liberal media."

The double standards are glaring. Because if Saddam Hussein actually had WMDs, and the war ended in a matter of weeks with few if any American casualties, and a stable, secular, democratic Iraqi government that defended minority rights took hold, and our troops came home in matter of months, and a Starbucks and McDonalds were opening on every street corner in Baghdad, Republicans would have trumpeted it every hour on the hour, for years. And talk of George Bush being added to Mount Rushmore would have been floated.

They also would have pounded the Democrats who voted against the war as being wrong wrong wrong and made damn sure they were shammed into hiding. And if anti-war Democrats did go on television and tried to defend the indefensible, they would have been challenged and looked foolish trying to spin their way out of it.

This is how things work nowadays.

I was reminded of this over the last year or so because Republicans are getting away with the same thing but in much wider context regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as "Obamacare."

As this blog has shown over and over and over and over again, the Republican "Party" is not a legitimate political party at all. It's not even an incompetent political party (if only). It's a total fraud clown show, or more seriously, a theocratic fundamentalist cult/political terrorist organization. Or worse. So the only way they can win is by attacking the credibility of Democrats, liberals (all three of them), government, government workers, climate change scientists, Lyndon Johnson, or whoever the enemy of the hour happens to be. Without any serious policy initiatives or ideas sense of responsibility and desire to govern (insert laughter here), vial, inflammatory rhetoric is all they have. So out of nothing but spite and hardcore partisan politics, Republicans have to oppose, block and attack Obama, no matter what. And Obamacare was, and is, no different.

They tried scaring the country by saying Obamacare had death panels, which wasn't true (did I really have to say so?). But it was an ironic charge lie since we've been working under a heath care system that already had death panels. For decades. They're called not having health insurance.

Republicans also said that Obamacare will increase premiums and costs, and cause Americans to lose coverage and their doctors. But skyrocketing premiums and deductibles and loss of coverage and doctors has been going on for the last thirty years!

If anyone's taking insurance away, it would be Republicans. Because if Paul Ryan had his way, between 14 and 20 million Medicaid recipients would have lost their insurance. And Republican governors have refused federal funding, within Obamacare, to expand Medicaid. And that will prevent millions of Americans from getting health insurance (the GOP talking point that it would cost the states more in the long run is a lie. In fact, by failing to accept the money and expanding Medicaid, it will wind up costing the states billions of dollars. Typical Republican cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face "logic.").

Republicans are also outraged that Obamacare takes away "choice." The GOP has a lot of nerve throwing that word around, but HMO's and "managed care" took away health care choices a long time ago.

So for the last five years, Republicans have made it sound as if we had the best, most efficient and cost effective health care system in the world that every American had access to. And Obama had nothing better to do than mess it all up. It would be like a homeless person complaining and complaining and complaining about an apartment he was given...before he even stepped into it.

So when Republicans go on television and complain about Obamacare's "death panels" or higher costs, or loss of coverage, doctor or "choice," why doesn't the host tell him or her that's how it's always been? Why doesn't the host mention Paul Ryan's "plan"? Why doesn't the host bring up the Republican governors who, out of spite, are blocking millions of poor Americans from getting insurance? And why doesn't the host bring up the fact that the idea behind the Affordable Care Act is to make sure everyone has solid insurance that can not be taken away?

And since throwing stones is much easier than picking them up, if Republicans have such a problem with Obamacare, why aren't they ever asked for their plan, an alternative to Obamacare, without using the terms "less government," "competition," and "tax cuts" (because that's not a plan. That's their standard "answer" for everything.)?

And why aren't Republicans asked, "can we at least see if Obamacare works before it's repealed? Or is it that you just want Obamacare to fail miserably, out of spite?"

But Republicans aren't asked any of these questions because they're never called out and never challenged. So they'll gladly go on news shows and blast Obamacare because they know they'll get away with their lies, attacks, hypocrisy and propaganda, just like they did with Iraq.

But this isn't even my main point. It's this: with the Republican Party's track record of not only being wrong about everything, but couldn't be more wrong about everything, why are GOP attacks and predictions about Obamacare taken seriously?

For instance:

Can you imagine if Democrats had a record like this? My God, there would no longer be a Democratic Party anymore; the Republicans Party, with the help of their massive right-wing propaganda machine, would have made sure of it. Heck, the Democrats would have been finished after 9/11.

As far as health care is concerned, the Republican's "answer" is, surprise, surprise, "competition" and "the free market." But other than some needed regulations, that's exactly what Obamacare is. Millions of American are being forced to enter health care exchanges (competition!) and buy insurance from private insurance companies! That's what Republicans are always screaming for, did propose in 1993, and what Mitt Romney implemented in Massachusetts in 2006. And Republicans aren't called out on any of that either.

But for the last 100 years, we've allowed private industry and the "free market" to design, manage and administer our health care system with little to no government regulation. And free of those government "shackles," they've given us an employer-based, Rube Goldberg system that's not only the most asinine, expensive, bureaucratic, ineffective and inefficient health care system in the world - made up of HMO's, skyrocketing premiums, rising deductibles, co-pays, mandatory referral requirements, benefit caps, "pre-existing conditions," "claim rescissions," insane prescription drug prices and hospital CEO's and executives who make almost $1 million a year, or more - but left tens of millions of Americans without insurance and medical care. Heck of a job by the "free market," huh?

And since private industry was doing such a bang up job insuring and caring for Americans, "big government" had to step in a few times over the last 50 years and fill part of the void with Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and the Veterans Administration.

And Republicans opposed Medicare because they said it would lead to "rationing" and "socialized medicine." Turns out, they weren't just wrong, they couldn't have been more wrong because Medicare, as well as Medicaid, not only work, but are more cost effective than private insurance!

Also, Medicare Advantage, the private, mostly for-profit alternative to standard Medicare, which uses "market forces" to "compete" with Medicare, hasn't exactly cut costs. Meanwhile, Obamacare is not only cutting the costs of health care and insurance, but is a "godsend" for conservatives who hate Obama.

The bottom line is, if our private, for-profit health care system is so wonderful, and (boogoody boogoody boo!) "socialized medicine" and single-payer are so bad - people die waiting in line! as if that doesn't happen here - why aren't the people in the rest of the industrialized world tearing down the walls of their governments demanding a switch to an American-style health care system?

Case closed.

So Republicans haven't just been wrong about what an unregulated "free market," Obamacare, "big government," socialized medicine and single-payer have done and can do for health care, they couldn't have been more wrong !

So just like the Iraq war, you'd think Republicans would be afraid to go on television and blast Obamacare; not only because their "facts" would be challenged, and their lies, attacks, hypocrisy and propaganda would be exposed, and because they just might be asked for their health care plan, but because their party's sorry ass track record on health care, and everything else, would count. And they'd look foolish trying to spin their way out of it.

But, like Iraq, they're not challenged and they're not exposed. And they know they won't be. They never are. So, like Iraq, they run to the studios - the liberal media's studios - with their lies, attacks, hypocrisy and propaganda. And their track record never, ever, counts.

Meanwhile, the insurance industry, with their history of dropping coverage, denying coverage, canceling coverage and escalating costs goes unmentioned while Obama and Obamacare have taken a political hit because the web site didn't work.

See how things work? When government fails, Republicans score political points and Democrats get the blame because they have to run government, and Obamacare, perfectly. But when the private sector fails...crickets.

So the double standards are exponential. As I wrote in this post:

...despite 9/11, despite how wrong and disastrous the Iraq war was, and despite what tax cuts (budget deficits), deregulation (Wall Street), unenforced regulation (the BP oil spill), and the "free market" (our asinine health care system, Lehman Brothers, Enron, Bernie Madoff, etc.) have done to the country, the Republican Party, because of this double standard, is never held accountable.

Imagine where the Democratic Party would be with a record like that.

As I've said many times in this blog, Republicans remind me of a couple of lines in a Honeymooners episode. The one where Ralph tries to convince Alice to give him money so he can appear on a TV commercial and sell the "Handy-Dandy-Kitchen Helper." Alice was against it because of Ralph's disastrous track record of "crazy hair-brained schemes."

Ralph: No one's a hundred percent, Alice.
Alice: You are. You've been wrong every time.

Self-righteous Republicans and arrogant "know-it-all" conservatives think they're superior to everyone else because they know better, about everything, from the economy and the deficit, to health care and guns. But nothing can be further from the truth because Republicans and conservatives haven't been right about anything since...since...since...

And they've gotten away with it because they still come off as the authority on everything, despite having all the credibility of a three dollar bill.

Less, actually.

So the next time a Republican, who has great health insurance, paid in part by taxpayers, goes on television and says Obamacare won't work, will increase costs and predicts its demise, I'd love for a liberal host in the liberal media to ask him or her, "with your party having a record that's been consistently wrong on health care, and everything else, why should anyone bother listening to you?"

Hey, if the Iraq war was an overwhelming success, the Democrats who opposed it would have lost all their credibility on just that alone. The Republican Party would have made sure of it. And that goes for liberal columnists and bloggers who opposed the war as well. So why aren't Republicans, and conservative pundits, held to the same standards when they couldn't be more wrong all the time? (February 3 insert: more here.)

Great question. Perhaps the "liberal media" will investigate.

Note: It's not entirely the media's fault that Republicans get away with their lies, attacks, hypocrisy, propaganda and double standards. It's the Democrat's fault. They've been saps, all rolled up in the fetal position, afraid to stand up to Republicans. And that has allowed the GOP, and the right, to play by their own rules, usurp more power than they deserve, and become a massive cult.

January 28 insert: I was wrong, Republicans do have a health care plan. It's "If you like your plan, you'd pay more for it."


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# posted by Steve


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