Mitch McConnell is seriously arguing that repealing ObamaCare would have no impact on the Kentucky health exchange which just signed up hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians. This would be amusing if wasn’t such a giant insult to everyone’s intelligence.
I guess he’s kind of boxed in, but is he seriously going to try to carry forward this fraud all the way from now until November?
Probably. The Kentucky voters think it’s something else, not Obamacare.
Serious Question: Why do you think this won’t work?
While objectively stupid, it’s politically savvy on McConnell’s part. Defuses any potential advantage that Grimes could get from KyNect without spilling the beans to KY residents that Obamacare = KyNect. Kentuckians hate Obamacare and love KyNect and Grimes has endorsed that position.
I have no doubt that they’d turn on KYNect in a second. I warned the internet that not forcing this issue in Kentucky was a mistake.
Grimes has jabbed Mitch hard with her statement that she’s a strong, independent (of Obama) Kentucky woman so she may step gingerly toward a counter on this but it’s so noxious a statement that surely she’ll find a way to expose Mitch and still maintain her independence.
That’s what independent groups are for…
Absolutely. She needs to get a “KYNect Truther” group going, which puts out ads telling the truth.
The entire political discussion around the Affordable Care Act is anti-factual. Because the ACA/Obamacare is unpopular in polls, Grimes is taking the politically pragmatic strategy of refusing to say if she would have voted for it if she had been in the Senate in 2010. Does Grimes name a major portion of the law she would like to see repealed? No. Yet she must keep up this kabuki, because the well has been so thoroughly poisoned.
I believe this leaves Grimes’ ACA position much less exposed than McConnell’s openly fraudulent one. Both positions are a bit ridiculous, though, because the public’s position on the ACA is VERY ridiculous:
“As previous Kaiser tracking polls have found, many of the ACA’s major provisions continue to be quite popular, including across party lines. For example, large shares of Americans – including at least seven in ten overall and at least six in ten Democrats, Republicans, and independents – have a favorable view of the fact that the law allows young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans up to age 26, closes the Medicare “doughnut hole” for prescription drug coverage, provides subsidies to low- and moderate-income Americans to help them purchase coverage, eliminates cost-sharing for preventive services, gives states the option of expanding Medicaid, and prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Nearly as many (including a majority across parties) have a favorable view of the “medical loss ratio” provision that requires insurance companies to give their customers a rebate if they spend too little money on services and too much on administration and profits. Somewhat more divisive is the law’s Medicare payroll tax on earnings for upper-income Americans, which is viewed favorably by about three-quarters of Democrats and just over half of independents, but just a third of Republicans…
“Misperceptions also persist about things the ACA does not actually do. For example, nearly half the public (46 percent) think the law allows undocumented immigrants to receive financial help from the government to buy health insurance, and another two in ten (22 percent) are unsure whether it does. A third of the public (34 percent, including 32 percent of seniors) believe the law establishes a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare, with another quarter saying they are unsure (23 percent of the public, 25 percent of seniors).”
http://kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-march-2014/
This is what an expensive, sustained, vicious propaganda campaign will buy you.
“) believe the law establishes a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare,”
Well, it does. Not on an individual basis but on a group basis. This will, undoubtably, result in “best practices” to reduce senior care to save money. But, no, there is no Death Panel deciding individual cases.
It is inaccurate to claim the ACA reduces senior care. The ACA actually increases access to palliative care and hospice services. Importantly, it does this for both those insured by Medicare and by private insurance plans. The Medicare financial advisory panels are intended to establish best practices in terms of efficient use of Medicare funds. The term “best practices” is not synonymous with “reduced senior care.”
Ironically, the shouting about fantasy “death panels” during Congress’ deliberations on the ACA killed a provision of the law which would have given patients more informed control of their end-of-life care. That provision would have paid doctors for providing voluntary counseling to Medicare patients about end-of-life care options. The loss of this provision, along with the poisoning of the atmosphere around these patient/doctor discussions, has hurt many Americans’ care and destroyed the peace of mind of patients and their families.
Nothing else Sarah Palin has said and done has caused as much cruel harm as this.
Oh there are death panels – the Republican governors and state legislatures who have refused to expand Medicaid in their states.
“hospice service”? I know all about hospice service, you leave the sick person to starve to death in a drug coma while charging $270 a day until the person finally dies. What a barbaric ritual! It would be much kinder to just inject a lethal dose of drugs. That’s considered “cruel and unusual” when applied to baby rapists while we give a crueler death to our seniors. My wife and I have sworn never to let those bastards get their hands on us. We will take care of each other while we can. When we cannot we will down all our potassium and other heart pills at once, washing them down with whiskey.
You do NOT “know all about hospice service.” Many hospice programs provide lengthy end-of-life care which reduces pain and discomfort, keeps the person at life’s end and their family well-informed, and exhibits great, soulful, skilled care. My sister-in-law died of cancer far too young last year; her hospice nurses were a blessing- totally invaluable.
I’m sorry your hospice experience/experiences were painful. Just know not all experiences match the one you describe here.
BULLSHIT! I watched them murder my Mother. YOU don’t know what you are talking about.
I’m so sorry for your loss, and for your experiences.
It’s even more ridiculous than you point out, since Kynect is very popular in Kentucky, but “apparently” most Kentuckyans don’t realize that it is, in fact, ACA/Obamacare.
The question right now seems to be whether KY candidates will even campaign on the success of Kynect itself (without even mentioning Obamacare).
Greg Sargent describes the current state of play:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/05/23/defending-obamacare-on-deep-red-turf/
I would do an ad with someone who has new health insurance every other day. And, the end of the ad would be the same question..
DO YOU REALIZE THAT MITCH MCCONNELL WANTS TO TAKE THAT INSURANCE AWAY FROM YOU?
every day…all day long, on tv and radio.
Short answer YES
I don’t see why not. He’s white. He’s a guy. There’s an ‘R’ after his name. He’s more than halfway home already…
I’d like to add that McConnell has a history of making dishonest statements and none of these have seem to hurt him at the polls…so why not just continue to lie his ass off? It works.
I don’t think he has a choice–this is the hand he decided to bid on long before it was dealt, no? Now that he sees the cards, is he going to fold? Oh , the hell no. A true sob of the south would not could not for an election, would not could not for, a thing that might rhyme but is another word that sounds like “election”. What I am saying is McConnell would not quit for love or money because he ikes himself just that much.