In a New York Times article this week, “Labor Campaigns Against Tax on Health Plans,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, “I have great hope that enough Democrats are going to wake up and say we should not thumb our noses at the American people and cram this down their throats, no matter what they think. It’s an act of incredible arrogance.” The phrase “cram this down their throats” seems to reflect some belief that Americans have not been given ample time to determine their views on the proposed health care reform legislation. On the contrary, there have been days of debate in the House and Senate, myriad commercials from advocacy groups, dozens of presidential press conferences and, yes, plenty of time to read the bill.
In order for McConnell to make such a claim, public opinion should be decidedly against health care. But despite the Republican campaign to defeat legislation that would cover more than 30 million uninsured Americans and reduce the federal deficit by around $100 billion over 10 years (these numbers vary for the House and Senate versions), a January 12 Gallup poll found 49 percent of Americans still support the reform proposals, while 46 percent oppose them.
If anyone has been thumbing his nose at the American people, it has been the Republicans with their continued barrage of demonstrably false attacks on the proposed health care legislation. This bombardment has included claims that government-run “death panels” would decide who lives or dies, reform would cover illegal immigrants and many others. (A complete list of myths and the facts proving them false is available here.) Such attacks demonstrate a lack of respect for Americans, who deserve to be told the truth about health care reform.
Health insurance lobbyists and Republicans in Congress have had more than enough time to persuade Americans that health care reform would cause them to lose their coverage, cripple the economy and institute socialized medicine in America. The time for supporters of affordable, accessible health care for all to act is now.
Weinberg junior Jordan Fein can be reached at [email protected].
