G
Guns Guns Guns
Guest
To understand what a dangerous and reactionary force the Republican Party has become, you need to look no further than its jack-booted opposition to the idea that, in the 21st century, all Americans deserve access to affordable health care.
Republican opposition to Obamacare, the popular name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed by Congress in 2010 and constitutionally certified by the US Supreme Court last week, is so visceral, so widespread, and so unhinged that it makes 1960s-era opponents of racial equality seem almost reasonable in comparison.
The Republican party line on Obamacare is rooted in profound ignorance and breathtaking cynicism.
But it is one of the mysteries of the national political psyche that granting everyone access to a doctor is still considered as subversive as, say, same-sex marriage.
That is not how the rest of the educated, industrialized world sees it. Truth be told, the US has the most expensive and least accessible health care in the developed world.
Perhaps it's America's Puritan heritage. If you don't have a job that provides health benefits, and if you can't afford to pay for your own insurance, then maybe you deserve to get sick.
Beyond the hypocrisy of claiming that a Republican-birthed idea is dangerously un-American, beyond the shame of committing itself to denying tens of millions of uninsured Americans the practical benefits of health care, the Republican intransigence to Obamacare is an exercise in nihilism.
Look into the heart and soul of the GOP and you see a void. The Republican Party is committed to the destruction of anything that stands between itself and absolute power.
http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/140933-rx-republican-style/#ixzz1zbOmEWXA
Republican opposition to Obamacare, the popular name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed by Congress in 2010 and constitutionally certified by the US Supreme Court last week, is so visceral, so widespread, and so unhinged that it makes 1960s-era opponents of racial equality seem almost reasonable in comparison.
The Republican party line on Obamacare is rooted in profound ignorance and breathtaking cynicism.
But it is one of the mysteries of the national political psyche that granting everyone access to a doctor is still considered as subversive as, say, same-sex marriage.
That is not how the rest of the educated, industrialized world sees it. Truth be told, the US has the most expensive and least accessible health care in the developed world.
Perhaps it's America's Puritan heritage. If you don't have a job that provides health benefits, and if you can't afford to pay for your own insurance, then maybe you deserve to get sick.
Beyond the hypocrisy of claiming that a Republican-birthed idea is dangerously un-American, beyond the shame of committing itself to denying tens of millions of uninsured Americans the practical benefits of health care, the Republican intransigence to Obamacare is an exercise in nihilism.
Look into the heart and soul of the GOP and you see a void. The Republican Party is committed to the destruction of anything that stands between itself and absolute power.
http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/140933-rx-republican-style/#ixzz1zbOmEWXA