First Door on the Left

I mentioned a while back that I had somehow found myself on the mailing list of The Washington Times. By way of that mailing list, I received the following this morning… “Republican National Committee Future of American Health Care Survey.” I believe this is what is commonly referred to as a push poll. At any rate, I thought you would get a kick out of some of the questions. I know I did. (My answers follow their questions in italics.)

• Do you believe that the state of America’s health care system is in crisis? Yes.
• Do you believe that your health care decisions should be made by you and your doctor, and not government bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.? No. I believe my health care decisions should be made by some health insurance company lackey sitting in a cubicle somewhere in Wilmington, Delaware.
• Do you believe it is right for the federal government to use age and life expectancy as criteria for determining access to health care? No. If anyone were actually proposing something this silly, I believe I’d be concerned. I’m not.
• Estimates show that the Democrats’ plan could cost more than $1.6 trillion dollars. Do you believe that America can afford this added debt when the deficit has already reached record levels? Whose estimates? The cost of doing nothing will be much, much higher.
• Rationing of health care in countries with socialized medicine has led to patients dying because they were forced to wait too long to receive treatment. How concerned are you that this would be inevitable in the U.S. under the Democrats’ plan? Not concerned at all, actually, because the Democratic plan does not propose anything even approaching socialized medicine. Besides, patients are already dying in the United States as they wait for care to be approved by the “profit first” insurance companies.
• Do you believe the federal Government can provide better health insurance than your current plan? None of your business. If I do believe that, then I’ll choose the public option. Otherwise, I’ll just stick with what I have now.
• Does it concern you that the Democrats tried to ram health care legislation through Congress THIS SUMMER to limit the American people’s opportunity to evaluate it? It concerns me that these American people of whom you speak just began to be concerned about the state of their health care THIS SUMMER. The Democrats have been talking about the need to improve it since the days of FDR.
• Does it concern you that the liberal media has gone to unprecedented levels to only give Obama’s views on health care reform and no one else’s? There you go playing the victim card again. Nobody pays attention to the poor little Republicans. Bull. Watched any Fox News lately? Read The Washington Times? Get over it.

I guess The Washington Times must be part of that awful “liberal media” to which they allude in the final question.

I have posted the e-mail message from RNC chairman Michael Steele that accompanied this so-called survey after the break. It’s really quite amazing.

Dear Fellow Conservative,

We do need health care reform in America, but there is a right way — and a wrong way — to go about it.

President Obama and Congressional Democrats want a government-run health care system that puts a Washington bureaucrat between American families and their doctors.

Their first thought was to try to rush a bill to the White House before Congress left Washington for August recess, and now we know why.

The American people have had a chance to read for themselves what President Obama and his Democrat allies in Congress intend for our health care and have been letting them know, loud and clear, in townhall meetings and national polls, that they don’t like it at all.

But the Obama Democrats have circled the wagons, stung and angry that the people dare presume to tell them what kind of health care they want. So Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid will be coming back to Washington to show the American people they won’t let a little thing like public outrage get between them and their desire for socialist control over our lives.

Barack Obama and congressional Democrats think government is the solution to every problem. They’re wrong.

The government already runs car companies, banks and mortgage companies. Republicans believe that the last thing the American people want is government telling them when and where — or even whether — they can get medical treatment for their families.

That’s why we need you to help us keep the heat on the Democrats, and keep them accountable to the American people.

The RNC believes your voice should be heard before the Obama Democrats nationalize almost one fifth of our economy, incur trillions of dollars in new spending and debt, and begin rationing health care to the American people.

Your opinion on the many domestic and foreign policy issues that America faces has been vital. The future of health care in America is so important — especially as Obama Democrats are moving swiftly to bring European-style socialized medicine here — that I am asking for more of your grassroots insight today.

That’s why I hope you will take a moment right now to fill out online our Future of American Health Care survey. Your input will help Republican leaders in Washington, D.C. and across America know where you stand on the Obama Democrats’ nationalized health care plans and the Republican alternative.

And, after you complete your survey, please take this opportunity to make a secure online contribution of $1,000, $500, $100, $50 or $25 to help support our efforts to combat the Democrats’ attempt to impose “Obamacare” on all of us.

You and the RNC are all that stand between our sensible Republican plan for real health care reform and the Democrats’ scheme to take more of your hard-earned income to pay for other people’s health care while limiting yours.

So please complete your Future of American Health Care survey online right now and support our efforts to ensure our health care freedoms by making a special RNC contribution if you can. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Michael Steele
Chairman, Republican National Committee

P.S. GOP leaders in Congress are counting on the input of grassroots Republicans like you to help in the fight for sensible, responsive health care reform. Please fill out your Future of American Health Care survey online right now and make a special contribution of $1,000, $500, $100, $50 or $25 to help us stop “Obamacare” before it’s too late. Thank you.

That was fun, wasn’t it? [Again, the emphasis was theirs.]

The goal of the Republican party is not so much to stop health care reform. The goal of the Republican party is to cripple the presidency of Barack Obama. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) admitted that when he famously said “If we’re able to stop Obama on this it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” To them, the health of you and your family is just collateral damage.

The August recess is almost over. September is already upon us. Congress will soon be back in session. Look for more lies, distortions and blatant misinformation from the right side of the aisle. Believe me, it’s coming. With a vengeance.
 

Tags: health care, Republicans, right wing noise machine