Well, I guess this kind of hypocrisy was expected (take it Washington Monthly's Steve Benen):
Take Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) of Iowa, for example. Few, if any, policymakers played as absurd a role in the reform process than Grassley. From advancing demonstrably ridiculous claims to forcing needless to delays to brazen hypocrisy and contradictions, the Iowa Republican has been an obnoxious and regressive force. Given that he was the Senate Republicans' point-man on health care, this was a problem.
With this context in mind, I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has long been a vocal critic of the Democrat's health reform efforts, but behind the scenes he's started taking credit for some provisions of the bill, and talking up his own role in crafting the legislation.
Sorry Steve, as a professional student of Republican cognitive dissonance and left and right legislator hypocrisy in general, the only surprise is the time it took.
And Chuckles ain't alone. John Kyl from the Democratic White People's Republic of the Transvaal Colon ...errr... Arizona is now pimping his own role in passage of a health care reform package, to wit:
Republicans responded to today’s swearing in of Dr. Don Berwick to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by condemning President Obama for recess appointing the nominee. [Kyl] claimed that Berwick will ration health care for American seniors, deny payment for services that were not cost effective and import British health care to America. But then, in an apparent effort to criticize Berwick’s view of prevention, Kyl took a turn for the unexpected and suddenly took credit for the preventive service provisions in the health law:
KYL: Another couple things about Dr. Berwick. He’s expressed disapproval for costly cutting-edge medical technologies and said prevention services like annual physicals, screening tests and other measures were over demanded. Well, one of the things we did in the health care legislation was to provide a lot of different incentives for preventive care, for screening to try to help people avoid illnesses on the theory that it would be a lot cheaper if we didn’t do a lot of treatment that was unnecessary.
Kyl’s use of the pronoun “we” is surprising, since every single Senate Republican voted against the preventive provisions in the health care bill when they voted against the measure, and many in the GOP now want to repeal the entire law — including the very preventive screenings that could “catch the disease.” Kyl is co-sponsoring a measure to repeal the entire law.
And even this is pretty tame compared to Dr. Death Panels himself, – House Minority Leader John Boehner – who now is taking credit for progressive health care reform provisions (take it away again, Steve):
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) spoke to NPR's Steve Inskeep this morning, and twice said Republicans would repeal the Affordable Care Act if given congressional majorities next year. (thanks to reader A.D.)
It led to an interesting exchange:
INSKEEP: As you know, Democrats are already pointing to things that are changing in America because of this bill. They will point to the fact that college seniors, who would have been kicked off their families' insurance plans when they graduated, will get to stay on. Insurance companies are now saying they're going to end the practice of "rescission," where they take, or at least modify...
BOEHNER: Both of those ideas, by the way, came from Republicans, and are part of the common sense ideas that we ought to have in the law.
That one hurt. Are you fzcking kidding me?
These people fought like rabid wolverines on crank against this law. And in fact, as previously noted, they already have legislation in the pipeline to repeal the whole damn thing. Boehner and his cadre in the House have made their careers fighting programs to help the working poor and the underemployed in this country from accessing health care... or just about any other kind of assistance for that fact.
What does this mean? Are there internal polling numbers from the RNC or the House and Senate campaign committees that show Americans approve of the law and that in fact Americans' support for the legislation has been on the rise?
Hmmm... could this be the reason Boehner has had a change of heart, even from his June 23 43 page opus: Obamacare: Three Months of Broken Promises?
I wonder what the excuse will be if a newly elected GOP controlled House and Senate then vote to repeal the whole thing. "David Inskeep had a gun, I was drugged and held in a basement interrogation cell at the National Press Building where I was waterboarded into saying I liked health care reform..."
After all this, I guess it just reaffirms what we've been saying here at the wire for ages... there is no floor.
I wonder if three of four months from now we are going to be here again, when the Senate finally extends unemployment benefits and the Republicans calling the poor a bunch of lazy hobos for not being able to create a job out wishful thinking a desperation will be pimping their support for extended benefits all along.
Why it was a Republican idea for economic stimulus all along!
You know it's coming. You can't hide. The only push back we have against it is vicious mockery, it's our only weapon, keep the safety off and a live round in the chamber.
mojo sends
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