Republicans have been working overtime to associate the problems at the Veterans Administration with the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare). It’s an association that makes no logical sense as the two programs are not remotely similar. But that didn’t stop neurosurgeon-turned-wingnut, Ben Carson, from joining the crusade of ignorami, and framing it in his own uniquely repulsive way.
Shameless self-promotion…
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In an interview with Fox News anchor Uma Pemmaraju, Carson went on one of his patented rhetorical demolition derbies, wherein ideology collides with fallacy to produce absurd mutations of reason. This is, after all, the same person who recently said that ObamaCare is “the worst thing since slavery.” Because everyone knows that servitude enforced by brutality is way better than having to endure access to affordable health care. It took Dr. Carson to explain it all for us. And that’s just what he did in this exchange on Fox News:
Pemmaraju: There are those who say that what’s happening now is also a preview of what we might see once the ObamaCare system is fully in place in this country. Do you say that? Do you agree with that point of view?
Carson: I think what’s happening with the veterans is a gift from God. To show us what happens when you take layers and layers of bureaucracy and place them between the patient and the health care provider. And if we can’t get it right with the relatively small number of veterans, how in the world are you gonna do it with the entire population? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.
Carson’s sanctimonious gratitude for the unnecessary tribulations caused by the VA’s deficiencies is surely not shared by the veterans who have suffered because of it. His remarks demonstrate a severe lack of sensitivity for the vets and their families. But more to the point, Carson has also demonstrated a gross misunderstanding of the health care provided by both the VA and ObamaCare.
The VA is a single-payer system wherein all of the facilities and the personnel are directly under the control of the government. The VA employs all of the doctors and owns all of the hospitals. And while the transgressions recently uncovered are serious, the VA as a whole has held a stellar reputation and a markedly high satisfaction rating by those it serves. Its recent difficulties can be attributed directly to the Bush wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to Republicans obstructing funding to expand the VA’s capabilities as the population it services has grown.
ObamaCare, on the other hand, is a free-market program where people acquire their own private insurance and they are free to choose whatever insurance plan they want. Their care is provided by doctors participating in the plan and, contrary to the delusions of conservative crackpots, the government has no role and there are no layers of bureaucracy whatsoever between the patient and the health care provider (except those imposed by the insurance company).
Consequently, Carson’s conclusion that the problems at the VA are proof that ObamaCare cannot succeed is utterly lacking reason or evidence. The two programs are far too dissimilar to compare. It’s like saying that the failure of gasoline to put out a fire is proof that water won’t make flowers grow. But Carson is right about one thing: “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.” And apparently it doesn’t help to be a brain surgeon either.
Hard to believe this guy was a neurosurgeon. His synapses don’t seem to be firing well. Maybe he ought to take his ACA healthcare and make an appointment to be checked for early Alzheimer’s. I know he’s the GOP poster boy for intelligent black men, but seriously. He hasn’t made a lick of sense since Fox hired him.
Good observation, Sally. He’s the GOPTPers’ Poster Boy for intelligent black men, and they also think that if they run him for POTUS, that most of us Black Americans will vote for him. We won’t because we know he’s just their mouthpiece, and that a President Ben Carson would be mean more for the one and two percenters and less for the 98 and 99 percenters. The major mistake the GOPTP has made in reference to Black Americans since President Obama was elected is their thinking that most of us voted for him because he’s black. The best way for them to test this theory is for them to run Condi Rice, Carson, West, Cain, Steele, or any other black GOPTPer and watch us NOT vote for any of them in large numbers. They underestimate us and why we voted for Obama, and as usual, they went straight to the superficial. According to GOPTPers, we either voted for President Obama because of his race of because we wanted him to “give” us something. This type of thinking is why it will remain very difficult for any GOPTPer politician to get a majority of the votes of Black Americans and other groups.
Meant to write, “A President Ben Carson would mean….”
The fact that Ben Carson became an instant celebrity on the right for being extremely and inappropriately rude to the president in a public forum tells one everything one needs to know about Carson and his followers. No class.
The statements this man makes are really just regurgitated republican talking-points. They make no sense and do not stand up to any sort of rational scrutiny. In other words being a brain surgeon does not guarantee that you’re not an idiot!
Mark, the ACA is NOT a free market system at all – if it was free market, there would be NO minimum, state mandated coverage requirements and there would be NO employer or individual mandates and it would have actually tried to get the insurance companies out of managing our care. You are so full of shit, but it does explain why leftists such as yourself and true free market supporters don’t see eye to eye – you can’t even grasp the most basic forms of freedom. Your dopey followers here will never challenge your “spin” on government programs, even when your spin is so blatantly clear, which suggests they really don’t think too much contrary to their own belief they are superior to all other ideological groups.
In the purest sense of what a free market is, you are correct. Most definitions of the free market I’ve seen refer to supply and demand without governmental interference. Gov’t interference can refer to influencing cost controls only or can refer to rules and regulations. However, off the top of my head I can’t think of anything that can be purchased or sold, to include services, in this country without some kind of regulation governing the transaction in the name of fairness, safety, national security, etc. So in that vane, we haven’t been in a free market society since snake oil salesman in the wild, wild west days. I’m sure you’re not advocating for that.
Most of what else you said sounded like an old man yelling “get off my lawn.” However, you did make a comment that peaked my interest when you said in order to be a true free market endeavor, the ACA would have tried to get the insurance companies out of managing our care. The public option would have done that or single payer/medicare for all would have done that. Since you aren’t about to go for that I guess you’re advocating for cash for services rendered by the medical profession. But if one can’t afford to get sick, that would mean a lot of needless suffering and deaths and as a civilized society, we have already ruled that out as an option. What else is there?
Psychological projection: The act or technique of defending oneself against unpleasant impulses by denying their existence in oneself, while attributing them to others. For example, Steve in York, “You are so full of shit,…”.