Your Daily Dose of Health Care Reform Stupidity

Sen. Tom Coburn, ladies and gentlemen, never afraid to lie for the cause:

Sen. Tom Coburn, a right-wing Republican from Oklahoma, is apparently not above callous opportunism. He saw headlines about mammogram screening, headlines about a proposed tax on elective cosmetic surgery, and in his drive to kill health care reform, decided to combine some disparate talking points.

[Yesterday], Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, who is a physician and staunchly opposed to this legislation, suggested on the Senate floor that a woman would be taxed if she had breast reconstruction surgery following cancer.
"In this bill is a 5% tax on cosmetic surgery," Coburn said. "Just yesterday -- the day before yesterday, U.S. preventive task forces, services, recommended because it's not cost effective that women under 50 not get mammograms unless they have risk factors. Well, you tell that to the thousands of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer lat last -- last year under 50 with a mammogram. You tell them it's not cost effective. Also in this bill is a 5% tax on the breast reconstruction surgery after they had a mastectomy. They're going to tax having your breast rebuilt after your breast is taken off because it is elective plastic surgery. It is elective cosmetic surgery. We're going to have a tax on it because we've taxed elective cosmetic surgery. We're in trouble as a nation because we've taken our eye off the ball."

As Republican lies on health care go, this one's pretty despicable.

For one thing, Coburn doesn't understand what the Preventive Services Task Force said -- the mammogram recommendation had to do with research-based standards, not cost.

More important, though, the legislation's provision on a 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgery clearly excludes procedures for those with congenital abnormalities, disfiguring diseases, or traumatic injuries. Anyone requiring reconstructive surgery resulting from accidents or diseases would be exempt.

There is no "5% tax on the breast reconstruction surgery after they had a mastectomy." Coburn's making it up, hoping no one notices how offensive his lying really is.

Send that around to all the Cons you know.  Rub their noses in how disgusting their little heroes are.

Meanwhile, we're gearing up for a big vote in the Senate.  Who's on board?  Nelson's deigned to allow proceedings to proceed, but only for now.  Landrieu and her bestest buddy Blanche are still dithering.  I have a suggestion for the Dem leadership: stop giving them shit to make them stop digging in their heels.  All they're doing is milking you for all they're worth, and giving you fuck-all in return.  Don't encourage them.  We've made compromises.  We're done.  Tell them to put up or shut up. 

And also let them know what happens to Dems who vote against health care bills like good little Con tools.  They get fucked over anyway:

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.), who is considered a vulnerable House incumbent next year, voted against health care reform two weeks ago. She'd been under fire from the National Republican Congressional Committee, and when push came to shove, Kosmas sided with the GOP on the bill.

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell wrote a column recently about how Kosmas' vote didn't stop the Republican attacks.

Democrat Suzanne Kosmas may have irritated her liberal base when she voted against Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill. But she also backed the National Republican Congressional Committee into a corner ... at least she would have if the party hacks had any shame or integrity.

For months, the NRCC had been sending out releases, asking whether Kosmas had the courage to do the right thing (in its mind anyway) and stand up to "Pelosi's health-care takeover."

Well, she did. She voted against it.

This apparently confused the simpletons at the NRCC, who don't know how to do anything but gripe. So now, they are continuing to bash her on the topic, saying: OK, she may have done what they wanted -- but not for the reasons they wanted. So they still hate her.

And the constituents of these Conservadems may not want their reps voting for the bill, but they don't want them voting against cloture, either.  So fucking vote for fucking cloture, you fucking idiots.

Thank you.

News for all those morons who're on about the size of the bill: those 2,000 pages are actually about the size of Sarah Palin's work of fiction in regular double-spaced type.  So shut the fuck up about how big it is.

So, it appears the White House is in favor of the Senate bill, and in even better news, Wyden's putting forward an amendment to give more folks access to the public option.  I hope that amendment passes, but with its success riding on the whims of the Conservadems, I'm not optimistic. 

If you think all of the shit going on around this health care reform effort is a fiasco, you need to hop in the wayback machine and recall the circus surrounding the Cons' passage of Medicare Part D.  At least Dems are paying for their bill and fucking the democratic process over in order to get it passed. 

And, finally, Teabaggers are returning to D.C. for yet another rally against health care reform.  I'm having a heart attack from not surprised - I hope that doesn't mean my coverage will be rescinded.