Michelle Bachmann: "Nobody is forced to buy a car"

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

She's on Piers Morgan tonight. Morgan just asked her if she has car insurance and she said 'yes'. Then he twice asked her why it's wrong to require health insurance but not wrong to require car insurance. Her response was that no one is forcing people to have a car and that you don't have to drive one. If you don't want car insurance, don't own a car. She contrasts that with health insurance where participation is mandated. I wonder how many millions of Americans who live in suburban bedroom communities and have no access to public transportation think that owning and driving a car is an option.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

1. I guess she has never lived in a small town with no public transportation. nt

[freshwest]

3. I have, and it sucks.

[Downwinder]

13. I do, and it sucks.

[freshwest]

2. Oh sure, I don't have to buy a car. You're gonna give me a ride, right?

[appleannie1]

4. I live in the country. Without a car I would starve. The need to eat makes driving mandatory.

[Fumesucker]

5. Even a blind squirrel finds the occasional acorn..

Bachmann is nuts and a moron but correct that there is no mandate for automobile ownership.

I'm thankful for that because I don't have the money to buy/insure/tag/emissions/gas/maintain/repair a car right now..

[noel711]

6. She's talking apples vs oranges...

Having a car is certainly a luxury...
unless it is a necessity for transportation to work,
and one must work to live.

But health care isn't a luxury..
it is an necessity, like food, water, shelter.
Denying health care is like telling someone
they must limit what kind of nutrition they have access to,
or how they must live.

She is a true psychopath...
no compassion for anyone.

The great shock is that the media follows her around,
and hangs on her every word.
Well, if Palin isn't available... must go for the nearest possible
'attractive' conservative.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. America was designed around the automobile

There are small countries like Holland where you could probably get by with just a bicycle and where shopping and work are accessible on foot. But for a couple of months I tried commuting to work in southern California and it involved four buses and a 4 1/2 hour trip either way. It was physically impossible to work a full day, sleep, and take care of personal business. American cities, with their wide streets and vastly disbursed suburbs were designed for the automobile. To fail to recognize the de facto necessity of having a car is either blind ignorance of what America is like or intentional deeption on Bachmann's part.

[bupkus]

7. Another Bachmann boneheaded false analogy

You might not have to buy a car but you have to live. So car insurance and health insurance kind of don't match up, do they Michele?

I guess Piers couldn't manage to think that through.

[elleng]

8. Not many but she is right (bite my tongue!), insofar as 'necessary' is involved.

That's the point, and that's why the mandate is proper: health care is NECESSARY for EVERYONE, so EVERYONE must have a way to pay for it, either with insurance or a mandatory payment/penalty/tax.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. "Nobody is forced to buy a car"

But we're forced to endure her shrieking voice and loony rantings.

[AJTheMan]

11. Will I be forced to buy health insurance?

Last time my family had health insurance, it cost us $600 a month. We can no longer afford health insurance so I guess we'll just have to pay the tax.

[global1]

12. Everybody Has Health To Some Degree And Can Get Sick....

it is not a choice. It is a fact of life. Sure I don't have to own a car - but I can be healthy and I can get sick and will get sick and fail someday. It is not an option. This is not just me - it is everyone - including Michelle Bachmann. Her analogy is all wrong. It's apples and oranges.

[JHB]

14. Well, there ARE a few places where you can get along without a car...

I, for one, haven't owned a car for 15 years, and only occasionally borrow or rent one.
But then, I live within easy access to a major city with an extensive public transportation system, the sort of place wher Bachmann polls poorly.

Practically every other place? Yes, it's a requirement for any level of self-sufficency.

[MichiganVote]

15. Using her usual brain power I see.

[Honeycombe8]

16. She means the govt doesn't mandate we ea. buy a car. But I don't have to buy YOU a car

if you don't buy yourself one.

It's like Justice Ginsburg said, health care is not like broccoli. If you choose not to buy broccoli, others aren't forced to buy it for you.

[REP]

17. I have to pay FICA now, you dumb bag of shit (Bachmann, not you, OP)

I must pay Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) now for future health care, you stupid fuck (again, Bachmann, not you, OP).

[russspeakeasy]

18. Banks demand that if you have a mortage, you must have homeowners

insurance.