General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublicans turn to gaslighting in the health care debate
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-turn-gaslighting-the-health-care-debate?cid=sm_fb_maddow
Republicans turn to gaslighting in the health care debate
05/08/17 12:47 PM
By Steve Benen
In recent months, youve probably seen references to the politics of gaslighting and its worth appreciating why. The origin of the word comes from a British play featuring a man, Jack Manningham, pushing his wife, Bella, deeper into madness, deliberately hiding items from their home and making her believe she misplaced them. As the story progresses, she increasingly questions her own mental health as a result of her husbands duplicitous manipulation.
While executing his schemes, Jack dims the gas light in the house something Bella notices, but which Jack insists is part of her mental deterioration.
As Lauren Duca explained very well in December, to gas light is to psychologically manipulate a person to the point where they question their own sanity.
As the health care debate progresses, its hard not to notice the Republican gaslighting underway and the degree to which weve been cast in the role of Bella. Take this Slate report, for example.
When confronted with the cuts, Price repeatedly refused to admit that the health care bill would cut Medicaid saying the Congressional Budget Office used the Obamacare numbers as a baseline for its analysis. Price insisted, There are no cuts to the Medicaid program, adding that resources would be doled out in a way that allows states greater flexibility.
This, of course, is completely bonkers. The Republican plan, at least as it existed on Thursday when it narrowly passed the House, cuts Medicaid by $880 billion. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this would cause 14 million low-income Americans to lose the coverage they currently enjoy under the Affordable Care Act.
And yet, there was Donald Trumps HHS secretary, insisting that the bill doesnt cut Medicaid. On Meet the Press, Price arged to NBCs Andrea Mitchell that under the Republican approach, absolutely nobody would lose Medicaid coverage. He added that the Medicaid program will actually have more resources to be utilized for the disabled and the aged.
Everyone involved in the debate including, in all likelihood, Price himself realizes how stark raving mad this is, but GOP officials appear determined to push us to the point at which we question our own sanity.
Alas, its not just Price. House Speaker Paul Ryans (R-Wis.) chief spokesperson, AshLee Strong, tried to argue over the weekend that the GOP legislation was posted online a month ago, went through four committees, and was scored by the Congressional Budget Office twice.
In reality, the final version of the bill passed by the House was posted online less than one day before the vote, none of the committees held substantive hearings on the proposal, and CBO didnt score the final bill because Republicans didnt want to know about the measures cost or impact before the vote.
A day later, Ryan himself insisted his bill included multiple layers of protections for people with pre-existing conditions (no such protections exist in reality) and no one would be hurt by the massive Medicaid spending cuts (millions would be hurt from lost coverage).
At the White House on Friday, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Republicans saw the mistake Democrats made in 2010 by trying to force and rush health care legislation through Congress. This is the sort of lazy lying one does if he or she assumes everyone is dumb: Democrats spent months carefully deliberating before passing the ACA; House Republicans just passed a bill without a CBO score or a substantive hearing.
Meanwhile, Mick Mulvaney, Trumps budget director, argued yesterday, I think everybody will have coverage that is better than what they had under Obamacare, which, once again, is demonstrably ridiculous.
Were not just talking about dishonest political figures dissembling during a debate; this is the sort of lying a party embraces when its trying to make the public feel like Bella Manningham.
In the story, Jack Manningham was eventually arrested. Thats an unlikely outcome in the health care debate, but heres hoping folks can take some comfort in the fact that no matter how many falsehoods they hear from GOP officials about their plan, reality has a way of asserting itself.
Wounded Bear
(58,603 posts)The facts are not on their side and they know it. If the truth comes out, they're toast.
Or at least I hope so.