GOP Congresswoman Tells Uninsured To 'Be A Grown Up' And Get Insurance

[True_Blue_KY_Dem]

Source: Think Progress

GOP congresswoman tells uninsured constituent to ‘be a grown up’ and get insurance.
At a recent town hall meeting, a 27-year old uninsured waitress named Elizabeth Smith asked Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) why as a working mother she can’t “get an affordable option” for health care. According to the AP, Smith’s 2-1/2-year-old son “hasn’t been to a doctor in 21 months, except for emergency room visits for ear infections, because she can’t afford either insurance or a doctor’s visit.” When Smith asked her question, Jenkins criticized creating “a government-run program” and said that she advocated tax credits so people like Smith could “go be a grown-up and go buy the insurance“:

SMITH: I want an option that I can pay for. I work. I pay my bills. I’m not a burden on the state. I pay my taxes. So why can’t I get an affordable option. Why are you against that?

JENKINS: A government-run program (laugh) is going to subsidize not only yours (laugh) but everybody in this room. So I’m not sure what we’re talking about here. Well, I think it comes down to the whole discussion of…OK folks. Let’s be respectful. UH-OH (talking over crowd). We’re gonna make time for everybody. We’re gonna all listen to each other respectfully, even if we disagree. I think we can agree we need reforms, again it’s just how we gonna do it. I believe people should be given the opportunity to take care of themselves with an advanceable tax credit to go be a grown-up and go buy the insurance.



Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPrYviZtVrs&feature=player_embedded

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Let them eat cake. nt

[MaineDem]

2. Unbelievable!!!

It blows my minds.

[LeftishBrit]

3. And no doubt to eat cake as well. Stupid right-winger.

[Hugin]

4. So, she's the type that thinks handing a starving person a 2-fer-one coupon is charity?

That's all a tax credit amounts to... These people have no sense of what it's like to live in the real world.

[lsewpershad]

18. How

do these creepy people get elected?

[whopis01]

19. That is one of the basic problems with our government

Or perhaps, more correctly, with our election system. It isn't very likely that anyone who lives in the real world will ever get elected to a high position.

[Hello_Kitty]

5. WTF does that dumbass Congresscritter think a tax credit IS??

It's a subsidy!

Jesus God, I never ceased to be amazed at how stupid a person can be and still get elected as a Republican. :banghead:

[livetohike]

6. "An advanceable tax credit"

:shrug: She's an idiot.

[kimmylavin]

7. Be a grown-up???

So its not that a person can't AFFORD insurance, its just that they're not mature enough to go out and buy it?

How do these cruel people get elected?

[gaspee]

10. They get elected because

Americans are a mean group of people. Who else has a more victim blaming mentality? What other country, who can afford health care, lets their fellow citizens die rather than provide affordable health care.

There is a vicious streak in a huge swath of the American populations. They're usually republicans, but not always.

[GreenPartyVoter]

27. Somehow our culture's empathy got skewed. Charity is good, but government assistance is bad. So

for the person who receives the first, their heart breaks; for the person who receives the second they must be lazy and immature bums who are not worth a damn.

I'll tell you who is not grown up, Congresswoman. It is you and people who think and act like you do. For shame!

[dgibby]

34. Definition of pure evil: Lack of empathy. n/t

[louis-t]

8. What "reforms" are repugs offering?

I have not heard one actual idea. Not one viable alternative. Not one. I'm waiting.

[Wednesdays]

15. Tax breaks! Tax breaks! Tax breaks!

:spank:

[DCKit]

9. Kansas seems to crank out those "KKKompassionate KKKonservatives" by the hundreds. n/t

[hobbit709]

11. This is the same twit that made the "Great White Hope" remark

Can't expect much from her.
She obviously never had to do any real work in her pampered life.

[Hepburn]

12. Could Jenkins be anymore of an asshole? n/t

[No Elephants]

16. Yes, she no doubt can be an even bigger A-hole than she seems right now. I have faith in her!

[Hepburn]

LOL....

...thanks for the laugh! :hi:

[Darkhawk32]

13. Thom Hartmann is playing the audio right now. n/t

[Gregorian]

14. Ah, so money is the criteria for judging whether or not someone is grown up.

That's really shallow, cruel, and just plain ignorant.

How about we being humans all living on this speck of dust in a vast universe? She should be ashamed of herself. But since she's immature she can't see herself. I'm embarrassed for the conservatives. I'm embarrassed for how they represent me to the world. Europe, if you are reading this, she is not speaking for those who created this country. There is a malignant streak here now. A conservative malignancy.

[CreekDog]

17. Ask this knucklehead if she'll kick in 72% of the insurance premium

Because that working lady is providing 72% of the congresswoman's premium through her taxes.

[No Elephants]

20. So, tax credits are not part of a government run program? Of course, they only benefit people who

make enough money to owe lots of taxes, but that is another problem. Help only for those well above the povertty line.

Talk about tone deaf.

[gatorboy]

21. Does Elizabeth Smith's taxes pay for Rep. Jenkins healthcare?

Anyone know if she uses a private insurance program are is she on the government teat?

[dflprincess]

25. What ever plan Jenkin's picked

she's only paying part of the premium and her employers (among them Elizabeth Smith) are paying the rest of it. At the least, Jenkins is receiving taxpayer subsidized insurance.

[prolesunited]

22. I am trying to be a grown up

They won't let me *buy* insurance because I am such a bad risk. I have severe allergies and asthma, so I guess I caused this if you consider breathing a "lifestyle choice."

[Maru Kitteh]

23. Rep. Lynn Jenkins was just taking her opportunity to be a complete asshole

What's the matter with Kansas indeed. Gosh, and here I thought we had the market cornered on suck here in Nebraska. Go Cats.

[bobbolink]

24. This is the way USians talk now. We hear this kind of demeaning language everywhere we go,

and that includes right here at DU.

We all get to decide how much we want to participate in this sort of judgmental putdowns.

If we were to change the way WE speak with each other, this sort of hate talk from one segment would stand out for what it is.

It's our choice.

[mike_c]

26. the GOP's "let them eat cake" moment....

This needs to be heard by EVERYONE in the U.S.

[charlie]

28. Can't get any more grown up than Grandma

Got the gumption to grab the third rail and tell your Medicare constituents to grow up?

Didn't think so.

[JenniferJuniper]

29. I would imagine that Americans look pretty ugly to citizens of countries

that actually allow health care for all.

Just listen to these people - "I got mine. Fuck you!"

But what exactly is "mine"? And if you lose your job, will you still have "mine"? If you get sick and kicked off the rolls, will "mine" do you any good? Won't that pre-existing condition be a bit of problem for you?

The vast majority of us cannot and could not afford good, comprehensive health insurance coverage on our own. I cannot fathom why individuals like these people care so much about whether Aetna makes enough of a profit next year. Simply don't get it.

[City Lights]

30. That idiot has no place in government.

She's unbelievably clueless.

How stupid is too stupid to become an elected Republican? :crazy:

[roguevalley]

31. its times like this I wish Zeus would strike them dead with lightning

[JonQ]

32. I don't tend to have much sympathy

for those who can afford healthcare but don't under the assumption that they will never get sick. Who then get outraged at the cost of paying for medicine out of pocket when they do.

I'm not sure how many of the uninsured fit this profile, but I don't really like this group.

[Generic Brad]

33. There's that compassionate conservatism in action again

The GOP - winning the hearts and minds of Americans one insensitive act at a time.

[donheld]

35. Just

:wtf:

[classysassy]

36. Another repug hag

Why are republican female congress critters so mean,is it because most of them are so damn ugly,Foxx and co?.

[samsingh]

37. is this a let them eat cake moment for the GOP ?