Bill Scher: The Insincerity Of The Public Option Haters

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



The Insincerity Of The Public Option Haters
By Bill Scher

November 23, 2009 - 10:41am ET


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When Sen. Joe Lieberman first announced he would filibuster any health care bill with a public option, I noted that he lied, falsely calling the public option an "entitlement program" that would be "trouble ... for the national debt." In fact, the public option is an "option," not an entitlement, which would help our federal government save money.

Yesterday on Meet The Press, Lieberman didn't exactly lie, but deployed -- as his Senate colleague Al Franken coined in his old radio program's "Wait, Wait, Don't Lie To Me" game show segment -- the "Weasel."

And Lieberman's Weasel brightly illuminates the blatant insincerity on the part of the crusaders against the public option.

Lieberman said on Meet The Press:

(The public option) won't even lower the cost of health insurance, which the advocates said it originally would, because the Congressional Budget Office has now said to us that the public option in Senator Reid's bill will actually charge more for insurance than the average charge by health insurance companies.

Yes, it's true that the CBO estimates that Reid's version of the public plan would end up offering premiums that are "somewhat higher than the average premiums for the private plans" it would compete against in the proposed health insurance "exchanges." ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009114823/insincerity-public-option-haters