Posted: January 16, 2011 at 10:26 am
What You Won’t Find in the Paper on Health Care Repeal Hypocrisy
The Billings Gazette reported this weekend that most Republican lawmakers opposing federal health reform are also signing up for government health plans.
What they didn’t report is this interesting exchange between Sen. Kendall Van Dyk (D-Billings) and Sen. Art Wittich (R-outer Gallatin County area). Van Dyk asked Sen. Wittich about the appropriateness of attempting to repeal the health care bill for Montanans, while taking advantage of taxpayer funded health insurance for legislators.
Sen. Wittich responded that if people are concerned about having health insurance they either become so poor as to be eligible for Medicaid or try to work for the state of Montana. Medicaid is the state program that pays for the elderly and disabled as well as the very poor: to be eligible as an adult in Montana, you’d have to make less than $6,000 per year. And yeah, all one million people in the state are going to work for state government?
You’ll also want to read Ed Kemmick’s take on the matter. My favorite part:
Hypocrisy is alive and well in the Legislature. The same Republican majority that is beating its chest over promises to eviscerate federal health care reforms has no trouble accepting generous health insurance benefits from the state of Montana.
Some mobile users will have better luck viewing the video here.
Faith-based health care??? Did he REALLY say faith-based health care? Or did I hear that wrong? Well sir, when it comes down to deciding just WHICH health care system I want, think that I’ll pass on “faith-based” health care and suck on that HUGE GUBMINT TEAT healt care just like most of YOU dudes do! Hey, don’t get me wrong. I got nuthin’ against religeeous wackjobs, but when it comes to health care, I prefer that GIANT GUBMINT MAMMARY to prayer! Seems to work better for me!
This Wittich guy just danced around the question like a typical politician. This guy is the problem with the Republican party of hyporcites. They say one thing and do another it is disgusting. They are all talk and no walk and I hope the Montana people remember this in 2012.
NERD FLASH.
Cow Pie calls for all state workers to be removed from state supplied healthcare.
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No cowgirl is not calling on all state workers to be striped of health care, she is merely pointing out the hypocrasy of some right wing state legislators that dont want to provide health care to anybody but themselves and who merely take care of themselves on the government dime.
Yep. The minute I saw “nerd flash”, I knew it’d be from Aynus.
Wittich’s law firm represented Western Tradition Partnerships lawsuit against the State to overturn the ban on corporate contributions. I think its probably pretty safe to assume most of what he is doing up at the legislature is flunkying for these kind of big corporate interests. Since corporations have Constitutional rights I think its worth considering what the intent is of Wittich’s SB 150 and the chilling effect this could have on enforcement of state law.
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2011/billhtml/SB0150.htm