Again, this guy is a huge doofus:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is running against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), chided President Obama last week over the health care law, suggesting that it reflects his inexperience working with uninsured Americans.
"The president is a community organizer. You wonder if he ever worked with a poor person," Cassidy said at the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting, as recorded by Buzzfeed.
"Insurance people, they will tell you that they will go to a company and the employer will pay for everything, and there are some people who will not sign up," he added. "Turns out, those are my patients. They’re illiterate. I’m not saying that to be mean. I say that in compassion. They cannot read. The idea they’re going to go on the internet and work through a 16-page document to put in their data and sign up does not reflect on understanding of who is having the hardest time in our economy." - TPM, 3/27/14
Here's the full quote:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/...
“We were fortunate growing up in the south. The president is a community organizer. You wonder if he ever worked with a poor person…Insurance people they will tell you that they will go to a company and an employer will pay for everything, and there are some people who will not sign up. Turns out, those are my patients. They’re illiterate. I’m not saying that to be mean. I say that in compassion. They cannot read. The idea they’re going to go on the internet and work through a 16-page document to put in their data and sign up does not reflect on understanding of who is having the hardest time in our economy.” - BuzzFeed, 3/26/14
I really don't need to go into why Cassidy sounds like an idiot about this. But again, what do you expect from a guy who said this:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
CASSIDY: [My plan] I think actually reflects the reality of who the uninsured are, relatively less sophisticated, less comfortable with forms, less educated. Those are the folks that — not all — there’s a guy who goes to my church who’s uninsured, who’s middle-class but couldn’t get it because he has Type I diabetes. So it’s not all, but it is the folks who I think are going to have the hardest time reaching. [...]
We were fortunate growing up in the South. The president is a community organizer. You wonder if he ever worked with a poor person… Insurance people, they will tell you that they will go to a company and an employer will pay for everything, and there are some people who will not sign up. Turns out, those are my patients. They’re illiterate. I’m not saying that to be mean. I say that in compassion. They cannot read. The idea they’re going to go on the internet and work through a 16-page document to put in their data and sign up does not reflect on understanding of who is having the hardest time in our economy.
Cassidy’s take on the uninsured doesn’t exactly line up with reality. About 18 percent of Americans are uninsured — and just under half of them have gone without insurance for at least five years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
That’s not for a lack of trying. In fact, about 31 percent of uninsured adults tried signing up for Medicaid in the past five years. But most of them were rejected because states’ pre-Obamacare Medicaid eligibility requirements were often so stringent that only the poorest Americans with children could qualify for coverage. - Think Progress, 3/26/14
Cassidy has rightfully been getting slammed for his comments:
http://www.nola.com/...
"I don't know whether Congressman Cassidy first needs to take sensitivity or truth-telling sessions first," Pollack said. "But clearly he needs to do both."
"What it does is betray incredible ignorance about why uninsured people do not have insurance," Pollack said. Kaiser Family Foundation said a poll last September found that 61 percent of adults without insurance attributed a loss of a job, or the unavailability of affordable options.
The Affordable Care Act, which Cassidy opposes, is designed to provide affordable care to people who previously couldn't afford health insurance and/or were denied coverage because of a preexisting condition, Pollack said. There are other ways besides online to sign up for care, including on the telephone and via community health centers and organizations, Pollack said.
"It's just a shame that Congressman Cassidy and other Republicans voted to cut funding for programs designed to help people sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act,'" Pollack said.
Pollack said Cassidy could help more than 240,000 low-income uninsured Louisiana residents get health coverage quickly and without much difficulty if he would reverse his, and Gov. Bobby Jindal's, opposition, to the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. - The Times-Picayune, 3/27/14
With comments like Cassidy, it's no wonder the GOP is getting a little nervous about this race:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/...
The National Republican Senatorial Committee will send a letter to 34 Louisiana network affiliates Thursday requesting that an attack ad produced by the pro-Democratic Senate Majority PAC be pulled from television, and threatening legal action if it isn't.
The letter, penned by NRSC general counsel Megan Sowards, charges that the ad is "patently false."
"Since the Senate Majority PAC advertisement contains false and misleading statements, we hereby demand that your station stop airing this advertisement immediately," the letter reads. "If you are unwilling to do so, we reserve the right to pursue any appropriate legal action and request an explanation of the basis of your decision in law or station policy."
The ad, part of a recent $3 million blitz by Senate Majority PAC in Louisiana and North Carolina, attempts to tie Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy to Charles and David Koch, the wealthy brothers whose pro-Republican group, Americans for Prosperity, has so far spent more than $30 million attacking Democrats in key Senate battleground states, including Louisiana.
Of greatest concern to the NRSC is a segment of the ad alleging the Koch brothers "funded the fight to let flood insurance premiums soar, helping insurance companies, and cut off hurricane relief for Louisiana families." - Washington Examiner, 3/27/14
If you want to get involved or donate to Senator Mary Landrieu's (D. LA) re-election bid, you can do so here:
http://www.marylandrieu.com/