This is all they've got left.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is circulating a video of state Rep. Gary McDowell, the Democratic nominee in the race to replace retiring Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak (D), showing McDowell discussing the cost of health care in the last three months of life....
"We're not going to be able to provide for our children's education, we're not going to be able to provide all the other things in life that we need to do first as a society, because we are taking so much money for health care at the end of life..." McDowell said at a forum....
"It seems that Gray McDowell supports pulling the plug on Grandma because her health care is too expensive," said NRCC spokesman Tom Erickson. "Where an ailing person may see a new lease on life, career politician McDowell sees a 'real expensive gadget' with too many 'whistles and bells'. If Michigan families are going to keep their loved ones safe, they need to keep McDowell and his extremist views far from Washington."
Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican Party.
This kind of political stunt is just more proof of who the Republicans are and how they operate.
And say what you want about Bart Stupak - the man was adamantly pro-life and supported comprehensive healthcare reform because he knows that pro-life doesn't end at birth.
Now, Republicans are trying to use a smear campaign on a decent man who understands that tough decisions must be made by families regarding end-of-life care.
The Republican Party's hypocrisy knows no bounds. They claim to be "pro-life" but support wars of choice against countries that never attacked us. They claim to care about freedom, but want to force government-mandated treatment on pregnant women and dying older adults. They cry about wasteful government spending, but then they rant and rave about protecting Medicare when the only Medicare they're protecting is the waste, fraud, and abuse that made Rick Scott rich and famous.
We cannot let this stuff stand.
McDowell's Republican challenger, Dan Benishak, lied about his income in order to avoid paying child support. (How about them family values?) What's truly disappointing to me is that, after Stupak put his entire political career on the line to pass healthcare reform, and prostrated himself at the altar of the Catholic council of bishops, this is how voters in his district get rewarded for it.
In 2000, "compassionate conservatives" helped carry Bush to a tie in Florida, and a victory in Al Gore's home state of Tennessee. (The Supreme Court helped carry Bush over the finish line in Florida, but that's another story..) In 2010, we're seeing clearly that Republicans have pulled compassion out of the equation entirely. They're trying to politicize end-of-life palliative care. They're pushing for tax cuts for wealthy billionaires who threaten to take their businesses and jobs offshore and overseas if we don't give them the free money they demand.
There is absolutely nothing left about the Republican Party that reflects a "pro-life" attitude or anything resembling "family values". For Republicans in 2010, family values means closing the gates on their gated community and hoarding ammunition while their neighbors go bankrupt.
Learn more about how you can support Gary McDowell here.