Dumb as a box of rocks or a bag of hammers?
One of 2016's most vulnerable Republican senators, who also happens to be one of the Senate's dumbest, is worried about how the Supreme Court might be hurting his chances for re-election if they rule for the plaintiffs in the challenge against Obamacare subsidies for people buying insurance on the federal exchange. Mind you, Wisconsin's Ron Johnson doesn't give a fig for the
185,000 Wisconsinites who might lose their health insurance. He worries that
Democrats will use it politically to make Republicans look bad, as expressed in this radio interview.
JOHNSON: Unfortunately, President Obama's response to an adverse decision—in other words one that actually follows the law—would be really simple. Just a one-sentence bill allowing people’s subsidies to flow to federal exchanges and/or offer the governors, 'Hey, we know you got those federal exchanges. Just sign the bottom line. We'll make those established by the state.' And of course, he'll have the ads all racked up with the individuals that have benefited from Obamacare on the backs of the American taxpayer. He'll have all those examples as well so. ...
WEBER: And the sad sack stories about who's dying from what and why they can’t get their coverage.
JOHNSON: Right.
WEBER: Oh yeah.
Note that the thought of people dying without coverage isn't what bothers him, it's that those stories will be used against Republicans. Note, too, that he thinks that the millions who have health insurance because of the subsidies "have benefited from Obamacare on the backs of the American taxpayer." Guess what, Einstein? The people benefitting from Obamacare
are American taxpayers! Nearly
half of them are employed full time. Another 35 percent work part-time. All of them pay taxes.
That's 185,000 people in Wisconsin. And those 185,000 people probably wouldn't like to find out that you think they're moochers, Sen. Johnson.
