Paul Krugman’s column today states the obvious: Republicans Party Like It’s 1984.
There have been many bad laws in U.S. history. Some bills were poorly conceived; some were cruel and unjust; some were sold on false pretenses. Some were all of the above.
But has there ever been anything like Trumpcare, the health legislation Republicans rammed through the House last week? It’s a miserably designed law, full of unintended consequences. It’s a moral disaster, snatching health care from tens of millions mainly to give the very wealthy a near-trillion-dollar tax cut.
What really stands out, however, is the Orwell-level dishonesty of the whole effort. As far as I can tell, every word Republicans, from Trump on down, have said about their bill — about why they want to replace Obamacare, about what their replacement would do, and about how it would work — is a lie, including “a,” “and” and “the.”
emphasis added
And…
The really important thing, however, is not just to realize that Republicans are breaking their promises, but to realize that they are doing so with intent. This isn’t one of those cases where people try to do what they said they would, but fall short in the execution. This is an act of deliberate betrayal: Everything about Trumpcare is specifically designed to do exactly the opposite of what Trump, Paul Ryan and other Republicans said it would.
emphasis added
Media Cluelessness
If you watched any of the Sunday morning talking head shows, Republicans were everywhere talking about how great Trumpcare is, how Obamacare is collapsing and they will fix it. They’re promising IF (IF!) any changes are needed, the Republican Senate will see to it, and send them back to the House for reconciliation.
I watched one lying spokesperson (Carly Fiorina?) say that people who end up in high-risk pools (because people who are sicker should pay more so the rest of us won’t) will be okay because $8 billion (over 5 years!) will be set aside to help them. And it will — if it’s meant to cover funeral costs. (Would $8 billion even be enough for that?) She insisted high risk pools work (they don’t, never have, never will) and the interviewer let her get away with it.
And where were Democrats? The only one I happened to catch was Joe Manchin — hardly anyone’s idea of a progressive or a party leader, or an effective speaker. But the media figures he’s a ‘reasonable’ voice because he agrees with Republicans on so many other things so he’s a ‘centrist’ or something, not a complete partisan. Got to keep those lefty extremists from getting air time! People might start to pay attention to them.
Let Hillary Clinton speak the truth about Russian Hacking and James Comey tipping the scales, and the media goes nuts. Let Republicans lie about their plans to convert the healthcare of millions of Americans into tax cuts for the rich, and they just nod their heads knowingly and swallow it right down. But then, they’ve been swallowing GOP lies for decades. And so here we are.
If Republicans are lying "Bigly" there's a reason for that: lying works.
As I noted in a comment submitted to the Times, Donald Trump in the White House is all the proof one needs. It's news when he doesn't lie because it's so rare - but he's the perfect leader for a party that has been running on lies for decades.
• Tax cuts create jobs.
• Wealth trickles down.
• Government is not the answer to our problems; government IS the problem.
• Liberals/Democrats hate America.
• America is a Christian nation.
• There'd be no racism in America if Democrats would stop inciting it for political gain.
• Government can't do anything right; free markets can solve all our problems.
• Government should be run like a business.
• Climate change is a hoax.
• Scientists don't agree on anything - they'll say anything for grant money.
• America is the greatest nation on earth; America is a hell-hole of the verge of collapse.
• Anyone can succeed in America if they just work hard enough.
• Poverty, illness, lack of opportunity - it's always the result of bad lifestyle choices.
• There is no such thing as society or the public interest.
• Immigrants are stealing all our jobs.
• The police are always the good guys.
• Crime is out of control.
• Americans pay more taxes than anyone.
• 'Socialist' countries are collapsing because they're overtaxed and over-regulated.
• Deregulation will unleash our economy.
The lies go on and on, get bigger and more brazen - and the media calls it a matter of opinion. 1984 indeed! IOKIYAAR for ever.