by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican - of course, made news this week while pontificating on one of the Sunday television talk shows. Blunt said, in effect, that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will make people lazy.
Blunt's bewildering comment had its roots in a report released by the Congressional Budget Office which predicted as many as 2.5 million people may choose to leave the workforce once they have a means of securing affordable health care. Republicans initially pounced on that estimate and said that the CBO was predicting a loss of over two million jobs. That wasn't the case, and when presented with the facts - again - the GOP talking points shifted to their old standard "people in need are lazy."
It was never a question of being lazy. Having access to affordable health insurance meant that some people who worked only so they could get insurance no longer had to work. It meant some people could give up one or two of their multiple jobs and maybe spend some time being human - perhaps with their children.
If Republicans have a serious interest in jobs, perhaps they should get together and pass a jobs' bill.
The House of Representatives was in session a total of 155 days in 2013, and the Senate met less than 180 days. Neither chamber was in session for a majority of the year. Yet it's the mother of three pre-schoolers who quits her second job at the McDonald's drive-thru who is lazy? Congress passed just 57 bills in 2013 (the lowest number in history - but they did vote to repeal Obamacare thirty-seven times). So who's lazy?
Senator Blunt, if you want to get a good look at lazy, stand in front of a mirror!
Citizen Journalist
Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican - of course, made news this week while pontificating on one of the Sunday television talk shows. Blunt said, in effect, that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will make people lazy.
Blunt's bewildering comment had its roots in a report released by the Congressional Budget Office which predicted as many as 2.5 million people may choose to leave the workforce once they have a means of securing affordable health care. Republicans initially pounced on that estimate and said that the CBO was predicting a loss of over two million jobs. That wasn't the case, and when presented with the facts - again - the GOP talking points shifted to their old standard "people in need are lazy."
It was never a question of being lazy. Having access to affordable health insurance meant that some people who worked only so they could get insurance no longer had to work. It meant some people could give up one or two of their multiple jobs and maybe spend some time being human - perhaps with their children.
If Republicans have a serious interest in jobs, perhaps they should get together and pass a jobs' bill.
The House of Representatives was in session a total of 155 days in 2013, and the Senate met less than 180 days. Neither chamber was in session for a majority of the year. Yet it's the mother of three pre-schoolers who quits her second job at the McDonald's drive-thru who is lazy? Congress passed just 57 bills in 2013 (the lowest number in history - but they did vote to repeal Obamacare thirty-seven times). So who's lazy?
Senator Blunt, if you want to get a good look at lazy, stand in front of a mirror!
No comments:
Post a Comment