Rep. Lynn Jenkins, Great White Dope
Kansas Rep. Lynn “Great White Hope” Jenkins is in the news again. This time it’s for her thoughtful and compassionate response to an uninsured constituent.
In this clip, taken at a July town hall meeting, Jenkins is confronted by a constituent named Elizabeth Smith — a full-time waitress with two young kids. Smith’s employer doesn’t provide insurance, and she can’t afford private coverage. Smith’s not looking for a handout; she’s looking for an affordable choice.
“I want an option that I can pay for,” Smith told her representative. “I work. I pay my bills. I’m not a burden on the state. I pay my taxes. So why can’t I get an affordable option? Why are you against that?”
Jenkins responds, literally chuckling at the question, “A government-run program is going to subsidize not only yours but everybody in this room. So I’m not sure what we’re talking about here.”
Jenkins went on to tell Smith that “people should be given the opportunity to take care of themselves with a refund, or an advanceable [sic] tax credit, to go be a grown-up and go buy the insurance.”
Elizabeth Smith is exactly the type of person that health care reform is supposed to help. She’s one of the many Americans who is falling through the cracks. She works and she makes too much money to qualify for S-CHIP and Medicaid but doesn’t make enough money to afford insurance. Chances are, if she could buy insurance it’s that high deductible crap insurance which won’t pay for her regular doctor care.
BTW, Rep. Jenkins voted against S-CHIP. She doesn’t even pretend to care about Ms. Smith or her son’s plight. At least Sen. Coburn pretended to care about the woman with the brain-damaged husband.
Tags: Health Care Reform, Health insurance nightmares, Lynn Jenkins, Republican Bamboozlement
This is the thing right here. These wingnuts operate from the stupid idea that everyone wants a handout without ever understanding how expensive health insurance is. Much of what is currently on the table is pointed directly at this — to provide people affordable options to buy.
But pretending that the government is paying for everything and that the whole system will be government run doesn’t help with the Summer of Spittle project. Jenkins is despicable.
Remember last summer, during the campaign, when the media were filled with stories of solid, tax-paying middle class folks who became financially devastated due to a loved one with an illness? Remember those stories?
What happened to them? Why are the media stories now full of “the system is wonderful just the way it is…socialism…death panels…”
Why is it now okay to make fun of this woman?
Seriously, what changed? I’m still shaking my head over how so many citizens got so stupid and so forgetful so fast.
I don’t know what happened, PM. If Democrats were smart they would adopt Ms. Smith like Republicans adopted Joe the Plumber. Seriously, I think Democrats need to refight the debate and remind everyone of the real and persistent problems of the current system. Republicans have made it clear – they want the status quo.