Was Elisabeth Hasselbeck shockingly ignorant or dishonest when she announced on Fox News that the nickname for the Affordable Care Act, “Obamacare,” was a conceit of vanity by the Democrats? In fact, it was a term cooked up by Republicans to mock the ACA – and then adopted by President Obama. I have the same question about her baseless fear mongering that alleged Obamacare "will topple our entire society financially."
As ABC News reported in February, 2011, in an article called, “What’s In A Word? The Debate Over “ObamaCare”: The Name & The Law,”
House Democrats say it should be called the Affordable Care Act, as it’s technically named. Most Republicans prefer to call it ObamaCare.
On the House floor this morning Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., argued that GOP lawmakers should be forbidden from calling it “ObamaCare” because that term is disparaging to the president.
A few weeks ago, USA Today reported:
At one time, Republicans used “Obamacare” almost exclusively as a term of derision; but these days, Obama himself is embracing the moniker.
… “Once it’s working really well, I guarantee you they (Republicans) will not call it Obamacare,” Obama said.
Or maybe they’ll just pretend it was Obama’s moniker all along and attack him for using it. At least that’s what Hasselbeck seemed to be doing during a visit to the Hannity show last night. Host Sean Hannity never corrected her. Hasselbeck said:
We have now a product. …Let’s call it “Obamacare” ‘cause it’s brilliant. That’s what happened, right? So they say, “Let’s sell something to everybody,” because that’s indeed what’s happening… “And we’re gonna call it Obamacare. Why? Well, everything “Obama” people liked not too long ago. Obama hats, Obama bibs, Obama shirts. We’re gonna sell this, too, under “Obamacare.” It’s the worst nickname given to anything in the history of this nation.”
Well, then, Elisabeth, you might want to have a word with your GOP home team because they, not President Obama, not his advisors and not the Democrats came up with the name.
Later, Hasselbeck came up with some equally dubious fear mongering about Obamacare:
What it’s going to do is, it’s going to topple our entire society financially for the long haul.
You mean like it’s ruined Massachusetts, whose Romneycare serves as its model? Last I checked, it hasn’t.
But Hannity said, “If you care about your kids, this is gonna be something that we’ll never be able to pay for.”
But Hasselbeck wasn’t done with her baseless fear mongering. Assuming that doctors will “opt out of the system” and thereby make it harder to see a doctor (for those who can now afford it), she said, “You’re gonna be paying for a phone call to your doctor. You’re gonna then have to look at your child with a fever - for the first time, I mean since the Great Depression – look at your child and think, ‘Should I wait until tomorrow to go into the doctor? When my second child may catch this? Because then at least I can make more on my money.’”
I wonder if Hasselbeck knows there are already mothers waiting to bring their children to the doctor because they can’t afford it and don’t have health insurance.
Answer: yes.
.
FYI, The Hannity/Weiner interview was posted here whatever night it happened. You can find it via a site search, I’m sure.
:^)
Now, at FNC — and especially on Slanthead’s diminished show — she has a chance to tell lies with the masters. It’s well known that Hannity wanted her to join him on the air permanently. She probably refused when she learned he was being sent to a graveyard. But maybe Slanthead’s been coaching her in the art of lying 24/7.
I trust this last bit was entirely rhetorical.
