Those of you who pay even a little attention to Medford politics know who this is going to be about …
Last night Medford City Councilor Bob Penta got up and asked a question I didn't understand … and then he asked it again, and I understood it less. And then I went up and asked him what he was talking about. And it really really didn't make any sense.
Penta's contention was that on page 114 of the “Kennedy-Dodd” health care bill, Congress somehow “exempts” itself “this plan the rest of us are going to be on.” Eh? And as support for his contention, he had in his hand … not page 114 of the HELP committee's bill, which describes the individuals not eligible for the insurance exchanges … but — wait for it — a printout of a blog post. And then another printout about City councilors in Nevada or somesuch. I asked him why he didn't have Page 114 of the HELP bill. He said he wasn't going to bring a 1,000 page bill to an event like this. I asked him again why he didn't have that one page. Frankly I don't remember his answer. He claimed to have read it. Uh huh.
Anyway, the genesis of this particular line of wrongness seems to be a chain email, related by Politifact:
“Finally … The $64,000 question was asked … Yesterday on ABC TV (better known as the all Barack Channel) during the 'Network Special on Health Care' … Obama was asked:
“'Mr. President, will you and your family give up your current health care program and join the new “universal health care program” that the rest of us will be on????' … (Bet you already know the answer) … There was a stoney silence as Obama ignored the question and chose not to answer it!!!
“In addition, a number of senators were asked the same question, and their response was … 'We will think about it.' And they did. It was announced today on the news that the 'Kennedy Health Care Bill' was written into the new health care reform initiative ensuring that Congress will be 100 percent exempt!
I mean … it's truly baffling to deal with information that's this wrong, that is based on such a huge tangle of false premises:
- “Universal health care” (if in fact we have that) will be under many, many plans.
- Page 114 of the bill describes who is not eligible for the exchanges (not any particular plan). Congress is indeed excluded; as are those who currently get “employer-sponsored coverage (except as provided under sub3
paragraph (B)).”– page 115.
Someone walked by Penta and me as we were talking and said to him, “You're an embarrassment to Medford.” Someone else came up and said, “Thanks for saying something, Mr. Donato [sic!!!]. He [i.e. Markey] really didn't answer the question.”
