Jason Chaffetz , the Republican U.S. representative for Utah’s 3rd congressional district, when asked about health care and the inability of many Americans to afford it said “Maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest it in their own health care. They’ve got to make those decisions for themselves.”
This line of reasoning follows the same tired argument that the reason people are poor is because of their inability to prioritize what is important over what is frivolous. In past years, it was all about fancy sneakers. Then it switched to flat screen TV sets and now, iPhones.
We are told that people are poor and unable to afford basic necessities because they have the wrong priorities.
I would argue that people are poor and unable to receive basic necessities because we have the wrong priorities and by we, I mean the American people, our government, our tax codes, our budgets.
We have a president who is advocating spending billions more on our military, but cutting health care, education, the arts. We have a president who has taken advantage of our tax laws to amass a fortune that provides him with private jets and penthouse suites adorned with gold plated fixtures in the toilets, all while many of our nation’s citizens live in poverty.
We spend billions of sports stadiums, prisons, and soon, massive security walls while we continue to cut budgets aimed at helping veterans, our elderly, and our least fortunate.
The only other nations that come to mind with this behavior are Russia, North Korea, and their ilk, ruled by powerful wealthy individuals for the benefit of same.
Mr Chaffetz , maybe rather than passing that new tax loophole for those wealthy citizens you just love and give away billions of dollars, maybe you should invest it in their our nation, united indivisible, with justice for all.
” To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.”
Fred Rich LaRiccia
The Republican health plan does much to reduce investment tax surcharges, and to cut health care contributions – but does nothing to contain cost. The plan was hatched behind closed doors by a bunch of politicians without input from patients, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, or from corporations paying for employee health insurance.
Big surprise, their plan only favors the corporations.
In comparison, the MA Governor’s proposal is proposing to increase employer assessments, and to set some limited price caps. This will indirectly cause employee contributions, but also limit gains made by some overpaid hospitals. The state GIC commission has passed reimbursement limits as well as increases state employee contributions. There is pain, but it is spread equitably across the spectrum.
It would have been possible for the Republicans in Congress to take a similar approach… But they are trapped in their own ideology.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/opinion/the-republican-health-care-crackup.html
Even David Brooks thinks the Republican health care plan is a crackup.
… Galbraith quote, seems applicable here:
We can safely abandon the doctrine of the eighties, namely that the rich were not working because they had too little money, the poor because they had much.
Not only does Jason Chaffetz have free government funded health insurance, his iPhone was purchased by his campaign committee, Friends of Jason Chaffetz. This is fueling contributions for Kathryn Allen, who has declared for the race against Chaffetz in 2018.
Of course he bought his phone with campaign funds. He’s a politician, no?
It doesn’t seem strange for a full-time politician to have cell phone costs covered, either by his boss (the government directly) or by his campaign contributions.
Am I missing something?
Jason said, “Maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest it in their own health care. They’ve got to make those decisions for themselves.”
Obviously not a choice Jason needs to make, because he gets both for free.
…Rep Chaffetz is a very important full-time human who *needs* an iPhone to conduct his very important, full time work. He is SO important and SO full-time that OTHER people subsidize both his phone and his health care.
The poor, on the other hand, are much less important, not really human and full time slackers likely only to fondle their entirely unnecessary and superfluous iPhone as they dis-engage into their full time slacking.
Those birds didn’t get angry by themselves, doncha know… They are channelling Chaffetz’ pent up rage at those lazy pigs who just sit there an oink…
By the way, when is the ‘post’ function going to be fixed? What’s the problem – can the changes that broke the web site not be reverted?
…that given the cost of an iPhone vs. health care, sacrificing the former won’t really make much dent in being able to pay for the latter.
The first item to be marked up was a $400 million tax break to insurance companies who pay their executives more than $500k annually.