House Democrats block GOP mailers on ObamaCare
posted at 11:36 am on July 23, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Roll Call reports on a fracas between Democrats and Republicans in the House over the right of Representatives to communicate with their constituents. Republicans want to send this chart, created by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) to represent the flowchart of health services under ObamaCare, in order to show how much more complicated such care will become. Democrats filed a complaint with the franking committee and blocked it (via Drudge Report):
Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending their constituents a mailing that is critical of the majority’s health care reform plan, blocking the mailing by alleging that it is inaccurate.
House Republicans are crying foul and claiming that the Democrats are using their majority to prevent GOP Members from communicating with their constituents. …
“Hiding the truth about wildly unpopular policies is a Democrat specialty,” said one GOP aide. “I’d like to see the flow chart on how Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi plans on implementing the open and transparent government she keeps promising everyone.”
“We have initiated discussions with the minority to try and resolve current differences and are operating in good faith to achieve that goal,” said Kyle Anderson, a spokesman for House Administration Chairman Robert Brady (D-Pa.). The committee has oversight of the commission.
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), ranking member of the committee and a member of the franking commission, said through a spokeswoman that he is also aware of the situation and is working with the members of the franking commission to resolve the differences, but he added that he believed Democrats on the commission were overreaching.
You can see the chart for yourself here, and click the image to get the full-size PDF:
Even if the Democrats have solid ground for complaining about the graphic, the best remedy for bad speech is more speech, not censorship. Let the Democrats argue the rebuttal in their own mailings. Frankly (pun intended), their criticisms are picayune, amounting in essence to a complaint that Brady didn’t draw enough lines — which just makes Brady’s point even more clear.
An open and transparent Congress and leadership which understood those concepts would not have been frightened of a flow chart.
Blowback
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What sort of prescription price regulation do you think would be a good idea? And what sort of regulation on the health care industry? I hear your sincerity but I would want more details. As an aide, I’m horrified that the phrase “working poor” has entered into standard vocabulary.
dieudonne on July 23, 2009 at 1:27 PM
Democrats just wasted 800 billion on porkulus for no positive affect on the economy but they’ll get this one right. Trust me.
gwelf on July 23, 2009 at 1:28 PM
NEWSFLASH Lying ignorant troll no longer claims to be ‘Canadian’ while continuing to be Clueless
Janos Hunyadi on July 23, 2009 at 1:29 PM
This is the same chart used during the Clinton years, right?
RufusW on July 23, 2009 at 1:30 PM
I’m not saying the chart is inaccurate – I’m saying he appears to be right when he says it was done poorly. This could have been done because somebody hasn’t learned to present information in a clear manner or it could have been done to make it look more complicated than it actually is at the moment. Kowning what I know about politicians – even GOP – I lean towards thinking the latter. I repeat – I don’t think our arguments against the plan require gimmicks.
dieudonne on July 23, 2009 at 1:31 PM
I appear to be wading into a disagreement that already has hot tempers. I think I’ll go have a bacon sandwich for lunch instead. Mmmmm. Bacon.
dieudonne on July 23, 2009 at 1:32 PM
I’ve just heard the phrase “working poor” before and thought it fit the bill. Just a poor choice of words. Just chalk it up to my naivete. I just think regulation and oversight would work as an alternative to universal healthcare. I’m just saying we need to find a way to make prescription drugs more affordable. I’ll admit readily that I have a lot to learn about the issue of healthcare. What I do know though is that universal healthcare will bankrupt the country and create a system of people who think the government is obligated to provide their healthcare in years to come.
NathanG on July 23, 2009 at 1:34 PM
I don’t know if I posted this on this thread or not BUT READ IT!! It’s an excellent article explaining all the myths of socialized medicine clearly for laymen:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/23/health_care_mythology_97552.html
Ann NY on July 23, 2009 at 1:38 PM
I think I’ll go have a bacon sandwich for lunch instead. Mmmmm. Bacon.
dieudonne on July 23, 2009 at 1:32 PM
Tee-hee….Touch’e!
Archimedes on July 23, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Bacon is the great uniter.
gwelf on July 23, 2009 at 1:39 PM
forgive me…
Ann NY on July 23, 2009 at 1:41 PM
I went to the emergency room when my finger was close to cut off. I waited for 8 hours because the room was full of people. One lady had just come from the lake with a sunburn, another guy was strung out and needed drugs, a kid was there with a fever, not one of the others, except for an elderly lady with chest pains, was an emergency. After 8 hours and 25 stitches, I realized how stupid it was not to have clinics to deal with those kinds of problems. Our emergency rooms are overflowing with non-emergencies. We really need to build facilities staffed by doctors and nurses to deal with non-emergencies. Particularly if there is very little else available to the general public. Having said that, Obama care is not the answer to this problem.
elclynn on July 23, 2009 at 1:44 PM
elclynn: best not to go for any reform
RufusW on July 23, 2009 at 1:46 PM
Sounds like your emergency room doesn’t triage very well. I agree that there are problems with our healthcare system and that Obamacare is not the answer.
People who go to an emergency room for primary care instead of their doctor (for insurance reasons for example) would probably be able to get insurance or afford to go to a doctor and pay at the desk if we really had a free market healthcare system.
gwelf on July 23, 2009 at 1:50 PM
Don’t you have private ‘walk-in clinics’? Where I stay when I’m in Florida, there are at least two. No appointment, very little wait time, and most minor treatments are $125-$150
Janos Hunyadi on July 23, 2009 at 1:52 PM
I believe they can be found in the yellow pages under “Urgent Care Centers”
chemman on July 23, 2009 at 2:03 PM
Exactly. Every city I have lived in has had like two within 10 miles. Those clinics really are life-savers. I never venture into an emergency room if I don’t have to. Now, when I was in the military, I had no choice on post. The ER was it, 3-4 hours minimumm wait. Go figure, government run.
XWing5 on July 23, 2009 at 3:45 PM
We had a very good urgent care clinic here, which I utilized when necessary. (Takes three months to get a regular Doctor’s appointment, 90 days to get an appointment with a dentist around here…. and that is pre-0bamacare)
The out-of-town hospital that owned it suddenly went out of business, and rather than letting it go on as an independent entity, they closed it. So now the people that utilized it and were happy to pay cash for their minor to moderate problems have to go to the emergency room, and sit for hours amongst the non-english speakers with runny noses and headaches, to even get triaged. The only way to get seen quickly is to ride in on an ambulance.
LegendHasIt on July 23, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Too late, I already sent it to everyone I know.
Geronimo on July 23, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Dave’s a self-negating partisan liberal (Canadians don’t have a “Democrat” party, so “liberal” serves as the identifier). Each DRywall comment serves only to underscore his one main theme:
We got it, Dave. Thanks for your contribution.
Jaibones on July 23, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Hey, does anyone have a link at the actual health care bill? (as it stands now)
I’ve been trying to find a copy of it online, but having a hell of a time. Either it isn’t up on any of the government sites, or the Dems REALLY don’t want us to know what’s in it.
Jewels on July 23, 2009 at 5:53 PM
http://www.veteranoutrage.com
so much for the openess.
I could find more answers from the North Koreans
than i can from my own democrat congressmen and women.
Sheesh no wonder they are all slimeballs..
veteranoutrage on July 23, 2009 at 7:57 PM
The Democrats are too late if they think they could block this thing from getting to the public.
This chart is literally all over the internet, available for full color printing anytime anyone wants.
You snooze, Pelosi, you lose!
pilamaye on July 23, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Too late, I made many many copies and traced the money flow with all the pretty colors in highlighters. I sent them, put them in front of people, showed it to my coworkers (we are in the healthcare field and most around me are getting ready to retire). Then I handed them the phone numbers to call to say NO! and by golly they did!
I love watching them get that spark back and they dont hold back on their opinions! The words “he’s a punk!” can be heard all day long!
Coastal Paradise on July 23, 2009 at 9:05 PM
“If you’re asking me if it would be a good idea to beat a bill that I think will ration care, increase government control over your life, strengthen the power of politicians, run up the deficit, raise taxes and kill jobs, yeah I think we ought to stop that proposal”-Newt Ginrich
Anyone out there watching Hannity? He is running a show on a Universal Care Nightmare. Oh my God. We have to start writing Congress now and kill this thing completely. Rush is coming up next on Greta talking about health care.
KCinLV on July 23, 2009 at 9:53 PM
Dammit, I wish I had saved all the crap Nancy Pelosi has mailed me, one of her embarrassed constituents, over the years and submitted it with a complaint to the Franking Committee. Lots of mailers detailing how important it was to stand up to the Bush agenda over the years, for instance … if that was OK for her to send out, this ought to be fine for GOP legislators to send.
Alex_SF on July 23, 2009 at 10:05 PM
Ah yes, reminds me of the Clinton Era. When Tipper Gore tried to get warning labels put on music that she thought offensive. Hell, the dems even censor themselves by erasing stuff off their website that shows them for the racists they truly are.
4shoes on July 23, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Hey you ignorant ass Americans: “WE WON”. Go play your country music and shoot a deer. Us intalecuals are in charge.
jarhead0311 on July 24, 2009 at 12:41 AM
That’s a joke, right? It would be my favorite written line of the year if not.
Ann NY on July 24, 2009 at 8:07 AM
I’ve not heard anyone take the ObamaCare issue to it’s final logical step.
Does anyone notice the Democrats giving Republicans any rights under their monopoly of government power lately?
Censoring their fellow representatives is just another step in their quest for total control.
ObamaCare: Run by Democrats, administered by Democrats, ruled by Democrats, all healthcare decisions by Democrats.
Republicans to the back of any healthcare line. Conservatives to the back of the line.
Non-minorities to the back of the line.
They will weild this power, I have no doubt.
Wake up guys. They won and we’ll find out just what that
means if they have power over our life and death decisions.
Even scarier: What is coming next.. they are barely started in the changes they want for this country of ours.
mollymack on July 24, 2009 at 8:25 AM
Good question. I’d be willing to help a bipartisan effort to accurately flow-chart how the setup would really work. If it’s really true that it’s wrong because it’s OVERSIMPLIFIED, well, that sort of makes the GOPs case, doesn’t it?
hawksruleva on July 24, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Oh, c’mon. What could they do in the next 3 1/2 years if they keep going at the pace of this first 6 months?
hawksruleva on July 24, 2009 at 10:26 AM
The chart is right on. It depicts the absolute cluster …. that this program is.
highninside on July 24, 2009 at 3:52 PM
The Shrine of Flaming Capitalism has a list of the Franking Commission members and their contact information, located HERE.
Mutnodjmet on July 24, 2009 at 11:45 PM
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