McCain Ally Counsels Alarmist Attack On Health Care

Political consultant Dick Morris today recommended John McCain use alarmist distortions to get off the defensive on health care. Morris offered this counsel days after Al Hubbard, architect of President Bush's health care plan now touted by McCain, compared Americans' use of the health care system to shoppers who indiscriminately buy caviar while someone else foots the bill.

Morris alleges Obama wants to insure illegal immigrants because Obama says he aims to cover the 47 million uninsured. Morris cries that this 47 million figure includes uninsured undocumented people. As he put it in his op-ed for the New York Post:

Obama has said, proudly and often, "I am going to give health insurance to 47 million Americans who are now without coverage." But are they "Americans?"

David Cutler, senior health care adviser to the Obama campaign, says Morris's argument flies in the face of the plain language of the Obama plan. He notes that it reads, "My plan begins by covering every American." Cutler added in an email, "That should have been enough for" Morris.

Morris should have done his homework before running his column -- the McCain campaign also uses the 47 million figure, which means the GOP presumptive nominee could be snared in the same trap that Morris wants to lay for his Democratic rival.

If McCain's allies feel like his best hope is to resort to such specious attacks, they must really be worried that health care is going to prove a major weakness come November.

Comments

[pdhunter]

In California one is uninsurable for 10 years after surviving cancer. If one is "lucky" and has insurance a
self paying policy runs >$1100/month for a married couple, soom to be >$1500/month. I know as I am
living this nightmare - both my wife and I are healthy yet given a treated incident with cancer in 2000 we cannot shop for health coverage for 10 years and are at the mercy of the plan we now have.

If this is affordable health care than most folks planning or forced into retirement better plan to have more than one million saved for this type of situation.

Of course Congress doesn't care (oh dear that includes McCain & Obama) as they do have the best health coverage that the tax payers can provide, hm pretty good pay for that matter given the vacation time and travel benifits...

[likeicare]

Hey, I've got an idea:

How about Morris, and any other Rethuglicans, give up their healthcare insurance and see how that works out for them?

If it's such a great idea to go around uninsured and with no ability to pay for healthcare with actual money, maybe they should try it.

The insurance industry is good for only one thing, as far as I can see -- it keeps the paper mills running. Otherwise, it's just another form of gambling -- sanctioned and subsidized by the government -- the same thing conservatives rail against all the time.

[TuffPosh]

This article doesn't dispute that BHO's plan covers illegal aliens, and many Democrats have referred to illegal aliens as Americans. So, Cutler's remark is not enough. A non-hack report would have asked Cutler what in there lays out eligibility. And, a non-hack report would point out that the far-left Latino groups that pull BHO's strings on related issues would work night and day to make sure that his plan included illegal aliens.