Tea Party congressman Allen West admitted to ThinkProgress that he supports several measures of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
In an interview with Scott Keyes, West made it clear that the only issue he has with the Affordable Care Act is the insurance mandate, all while defending key parts of the health care reform law including kids staying on their parent’s insurance till the age of 26, outlawing discrimination because of pre-existing conditions, and closing a hole in the Medicare prescription plan.
Keyes asked West if repealing the Affordable Care Act would cause insurance premiums to drop.
“Well you’ve got to replace it,” West replied. “You’ve got to replace it with something. If people want to keep their kid on their insurance at 26, fine. We’ve got to make sure no American gets turned back for pre-existing conditions, that’s fine. Keep the donut hole closed, that’s fine. But what I just talked to you about, maybe 20, 25 pages of legislation.”
Here’s the video:
Unlike many Tea Party politicians, West doesn’t seem to want to scrap the entire Affordable Care Act. But by killing the mandate and limiting the replacement legislation to merely 20-25 pages, he is undermining the provisions he claims to want to keep while writing a plan that lacks details. The insurance mandate requires everyone to buy an insurance plan so that there is more money in the insurance pool to take care of everyone. Plus, the more people who are insured, the more health care costs will drop because more people are in the system and won’t have to pick up the slack because someone went to an ER without insurance. It makes sense.
Another complaint of West’s is that the Affordable Care Act has too many pages to read. I say too bad. There is a reason why the Affordable Care Act had to be so many pages long. It’s not easy to reform health care for tens of millions of Americans. The bill overwrote a lot of existing legislation and simple language just wouldn’t cut it in court. Health care is a complicated issue and considering how many parties the Democrats had to please in order to get this law passed, it’s amazing the bill wasn’t even longer. If West wants a health care reform bill that is only a few pages in length, I suggest he introduce a universal health care bill to the full House. That would make things so much easier and less complicated.
But seriously, I understand the Affordable Care Act is almost 2,000 pages long, but when Republicans complain about it, including Republican congressmen and judges, I think of 3rd grade kids moaning and groaning because they’ve just been told to read a chapter in their textbook. The difference here is that congressmen and judges are grownups who are paid to read legislation. If they can’t handle heavy reading, chances are they aren’t qualified to serve the people in Washington. It seems to me that Republican politicians are lazy and don’t really want to be in Congress serving the constituents who elected them to office to begin with. Being a public servant isn’t supposed to be an easy job. Working in Congress isn’t the same as screwing around and relaxing in study hall in high school. It’s a real job that demands attention to detail, a tremendous amount of reading and writing, and a brain that can focus on solving problems. Apparently, conservatives lack all of the above.
