Only In America

Political observers are predicting an armed insurrection against Obama's Affordable Care Act. Only in America would you find overweight, diabetic, out of work militants willing to die barricaded in their homes rather than have private healthcare provided to them by law.

Is it the paying for it part they dislike? If they can't pay, other Americans will help them pay.

Is it the concept of the helplessly ill being assisted by the society that irks them to the point of violence? Are Americans that uncaring?

Are they simply nuts?

Or are they dangerously, violently misinformed? Like the Tea Partiers who showed up at protests in 2010 with signs demanding the government get its hands off their Medicare... which is and always has been a government program, run, I might add, at a much greater rate of efficiency than private medical programs. (It was the private companies trying to poach patients from Medicare who spread this disinformation.)

According to a Kaiser Foundation study, Medicare dedicates more than 97% of its dollars to actual medical care, compared to private healthcare companies which bridle at the idea of spending more than half of their revenues on the care of patients.

One of the most alarmingly funny memes that came in the aftermath of the SCOTUS decision to uphold ObamaCare were the many who spoke angrily about moving to Canada to escape the ObamaCare tyranny.

Canada has full universal healthcare run by the government, and it's very popular. In a recent poll the Canadian of the 20th Century voted by all Canadians (and it was no contest apparently) was the politician who was the father of their socialized system. Oh, Canada.

Rush Limbaugh threatened to move to Costa Rica, which also has universal healthcare.

And every Republican who voted and filibustered and threatened to shut down the government to prevent government from providing or requiring healthcare for everyone, every one of them, has government paid healthcare themselves.

They are ginning up a rebellion against a benefit they enjoy. What's good enough for them is apparently too good for everyone else.

Rick Ungar, who writes about healthcare for Forbes, presents a particularly good analysis of the Republican hypocrisy.