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Ordinary hockey mom, ordinary woman, ordinary American! And like ordinary folks on Main Street, she has had trouble buying health insurance. Twice in the past week, Sarah Palin told us that she and Hubby Todd were just like everyone else, sitting around the kitchen table figuring out whether to pay for catastrophic coverage or crossing their fingers and hoping that nobody would get hurt or sick. In an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Palin said: âWeâve gone though periods of our life here with paying out-of-pocket for health coverage until Todd and I both landed a couple of good union jobs.â
During last nightâs debate, she told the audience that there were times in her marriage where âwe didnât have health insurance and we know what other Americans are going through as they sit around the kitchen table and try to figure out how are they going to pay out-of-pocket for health care. We have been there also so that connection was important.â
Journalistsâand votersâneed to make the connection between all those families at the kitchen table trying to buy out-of-reach coverage and John McCainâs health reform proposals, which are unlikely to help many of the people with whom Palin says she wants to connect. Itâs ironic that Palin realizes life was easier when she and Todd got union jobs with health benefits while touting a health plan that will weaken and perhaps destroy the system that provided those good benefits. We at CJR have repeatedly pointed out that McCainâs plan would force people who have health insurance from their employers to pay taxes on the value of those benefits. Also, the tax credits proposed as an inducement to buy coverage in the expensive individual market might ultimately encourage companies and unions to get out of the health insurance business altogether.
Itâs a good bet Palin wonât make those connections, and itâs doubtful her handlers will put her in a position where a good reporter can ask some pointed follow-up questions on the issue. So we urge the media to connect those dots on their own. And while theyâve at it, they should take note of a couple of other Palinisms that crept into the debate. She said that McCainâs tax credit plan was budget neutral, adding:
That doesnât cost the government anything as opposed to Barack Obamaâs plan to mandate health care coverage and have universal government run program and unless youâre pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately, I donât think that itâs going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds.
Yipes! Obama proposes mandating coverage only for children and his plan is notâwe repeatâis not a government-run program. No federal takeover of health careâno government seizure of Aetna and Blue Cross. Joe Biden didnât challenge the errors, instead using his time to hammer away at McCainâs proposed tax on health benefits. Okay, journalists, itâs time for you to connect these dots too.
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