Deep Stupid # 20 - Senator Ron Johnson on Obamacare

Not by me, by Aaron Carroll, via Mark Thoma.

This takedown of Johnson's moronic WSJ op-ed is far, far less disrespectful than anything I would have done, but it's what you have to settle for when you outsource.

Here's a good quote:

So much wrong here. First of all, maybe you can make an argument that the free market system of drugs or devices helped here. But the “free market” insurance system? Name me a single procedure developed by an insurance system. We’ve had a single payer system covering everyone over 65 for decades and there have been plenty of improvements in care for the elderly.

Another:

Senator Johnson has this completely backwards.

And another:

Yes, we do better than a lot of countries in preventing mortality from those cancers. But we’re not the best, and the differences don’t appear to be nearly as large as Senator Johnson says. Moreover, he’s cherry-picking. 

Here's my favorite (at least there is the suggestion of some mild, understated snark):

Senator Johnson makes a classic mistake here.  Who needs the most hip replacements and cataract surgeries in the US? The elderly. How do the elderly get their care financed? Medicare. What is Medicare? A single-payer system. Surely Senator Johnson is not advocating that we should give everyone Medicare because it outperforms Canada and the UK, is he?

So - is Sen. Johnson a god-damned liar, of just a typical butt-ignorant, talking-point-bullshit-spouting right-wing idiot?

The question is imponderable.
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