During last night’s GOP debate, moderator Wolf Blitzer presented Ron Paul with a hypothetical: Suppose a healthy 30-year-old who can afford health insurance opts not to buy it, then suddenly falls into a coma and needs treatment. Who should pay for that?
Paul’s answer, in short, was not the government. And actually his answer wasn’t all that bad except he didn’t address Blitzer’s hypothetical directly. So Blitzer followed up: “But Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?”
To which some chucklehead in the audience shouted “YEAH!”
Rick Perry was asked to give his reaction to that comment this morning at a breakfast fundraiser in Tampa, Florida. He said he was “taken aback” by the outburst – as were most of the other people in the audience, I think it’s safe to say.
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That outburst at the debate was not reflective of mainstream conservatism or the Republican Party. Just because one opposes Obamacare and other forms of socialized healthcare doesn’t mean one has to have a callous “fend for yourself” attitude when it comes to people who find themselves in a bad situation.
This tweet I noticed last night sums it up well:
Whoever said “Yes” when asked if the person should die should kindly be asked to leave the Republican Party…
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