EDITORIAL: Rep. Lummis made point worth discussing

Posted 12/16/14

But when it came her turn to talk, the Wyoming Republican spoke straight from her heart. She was fed up with the dismissive manner displayed by MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, a key player in the creation of the Affordable Care Act, aka …

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EDITORIAL: Rep. Lummis made point worth discussing

Posted

Rep. Cynthia Lummis sat quietly for most of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.

But when it came her turn to talk, the Wyoming Republican spoke straight from her heart. She was fed up with the dismissive manner displayed by MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, a key player in the creation of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

It has been revealed in recent weeks that Gruber said the American people were too ignorant to understand the ACA and “too stupid” to realize what was going on. Under fire during the hearing, Gruber apologized and blamed, in part, “glibness” for his ill-chosen words.

That was too much for Lummis. 

She said Obamacare has been plagued by glitches and mistakes that caused real pain for people, herself included. Her husband, Alvin “Al” Wiederspahn, died on Oct. 24, days after hassles over Obamacare coverage for heart tests he was seeking.

She told Gruber the ACA’s many flaws “have direct consequences for real Americans. So get over your damn glibness.”

With those words, Lummis struck a nerve with the people who had been derided by Gruber as “too dumb” to understand what was happening. They grasped her point and we hope he, and others in the Obama administration, did as well.

Lummis’ sharply worded retort drew a lot of attention and served to remind us of the deep divide between the right and left in this nation.

Conservatives tried to get Lummis to say Obamacare killed her husband, with a Fox News host trying to lead her down that path during an interview the day after the hearing.

She would have none of that.

“That’s a gross overstatement,” Lummis said.

Liberals attacked her for daring to challenge Obamacare and leveled harsh words at this woman who recently lost her husband and was speaking from a place of personal pain and experience.

This is the point she was making, and don’t allow it to be lost in the partisan back and forth.  The ACA has been clumsily handled and rolled out in a confusing manner. If the husband of a multi-millionaire congresswoman could not get straight answers, how about everyone else?

Can a single mother in Philadelphia get the right answers and help she needs? Can a rancher in Utah find out what care he is eligible for under the new health care law?

Or are they all “too stupid” to know or deserve answers? We don’t think so, but we do question the intelligence of those who rolled this out in such a haphazard manner.

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