Back in 2009, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) was rebuked — including by some fellow Democrats— for saying that the Republicans’ health-care plan was for people who got sick to “die quickly.” And Republicans including Sarah Palin drew criticism for accusing Democrats of instituting “death panels.”
Such accusations, it seemed, were taboo during our country’s big health-care debate.
Flash forward to today, and death is a big part of the debate over Obamacare, thanks in large part to Democrats.
In recent days, the specter of death and illness has permeated the debate over Republicans’ plans to repeal Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act.
The Democrats’ new slogan for the GOP’s repeal effort is “Make America Sick Again.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) accused Republicans of assigning the “death penalty” to the law’s beneficiaries. Now-former Senate minority leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) assured us “people are going to die.” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof agreed. And White House press secretary Joshua Earnest said Tuesday that repeal is indeed “a question of life or death for some people.”
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