Are Republicans even trying? Another Obamacare horror story bites the dust [View all]

[DonViejo]

Given how horrible Obamacare supposedly is, it's bizarre the GOP has such a hard time finding real victims

BRIAN BEUTLER

Given how horrible Obamacare supposedly is, it’s a little bizarre that Republicans and their allies have such a hard time finding victims who are unambiguously worse off as a result of the law.

GOP leaders trotted out a woman named Bette during their official response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. Once reporters with even rudimentary understanding of the law began poking around, they discovered that Bette was more a victim of anti-Obamacare histrionics than of the genuine article.

The ad makers at the conservative pressure group Americans for Prosperity are the Jerry Bruckheimers of atmospherically devastating campaign spots attacking Democrats who voted for Obamacare, but like nearly all Bruckheimer films the plots of these ads fall apart upon the mildest scrutiny.

The “victims” in one of their ads attacking Sen. Mary Landrieu, R-La., turned out to be paid actors. Now in Michigan, they’ve found a genuinely sympathetic character — Leukemia patient Julie Boonstra — who seems to earnestly dislike the Affordable Care Act. But neither Boonstra nor AFP can quite put their fingers on why she’s worse off under the law than she was before. That’s not to say she should be an Obamacare fan — who am I to tell her that? But there’s almost no denying that she’s more protected now than she was before, and probably better off financially as well.

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http://www.salon.com/2014/02/21/are_republicans_even_trying_another_obamacare_horror_story_bites_the_dust/