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January 18, 2017 12:23 PM UTC

Sen. Michael Bennet Shreds Price on Price of Obamacare Repeal

  • 20 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Jezebel’s Julianne Shepherd reports on a fiery exchange today between Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Tom Price, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Heath and Human Services. The subject was the large budget deficit forecast to be incurred from the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, which you would think good conservatives like Rep. Price would have qualms with:

[W]hen Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) opened up his line of questioning with the kind of genial chit-chat we’ve gotten from the Republicans, you could be forgiven for your surprise, especially from a Democrat who’s held nominees’ feet to the fire for the past few weeks.

Well, it was a ruse. Turns out, his friendliness was a lead-in to an impassioned delivery about the hypocrisy of Republicans in their efforts to repeal ACA last week, and in doing so he contextualized the knotty relationship between the ACA and the budget better than anyone I’ve seen. His vehemence and anger really hammered home how alarming the Republicans’ proposal was—and it also seemed to shake Rep. Price to a tangible degree.

Jezebel has the full seven-minute exchange posted with their story, and we recommend watching the whole thing. The transition from congenial small talk to demanding an answer to this question is remarkable, showing a flash of resolve from the often-reserved senior senator from Colorado that we expect did indeed catch Rep. Price off-guard. That Republicans are suddenly willing to accept huge new deficits from the repeal of Obamacare, when the law was reducing deficits before, is just one of many thorny contradictions they have yet to explain–relying on invective and diversion avoid having to answer the question.

Thanks to Sen. Bennet we now know that on the high cost of repealing Obamacare, Republicans don’t have an answer.

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20 thoughts on “Sen. Michael Bennet Shreds Price on Price of Obamacare Repeal”

      2. Hey Andrei, why couldn't the esteemed Mr. Price answer the question? Is killing Obamacare (and Americans) really worth blowing up the debt? Or now that a GOP is back at the helm are we to assume that debt and deficits no longer matter (like the last time a GOP was POTUS and royally fucked the US. economy)?

        1. Like Reagan and all Republicans, Andrew only cares about the national deficit when Democrats are bringing it down.  When Republicans are in control, they treat it like a free credit card given to drunken sailors on shore leave.  Andrew doesn't want to talk about the 9 trillion in debt that repeal will trigger as well as the tragedies that will result from letting insurance corporations once again decide who lives or dies based on their profit margins.  The man can't engage in a substantive discussion on why the debt doesn't matter when Republicans are destroying things that matter so all he can do is insult.  Just like Bush and the Iraq war which was supposed to cost the country only $300 billion and is likely to cost over 3 trillion, it is possible that the CBO is understating the real cost of repeal.  This is who liberals on this site have to deal with.  A clueless humanoid who brags about what a mighty patriot he is but never considers that our national history is one of tolerance and cooperation to achieve shared goals.  What a joke intellectual.

  2. But at least Dr. Price can add "insider trading skills" to his list of qualifications for the office:

    Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, admitted on Wednesday that he decided to buy stock in an Australian biotech firm after receiving information from Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), a board member of that company.

    Price’s admission that he personally chose to purchase stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics contradicts the Trump transition team’s defense of another questionable stock trade Price made. The transition team had previously said Price held a broker-operated account with Morgan Stanley and did not direct his stock trades.

    “Well, Congressman Chris Collins, who sits on President-elect Trump’s transition team, is both an investor and a board member of the company,” Murray said. “He was reportedly overheard just last week off the House floor bragging about how he had made people millionaires from a stock tip. Congressman Price, in our meeting, you informed me you made these purchases based on conversations with Representative Collins. Is that correct?”

    “No, what I ―” Price started.

    Murray interjected, “That is what you said to me in my office.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-price-stock-trades_us_587f9ec5e4b0cf0ae8813191

     

  3. Of course Patty Murray would say.

    Murray interjected, “That is what you said to me in my office.” 

    She was not under oath. Like Congressman Jim forgetting he skipped the Bush  inaugural. She is a loyal Democrat follower and will do what Chuck wants.

    2. I know.  Republicans are honest brokers.  Nobody is more honest than Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate.  Except for Trump.  We should all what Trump wants to help build the swamp er I mean drain the swamp.

  5. aw jeez………am I going to have to compliment Mike? 

    I'm not going to watch that clip for a few days………I want to see a few, or several, of these horrible nominees go down.

  6. Sen. Bennet mentioned the CBO estimate of a $353 billion increase in the deficit over 10 years if the ACA is repealed without a replacement, throwing 20 million or more people off health insurance.  

    That got me thinking about the other side of the equation — 45,000 annual deaths due to lack of health care.  That works out to 450,000 needless deaths over 10 years at an average cost to the taxpayers of $784,000 per death.  

    That amount of money would buy a platinum-plated, solid gold health insurance policy with a really nice home thrown in!

    One thing Republicans have demonstrated over and over since the days of President Hoover through Reagan, and especially G.W. Bush — they really do not understand basic economics and how to best invest for maximum gain (unless they get a hot stock tip and pocket the money themselves).

    1. You can always contact Senator Bennet via his email form.

      Tillerson's nomination for Sec State is still stalled in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with Mark Rubio holding the deciding vote. However, Bob Corker is declaring that he will move Tillerson's nomination forward to the full Senate even if the SFR committee says "No". These people just make their own rules, and they're getting away with it.

      Bennet has been cautious and bland about Tillerson, promising a "full vetting", and that he is reluctant to promote a climate change denier.

      If Sessions is confirmed as AG, Colorado's recreational and medical cannabis industries could be in real trouble. 

      Here's Bennet's statement on whether Federal policy vs. Colorado's cannabis industries should change:

      "Senator Gardner and I have worked together on this issue for a long time and I imagine we will continue to work to get the federal government in the new administration to respect Colorado’s laws and businesses," said Senator Michael Bennet, a Democrat. "It’s certainly a question that I have and will be pursuing it."

      It's going to be a full-on Senate floor fight on all these nominees, and we'd better keep the pressure on our Senators.

       

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