GOP foolishly defend the insurance companies right to rip off the American people...

[kentuck]

under the guise of free speech, of course.
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<snip>
Republicans took to the floor of Congress, the Internet and the Wall Street Journal op-ed page Tuesday in a rush to defend a health insurance company that used taxpayer-subsidized communication to terrify seniors with the prospect that health care reform will cut their Medicare benefits.

Republican leaders in both houses of Congress ripped Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) for urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to put a stop to the insurer's efforts, decrying what they called a "gag order" and reading the First Amendment on the floor of the Senate.

<snip>
Meanwhile, the GOP rode to the rescue of health insurance companies.

"It is outrageous that the Obama Administration is trying to keep seniors in the dark about the consequences of congressional Democrats' costly government-run health care bills. Would the Administration impose this sort of gag order if seniors were being given information promoting the Obama health care plan? I don't think so," said Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

<snip>
White House Office of Management and Budget chief Peter Orszag explained earlier this year that Medicare Advantage profits would be a prime target of health reform. "Evidence suggests that each dollar provided under Medicare Advantage costs the government a dollar thirty in costs," he said. "I believe in competition. I don't believe in paying a dollar thirty to get a dollar."

While Democratic leaders were ignoring the charges from Republicans, Democratic aides were having a field day, Googling up one sordid Humana clip after another.


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/gop-rushes-to-defend-insu_n_295469.html