Healthcare Opponents Quickly Exploit Ted Kennedy’s Death

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:08 pm

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Since Sen. Ted Kennedy’s death, the cry from the right wing has been that Democrats are going to exploit his death to pass healthcare reform, but it turns out that is the opponents of heathcare reform that are doing the exploitation. Dick Morris’ group the League of American Voters is using Kennedy’s death to raise funds to fight reform.

The fundraising message, courtesy of Media Matters states that Kennedy’s death has revived Obama’s healthcare efforts, “Though recent polls suggested Obama’s radical plans of a “public option” and adding 50 million new patients to the government system were in serious trouble, Ted Kennedy’s passing may have breathed new life into them.”

They also use the argument that the public option would have killed Kennedy, “But we also are well aware that Ted Kennedy’s death has evoked tremendous sympathy for his dream of a socialist health care take over. The irony of Kennedy’s death is that under Obama Care Kennedy would likely never have gotten the top-notch, expensive medical care he was afforded.”

Executive Director Bob Adams claimed that with another $5 million, they could kill healthcare reform, “As I write this, the League has to firm up its TV ad buys for the next two weeks. We have already raised over $1.3 million. But we need to raise $5 million to kill off Obama Care.” The tasteless nature of this message is disgusting. Today was the man’s funeral. How about taking a day off from exploiting him?

It is funny that these scam artists are actually suckering people into giving them money. It is clear to anyone who can count that the Democrats have the votes to pass a healthcare reform bill. The debate is within the Democratic caucus over what the bill will contain. A bill will be passed. Dick Morris and company are selling their donors a bill of goods when they talk about killing healthcare reform.

Since Ted Kennedy died, Republicans have been the ones who are trying to warp and exploit his name. They cry about Democrats exploiting his death, but it is Republicans who are falsely claiming that Kennedy would have gotten poor care under the public option. Opponents are using Ted Kennedy to reinforce their lies about healthcare reform. While Democrats mourn, Republicans continue to distort and lie about the issue that Kennedy cared about the most.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association