As Republicans make their attempt to rip health insurance away from tens of millions of Americans just so they can give a giant tax cut to the wealthiest, we’re starting to see more and more GOP members of Congress resorting to some incredibly ridiculous arguments in defense of their heartless plans.
One of those is Congressman Francis Rooney (R-FL), who appeared on MSNBC Monday and was reminded by host Chris Jansing that the GOP plan targets the most vulnerable in this country:
“Those that would be hurt the most, are those who would, in fact, be those who have the most difficulty: the poor, the elderly, the people most in need of the help that Obamacare provides.”
Rooney tried to say that anyone on Medicaid now could expect to have “favorable outcomes” under the GOP plan. And then he decided to try and head off the upcoming score from the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) which will tell us exactly how many Americans will lose their coverage under Trumpcare:
“The voodoo economics of the CBO score was faulty the first time around,” he insisted. “It assumes that nobody will buy insurance unless they are mandated to by a statist system like Obamacare. It doesn’t give any credit for behavioral modification and incentive through the tax credit.”
But what about those massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires? Jansing pushed back on Rooney:
“The savings, a lot of it is expected to go in this bill toward tax cuts. Seven million dollars a year in the tax cut — a year — that each of the 400 wealthiest families in America we get as a result of this. That’s okay with you as people are losing their coverage?”
That’s when Rooney decided to try and defend trickle down economics, even though that economic theory has repeatedly failed in the past:
“I happen to think that tax cuts stimulate investments, which is what this tax cut is. Obama put in a tax on investments, cutting those taxes are very important to stimulate investments and job creation.”
“Sometimes these people don’t understand how capitalism works. You incentivize investment, people deploy capital, create jobs, build companies and put more people to work so they can afford all these things and not have to be on Medicaid.”
If Congressman Rooney wants to see someone who truly doesn’t have a damn clue how economics works, he need no look any further than the nearest mirror.
Featured Image Via MSNBC Screengrab
