The Sorensen Monologues

Cartoon Flashback: Freedom to Be Screwed

A reader recently reminded me of this cartoon, and I figured I’d repost since it’s still painfully relevant.

Today, TPM reports that insurance companies are sending misleading notices to their customers informing them that their rates are going up without mentioning the much better, less expensive plans offered in the new health insurance exchanges. My husband received one himself. People are getting confused, assuming the Affordable Care Act is causing their premiums to explode.

If losing the new consumer protections against these companies’ worst abuses is your version of “freedom,” you can keep it.

The Democracy Scam

This cartoon is based on a Democracy Corps survey of Republicans:

“They think they face a victorious Democratic Party that is intent on expanding government to increase dependency and therefore electoral support. It starts with food stamps and unemployment benefits; expands further if you legalize the illegals; but insuring the uninsured dramatically grows those dependent on government. They believe this is an electoral strategy — not just a political ideology or economic philosophy. If Obamacare happens, the Republican Party may be lost, in their view.”

It’s an incredibly cynical view, reducing any laws that have significantly improved Americans’ quality of life to mere political gamesmanship. It calls the very notion of democracy into question.

Don’t forget to vote Nov. 5!