# Honest Question: Why are the republicans so pissed about this health care thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682 "2010-03-24T22:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/41 "2010-03-25T04:04:01Z")
> [@jrodefeld](#): > > What this health care bill does is put a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor Assuming it really does put a govenrment bureaucrat between you and your doctor… Let’s see… I could have a GS-something whose job it is to make sure doctors get paid; or I could have a non-accountable individual and a private corporation, both of whom would befefit financially if I died. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/42 "2010-03-25T04:07:04Z")
So I read the thread up to this point and responded. I hope that is ok… > [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > It’s pretty damn similar to the failed plans in Massachusetts and Tennessee, but on a national scale, loaded with pork, passed by a deceptive process of dubious constitutionality, with provisions which amount to forcing people to go out and buy things. And if allowed to stand, peope are functionally reduced to subjects of the national government, which may now tell us what to buy and when, with our private money, regardless of whether or not we ever set foot outside of state lines. Thanks for going into some detail with your answer, and may I ask you some more about this bit? Would you expand on the concept of people being reduced to subjects of the national government, please? And please explain how this is distinct from auto insurance. > [@](#): > > The CBO scoring process has been gamed so much its now irrelevant. Maybe. I’m occasionally paranoid, so if the CBO is gamed I will eventually want to know about it. I wish you’d wowed me with a jaw-dropping factoid or something, but I’m willing to give you another chance to come back with one since its so potentially juicy. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/43 "2010-03-25T04:09:55Z")
> [@jrodefeld](#): > > I am not a Republican, yet I see this health care bill as a disaster. Our country is bankrupt. There IS NO MONEY. As we are seeing throughout the country, government is unable to deliver on their promises any longer and the infrastructure is crumbling around them. Just look at California. From any perspective, liberal, conservative, independent, libertarian, this is a disaster. This mandates EVERYONE buy insurance from the insurance companies. This gives more power to the insurance companies. It does everything possible to perpetuate the exact same system we have today. For those who support it let me ask you this: What is the more ethical and compassionate option for our government at this point, to promise people and make claims that they can deliver goods and services that they really can’t and sucker people into an insolvent system that will eventually quit working due to fiscal reality setting in leaving people TRULY out of luck, or coming clean with people and cutting back on spending and transitioning people towards private savings accounts or other non-government alternatives while striving to take care of those truly dependent on the system? It seems an easy choice to me, yet when I hear the liberals taking the moral high ground it really pisses me off because I can see that those who truly believe that our Federal Government can follow through on its commitments will be in the worst shape when that illusion is shattered. > > A major reason for our economic crisis is the fact that our government is completely insolvent and unable to fulfill its commitments. We need to reform Medicare and Social Security, not pretend that we can cover millions more! As I’ve said, I am an Independent, but one thing that bothers me about the liberals especially is that they seem to think that the laws of economics don’t apply to the government. They just say “the government will pay”. Well where does the government get the money to pay for something? They either steal it from someone else or debase the money by printing more of it causing the standard of living to go down for everyone. Then there is more who need assistance, thus perpetuating a fraudulant system, and accelerating our national bankruptcy. The only way out is accepting the fact that we need to balance the budget, cut spending across the board and live within our means. If we don’t do this the only inevitable consequence is hyperinflation and the destruction of our currency. This is what we are on the verge of. Many great economists and trends forecasters see this coming within a few years. This new health care legislation will only accelerate the process. A big reason we are going bankrupt is health care. Medicaid & medicare cost state & federal governments $900+ billion a year. Other health plans add 100s of billions more. Social security really isn’t a problem. Minor tweaks can keep the system solvent. But of the 70+ trillion in unfunded liabilities the US government has over 80% are health care related. Keeping social security solvent isn’t hard. One of the major motivators of the bill was to try and bend the cost curve so the rate of medical inflation was slowed. In many ways we failed. Truly big methods of slowing cost growth (a public option tied to medicare, reimportation of drugs from foreign nations, medicare negotiations of medicine) were all cut from the final bill. But according to Atul Gawande over half the bill is designed to find ways to improve the efficiency of health care. > **[Testing, Testing](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/14/testing-testing-2)** > > The health-care bill has no master plan for curbing costs. Is that a bad thing? Cost is the most important thing about health care. If we were only spending 12% of GDP instead of 17%, we’d probably already have universal coverage since it would be so much cheaper. According to the CBO this bill can cut the deficit by over 1.2 trillion over 20 years. > [@jrodefeld](#): > > What this health care bill does is put a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor, eliminates medical independence, privacy, and patient choice. It gives the Health Insurance Industry massive new power over our medical system. Why not allow medical freedom once again? Why not allow people to seek safer, alternative treatments, and natural supplements to treat illness? Why should we force them into a “sick-care” system which promotes needless surgery and harmful prescription drugs? ? How is this different than our current system. Private bureaucrats come between doctors and patients all the time. Medical independence is non-existent since doctors have to get permission from insurance companies to do treatments. Privacy doesn’t exist because once you file a claim your insurance company does an indepth background check to look for a reason to drop your coverage. Patient choice is a myth too since you are tied to your insurance companies choice of doctors. What is medical freedom? And who is stopping you or anyone else from preventative care or looking for care outside the western allopathic system? How do you know surgeries are needless? > [@jrodefeld](#): > > There are many people who are very healthy, such as myself, who don’t need or want health insurance. I would prefer to save the money, see alternative doctors, nutritionists, chiropractors and personal trainers, and spend the extra money on healthy food to eat, rather than spend it on insurance for medical care that I would never use. You may say, “but what if you are in an accident, or get cancer?” Well, I probably won’t because I am very careful and eat healthfully. In a free society, I should be allowed to take that risk. > > So, there are many objections. The main one obviously is that we are completely broke. This will just accelerate the bankruptcy that is inevitable. When gas is $8 a gallon and a loaf of bread is $15, ask yourself whether it was worth it to have a massive subsidy to the Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industries in the form of health “reform” People are so ignorant of the economic implications of government meddling. The problem with that is the uninsured, when they do get sick, have their costs passed onto the insured. Of a $12,000 annual family premium, about $1100 goes to cover the uninsured. THey get sick then need expensive care, they can’t pay so the hospitals and doctors have to raise rates on everyone else. So you say ‘in a free society I should be allowed to take that risk’ but everyone with insurance has to pay an extra $1100 a year because when you do get sick, they have to pay your hospital bills. You say you don’t need or want it. Now. But who knows what will happen. And again, if something does happen, other people have to pay the bills. What you are describing is privatizing the benefits and socializing the risks. If you stay healthy, you personally save money. If you get sick, everyone else has to pay extra for your care. Why would a loaf of bread ever be $15? Is there some event on the horizon that will dramatically lower agricultural productivity? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/44 "2010-03-25T04:18:09Z")
Republicans are pissed off because the Democrats got a win that’ll boost their chances in November, significant parts of the bill (including costs) won’t kick in in time for protests/negative feedback to build up prior to the election, and many actually do think the bill is a mess that’ll be the start of a huge money pit and be hard to fix. It _is_ hard to believe the bill is provoking so much angst from people who seemed much less troubled by the prescription drug benefit. > [@jrodefeld](#): > > There are many people who are very healthy, such as myself, who don’t need or want health insurance. I would prefer to save the money, see alternative doctors, nutritionists, chiropractors and personal trainers, and spend the extra money on healthy food to eat, rather than spend it on insurance for medical care that I would never use. You may say, “but what if you are in an accident, or get cancer?” Well, I probably won’t because I am very careful and eat healthfully. Oh dear god. Why, if you’re so healthy from eating properly, do you need to see alternative doctors, nutritionists and chiropractors? It does not compute. As for your plan to avoid injury and illness, you can cut your risks somewhat by not partaking in dangerous activities, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising, but it’s delusional to think you can exempt yourself from genetics and the risks posed to you by others (for instance accidents, crime, and infectious disease). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/45 "2010-03-25T04:26:34Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I take that to highlight three possible approaches to a problem: > > 1. We prefer government solutions. > 2. We prefer private solutions. > 3. We’re not interested in solutions. > > To make sense of that, consider a problem – _ **any** _ problem, really – and consider those three differing approaches: what do you figure someone in the first camp would propose, and ditto for someone in the second camp, and ditto for someone in the third? > > The accusation is that Republicans, in proposing that we end the antitrust exemption while dropping assorted barriers to interstate competition, are in the third camp rather than the second; I thought it was a second-camp approach, and that’s why I’m asking for an example of what – if not this – a hypothetical second-camp approach _ **would** _ look like. Pretty much the same as the third. The fact is, insurance companies that make more money if you die before they pay out, will try to arrange for that to happen. No non-government solution can get around what is basic to the economics of the situation. Since the solution requires intervention by something that doesn’t care about the money, that means the government. That’s why pretty much everywhere else in the world, you have some kind of government mandated or run system; that’s the only system that works well, going by the evidence. And all our fetish for the magic free market won’t change that. ---
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/46 "2010-03-25T04:28:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Pretty much the same as the third. The fact is, insurance companies that make more money if you die before they pay out, will try to arrange for that to happen. No non-government solution can get around what is basic to the economics of the situation. Since the solution requires intervention by something that doesn’t care about the money, that means the government. That’s why pretty much everywhere else in the world, you have some kind of government mandated or run system; that’s the only system that works well, going by the evidence. And all our fetish for the magic free market won’t change that. The Government doesn’t care about anyone but the political class. We’re just pawns to them. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/47 "2010-03-25T04:30:27Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If they do take over the house and Boehner is the speaker, I’m not going to be surprised if they push for impeachment on some trumped up charge. “Not going to be surprised”_?_ I’ll cut my own dick off and eat it with a nice chianti if they _don’t._ ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/48 "2010-03-25T04:38:51Z")
> [@Xan](#): > > The Government doesn’t care about anyone but the political class. We’re just pawns to them. Prove it. That is not consistent with the record. That’s just right wing government bashing. ---
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/49 "2010-03-25T04:39:57Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Prove it. That is not consistent with the record. That’s just right wing government bashing. I mean both sides. They’re in it for themselves. No one else. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/50 "2010-03-25T04:45:26Z")
> [@Xan](#): > > I mean both sides. They’re in it for themselves. No one else. Again, prove it. “Both sides are just as bad” is another right wing canard. They are so worthless, have so little to offer that their partisans are constantly forced to defend their behavior by pretending the Left is just as bad as the Right. ---
**Author:** ![Yersenia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e495f1/32.png) [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/51 "2010-03-25T04:45:59Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > WRONG! Why can’t you lefties _ **ever** _ credit the idea that maybe conservatives are _ **not** _ heartless ogres. We just have different ideas on how to actually \*\*\*achieve \*\*\*the _ **same** _ goals you guys profess. They are heartless! The extremism of the right poses as great of a threat to America and its populace today as any terrorist organization, some might call those maniacs terrorists themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/52 "2010-03-25T04:51:04Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > WRONG! Why can’t you lefties _ **ever** _ credit the idea that maybe conservatives are _ **not** _ heartless ogres. We just have different ideas on how to actually \*\*\*achieve \*\*\*the _ **same** _ goals you guys profess. I must have missed the last big conservative push to ensure healthcare was available and affordable to everybody in the country, care to refresh my memory? ---
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/53 "2010-03-25T04:51:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Again, prove it. “Both sides are just as bad” is another right wing canard. They are so worthless, have so little to offer that their partisans are constantly forced to defend their behavior by pretending the Left is just as bad as the Right. [Obama extends Patriot Act](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gmao3Tg9nvBQeAOMAVzmeZkrmAoAD9E4QD501) He had the chance to let it expire and he extends it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/54 "2010-03-25T05:06:01Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Thanks for going into some detail with your answer, and may I ask you some more about this bit? Would you expand on the concept of people being reduced to subjects of the national government, please? Not to speak for **Smiling Bandit** but I can give you my take on it. We are now in a position where the federal government can dictate to us how we spend our own, private, after-tax money. And once government can dictate to you that you must spend your money in ways it sees fit rather than in ways you see fit, you have become a defacto subject of that government. In other words government is running you instead of the other way around, and this country was founded on the premise that the government be run by the people and not vice versa. > [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > And please explain how this is distinct from auto insurance. The most obvious difference is that auto insurance is optional. You don’t have to buy it unless you want to drive an automobile. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/55 "2010-03-25T05:33:48Z")
Check out the truth at [Politifact.Com](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2010/mar/19/top-5-lies-about-health-care/). I think that it will correct some of the misunderstandings that I see here – _if people really want to know the objective facts_. **Smiling Bandit** , how is the new Health Care Plan similar to the plan that we had in Tennessee? Please be specific. > [@](#): > > **Smiling Bandit** : And if allowed to stand, peope are functionally reduced to subjects of the national government, which may now tell us what to buy and when, with our private money, regardless of whether or not we ever set foot outside of state lines. We _are_ the national government. It is “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Those words by Lincoln mean something and they are in a specific order. Elected Representatives from all over the country made this decision in our interest. They followed the laws of our country. And unless the Supreme Court strikes it down as unConstitutional or untill other elected Representatives repeal it on our behalf, it is the law of the land and some of us really, really are proud of it. **We like it.** And when has the national government ever _not_ told us what to do with our “private” money? That is nothing new. If you choose never to set foot outside your state, so what? If you stand within the boundaries of one of the states, you also stand within the boundaries of a union of states. > [@](#): > > **Snnipe 70E** : Medicare is only a little bit of what it was promised to be and it is expensive. I don’t remember what was promised, but it has made a tremendous difference in what my bills have been and I don’t find it expensive at all compared to what it saves me. It is much better than I had expected. > [@](#): > > **jrodefeld** : Why not allow people to seek safer, alternative treatments, and natural supplements to treat illness? Why should we force them into a “sick-care” system which promotes needless surgery and harmful prescription drugs? If you are seeking alternative treatments and using natural supplements now, there is no reason to think that you won’t be allowed to in the future. What has made you think that that will change? You won’t be forced to have surgery or take medications unless you have become in some way harmful to yourself and others. Have you been forced to take any medications or go to a doctor or a hospital in your present life? Remember that more and more medical schools are including training in alternative medicine. Also, the bill does contain some provision for preventative medicine, but I don’t know if that means just for tests or if it includes provision for well-being and exercise centers or not. There is no way to get around the fact that all of us pay for insurance anyway. In all of the products that we buy, usually a portion of the price goes toward paying for an employee’s insurance. When you take a risk that you might not need permanent care, you are also risking the lives of your parents, mates, children, brothers and sisters. You may never have known a quadriplegic, but I have and you just never know when it can happen. Who will pay for your care? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/56 "2010-03-25T07:20:11Z")
> [@Xan](#): > > I mean both sides. They’re in it for themselves. No one else. Actually I think you are just in it for your self. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/57 "2010-03-25T11:56:28Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > WRONG! Why can’t you lefties _ **ever** _ credit the idea that maybe conservatives are _ **not** _ heartless ogres. We just have different ideas on how to actually \*\*\*achieve \*\*\*the _ **same** _ goals you guys profess. I’d attribute this to me (a conservative) but I don’t think I’d provide the same label to “Republicans” I guess the bottom line is that their paths digress so much so that both sides see the other side as _evil incarnate_ All I know is that soon America will be on a more centrist path (probably provided by a libertarian base) ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/58 "2010-03-25T13:21:10Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The problem with that is the uninsured, when they do get sick, have their costs passed onto the insured. Of a $12,000 annual family premium, about $1100 goes to cover the uninsured. THey get sick then need expensive care, they can’t pay so the hospitals and doctors have to raise rates on everyone else. So you say ‘in a free society I should be allowed to take that risk’ but everyone with insurance has to pay an extra $1100 a year because when you do get sick, they have to pay your hospital bills. Lots of good points in this discussion (and not so much of the bashing, which at least reflects a more honest, grown up approach not mirrored nationally by what I can see). This is key though, here in the UK out of my c. $6000/month paycheck some $130/month goes on National Insurance - ie. tax for medical treatment. Last August I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, a rarity for someone in their 30s. In the last 6 months I have probably recouped the NI payments I’ve made personally over the last 3 years - and this is something that will cost the state for life. Now sure, I could have had my own private medical insurance, and private treatment, but to be honest I’m happy with the National Health System treatment I’ve received, and certainly happy that I can go to any pharmacy and get my insulin/testing strips/etc without fuss or bureaucratic intervention. I also get the add on benefits of free eyecare (not covered universally through the NHS system) amongst other things. I’ve never felt the ‘burden’ of NI payments to be over the top and, now especially, recognise that it is absolutely vital for those who work to help support everyone in society. It’s certainly cheaper in the long run to support all those people with chronic illness who don’t work, or don’t have insurance, than to put up private insurance for all the others. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/59 "2010-03-25T13:25:32Z")
They’re not pissed. It’s just [advantageous to appear that way.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12264585&postcount=10) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682/60 "2010-03-25T13:27:32Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Not to speak for **Smiling Bandit** but I can give you my take on it. We are now in a position where the federal government can dictate to us how we spend our own, private, after-tax money. And once government can dictate to you that you must spend your money in ways it sees fit rather than in ways you see fit, you have become a defacto subject of that government. The government has already been doing this to me my whole life. How have you escaped it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/honest-question-why-are-the-republicans-so-pissed-about-this-health-care-thing/533682.md?page=4)