On Morning Joe, the first half of the 8AM hour has been all about how President Obama is spending too much. Chris Matthews, thankfully, was arguing in support of the public option -- "universal healthcare" as he called it. Meanwhile, Scoldborough continued to cite the NBC poll showing that Americans are concerned about spending.
I want a pollster to ask this question: Which is more important to you: making sure you have healthcare or reducing the budget deficit? I would wager that the vast majority of Americans would choose healthcare by large margins. Yes, the deficit is a problem and there's a plan to reduce it. But in terms of the personal priorities of average Americans, healthcare far outweighs any abstract concern about the federal budget deficit. To claim otherwise is stupid and out of touch.
Yes, the Congressional Budget Office’s preliminary cost estimates for Senate plans were higher than expected, and caused considerable consternation last week. But the fundamental fact is that we can afford universal health insurance — even those high estimates were less than the $1.8 trillion cost of the Bush tax cuts.
I want a Republican, or any of the blue dogs, to tell us point blank that we can't have health insurance because it's too expensive -- but tax cuts for the super rich are fine and dandy.