Remember Senator Rick Santorum? This darling of the right lost his re-election bid in 2006 and has spent the last few years cruising the conservative talk show circuit while steadfastly refusing to Google himself. He’s now gotten it into his head that he might like to run for president and he recently made a visit to Iowa to test the waters. In an interview with The Des Moines Register, he explained that his opposition to health care reform is the guiding force steering his political ambitions. Santorum has a young daughter with a disability and he also discussed how “socialized medicine” is a threat to kids like her:
“I look at how society with socialized medicine treats children like Bella, and children like Bella don’t survive,” Santorum told The Des Moines Register on Monday, the first leg of a three-day swing through Iowa. “Children like Bella are not given the treatment that other children are given.”
Santorum said the new health care law, championed by President Barack Obama, will mean disabled people are denied care more often, and repealing it is the best way to address mounting national debt.
It goes on:
In the Register interview, Santorum spoke at length about his belief that care will be reduced for disabled children: “In socialized medicine countries, where is what Obamacare is and leads us, children with these types of disabilities simply are not given the access to care. Care is rationed, and it’s rationed by government agencies who decide which lives are valuable and should be cared for. … They just simply refuse care. It’s just too expensive. These children are not a good investment of critical taxpayer resources.”
So we have another Republican saddling up his white horse in a noble quest to save us unsuspecting gimps from the evils of socialism. Cynical fearmongering has become such a predictable feature of Republican politicking, but I still get annoyed when noxiously self-righteous pricks like Santorum try to portray their opposition to health care reform as a selfless effort to protect people with disabilities. I’m willing to bet a hundred bucks that Santorum also loves the Ryan plan to slash Medicaid, which really would jeopardize the well-being of millions of people with disabilities. Perhaps he can explain his opposition to socialized medicine to a roomful of middle-class families who rely on Medicaid to care for their kids with disabilities. Perhaps he can explain to them how private insurers stand ready to provide for their children’s significant needs at a fair and reasonable price without any pesky government oversight.
I’ll almost feel sorry for Mitt Romney when he has to start formally debating Santorum and his goofy, crazed ilk. Almost.
