Will John Yarmuth Be Pelosi's Puppet on Healthcare?
Will John Yarmuth Be Pelosi’s Puppet on Healthcare?
Pelosi Looks to Yarmuth for Support of Government-Run Healthcare
Washington– A roll call vote is expected in the next couple weeks on Nancy Pelosi’s controversial government-run healthcare plan and the San Francisco Speaker is facing the daunting task of bringing her divided party together. After asking her loyal followers to walk the plank on two contentious votes – the job-killing National Energy Tax and the trillion dollar failure known as the ‘stimulus’ – Pelosi will once again try to rally support by tugging at the strings of her most reliable puppets. After supporting the first two pieces of Pelosi’s signature policy disasters, it’s no surprise that Kentucky Democrat John Yarmuth is back on Pelosi’s radar.
“Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.): The Southern Democrat voted to end the war in Iraq in 2007, even though he was considered one of the party’s endangered members. This year, Yarmuth…voted for the climate change bill. That’s a tough sell in a Southern state…” (Mike Soraghan, “Pelosi Has Go-To Gang on Big Votes,” The Hill, 10/28/2009)
John Yarmuth already serves as the consummate consigliere to Nancy Pelosi on healthcare:
“Yarmuth has a leadership role in the health care deliberations as strategic communications adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.” (James Carroll, “Notes from Washington: McConnell vs. Yarmuth on health care,” Louisville Courier-Journal, 10/24/2009)
By supporting a Democrat takeover of healthcare, John Yarmuth would be asking Louisville middle-class families to shoulder 90% of the burden and telling seniors to take huge cuts in Medicare.
“As it now stands, the plan proposed by Democrats and the Obama administration would not only fail to reduce the cost burden on middle-class families, it would make that burden significantly worse. Most astounding of all is what this Congress is willing to do to struggling middle-class families. The bill would impose nearly $400 billion in new taxes and fees. Nearly 90% of that burden will be shouldered by those making $200,000 or less.” (Douglas Holtz-Eakin, “The Baucus Bill Is a Tax Bill,” Wall Street Journal, 10/14/09)
“Except Baucus’ plan included some budgetary sleight-of-hand: He counted on $247 billion in scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.” (“Scalpel, Please,” Chicago Tribune, 10/21/2009)
Oddly enough, in his delusion, Yarmuth apparently believes Louisville families like being taxed and forced out of their current healthcare coverage:
“There are plenty of average Americans in Louisville who support the public insurance option…” (Glenn Thrush, “Do Ohioans Like Garlic Milkshakes?” Politico, 10/01/2009)
“Is John Yarmuth really so out of touch that he believes that Louisville families would support a government-run healthcare system that will increases costs, raise taxes, and slash Medicare?” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “After already asking Louisville families to shoulder the Democrats’ failed trillion dollar stimulus, Yarmuth will once again ask struggling taxpayers to open their pocketbooks and support another Democrat policy disaster. When will John Yarmuth finally stand with Louisville families instead of trying to work his way up the ladder with Democrat insiders by backing their reckless and partisan policies?”
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