Rep. David Brat (R-VA) on Thursday, during a conversation with Lars Larson at the “Hold Their Feet To The Fire” conference, blamed Obamacare for moving America away from a free market system and making the country more like North Korea.
During the conversation, Brat responded to a PolitiFact article, which took issue with a statement he’d made on March 17. Brat had said repealing Obamacare would save America more than $2 trillion, a statement that PolitiFact, a fact-checking project run by the Tampa Bay Times, disputed and said was false.
Brat disagreed with PolitiFact’s conclusions and told Larson that moving away from a free market economy was endangering America.
“Look at every country in the world,” Brat said. “Look at North Korea and South Korea. It’s the same culture, it’s the same people, look at a map at night, half the, one of the countries is not lit, there’s no lights, and the bottom free-market country, all Koreans, is lit up. See you make your bet on which country you want to be, right? You want to go free market.”
“We have poverty on the rise because we’re moving away from free markets,” Brat added.
Brat also said business was a “morally good calling” but lamented that that message wasn’t being taught in schools, which, he maintained was problematic.
Listen to the audio below, courtesy of Right Wing Watch:
Amazingly, Brat makes his predecessor, Eric Cantor, seem like a decent person.
Damn, there is no end to the stoopid.
We don’t need poll tests for voters (well, yeah, maybe … they actually vote for these dudes), but we sure as heck need some kind of IQ / civics / history test for candidates for congress.
I swear. Is there no end to the stupidity? South Korea has a national health system! http://southkorea.angloinfo.com/healthcare/health-system/health-insurance/
Mr. Brat should be informed that South Korea, like most economically successful nations not named USA, has compulsory national health insurance far more comprehensive than Obamacare.
From chuck’s link:
South Korea has a National Health Insurance (NHI) system, which is compulsory and required by Korean law. Everyone resident in the country is eligible regardless of nationality or profession. The National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) is the only public insurance institution operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Korea.
The system is funded by compulsory contributions from all residents and government subsidies. Payment is made by an individual’s employer unless they are self-employed, in which case they pay it themselves. Foreigners living in South Korea who are registered with the NHIC receive the same medical benefits and services as Korean nationals. The amount an individual pays in NHIC contributions depends on their income and economic power. People who are registered as disabled and those over the age of 65 pay less.
The cover provided by the insurance is comprehensive; it includes health check-ups, tests and diagnosis, treatments, surgeries, preventive care, hospitalisation, nursing, rehabilitation and transportation.