Protestors erupted into screams and boos at a town hall Saturday when a Republican official in New Port Richey, Florida brought up the old erroneous talking point that the Affordable Care Act mandates “death panels.”
Bill Akins, secretary of the Pasco county Republican executive committee, tried to explain his issue with Obamacare, using a line many might remember from the early days of the law, a false claim that it would create “death panels.” It did not go down well with town hall attendees.
“Here’s the problems I have with The Affordable Health Care Act. Number one, there is a provision in there that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel,” he said to screams from the crowd. “Yes, they do. Yes, they do. It’s in there, folks.”
As protestors booed and yelled, he called them “children.” An unnamed woman spoke up at the town hall, saying that it is “unconscionable” for Akins to use this debunked line.
“I am 77 years old and I think it’s unconscionable for this politician to tell me that at 74, I will be facing death panels,” she said. “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
As the crowd cheered, Akins screamed “I’m on your side!”
This was just the latest in a series of town halls for Republican lawmakers that drew an overwhelming amount of protestors, making their voices heard on everything from their concerns about the Trump administration to the Affordable Care Act.
Watch below via CNN:
I’m confused. Why did this GOP official talk about ACA death panels for someone who is 74?? The ACA is not relevant to people over 65, when they get Medicare. Wtf is he talking about?!
When even GOP Floridiots realize they’ve been bamboozled by Oh Donnie Dearest Leader, you know RESIST is working!
It should be obvious. He doesn’t know anything.
But some of the ACA provisions do apply to Medicare. The elimination of the Part D “doughnut hole”, for example.
These con-artist rPublicans have been telling the lies so long they now believe them. They also do not bother to think beyond anything they hear from Murdoch and Rush, their brains are solely concerned with repeating, ingesting lies, and how to turn those lies into money for themselves.
Driftglass has it right when he says their brains are beyond repair, (Akins is a prime example) and flat out have to die off, the sooner the better for their grandchildren and the rest of us.
I think Akins misspoke. What he meant to say is that the current administration plans to introduce death squads.
It’s an easy mistake to make.