By Jane Zuckerberg
Political columnist Jonathan Alter is doubling down on his charge that “people will die” if Mitt Romney is elected and repeals “Obamacare,” and disagrees with the suggestion that his remarks were over the line.
“Saying something is ‘over the line’ or ‘beyond the pale’ or whatever standard you have established for decency only works if you provide some evidence to back up your claim,” he told POLITICO by email. “What is your evidence that people will not die if Obamacare is repealed? If you cannot refute the point then it is — by definition — within the realm of legitimate debate.”
As evidence for his case, Alter cited a study by the New England Journal of Medicine that found nearly 3,000 fewer deaths per 500,000 people in states where Medicaid has been expanded than in states where it has not. The expansion of Medicaid is a central part of Obama’s health care legislation.
“In other words, I’m right on the facts. So tell me again why that’s out of bounds?” Alter wrote.
Alter’s email came in response to a previous post on this blog, in which I argued that his remark on MSNBC — “people will die in the United States if Obamacare is repealed” — was evidence that no statements were out of bounds in 2012. As I told Alter, I do not necessarily disagree with the factual accuracy of his statement. (Nor do I disagree with the factual accuracy of the opposite statement: “People will die in the United States if Obamacare is not repealed,” as neither presidential candidate is promising an end to death in general any more than they’re promising to outlaw the sale of cigarettes, which can kill you.)
What I do believe is that accusing a presidential candidate of intending to let American citizens die is an incredibly bold, headline-grabbing statement that invokes the same tone and invites the same vacuous quibbling that Alter says he wants the press to ignore.
In a follow up email, Alter acknowledged that many of his critics make the point, “people will die whomever is president.”
“It’s the circle of life, as they say in the Lion King. That’s obvious,” Alter wrote. “The question is, will more people die if Obamacare remains or is repealed?”
That is a reasonable questions to ask — or, more specifically, will more people with pre-existing conditions die (or, in his words, be “thrown to the wolves”) if Obamacare is repealed than if it is not?
“Whose policies promote life and whose will lead to more death seems to me to be not only legitimate but essential for discussion in a high stakes election,” Alter wrote.
Sure thing, but the charge that “people will die” if Romney is elected is as dangerous for our political discourse as it is useless.
100Feed
100Feed 