May 1, 2017

Today has been a day where Donald Trump, Sean Spicer, and every surrogate on the planet has an opinion on Trumpcare and pre-existing conditions.

Trump and Spicer just plan on lying to everyone. Rep. Mo Brooks, on the other hand, has a more nuanced and evil argument.

People with pre-existing conditions, you see, just haven't led good lives.

“My understanding is that it will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool,” Brooks said. “That helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy, they’ve done the things to keep their bodies healthy. And right now those are the people—who’ve done things the right way—that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.”

Oh, hey, Rep. Brooks, how about if you go sit over there in the corner and take a nice dose of STFU while you explain to me how children born with diabetes don't live good lives. Tell me about the young person who played sports and hurt their knee. Apparently that's a sign of not living a good life? How about that young pregnant mother? Suddenly pregnancy is not leading a good life?

I think about veterans coming back from our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who need lifetime medical attention. Are they too, people who haven't lived good lives?

These Republicans do not understand how health insurance works. Everyone will need health care at some point, through no fault of their own, but simply because people get sick, they get hurt, they are afflicted with disease and illness, often through no fault of their own.

So we all get in the same pool and swim together, dividing up the costs amongst all of us. We don't judge others about how they live their lives, when they choose to be pregnant, or why they have diabetes or cancer. We all agree that as a civil society health care is a right, and we find ways to provide it.

What we do not do, Rep. Brooks, is suggest that people with pre-existing conditions just don't live right.

Can you help us out?

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