Fox News' Shannon Bream helped Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrate a federal judge's ruling that Obama is unconstitutional, thus threatening the health insurance for millions of Americans.
Friday, in the middle of the open enrollment period for Obamacare, a Texas judge ruled the whole Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. Fox News gave the leader of the lawsuit, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX), a friendly platform to celebrate his victory while allowing him to shrug off the fact that millions could stand to lose health insurance as a result.
According to The New York Times, about 17 million Americans (I’m one of them) will lose their health insurance or the insurance plan available to them may be unaffordable or inadequate if the decision stands. “Insurers will also no longer have to cover young adults up to age 26 under their parents’ plans; annual and lifetime limits on coverage will again be permitted; and there will be no cap on out-of-pocket costs. Also gone will be the law’s popular protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”
Before Paxton took his victory lap, Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke reported the news from an upbeat (partisan Republican) perspective only. “Tonight, as you can well imagine, the president is celebrating a big ruling out of the state of Texas,” Corke said. He read Trump’s two gloating tweets. The second concluded, “Great news for America!” Instead of noting that it’s terrible news for many Americans, Corke read a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Sanders calling on Congress to pass new health care legislation.
However, Corke did note that the law “remains in place pending appeal.” At the end of the segment, anchor Shannon Bream noted that an appeal is on the way. He did not mention that open enrollment is still available (it ends today).
For more playing politics with other people’s health care, Bream brought on Paxton “to react to the breaking news.” By the way, if you think Paxton looks like a slimy crook, you are not alone. The current attorney general of Texas is facing several felony charges for securities fraud (he claims to be the victim of a political vendetta).
Predictably, Bream never mentioned any of those unflattering details in Paxton’s profile. Instead, she chirped that he “led a multi-state lawsuit on this and I think that you rolled it out here on Fox News @ Night!”
“Obviously, I’m celebrating with the president,” Paxton exulted. He just happened to be in Washington, D.C. that evening.
Bream did not have anyone “to react to the breaking news” representing the millions who whose health insurance is now in doubt. Nor did she encourage viewers not to let the lawsuit stop them from enrolling in Obamacare.
Instead, Bream read quotes from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) saying that if the “awful ruling” is upheld, it will be “a disaster for tens of millions of American families,” and one from Planned Parenthood saying the ruling could “gut healthcare for millions.” Without bothering to dig into the details of what Paxton et al. might have just foisted on Americans, she merely turned to him for his reaction, i.e. to let him rebut unchallenged.
“I couldn’t disagree more,” Paxton said. “The states are a whole lot better at doing this than the federal government,” he said. As if it’s no big deal to sit around without health insurance while waiting for that to be accomplished, assuming it gets accomplished.
Finally, Bream got to asking about “folks who are now worried about pre-existing conditions, who are very worried about being left with no options?”
Short answer? Not Paxton’s problem! “This is either something for Congress to fix or for individual states to fix,” he said blithely.
Bream didn’t seem to have any problem with what Paxton was prescribing for those of us who rely on Obamacare’s protections. Instead, she closed by thanking him for “walking away from a Christmas party” to share his reaction.
“Glad to be here,” he said. “Thanks for having me on. It’s a great day.”
Paxton’s trial, conveniently delayed until after his (successful) re-election effort in November, is expected in 2019.
Meanwhile, watch the naked political heartlessness above, from the December 14, 2018 Fox News @ Night.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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