Darrell Issa Takes Fake Obamacare Hearings On The Road, The Better To Exclude People Who Love Their New Insurance

We bet this will come as a huge surprise: In his traveling road show of "hearings" on the ACA rollout, Darrell Issa has hand-picked the people testifying, and has excluded people who want to speak in favor of the Affordable Care Act. In Gaston County, North Carolina, two women who requested to speak at the hearings told a local TV station that that they had written to Issa, saying they wanted to testify, but neither received a reply from his office. One of them, Dana Wilson of Charlotte, has Multiple Sclerosis and until the ACA had been unable to get any insurance at all. And while we can only tolerate Ed Schultz in very small doses, we really have to agree with him on this:

“I’d like to see Issa tell this lady right here with MS that she is going to be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition,” Schultz said, pointing at a shot of Wilson. “That’s what he wants. He’s protecting the corporations. Darrell Issa should be ashamed of himself for his one-sided political pandering.”

Hahaha, Darrell Issa does not talk to people like her. Why would he?

In North Carolina, Issa did hear from two insurance agents, two business owners, and a woman who is "losing her insurance" -- and who works at one of those "crisis pregnancy centers," so you know she's a credible source of unbiased views on Obamacare.

Attendees at the "hearing" were warned that the event was “not a public forum,” and that anyone speaking out of turn would be removed; several demonstrators outside the event said they had asked to testify but were excluded, including the mother of a man who died of colon cancer after being repeatedly denied coverage because of a birth defect. You know, another taker.

Issa, of course, opened the meeting with a lament that “the minority side chose not to be here today,” and his office told the teevee station that no Democrats on the House Oversight Committee had requested any witnesses to appear before the traveling smear show.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, somehow suppressing the urge to let fly a torrent of obscenities, issued a statement saying "I welcome legitimate and responsible congressional oversight, but House Republicans have made clear that they have no interest in improving the Healthcare.gov website."

Cummings also cited a report by healthcare advocacy group Families USA indicating that three quarters of people purchasing insurance on the individual market will be eligible for subsidies under the ACA, and noting that "less than 1 percent of Americans under age 65 face the situation where they would not be offered the same individual market plan and yet would not be eligible for financial help to buy a new plan." In other words, Obamacare is a complete failure that is kicking everyone off their health insurance, just like Darrell Issa's hand-picked witnesses have explained.

[ WBTV and Charlotte Observer via RawStory / Families USA ]