Steve Benen wrote something which triggered a sudden logic process. Here’s what he said:
I’ve long been fascinated by the degree to which America’s current Republican Party is an international outlier. Our GOP, for example, is the only major party in any advanced democracy on the planet to reject the science of climate change. It’s the only major party that believes citizens should have largely unfettered access to firearms. It’s the only major party to oppose the international nuclear agreement with Iran.
And it’s the only major party in any advanced democracy on earth to oppose health care as a core benefit of citizenship.
Now let’s throw a couple of proper names into the mix, such as Albert Einstein. Madeleine Albright. Felix Frankfurter. The point being that we’re really a country made by our immigrants.
And something must attract those immigrants. Honestly, it’s a competitive landscape out there – unlike, say, the time of Einstein, where it was America or persecution. Albright escaped Communism. Frankfurter came as a boy with his family, who no doubt were looking for opportunity.
So now, as Steve points out, the GOP wants to tell prospective immigrants that healthcare may only be available to the rather well-off – and those who are willing to use the counter-productive, in both the financial and health senses, emergency rooms. For the desperate immigrant, this may not matter much. But for the skilled immigrant – say, a PhD in a biology-oriented discipline – who may have his or her pick of countries to go – what does the United States offer?
Health care forced into crisis by the GOP. A xenophobic President. A legislative body dominated by incompetent ignoramuses, who don’t realize that they just crippled this nation in the field of attracting highly desirable immigrants.
The health care debacle, if it comes to that, may be more costly than we know.
