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Utah 3rd District Rep. Jason Chaffetz walked into a buzzsaw this morning by saying on CNN that poor people don't have access to health insurance because they do dumb things like buy new iPhones.

It was a particularly stupid thing to say, a blame-and-resent-the-poor absurdity that recalls Ronald Reagan's attack on mythical welfare queens who drive Cadillacs. And the Twitterverse is righteously giving Chaffetz holy what-for over it.

— Instead of 'getting that new iPhone that they just love,' Chaffetz says people should pay for health care — Matt Canham and Courtney Tanner | The Salt Lake Tribune

"Poorer Americans may have to make some hard choices when it comes to their health care under a new Republican plan that seeks to slim down Obamacare, according to Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who appeared on national cable news shows early Tuesday.

" 'Americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice. So rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care,' Chaffetz said on CNN.

"He faced an immediate backlash on social media, with accusations that he was insensitive to the high cost of health care or the lives of low-income people. ..."

— GOP's Most Embarrassing Congressman Strikes Again — Ben Mathis-Lilley | Slate

" ... By getting the cheap phone instead of the iPhone, you're saving $600 during a period that you'll owe $36,284 in premiums. Congratulations, you're 1.7 percent of the way to insuring your family! Hope you like eating dirt and tree bark. ..."

— If Jason Chaffetz wants to compare health care to iPhones, let's do it the right way — Christopher Ingraham | Wonkblog

" ... But framing the consumer "choice" as one between an iPhone and health coverage ignores the massive gap between the price of an iPhone and what Americans spend on health care. ..."

— Americans Want Chaffetz To Get Them Health Care That Costs Less Than An iPhone — Jenna Amatulli | Huffington Post

— Reminder: iPhone-Shamer Jason Chaffetz Has His Healthcare Subsidized by Taxpayers — Jack Holmes | Esquire

— Jason Chaffetz: GOP Healthcare Totally Affordable So Long As You Stop Owning Things — Robyn Pennacchia | Wonkette

— No, Jason Chaffetz, Paying for Health Care Is Not Like Buying an iPhone — Helaine Olen | Rolling Stone

" ... I've devoted a good chunk of the past decade to disputing the myth that Americans are wasting their money on frivolities like cell phones – which aren't such a frivolity anyway, but more about that in a minute – while complaining about the cost of health care and other necessities. I wrote a book called Pound Foolish about it, plus many blog posts and this Twitter thread. It's a moralistic trope – a sort of Ayn Randian bit of self-determinism combined with the idea that people who are lesser (think less monied, browner or female) don't deserve nice things.

And like the villain in a horror movie franchise, it doesn't matter if you shoot it, drive a stake through its heart or otherwise blast it to oblivion. It comes back again and again and again. ..."

— Rep. Jason Chaffetz on AHCA: Americans might have to choose between iPhones and health insurance — Tara Golshan | Vox

— Chaffetz walks back remarks on low-income Americans choosing health care over iPhones — Eugene Scott | CNN