Video: This bit from Conan O'Brien's shop takes for granted that everyone knows about the stupid crack Jason Chaffetz made about choosing health care over an iPhone. But it plays it straight and doesn't even mention the Utah congressman.
Other people do.
— Republicans are tone deaf on health care — Jennifer Rubin | The Washington Post
"One can imagine a bizarre contest among Republicans as to who can say the most insulting, unhelpful remarks about health-care reform, sure to reinforce the stereotype that Republicans are the party of the rich.
"Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, piped up that for those claiming health-care insurance is not affordable "maybe rather than getting that new iPhone ... maybe they should invest it in their own health care.'..."
— Chaffetz's clueless condescension shows it's time for him to go — Jon Ogden | For The Salt Lake Tribune
" ... Regrettably, Chaffetz has shown he's more interested in theatrics than in fixing problems his constituents are suffering through. We need representatives who empathize with real-world problems, representatives who are invested in data-driven, compassionate reform. Because of this and so many other reasons (including his unwillingness to investigate Trump), it's time to unseat Chaffetz."
— Laziness isn't why people are poor. And iPhones aren't why they lack health care. — Stephen Pimpare | Special to The Washington Post
" ... Since the invention of the mythic welfare queen in the 1960s, this has been the story we most reliably tell about why people are poor. Never mind that research from across the social sciences shows us, over and again, that it's a lie. Never mind low wages or lack of jobs, the poor quality of too many schools, the dearth of marriageable males in poor black communities (thanks to a racialized criminal justice system and ongoing discrimination in the labor market), or the high cost of birth control and day care. Never mind the fact that the largest group of poor people in the United States are children. Never mind the grim reality that most American adults who are poor are not poor from lack of effort but despite it. ..."
— Republican leader tells poor to stop buying iPhones, as Obamacare replacement plan to give insurance CEOs BIG tax break — Dan Mangan | CNBC
"You poor folks need to stop buying those iPhones — but you health insurance CEOs ... get ready to buy that new yacht! ..."
— iPhone or Healthcare? GOP's Jason Chaffetz Gets Raked After Suggesting People May Have to Choose — Billboard
— Republicans' biggest white lie: that they represent the working class — Lucia Graves | The Guardian
" ... Instead Chaffetz put what had been subtext in text: by stating he believes such choices are appropriate he's playing into an old Republican trope that poverty is a choice and that poor people deserve their fate because poverty can be attributed to personal, not systemic failure. ..."
— Fox News' Bob Beckel Apologizes for Calling Jason Chaffetz a 'Punk' — Josh Feldman | Mediaite
And, despite what you might infer from the headline, this one is not about Chaffetz at all, but a equally clueless congressman from, sigh, Kansas.
— The poor 'just don't want health care': Republican congressman faces backlash over comments Kristine Phillips | The Washington Post
"A first-term congressman who spent three decades as a physician — and is now part of a group of Republican doctors who have a major role in replacing Obamacare — is facing backlash after saying that poor people 'just don't want health care and aren't going to take care of themselves'."
"Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., a member of the GOP Doctors Caucus, said comments he made to Stat News were not meant to suggest that poor people take health care for granted. The comments were published in a story last week about his burgeoning role in the fight to replace the Affordable Care Act...."
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