Ali Velshi continued schooling Republicans in healthcare, economics, Canada and much more. He simply embarrassed Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD).
Ali Velshi schooled Congressman in the most pleasant fashion
Ali Velshi fact checked, in real time, every single factless statement made by this Republican representative proving his ignorance. Congressman Andy Harris appeared on MSNBC immediately after leaving an AHCA meeting. Velshi asked him about the meeting.
Harris said among many changes; they discussed the McCarthur Amendment and the Plamer Amendment. He then claimed it made the AHCA bill better. Harris said that while they are pretty close, they still do not have consensus on the bill. He claimed that the AHCA would bring down premiums,
“Is that because it does not mandate insurance companies to provide some of those basic health benefits that Obamacare required?” Velshi asked.
The congressman said the reason it would cause insurance rates to fall is that they would create high-risk pools. Velshi again challenged the Congressman as to whether premiums which have never gone down, would with their bill.
The Congressman tried to use Maine as an example where high-risk pools supposedly work. Velshi had to school him about the differences in regions. One area could have diabetes while another wouldn’t. Regions with diabetes and a community rating would likely be more expensive.
To be clear. High-risk pools do not ultimately work because it is filled with sick people and the cost become exorbitant.
The interview then went to ‘tax reform.’ The congressman disputed that the Trump tax cuts would blow the budget. He claimed that under dynamic scoring it isn’t so because the tax cuts would unleash growth. It would be great if they wrote the law that said if growth is not unleashed the tax cuts would be paid back. Would they then be as assertive about dynamic scoring?
The congressman misled by stating that economic growth was unleashed under Reagan because of tax cuts. As I explained in my book “As I see it: Class Warfare the only resort to Right Wing Doom,” Reagan’s policies were Keynesian with misplaced priorities. He cut taxes and increased spending by a bunch. It was like having a blank check.
Ali Velshi did not take the bait though. He pointed out that when Canada dropped their corporate rate to 15%, it did not unleash economic growth at that level. The congressman used the standard Right Wing come back by claiming Canada is socialistic and was never a growth powerhouse. That is all Velshi needed to hear as he had the perfect comeback.
“Actually, Canada’s growth exceeded that of the United States on a GDP basis for many years,” Velshi schooled. “In fact, quite recently.”
Of course, the congressman made the circular argument saying it’s because of the corporate tax rate ignoring Velshi’s initial statement that the lower rate did not create the growth. Willful ignorance by these characters masquerading as knowledgeable politicians is a clear and present danger to our country. We must vote them out in 2018 and cripple their ability to impose more damage to our economy. #RESIST.