Republicans are lying about health care reform in their attempt to repeal the law, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said on the floor of the House last night. Just, he said, like Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
“They say it’s a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels,” Cohen said.
“You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it,” Cohen added. “Like blood libel. That’s the same kind of thing.”
If you needed another breaking point for when the nation’s renewed attempt at a civil discourse went permanently array, look no further than Cohen’s comments, first flagged by Jonathan Karl of ABC News.
Cohen, whose spokesman did not immediately reply to TPM’s request for comment, just kept on digging.
“The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it — believed it and you have the Holocaust. We heard on this floor, government takeover of health care. Politifact said the biggest lie of 2010 was a government takeover of health care because there is no government takeover,” Cohen said.
Cohen’s team chose another clip to highlight on their website, in which Cohen references questions Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) had about his own government health care.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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