Right-wing Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma has had emergency quadruple-bypass heart surgery. Our first thought was whether the specter of a first-ever US default gave him a heart attack.
Answer: Nope. First, we haven't seen any evidence that Inhofe is worried about default. Second, it appears he had not a heart attack but a blockage that was found during a routine visit to the doctor.
Which got us cats thinking. Hm! Senator Inhofe was able to visit his doctor! That's because like his 99 Senate colleagues and the 435 members of the House, he has excellent healthcare coverage. Checkups require a little of his time and a minor co-pay. But Americans without health insurance and who can't afford preventive care are forced to neglect their medical problems until they get bad enough to land them in the emergency room.
So, how did Inhofe vote on the Affordable Care Act? Do we need to ask? And do we need to speculate on how much money an uninsured person would have to pay for the quadruple bypass that Inhofe's just had? (Suffice to say it would have bankrupted the person for life.)
Unless, of course, the person had the good fortune to be covered by Obamacare. Which, no thanks to Inhofe and Tom Coburn and their Sooner State Republican friends, even Oklahomans can get.
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