Marty Ozinga really should have watched his words back in July.
Opponents of the 11th District GOP congressional candidate have jumped all
over a cable access interview we originally flagged
in which the concrete magnate opined that "very few people nowadays
that have no health service at all," because anyone can "go to the
hospital and you get taken care of."
First, the DCCC issued an ad calling Ozinga "oblivious." Democratic rival Debbie Halvorson joined the chorus, dropping an ad painting her opponent as "out of touch." According to The Hill, the health care reform coalition Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is also getting in on the action.
Healthcare for America Now, a union-backed liberal health reform advocacy group, is making a $4.3 million ad buy in support of Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates.
Over the next two weeks, the organization will run ads on TV and radio attacking Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and seven GOP congressional candidates for their views on healthcare.
In addition, the group is airing ads against three candidates seeking to fill House seats being vacated by members not seeking reelection: Blaine Luetkemeyer, who is running to replace Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.), Marty Ozinga, who is running to replace Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), and Erik Paulsen, who is running to replace Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.).
HCAN, who netted the endorsement of both Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden earlier this week, will spend $500,000 on direct mail and telephone campaigning as well, although it's unclear how much will be directed at the 11th District.
UPDATE (10:45 PM): Here's the ad. It turns out not to be centered around the July comment. Rather, it asserts that Ozinga "would let insurance companies make the rules -- they could even deny coverage for preexisting conditions like cancer":
Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 10:39
The flipside to the "preexisting conditions" problem, is that people are going without insurance, but expect to be treated for free, just like Ozinga said. We have health insurance in case we need it in the future. Should we make Prudential sell life insurance policies to people who just died? Should we make State Farm pay for "preexisting accidents"? Forcing an insurance company to cover preexisting conditions for people who had no previous insurance sound like a benevolent idea. But we need to realize that the increased costs will be passed on to the other policy holders. Blue Cross Blue Shield doesn't make a profit. The money will come from somewhere. How many would say "I'm willing to pay more for health insurance to cover those who choose not to buy it"?
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