Chris Collins, a Republican running for the House of Representatives from the state of New York against Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul, said something really stupid last week while arguing against Obama’s health care plan. He said that people no longer die from prostate or breast cancer.
Collins also argued that modern healthcare is expensive for a reason.
“People now don’t die from prostate cancer, breast cancer and some of the other things,” Collins said. “The fact of the matter is, our healthcare today is so much better, we’re living so much longer, because of innovations in drug development, surgical procedures, stents, implantable cardiac defibrillators, neural stimulators — they didn’t exist 10 years ago. The increase in cost is not because doctors are making a lot more money. It’s what you can get for healthcare, extending your life and curing diseases.”
In fact, more than 60,000 Americans die of those forms of cancer each year. So after making this clearly false statement, he offered this equally dumb excuse:
According to the Batavian, Collins believes it’s ridiculous that anyone would take his comments literally.
“Clearly, I’m not a politician,” Collins said. “I come out of the private sector. I speak very directly. I actually answer questions. I’m not someone who filters, who is consistently filtering everything you say.”
Apparently, in the private sector one “speaks very directly” by making blatantly false statements. Because they don’t have a “filter.”
28 comments
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jamessweet
July 12, 2012 at 12:13 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m willing to grant that he meant people don’t die as much from those diseases, especially given that, for those particular ones he picked, they were illnesses that were once practically a death sentence but which now, for many people, have an optimistic prognosis. So I get what he meant.
It’s still stupid. The proper metric by which to evaluate our present health care system is not to compare it to health care in America 40 years ago, it’s to compare it to health care TODAY in other similar nations.
Chiroptera
July 12, 2012 at 12:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
According to the Batavian, Collins believes it’s ridiculous that anyone would take his comments literally.
“Clearly, I’m not a politician,” Collins said.
Well, that’s refreshing. Remember when people used to say that it was because he was a politician that he lies?
d cwilson
July 12, 2012 at 12:28 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Guess what, Chris? The moment you decided to run for office, you became a politician.
Well, that explains Mitt Romney.
I think he’s trying to say that the reason why health care is so expensive is because of all the expensive life-saving treatments. Well, okay, but even if breast and prostate cancer were 100% curable, it doesn’t mean much if people can’t afford that treatment.
This is the problem with the GOP on this issue. Having abandoned the individual mandate because it now has Kenyan Cooties ™ on it, they have nothing left to put on the table to make health care more affordable.
We get it. You guys have an organism every time the House votes to repeal Obamacare. How about working on the “replace” part of the slogan now? Got any ideas for the person facing bankruptcy due to mounting medical bills? Anything other than “Die quickly”?
kagerato
July 12, 2012 at 12:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You see Ed, it was not intended to be a factual statement. Why would you take his obvious statement of fact as such? Are you one of them thought police?
HELP, HELP, BEING OPPRESSED BY TRUTH
thisisaturingtest
July 12, 2012 at 12:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Aaarrrggghh! I hate that stupid “I’m not really what I plainly am, but I know you hate so I can’t admit it” meme. Look, new rule- if you’re running for a political office, as the representative of a major political party, hoping to influence our nation’s political course, I don’t care if you came from the private sector, you’re a fucking politician. You can make a distinction between good politicans and bad politicians, and which you think you might be, just like there are differences between good lawyers and bad lawyers (another profession Americans love to hate)- but it’s ridiculous to claim that you’re not something you so plainly are.
Illuminata, Genie in the Beer Bottle
July 12, 2012 at 12:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This dude was my county’s county executive for a few minutes. He’s an astoundingly bad public speaker. He does come from the private sector, but if he’s claiming he’s never held public office, he’s lying.
(As much as an doofus as he is, amazingly he’s less of one than our CURRENT county executive. Who’s a democrat, but the biggest douchebag I’ve ever seen in local government)
bionichips
July 12, 2012 at 12:47 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Words fail. My wife died one year ago yesterday from metastatic breast cancer and I sit hear crying for my loss. The Rethugicans have said some incredibly stupid things, but this one is deep and personal.
tommykey
July 12, 2012 at 12:51 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You guys have an organism every time the House votes to repeal Obamacare.
Yeah, but what kind of organism? :-)
dingojack
July 12, 2012 at 12:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Rep. Candidate Gives Stupid Excuse for Stupid Statement
No! Really? That just couldn’t be!!
Say it ain’t so Ed, say it ain’t so!!! [/monster sarcasm]
Ed Brayton – his special subject: stating the bleeding obvious.
;) Dingo
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Dcwilson – “We get it. You guys have an organism every time the House votes to repeal Obamacare”.
Yes but what kind of organism? A Paramecium, a Blue Whale, a Koala – what? Inquiring minds need to know. ;)
bachalon
July 12, 2012 at 12:58 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow, what does this say about the private sector if they keep producing liars who think they’re qualified for public office?
dingojack
July 12, 2012 at 12:58 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
bionichips – I’m sorry for your loss*.
Let their deaths be neither necessary nor in vain.
Dingo
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* and now I’m feel a bit of douche for joking about it too.
D. C. Sessions
July 12, 2012 at 1:12 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
bionichips — Please accept my condolences for your loss.
gshelley
July 12, 2012 at 1:24 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well, he is right in that if he was a politician, he would have thought more clearly about what he was saying, and so not said it.
Because no politician ever says anything stupid, ignorant or dishonest.
Mr Ed
July 12, 2012 at 1:26 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
For years we’ve been bemoaning
politicianscandidates who drink the Fox New Kool Aid, we could think of nothing worse. Well folks now we have one who gets his information from the Sci-Fi channel. Seems cancer can be cured by a tachyon pulse.cjtotalbro
July 12, 2012 at 1:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
h8serogurhjghsdfhlksdgh
Sorry. I facepalmed so hard after reading this I must have fallen onto my keyboard, KO’d.
Leo
July 12, 2012 at 2:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I like how he claims he speaks directly, but then he’s surprised that people take him literally. So does that mean he speaks directly in metaphors???
baal
July 12, 2012 at 2:38 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
As Crommunist noted recently, as much as 30-40% of US health care costs are “admin overhead.” That includes CEO pay and profits.
Leo
July 12, 2012 at 2:38 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
* I should clarify that it was the Batavian that is claimed to have made the claim of Collins believing it to be ridiculous for people to take his comments literally. So maybe the Batavian reported this wrong. Or perhaps they made the mistake of taking the things Collins told them literally.
d cwilson
July 12, 2012 at 3:21 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Argh! Of course I meant “orgasm”. Grumble. Grumble.
shockna
July 12, 2012 at 3:36 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow, this is almost as bad as my state’s Senator Jon Kyl and his idiocy over Planned Parenthood. Are they even trying now?
Or did Romney getting nominated prove that you can blatantly lie, backpedal everything you say ten minutes after saying it, and still be taken seriously for office?
Modusoperandi
July 12, 2012 at 3:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
bachalon “Wow, what does this say about the private sector if they keep producing liars who think they’re qualified for public office?”
More importantly, what does Herman Cain think about this?
bionichips “Words fail…”
I’m sorry for you loss. I know this doesn’t help, but I think Chris Collins falls on the “stupid” side on the Hanlon Scale.
d cwilson “This is the problem with the GOP on this issue. Having abandoned the individual mandate because it now has Kenyan Cooties ™ on it, they have nothing left to put on the table to make health care more affordable.”
Oh, please! They have tons of ideas; personal medical accounts, tort reform, cross-state insurance, high-risk pools. You know, mostly the stuff that’s in Obamacare, minus any way to pay for it.
While Obamacare will “bend the cost curve”, the much better GOP plan (that won’t be implemented) will save Americans literally mumble of dollars every year!
kagekiri
July 12, 2012 at 3:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You know, when he was explaining why health care was expensive, I was thinking it was a pretty good way to argue why we should cover health care more or make it cost less to the average person. It saves more people than ever, everyone wants a longer life, what’s the bad in making life better for everyone?
The fact he meant it the EXACT OPPOSITE WAY is rather awful. “Health care is too life saving, it’s more than you deserve because it’s better than in the past, so we should NOT have the government make sure it’s available to everyone.” What the hell?
aluchko
July 12, 2012 at 4:27 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I have to agree with jamessweet. Given the number of incontrovertibly stupid things that Republican politicians say I think it’s a good idea to give them the benefit of the doubt when possible.
Ellie
July 12, 2012 at 6:36 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
He is the former County Executive of Erie County, NY. He lost his bid for reelection because many of us were ready to vote for Anyone But Collins. So much for not being a politician. With any luck, Kathy Hochul will wipe up the floor with him.
Robert B.
July 12, 2012 at 8:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow, nobody dies from prostate cancer? Gee, thanks for the tip, Mr. Collins! I better go dig up my grandfather, then, he’s probably getting lonely down there.
Ass.
Gvlgeologist, FCD
July 12, 2012 at 9:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I wonder if the tendency to MSU based on wishful thinking is correlated with creationism and climate change denial? From Chris Collins to Jon “not intended to be a factual statement” Kyle, to Mitt rMoney’s repeated and blatant lies, it seems that these guys aren’t even embarrassed about it any more.
bionichips
July 13, 2012 at 3:02 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Those who expressed condolences, thanks.
dingojack: no offense taken, no reason to feel bad.
dingojack
July 13, 2012 at 4:01 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
kagekiri (#22) – I wonder what the PoG would think of a nation dedicated to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness‘?
Dingo
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bionichips – thanks. Sometimes it’s ‘if I wasn’t laughing – I’d cry’