House Republicans circulate this statement from freshman Rep. John Adler, (D-N.J):
"The bill that's coming through the House, with or without the public option, isn't good for America," Adler said matter-of-factly. "We have Congressional Budget Office projections of a trillion-dollar increase in costs that will have to be borne by taxpayers or insurance purchasers; meaning businesses and households. Either way, that's a cost we can't afford."
Naturally, Republican objections to the current health care reform effort spring from cynical partisanship and the desire to deny the president a political victory, but how do Democrats explain statements like this from one of their own? Is Adler a brown-shirted, right-wing extremist? Was Adler placating a mob of angry constituents? Was he under duress, afraid that some some gun-toting, astroturfed protester would do some unspeakable violence to him if he said otherwise? No, he was at a roundtable discussion.
