Life

Antigay bigot and Obamacare foe is Trump’s leading choice for health secretary

Antigay bigot and Obamacare foe is Trump’s leading choice for health secretary
Tom Price Photo: Twitter

Rep. Tom Price has emerged as a top contender for the job of Health and Human Services Secretary, or HHS, in the Trump Administration. He’s a Republican member of the House of Representatives, a doctor, and a staunch opponent of ObamaCare, LGBTQ and women’s reproductive rights who has consistently associated himself with homophobes and antigay agitators.

Monday he hailed a new bill passed by the House that will attempt to limit President Obama’s power to write executive orders.

Rep. Price received a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign (that’s not good, btw) but he was rated 100% by the National Right to Life Committee for his “pro-life stance.” A check of his record on the “On the Issues” website also revealed:

  • Voted NO on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. (Feb 2013)
  • Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
  • Voted NO on enforcing against anti-gay hate crimes. (Apr 2009)
  • Voted NO on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution. (Jun 2009)
  • Voted NO on four weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees. (Jun 2009)
  • Voted NO on protecting whistleblowers from employer recrimination. (Mar 2007)
  • Voted YES on requiring photo ID for voting in federal elections. (Sep 2006)
  • Voted NO on regulating tobacco as a drug. (Apr 2009)
  • Voted NO on expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program. (Jan 2009)
  • Voted YES on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare. (Jul 2008)
  • Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
  • Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)
  • Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)
  • Voted NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Jan 2007)
  • Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)
  • Deauthorize funding for Obamacare. (Jul 2010)
  • Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law. (Jan 2011)

According to NewNowNext he supports a constitutional amendment to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges by redefining marriage as between one man and one woman.

The website also noted Price called laws protecting reproductive and LGBT rights “a huge cost-driver” to Georgia’s budget.

“The consequences of activity that has been seen as outside the norm are real and must be explored completely… [before] moving forward with any social legislation that would alter things.”

Price is 62, and an orthopaedic surgeon. On a radio show run by a Tea Party group last year, he reportedly told Rabbi Noson Leiter that laws that “promote some homosexual-agenda item… should take into account the tremendous medical health impact and economic impact that promoting such a lifestyle will result in.” Leiter in turn blamed Hurricane Sandy on marriage equality.

The congressman added that “tried-and-true traditions in history that made us great have survived because they are effective.”

And as for ObamaCare, Price himself introduced a bill this past May, H.R. 2300, the Empowering Patients First Act. According to his news release, his proposed legislation “fully repeals Obamacare and starts over with patient-centered solutions,” including “individual health pools and expanded health savings accounts, tax credits for the purchase of coverage and lawsuit abuse reforms to reduce the costly practice of defensive medicine.”

 

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