Here we go -- town halls

The backlash to the Republicans' health care law -- and their craven celebration -- has been swift, and it promises to be prolonged and effective.  Now on spring recess, only seven House members have scheduled town halls.  One who did, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), was challenged with this:  "You are making a mandate that will kill people."

To which Labrador responded:  "Nobody dies because they don't have access to health care."   The crowd responded with loud jeers.  He was probably thinking of the distortion of last resort:   you can always go to the emergency room. They have to treat you whether you have insurance or not.

FACT:  According to a 2009 Harvard study, some 45,000 Americans died annually due to their lack of health insurance.   That was before Obamacare;  and the CBO estimates that the Republicans' first version would result in loss of insurance by some 24 million people that had it under Obamacare.  The revised version they just voted on would make that even worse.