BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Democratic Party today condemned Sen. David Vitter’s remarks that distorted the facts about the Affordable Care Act at a town hall this week.
“Senator Vitter should be ashamed of himself for continuing the onslaught of misinformation about the Affordable Care Act and trying to divide Louisianians on an issue like health care, which is so critical for our state,” said Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Director Stephen Handwerk. “Many Louisianians support the Affordable Care Act because they believe investing in the health of the people of our state will pay dividends for us all.
“For example, nearly 63 percent of Louisianians support expanding access to Medicaid for working, uninsured adults. Almost 73 percent of Louisianians support the creation of exchanges that will help those who are self-employed or don’t have insurance through their employer to shop for insurance and compare prices and benefits. Unfortunately, Governor Jindal rejected both of these common-sense policies for Louisiana, and now it looks like Vitter is embracing the governor’s inflammatory and misleading rhetoric about the health care law.”
In response to a question about the Affordable Care Act at a town hall in Baton Rouge, Vitter said:
“The only thing I’d add is, I wish you were right that nobody wants Obamacare. That’s not true. And in fact, the other side, who absolutely wants it, most of whom are getting something for nothing, came out in droves for the last election and our side sat at home.”
Mother Jones, which today released video of Vitter’s comments, is calling them Vitter’s “own 47 percent moment,” in reference to similar remarks by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
A May 2013 report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found broad support in the South among men and women, young and old people and across racial lines for key parts of the Affordable Care Act.
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