I was planning to write about the ridiculousness of Republicans claiming the health reform law will require 16,000 new IRS agents, but many others beat me to it. Here’s the whole scoop on this lie. (Here’s a crib sheet from Ezra Klein.)
Distortions like this chip away at the credibility of Republican critics of health reform. There are plenty of things to criticize in the new bill. Legitimate debates about the role of government in health care should be had and there is no shortage of weak policy provisions to critique. There’s no need for commentators and Republican leaders to take these cheap shots based entirely outside the realm of fact. This is “pull the plug on grandma” territory.