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Rush Limbaugh went into full paranoia mode today over healthcare reform. Rush claimed that healthcare reform will allow government to control every element of our lives, but the truth is that Rush and the Republicans are running a con when it comes to healthcare reform. Rush is trying to pull the ultimate distraction.

Here is the audio from Media Matters:

Limbaugh said, “The worst thing the Republicans could do would be to sign on to nationalized healthcare. Nationalized healthcare is not about the money folks. You have to understand this, single payer government provided, whatever you want to call it. Once that happens then virtually every activity that you engage in can be controlled, because they can say it relates to how much health costs the government’s going to have. Your kids may not be able to use a swing set anymore, maybe too dangerous. You may not be able to buy a TV that hangs on the wall because it might fall on your kid and break his head. I am not making this up.”

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Rush is making this up. He is making it all up. His fantasy is first based on the idea that heathcare reform is going to be single payer. It won’t be. This is the scare tactic that Republicans are going to attempt to use to defeat healthcare. They are going to frame it as government taking away individual freedom. The hypocrisy here is that no party has done more to take away personal freedom that the GOP.

This is a political party that tried to intervene in life and death with the Teri Schaivo case, which, by the way, Rush backed the GOP on. Rush is also a staunch supporter of the Patriot Act and Bush’s domestic spying program. Apparently, he has no problem with the government controlling our lives when it is under the guise of the keeping the homeland safe, but letting every American visit a doctor is going too far.

Once again, Limbaugh is giving his party some terrible advice. Single payer appears to be off of the table, but I can see the GOP working with Democrats to strengthen the tax credit for employers who provide healthcare. If Republicans were smart they would get involved with cracking down on the insurance industry and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

What is most likely to happen is that Republicans say no to everything, Democrats pass healthcare reform anyway, the program becomes a beloved institution, and Rush and the GOP look like fools, again. Don’t believe the distraction.

Healthcare reform isn’t about the government running your life. If you already have insurance, nothing will change. The point is to get the nearly 50 million people with no healthcare into the system. Rush and his fellow Republicans are running a con.