The narratives we spin up about politics are filled with iconic moments, to which we ascribe history-making importance. This is almost always a backward way of thinking about things. Ronald Reagan didn’t win the presidency by saying “there you go again!” and Mitt Romney didn’t lose it by condescending to the “47 percent,” but both episodes grew out of some underlying political reality at the time, and we indulge the fallacy because it lets us tell more exciting stories.

There are exceptions to this, Jim Comey, but it usually holds.

We may look back at Representative Jason Chaffetz’s depiction of the hardships Republicans will impose on Obamacare beneficiaries as one of these moments.

GOP Rep. Chaffetz: Americans may need to choose between "new iphone... they just love" and investing in health care https://t.co/5Hxwn2uOl5 — New Day (@NewDay) March 7, 2017

“Maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on,” Chaffetz said, “maybe they ought to go invest in their own health care.”



Chaffetz may not realize that the Affordable Care Act repeal bill he supports will make insurance premiums for millions of people climb to the cost of one, two, possibly three or more iPhones a month. Chaffetz is coming in for tremendous mockery, and understandably so...