This isn’t exactly a news flash, but the Daily Beast reports here on the audacious dishonesty of Republicans nationwide, including in Arkansas, in saying that they want to maintain the Affordable Care Act‘s guarantee of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions (you know, cancer and stuff.)

Particularly dishonest are the candidates from states like Arkansas — think Republican Rep. French Hill — who haven’t disavowed their states’ efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act entirely — pre-existing condition, family coverage, preventive care and all.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has joined the federal lawsuit in Texas that aims to kill the ACA and its benefits for all time. It’s a matter of record. It’s also a matter of record — or absence of same — that no Republican candidate in Arkansas has distanced himself or herself from Rutledge’s lawsuit.

The liars start at the top. Donald Trump just recently promised he was working to preserve pre-existing condition coverage, but his Justice Department is not fighting the ACA-killing lawsuit.


The mixed messaging has created enormous complications for Republicans who are getting pummeled on the topic as the midterms near. According to a recent study conducted by the Wesleyan Media Project, between September 18 and October 15, 45.9 percent of ads in federal races mentioned health care, with 54.5 percent being in pro-Democratic ads. In 2010, following the passage of ACA, health care appeared in just 8.7 percent of Democratic ads, according to the study. “It shows how far we’ve come on the issue of healthcare and how decisive the Democratic advantage is,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) told The Daily Beast in an interview. “I’ve never seen such message discipline among Democrats. It augurs well for the party going forward that although everybody is saying different things in different ways, we’re striking many of the same chords from red and blue states and everywhere in between.”

Alas, Arkansas voters seem slow to tumble to the con. When their coverage is gone, it won’t be fake news.