Oregon Republicans OK With Doctors Lying Like Trump

Would you consider Oregon physicians fit to practice medicine if they lied to their patients at the same rate Donald Trump lies to the American people?

I put this question to all of Oregon’s Republican legislators (Senate, House), Representative Greg Walden (R) and Secretary of State Dennis Richardson (R).

Not surprisingly, they all indicated that Oregon physicians who lied to their patients at the same rate as their Republican President, Donald Trump, lies to the body politic would NOT render any of them unfit to practice medicine.

There is cognitive dissonance here. We give some leeway to our American Presidents when it comes to truth telling all the time. However, we do NOT expect our doctors to withhold information or lie to us.

Keep in mind that all forty of these Republican officials have steadfastly accepted Donald Trump’s tsunami of lies as no impediment to his fitness to care for the American people, including Oregonians.

Also keep in mind that all forty of these Republican officials obscure their beliefs that access to essential health care is NOT a basic right of American citizenship.

In furtherance of that belief they continue to support their President and the Congressional Republican Majority’s efforts to eliminate medicare, medicaid and the Affordable Care Act despite the disastrous impact it would have on their Oregon constituents.*1

Their Republican President, Donald Trump, is taking legal action to reestablish the disastrous pre-existing conditions policy which would allow insurers to deny coverage or dramatically raise your rates. Often being a woman is considered a Pre-Existing Condition!*2 Dear Reader, How many of you, your family and your friends over the age of 60, 50, 40, 30 do NOT have a pre-existing condition? Are you prepared to vote for any Republican (especially Knute Buehler who is a doctor and should know better) who will abandon the health care needs of their Oregon constituents by continuing to support Donald Trump’s presidency?

State Representative and Republican gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler, M.D., is the de facto leader of Oregon Republicans. It should be of considerable interest to Buehler’s medical colleagues, his patients and the Oregon Medical Board that Knute Buehler remains unwilling to declare that doctors who lie to their patients at the level Donald Trump lies to Oregonians should have their medical licenses revoked.

Knute Buehler has a medical degree, a science based profession.

Nevertheless, Knute Buehler leads his Republican colleagues in deceptively ignoring the fact that President Trump, his administration, and those departments that regulate air, water and fossil fuel emissions — as well as Trump’s Republican Party — reject science, especially the Environmental Protection Agency.

Their disdain for science as a basis for policy, regulation and rule making includes denying the overwhelming scientific reality of man’s dramatic negative influence on Climate Change.

Knute Buehler’s mendacity with regard to women’s health has been exposed by several groups.*3

"Since he became a legislator, Knute Buehler has voted against nearly all of the major advances Oregon women and mothers have made. We have no reason to believe he would govern our state any differently.” — Andrea Paluso, Director of The Mother PAC.

"Knute Buehler has repeatedly played partisan political games with Oregon women's health and rights.” —Lisa Gardner, Board Member for Planned Parenthood PAC of Oregon.

"Knute Buehler claims to be pro-choice, but he continues to attack women's rights to make the best choices for their own lives and undermine access to reproductive healthcare services for the most vulnerable Oregonians.” — Grayson Dempsey, Executive Director of Naral Pro-Choice Oregon PAC.

There is an evolving argument that Donald Trump’s pathologic, all-encompassing mental environment of lies leads him to believe that whatever he is saying at any given moment it true.*4

Even if this is Trump’s psychological condition it does NOT excuse those, like Knute Buehler and other Trump sycophants, who knowingly back up his falsehoods from being liars.

Dear Reader, if you have evidence that Knute Buehler or any of his flock of elected Republicans publicly recognize that Donald Trump’s level of lying renders him unfit for the presidency then please let me know. Thank you.

— Richard Ellmyer
NAV, Non-Aligned Voter
Author of The Ellmyer Report, a newsletter that informs, educates and influences on public policy. Occasionally distributed to more than a quarter of million readers in Oregon and beyond.
Facebook, Portland Politics Plus.
Contributor: Patch.com

Sources:

*1 - The Plot Against Healthcare By Paul Krugman, for The New York Times

56 percent of adult American agree that it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage.

*2 - To Trump and the GOP, Being a Woman Is a Pre-Existing Condition By Christina Cauterucci

The basic theory that underlies the GOP’s entire legislative wishlist on health care: the idea that being a woman is a chronic medical condition and a liability … The Trump administration and the mainstream Republican Party, endorse an idea of womanhood as a disease.

*3 - Oregon Gubernatorial Nominee Challenged By Women's Rights Groups, from the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon

Earlier this year, Planned Parenthood PAC of Oregon launched TheTruthAboutKnute.com, which contains a timeline of news items dating back to 2014 that demonstrate why Oregon voters should be alarmed:

• Votes against safeguarding abortion rights: The Reproductive Health Equity Act was the single most important vote in Knute Buehler's legislative career to protect access to reproductive health care. He voted NO.
• Opposes patient privacy protections: In 2015, Knute Buehler voted against legislation to ensure confidentiality in insurance communications. Without these protections, some women cannot seek the health care they need for fear of someone else receiving their medical information.
• Fails to stand up for Planned Parenthood: When asked why he wasn't defending Planned Parenthood in the face of relentless federal attacks - including the health center in his own legislative district — Knute Buehler dodged responsibility. That's not showing leadership. That's playing politics with women's lives.
• Sides with anti-abortion extremists: In 2014, Knute Buehler met with and earned the "recommendation" of Oregon Right To Life, which means he supports "the majority" of their priorities. This radical organization is determined to restrict birth control and to outlaw all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.
• Shames Oregon women: In an interview with right-wing radio host Lars Larson, Knute Buehler shamed Oregon women for making personal medical decisions about their "unborn children." He said, "We need to convince people in their hearts and minds that abortion is the wrong option."
• Discriminates against low-income women: OPB reported that Knute Buehler doesn't believe low-income Oregon women should have access to safe, legal abortion: "He said he opposed state funding except in cases where it is 'medically necessary.'" Restrictions on reproductive health coverage can push women deeper into poverty and have profoundly harmful effects on public health.

*4 - Trump’s not a liar. He’s a madman By Dana Milbank, for the Washington Post

"A liar, by definition, knows he’s not telling the truth. Trump’s behavior is worse: With each day it becomes more obvious he can’t distinguish between fact and fantasy. It’s an illness, and it’s spreading."