Gaslighting is defined as a form of psychological manipulation where someone intentionally twists and misrepresents reality, making another person doubt their own perceptions, memories, or sanity. It is a way of eroding their self-confidence and sense of trust in their own experiences.
The occupant is a master at gaslighting. His most recent stunt was to sign an executive order announcing actions to “Put American Patients First by Lowering Drug Prices and Stopping Foreign Freeriding on American Pharmaceutical Innovation.” (from the web page of the White House)
The problem with this is, that it’s pure BS. On Inauguration Day, the occupant signed an executive order reversing initiatives aimed at reducing prescription drug costs for Medicare and Medicaid recipients, expanding the Affordable Care Act and increasing protections for Medicaid recipients.
One Biden-era initiative overturned by the occupant was to instruct Medicare to explore ways to reduce drug costs, including a potential $2000 annual cap on out-of- pocket expenses. The occupant also reversed Biden’s executive order that extended enrollment periods for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and provided additional funding to third-party organizations assisting with ACA sign-ups. These measures resulted in nearly doubling ACA enrollment. The occupant also ended a Biden-era Executive order that directed the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to develop three experimental drug pricing models. Included in Biden’s Executive Order was a standardized $2 co-pay for generic drugs used to treat chronic conditions in Medicare prescription drug plans, which increased medication affordability and compliance with prescribed regimens.
The occupant created a crisis by overturning Biden-era directives that lowered drug costs and supported the Affordable Care Act. Then he signed an executive order to fix the crisis he created. It is widely believed that this order will do nothing to impact out-of-pocket expenses for most Americans in the near future. This is classic gaslighting. There is no crisis, create a crisis, fix the created crisis…voila gaslighting.
In typical occupant fashion, he claims this is one of the “most consequential executive orders in US history. He claims drug prices will fall “almost immediately” by 30%-80%.
The order directs the US Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to ensure foreign countries are not undercutting market prices of drugs. The order also directs the appropriate Administrative agencies to communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to “establish that America, the largest purchaser and funder of prescription drugs in the world, gets the best deal.” (White House web page) Reading the White House Web page makes this plan the savior of the American people when it comes to drug prices.
The order sets a thirty-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower the cost of prescription drugs in the US or face new limits down the road over what the government will pay. Translation, drug plans will pay less for drugs for those who receive Medicare and Medicaid benefits and consumers will pay the difference. Big-pharma is unlikely to voluntarily lower drug prices and give America “favored nation status.”
This, while the occupant has hacked $880 billion from the Medicaid budget.
The degree of civilized behavior in any nation is measured by how well it cares for its weakest and most vulnerable members. In Jesus’ time, corrupt political officials extorted taxes that the poor could not pay. It resulted in forfeiting their land and leaving the poor to beg or indenture themselves to those who took their land. The principle is the same. Corrupt political leaders show no compassion for the poor and needy. Widows and the elderly were especially at risk and were disproportionately left homeless and destitute. Jesus railed against the corruption of his time, the inhumanity of the Roman occupation and their collusion with corrupt religious officials, which levied additional financial burdens on the poor. Don’t be deceived, the occupant’s Executive Order will benefit big-pharma and not the neediest among us.
The Irreverent Reverend 