“Sahil Kapur” - Orrin Hatch: Health law ‘a lot worse’ than ‘an awful piece of crap’
March 4, 2011
Friday, March 4th, 2011 -- 10:18 am
After Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) made profane remarks criticizing the health care overhaul last Friday, he apologized for it. But now, he says the law is even "worse" than he described.
In widely-reported remarks at Utah State University, Hatch called the Affordable Care Act a "one-size-fits-all federal government dumb-ass program" and "an awful piece of crap." He later apologized for his choice of words.
But on Thursday night, asked about his description of the law on Fox's "On The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Hatch doubled down.
"I guess I should tell you how I really feel because it's a lot worse than that," Hatch said, laughing.
He went on to fret that the law could lead to a single payer system and insisted government isn't capable of handling health insurance.
The Utah Republican has served in the Senate since 1977 and is up for re-election in 2012. His remarks are viewed as an attempt to curry favor with the tea party, which loathes the health care law and may back a conservative primary challenger.
A Utah Policy/Opinionology poll found last week that 54 percent of Utah voters said someone other than Hatch should be elected to his seat, while just 31 percent said he should be re-elected.
The state's newly-elected GOP Sen. Mike Lee, a tea party favorite, said he won't support Hatch in 2012.
