Anthony Weiner Leaves Joe Scarborough Momentarily Speechless When Arguing for Health Care Reform
By Heather Tuesday Aug 18, 2009 5:00pmYou can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!
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Isn't it amazing what a little clarity to your argument can bring you isn't it? Like arguing for real reform instead of the mushy middle. Anthony Weiner did a fantastic job on Morning Joe today and he actually left Scar speechless for a moment when trying to get him to answer just what the insurance industry does to benefit anyone. Of course Scarborough turned that around into "You're arguing for a government takeover of health care" shortly afterwards, but he never could give any decent defense of why this country needs the insurance industry.
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I do not like this Morning Joe very much. That network shouldn't give so much airtime to a spokesman of the health insurance industry. And it's not healthy for him. Surely, repeating the same talking points over and over, louder and louder, would lead to some disturbing form of repetitive stress injury.
period!
It was so hard listening to joe. Weiner pwned him.
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How could he? That was very satisfying seeing him dance like an imbecile around the fact that health insurance companies capitalize on human suffering. By denying care to those who need it most, when they need it most. They dont CREATE that value, but they tap it and turn it into capital like Charon crossing the Styx.
If everyone would just watch Sicko I think we could elevate the debate a thousandfold. Oh and we should start over, scrap this compromise BS, and get Single Payer.
I glad someone finally got on Morning Joe and made Scarborough look like the fool he is. I feel better after hearing Rep. Weiner explain it. I bet Joe won't have him back on like he promised however.
its never a government take over of health care. its never a government run health care system. its a government run and government take over of health INSURANCE. big difference. Hospitals and doctors in Canada are still PRIVATE. Not a single hospital is run by government, not a single doctor getting paid by the government. The government just pays the bills for the patients.
this needs to be spelled out more often.
Since health care in Canada is a provincial responsibility, each province has evolved different ways of providing universal access. Some have monthly fees such as BC or Ont. In the Maritimes, health care is funded by a VAT. To my knowledge, there are few if any privately owned hospitals, most are run as Crown Corporations owned by the government (taxpayer) with a non-profit mandate. Doctors are by and large self-employed with a single payer. Many walk-in clinics are owned by doctor consortiums with a profit motive, being interpreted as a type of practise. Mr. Weiner is quite right that the insurance companies are essentially parasites on the system. In Canada, companies such as Blue Cross fill a useful need by supplementing the "basic" universal service with pharma plans, dental, counselling, physio etc at a very reasonible cost due to competition from other providers. They are essentially guilding the lily.
We need Mr. Weiner out there! Why don't other shows have him on more. I first saw him on Michael Moore's website. We also need Wendell Potter (he will be on the PBS Newshour tonight) the whistle blower from Cigna on. These are perspectives that need to be viewed. Americans need real information.
said to Blow Scarborough: "So, Joe, from where you sit with this Free Enterprise argument, it sounds to me like you think there ought to be a price tag on everything -- including human life."
The one thing Repugs can't seem to get beyond is that not all things ought to be for sale. The sad truth is that everything in this fucking country has a price tag on it.
We've privatized war and we've privatized prisons, too. We've turned human health, global stability and personal liberty into commodities.
Translated, that means in order for companies to make a profit they require constantly increasing human sickness, global instability and incarcerations. The problem our consumer-based free market is facing is that the consumers are losing buying power through stagnating wages and too much debt. That is why the "essential industries" are so enticing: consumers are forced to buy them - no matter how poor they are - though necessity and/or taxes.
"Essential industries" and the free market do not work together.
No matter Obama says, the Public Option is Dead! He made a deal with the devil months ago. Thats why they blocked the WH visitors list from being seen. His Cheney/back room energy deal/hide it and lie to the public moment. He and his buddy Rahm are playing us all for suckers. They think theyre smarter than us dummies, Baucus and his gang of idiots purposely left out progressives, he let the other committees do their thing so everyone would think Congress was working on this but no matter what the baucus useless finance comittee comes out with, it will be what he wants. Get over it folks, we are all suckers. Obama, ONE TERM PRESIDENT! As much as I hate to say it, time for dems to look for a new ticket Wiener for President Wiener/Sanders maybe? Wiener/Kucinich?
Weiner is the only dem i've seen make this argument on TV. amazing. if the dems had any balls, they would all be using Weiner's talking points. if americans consistently heard the argument that the entire insurance industry is a drain on the economy and not driver of any real value; a public option would gain momentum. Instead, the dems gave up without trying. Sad because these are important decisions that can save lives and get the country out of debt.
In reality, this country has no real left (i.e. Keynesians). What we have is a center party (dems) and a party of right wing nutjob/fascists (GOP).
It was so refreshing to see Joe back on his heels. That was so much fun. I loved it. Joe is an ass. Why is he on that program anyway? He spews his right wing garbage. Let's support Mr. weiner and let him know we are with him. Go to his webite and let him know that we back him. He is one of a few that has a backbone. Is America only interested in profits and not their citizens?
We need a well spoken advocate for health care for all. Our goal should be single payer. Why are we beholden to big money, insurance companies, banks, etc. Democraats won the election but looks like they are losing the war according to the media. Let's put their feet to the fire. Go Mr. Weiner
THAT IS THE DEBATE .
health insurance companies do nothing but leech money away from health care.
health insurance companies make health care more expensive.
health care is not a commodity, it's a basic human right afforded to criminals, but not citizens.
Insurance companies are an important part of our economic system. They allow pooling of risks which individuals or companies are not able to assume on their own. Their premiums, reserves and practices are closely regulated by the states. Every state has an insurance commissioner. Insurance companies are one of the few companies that price their product before they know the cost. They do make large profits some years, but they experience losses in others. On the average (over a number of years) their profit margins average less than 3% on the product. Most of their profit comes from their investment of reserves. Insurance companies under state regulation must charge actuarial based rates that are adequate and not excessive. They must maintain adequate premium and loss reserves to pay current and future claims.
Government is good at taxing and regulating (at least they should be), but not at operating a business. Politics and business are seldom a good mix. It was political influence over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (60% of home mortgages) and lack of appropriate oversite that almost brought down our financial system.
It is true that this is about a government takeover of health care insurance, not a government takeover of health care. But, it will not be insurance. It will be a tax. Money is taken from Paul to pay Peter. Under a single payer system there will be no premium and loss reserves and premium rates will be political, rather than actuarial based. Payments to health care providers will be reduced and doctors will receive the same compensation regardless of their experience level or expertise. There will be little, if any, incentive to do a better job or improve the system. There will be fraud and gaming of the system. That is the change that you can believe in.
He can't answer the question, and what little he sputtered out was in defense of a for-profit health care cabal that provides nothing but red tape and denials of service.
Tons of value. Just ask the CEO's.
They value denying claims. They value exsessive premium hikes.
They value their bonus's at the cost of someone elses life.
Or health. But what do they care? They have their 4-5 homes complete with servants.
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