On The Situation Room, former McCain staffer Nancy Pfotenhauer was brought on to pull out the fear card on any meaningful sort of health care reform. As always the tactics were typical. Be afraid of "government takeover" of health care and be afraid Democrats because if you dare to persue this it's going to be Hillary-care and 1994 all over again. I'm not sure why CNN thinks bringing on two political hacks, one in the form of a former energy lobbyist, is going to get us any closer to some meaningful debate on this issue, but that's never stopped them before and I'm sure it won't in the future.
Note to CNN...can you make this woman along with Dana Perino, Ed Gillespie and Ari Fleischer go away please? You can take James Carville and his Cheney-loving wife too while you're at it. I know you won't listen but I thought I'd ask anyway...lol.
Transcript below the fold.
BLITZER: The president is quoted by AP as calling his supporters from -- from aboard Air Force One -- he's flying from L.A. back to Washington -- earlier, saying, "If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done." He's referring to health care reform.
Is -- is that -- what is that -- what's behind that? Just to pressure everybody in Congress to try to get it done this year by strategy, if you don't it now, it will never happen?
BRAZILE: As you know, President Obama has a massive campaign list over at the DNC in Organizing For America.
And they are mobilizing now, Wolf, to educate fellow citizens about the need for health care. So, I think, on June 6, they're planning house parties and all kind of other events to try to highlight the importance of providing health insurance for all Americans.
BLITZER: A lot of people know that Ted -- Senator Ted Kennedy obviously is obviously very sick...
PFOTENHAUER: Yes.
BLITZER: ... has a brain tumor, but he's still the face on -- in the Senate when it comes to health-related issues.
Here's the question, Nancy. Because he is so -- so out there, and because he is as sick as he is, does that pose a problem to Republicans who might obviously want to oppose some of President Obama's health care reform ideas?
PFOTENHAUER: I -- I really don't believe so, because I believe that Senator Kennedy would -- would be the first person who said, if you had a principled opposition to legislation that was moving through the Senate, then, it's your duty to stand up and oppose it.
And I -- I have to respectfully disagree with Donna on the health care reform issue, and just say that I think what -- what the president is saying is really a total -- total artificial construct. There's no reason on earth if it doesn't go through this year, it couldn't go through next year or the year after that.
It's designed to basically create political pressure in order to rush through legislation that's going to impact every single American. And this is not just about, can we help the uninsured? Everyone wants to do that. This is about, do they change the system for everyone and potentially push us all into a government plan?
And, you know, with the political impacts of getting...
BLITZER: I -- I...
PFOTENHAUER: ... this the wrong way are legendary.
(CROSSTALK)
PFOTENHAUER: We're old enough to remember that, catastrophic care.
BLITZER: I suppose his -- his theory is, this is -- this is an opportunity, because he's popular right now. The Democrats have a lopsided majority in the House and Senate. You have got to get it done. Next year is an election year, midterm elections, might not be as opportune, shall we say.
BRAZILE: We have been having this debate for 16 years. And, over the last 16 years, the only thing that's changed is that more people are without health insurance, millions of Americans now health insurance, over 14,000 losing their health insurance each and every day, and the cost of premiums rising. So, this is an opportunity to have a full debate, but also to get something done. And I think the American people are tired of these delaying tactics.