I really can't take watching the Sunday morning shows anymore. It's infuriating to watch hosts like Bob Schieffer (not to single him out) just ask basic questions about the issues, have no facts on hand and rarely ask a follow up. It's a talking points wonder. What's so frustrating is that the networks have the resources to really fact check and dig deep into policy like on the health care debate, but instead the McConnell's are just asked to comment on proposals or rumors.
Appearing on CBS' Face The Nation Sunday, McConnell told host Bob Schieffer that Mr. Obama's plan for a government health insurance plan would essentially crowd out other insurers from the private market, eliminating competition.
"We can make incredible improvements in American health care, but I don't think having more government — in effect putting Washington between you and your doctor — is the way to go."
Schieffer countered McConnell's contention that the Obama plan would choose (or deny) which treatments a covered individual may get; the White House is not proposing any kind of rationing board, he said. He also repeated the administration's assertion that a public insurance plan would give people another option. "If they want to keep their private insurance, that's OK," Schieffer said.
"I know they say that, Bob," McConnell countered, "but if the government is in the insurance business there won't be any other insurers, it's inevitable."
"All of that really ought to be put aside if we want to get a truly bi-partisan proposal," he said bluntly.
The Republicans and bought off Democrats don't want real competition in the Health Industrial Complex, period. If they love the free market so much then make the health insurance have to compete against something other than their brethren. Do you trust the HIC to actually come through on any of their promises?
How about if CBS puts a few of their crack reporters to work to explain why so many Americans go bankrupt because of health care issues with a large number of them already being covered? The American Journal of Medicine:
Results:
Using a conservative definition, 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; 92% of these medical debtors had medical debts over $5000, or 10% of pretax family income. The rest met criteria for medical bankruptcy because they had lost significant income due to illness or mortgaged a home to pay medical bills. Most medical debtors were well educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations. Three quarters had health insurance. Using identical definitions in 2001 and 2007, the share of bankruptcies attributable to medical problems rose by 49.6%. In logistic regression analysis controlling for demographic factors, the odds that a bankruptcy had a medical cause was 2.38-fold higher in 2007 than in 2001.
Conclusions:
Illness and medical bills contribute to a large and increasing share of US bankruptcies.
Is that so hard? Health care is driving the country into ruin and all we get is a "no" to the public option while the "single payer" plan isn't even mentioned anymore. When conservatives like Mitch mention the word Bi-partisan, what he means is that they can only come together if Democrats do what they say. Has a major network taken the time to actually explain what the "public option" would mean at all? Instead we got the Grassley's and McConnell's saying that the public option will drive Insurance companies out of business. Why is that exactly? Viewers wouldn't know because they get no information. Here's The Mad Twitterer on the public option:
If 100 million people want to join the Public Option, what's the problem?
Chris Wallace asked the penetrating question to Sen Grassley:
Is it Senatorial to twitter like that?
Yes, Grassley twitters like a bozo and his attacks of Obama on twitter showed you the child-like mind of conservatives. When Bush asked Congress to start working on something, you didn't hear people complain that he actually asked them to do their damn jobs. But Grassley was offended.
And CNN's John King just blathered HIC (Health Industrial Complex) talking points repeatedly about health care.
John King fed them the conservative straight lines and they delivered the propaganda punch lines, one right after the other. If anyone stepped in with something provocative, like the guy who said that his doctor was making him pay $1500.00 per family member, on top of his insurance premiums, just to stay with him. King just blathered on about taxes as if that's this fellows biggest financial problem rather than the fact that he's getting it coming and going from the health care industry.
I'm so sick of the lot of them.
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