Live MST3K Coverage of the Obama Health Care Speech
Tonight, the President of the United States takes to the air again at 8 PM eastern to explain to us why, if we like our doctors, we’ll get to keep our doctors under a public plan, even if our insurance providers who provide coverage through our employers go out of business. Never shirking from my duty here at TMV, I will be joining Rick Moran and Ed Morrissey for live coverage of the event. You will be able to join in a live chat, submit your own questions and comments, or just follow along with this important breaking news event.
Just follow this link to Ustream TV, and we’ll be on the air ten minutes before the speech begins. You’ll want to register ahead of time (free!) if you want to join in the chat. Who knows? We may even take some calls!
13 Responses to “Live MST3K Coverage of the Obama Health Care Speech”
President Obama is my President, of whom I am well pleased.
It is clear from the republican “rebuttal” that they offer no specifics to the Presidents specifics, just rhetoric and they were unprepared for the Presidents speech. Their patronizing crap about “caring” for Americans is old tired rhetoric that republicans have NEVER even tried to fulfill. .
If they want to fight, good. Take it all the way to the midterms!
Did Obama mention “public option?”
Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) screamed LIAR at the president during his speech!
I DEMAND an apology or legislative CENSORSHIP for this blatant disrespect!
I tell you it’s Racism that is driving this wing-nut crap against the President, RACISM!
Like I said here it has become obvious we are not going to get a bill that actually fixes anything this year and no bill is better than a bad bill.
I actually have to disagree with you on this point, Ron, now that the president has given his speech. Don't get me wrong, I still believe the bill Obama outlined is inadequate, but he was very specific, and know that I know those specifics, they do sound like they add up to a huge improvement over the status quo. And we may not ever get this chance again.
“We may not get this chance again”….huh?
Kathy, we have already won. It's the fight that we need now not this particular bill. Hospital costs are way out of control. The crisis of double and triple healthcare costs has not fully sunk into the full population yet. They cannot hide the fact that the world has already solved this very problem that we lament. Undisputable fact is right before everybody's eyes. All we have to do is make a big fight, keep the facts in the public eye over and over until it sinks in. Low and behold the President drew a line in the sand and put on his gloves. They expected him to cave! The issue is now on the table and center piece to boot! He intends to fight right up to the midterms! Then we will see what the people really want. These lies and deceptive fear mongering cannot stand constant scrutiny and you know it. One issue for pounding home until they get it. About that time, it'll be time to cast a vote.
The individual vote scares the hell out of corporate America and their conservative puppets.
Well Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, David Patterson, Charlie Rangel, might agree with out, as well as others who love to plop down the race card when they are losing the battle on items in their political agenda or being investigated or criticized for ineptitude.
The rest of us just sit back and say, Here go the flaming liberals yet again.
Now excuse me while I get out my white hood and join the rest of the Klu klux Klansmen and burn some crosses on the lawns of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid before my nightly snack of of dead babies and a game of kick the puppy.
Time to dissect Father Time's argument:
Ummm… No. 44 Blue Dogs and 178 Republicans in the House say otherwise, thats a majority.
And yet we have the best medical care in the world and they have wait times of like 5 months for a hip replacement
NHS waiting time 'underestimated'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3749801.stm
Also read this story about the NHS in Britan without feeling sad at the denial of a chance at life of a prematurely born baby due to health rationing:
'Doctors told me it was against the rules to save my premature baby'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211950…
Yeah the world has “solved” this problem and thats why Canadians come to the US for timely and better treatment.
Yeah like that racism claim of yours right? Just because your mind is closed doesn't make anything fact nor does it make it indisputable. It just makes you an ideologue.
Yup all 9 Trillion of the facts. When it caught the public eye the public visited townhalls. I'd like to see a lot more things in the public eye and not in democratic chambers behind closed doors. Remember this?
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promise…
How well was that kept in the public eye? was it on C-Span when Obama hammered out a secret deal with Big Pharma?
The White House deal with Big Pharma undermines democracy
Obama's agreement with Big Pharma may help healthcare reform pass, but it may also mean higher drug prices for you.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/10…
Yes, lets have no more of that and keep it squarely in the Public eye instead.
He tripped over his own words and contradicted himself about not wanting big government to take over, then advocating just that, then waffling off it to say it might not be the only way. Was there a side of the issue he didn't try to position himself on other than outright denial of any reform? Ping Pong Ping Pong. Oh and was there really anything new that we haven't heard at least 100 times already, well aside from the sob stories (which the other side has too see the baby that died under NHS care above) and a preaching to a liberal choir about Kennedy while the congregation of the rest of the American public snoozed?
The GOP's wet dream come true. The longer this goes on the more seats they will pick up.
Charlie Cook: Dem situation has 'slipped completely out of control'
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0809/Ch…
Fiscal Conservatives back in office.
Poll: 52% disapprove of Obama on healthcare
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/new…
Yup, no matter how good a speaker The Teleprompter of the United States is.
That would be November 2010 when all those townhall folks get to vote on any representative who did not listen to their voice, along with every other American who feels that a 9 Trillion dollar deficit is intolerable and not a springboard for yet more government spending.
Actually it appears to scare the hell out of progressives since they weren't able to muster enough votes to assure passage before the recess with the Presidency and filibuster proof control of both Houses of Congress. They still don't have them, and are afraid now just like before to vote for anything. If they aren't afraid why not put it up for vote last month? why not tomorrow? I'll tell you why because they are afraid knowing it will fail. $$ Blue Dogs and 178 Republicans don't support it, thats a majority.
The speech was okay. Certainly it was better than anything the other lib Dems have said this year.
“if we like our doctors, we’ll get to keep our doctors under a public plan, even if our insurance providers who provide coverage through our employers go out of business”
Oh, nobody but the faithful Herd believes this nonsense, or the “immigrants will get no benefits,” or the abortion platitudes, or any of the other things about the state of affairs prior to new legislation.
The worst was the collectivist garbage describing employer provision of health benefits as a matter of “responsibility” (that not providing insurance was “irresponsible”). It's a disgusting lie, but it's how many in the Herd choose to delude themselves. (Note that many Dems as well as Republicans have said that reform includes ending the employer-benefit-based dependence and giving people true portability, ending “job lock,” and Obama is directly contradicting this. Lost on the Herd, but not on the rest of us.)
The sickening appeal to losers' emotions with Teddy Kennedy and the description of Washington as a service agency and more, a nurturer of people, was the most debasing and disgusting part, at the end.
The key issues:
* He wants federal assumption of high-risk pool, plus the universalist public option in rigged competition with private insurers, in a federally-organized and managed “exchange” of health insurers.
* He wants “play or pay” with employers, and compulsory purchases by individuals, as in Massachusetts, enlarging the pool of insured, lowering per capita costs, and conditioning the people to the equivalent now of paying taxes for “single-payer” later.
“The rest of us just sit back and say, Here go the flaming liberals yet again.”
Well, Obama gave plenty of silly stuff to the faithful.
(Does anyone take seriously the part about “not increasing the deficit,” from the worst President and members of Congress in history, making news for this as well as other concerns this year? Oh, and what about the sub-50-IQ idiocy about Medicare being a “sacred trust” [gag -- must be a derivative of Bill Clinton's predicted-by-me description of Social Security as "the sacred covenant" years ago] that was followed by the statement that none of the Medicare trust funds would be used to pay for this new health care effort? How stupid were the people he was appealing to with statements like that?)
Another lie that nobody intelligent believes any more than “I don't want to run the auto companies” that the Herd probably took in complete robotic faith:
“Now, I have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business.”
Vey:
“Did Obama mention 'public option?'”
Yes. It's part of what he wants. He wants this as part of rigged “competition” with private insurers, and in justifying them he dispenses with the earlier Post Office-Fed Ex-UPS failed analogy and uses the public education analogy instead.
He also wants to promptly have the feds assume coverage of the high-risk pool, not waiting for the public option to be set up along with the “insurance exchanges,” which could take four years (when he won't necessarily be re-elected and still in office then).
Both issues are found below in these parts of his speech (high-risk pool; public option for all):
“[...F]or those Americans who can't get insurance today because they have preexisting medical conditions, we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill. This was a good idea when Senator John McCain proposed it in the campaign, it's a good idea now, and we should all embrace it.”
“… [A]n additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. Now, let me be clear. Let me be clear. It would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it, and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance. In fact, based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, we believe that less than 5 percent of Americans would sign up.
Despite all this, the insurance companies and their allies don't like this idea. They argue that these private companies can't fairly compete with the government. And they'd be right if taxpayers were subsidizing this public insurance option. But they won't be. I've insisted that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits and excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers, and would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.
Now, it is — it's worth noting that a strong majority of Americans still favor a public insurance option of the sort I've proposed tonight. But its impact shouldn't be exaggerated — by the left or the right or the media. It is only one part of my plan, and shouldn't be used as a handy excuse for the usual Washington ideological battles. To my progressive friends, I would remind you that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage available for those without it. The public option — the public option is only a means to that end — and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. And to my Republican friends, I say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of health care, we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have.
For example — for example, some have suggested that the public option go into effect only in those markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies. Others have proposed a co-op or another non-profit entity to administer the plan. These are all constructive ideas worth exploring. But I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. And I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need.”