Franken 1, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Diana Furchtgott-Roth zip. Transcript here.
The Mahablog
Politics. Society. Group Therapy.
Franken 1, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Diana Furchtgott-Roth zip. Transcript here.
“And do you know how many moral bankruptcies there were in the health care industries in America?”
“Uhm, Senator, let me guess, zero?”
“No! We don’t know. Maybe you can search around in your ass and come up with a number. Whatever you give us, we’ll mulitply it appropriately to reflect the reality. And you know how much we blame the health care industry and people like you for the mess we have in this country?”
My guess is it won’t be zero.”
“You’re right. It won’t be zero. Bugt it won’t be 100% either. As I look around this room, I see a large percentage right here.”
You GO, AL!!!!!
Great Clip – What it really answers is the question about whether ‘Al’ could be a serious intelligent senator. But the man has a theatrical flair which allowed the exchange tobecome a Kodak moment. Priceless.
Stuart Smalley goes all Washington on her Ass!
You know I’ve seen that look before. The look in an Industry Fat Cat ‘s eyes who knows what they are selling is a big fat fucking lie. It is almost in slow motion. I just never saw a woman pull it off so well. Most women have some compassion left over. Most congressional con job situations call for the non-descript white male witness. Not so with her, she looks like a stone, impressive display of “who cares”….. It is fun to watch Franken carve that Industry Shill into pieces.
Al should have said: How many families going bankrupt per year are acceptable to have the “best” cancer survival rates? Is she saying we just can’t have good healthcare unless some portion of society is denied? I think that is what she said.
I wish the wing-nuts would just be honest and say: you know it’s just not worth giving everyone healthcare if it means that the care that we (us you know, you know us) receive is somehow potentially compromised. If need be I will have 100% and what is left is left. That is really what they mean, and somehow they have at least half of the country in the tank with them? Quite a con job.
Another question: “And do you know how many people died because they couldn’t get health care in France? In Germany? In Switzerland?” “Zero.” “Do you know how many died because they couldn’t get health care in the United States?” Dahhhhhh
Bill,
“Do you know how many died because they couldn’t get health care in the United States?†Dahhhhhh”
It’s not cause they couldn’t get healthcare, they just failed as human beings. Come on get with the program. You know how criminals go to jail, people without good jobs and healthcare insurance just get what they get. If we (you know us) let too many people in the hospital, our care will be compromised. It’s nobody’s ones fault really, unless you feel like paying more taxes!
Note to teabaggers… the “Wisenheimer” routine only works really well when it’s backed up with facts.
In 2003 Al wrote to Bush AG Ashcroft “about inspiring the next generation of sex-free leaders“. Though he apologized for doing so on Harvard JFK School of Govt letterhead, his satire has a way of making the point.
Speaking of the smart ones, look at this:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/22/794216/-Grayson-SCHOOLS-Paul-Broun-on-Constitution.-He-will-NOT-yield!-EPIC-WIN!!
You just don’t screw with Al Franken on the facts! He studies.
I thought Al Franken made the only accurate or intelligent statements during Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s hearings. He is literally the last smart man standing in Washington.
I showed this clip to my husband and he said “I don’t think those pearls were fake. Bet the people paying her are upset that she wasn’t ready.”
But also, that thing about the cancer survival rate: I am biased because I lived and hobnobbed with a bunch of German oncologists. For childhood leukemia, they had a better survival rate than the US for decades, so much so that the Americans claimed it was because of race (white Germans v. a bunch of different colors in the US). They couldn’t adopt the German protocol outright because the NIH won’t give grant money unless the research is novel. So they are still playing catch-up.
And St. Judes, the guys who want your money all the time, had the worst outcomes. I left Germany in 2001 and they still had the worst leukemia outcomes and bone marrow transplantation record. I’d go to Germany if I could if I had cancer.
Every Repub brings up this study. This is the best response I have heard. It is a flawed study, there is only one, I believe. They really had to dig deep for this. Life expectancy and infant mortality studies, much more robust measures of health fail to give any comfort. Indeed they give a lot of pain to these batshit crazies and to every person in the US.
Whoops: they= St. Judes, not Germany
Looks like there will be more prep on the part of witnesses appearing before Senator Franken (Gosh, I love typing that!) in the future. Could we just put a floating “Never mind!” above the heads of witnesses from think tanks that have known POV distortions?
“Furchtgott-Roth” sounds like some kind of fancy-pants cheese bleu. And speaking of cheese, who’s the hot dish sitting behind Sen. Al?