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Why God Invented C-SPAN

By Karen Tumulty | June 9, 2009 | +

From this morning’s Washington Journal, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on single payer (which he supports) and Max Baucus’ bipartisanship (not so much):

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.c-spanarchives.org/flash/cspanPlayer.swf" fvars=" pid=286924-4 ; clipStart=1496.99 ; clipStop=1575.14 ; autoplay=0 " width="365" height="340" /]

UPDATE: And for those of you who have been demanding one, there will actually, finally be a congressional hearing on single payer. From our friends at C-SPAN:

The Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing titled “Examining the Single Payer Health Care Option” on Wednesday, June 10th at 10:30am in 2175 Rayburn House Office Building.

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  • chrisnbama

    I watched this segment live on C-Span. What struck me was how candid and informed Senator Sanders is on all things Healtcare. Another thing that struck me was that not a single republican caller called in to attack Sanders (who is, at best I can tell, a European-styled Socialist) on ideological grounds. In fact, republicans called in to discuss their own healthcare woes with the current system. It really was an amazing segment that sort of gave me hope that real reform can happen this year.

  • sacredh

    When a single major illness can bankrupt a family, it’s not surprising at all that people will reach for a lifline regardless of who throws it.

  • kathy

    Go Bernie. This article in the Huff Po today by Bernie also:
    .
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/health-care-is-a-right-no_b_212770.html
    .
    chrisnbama: Yes, he’s a European-styled Socialist. Interestingly though, he attracts those on the right as well as the left, because of his views of the excesses of government.
    .
    When he was mayor of Burlington, landing at the airport meant you walked under a sign that said “welcome to the People’s Republic of Burlington.” I thought that was a bit of a stretch, but folks (in Burlington, at least) took it in pretty good humor.
    .
    Here’s an NYT article about him from 20 years ago. He hasn’t changed.
    .
    http://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/06/us/burlington-journal-exit-a-socialist-to-let-history-judge.html

  • kathy

    chrisnbama: rereading the end of your comment about hope that real reform can happen. It’s hard to see how the Democrats can follow an admitted socialist into his vision of health care reform considering that the Republicans spend much of their invective nowadays accusing Democrats of being what Bernie in fact is.

  • sacredh

    Holding hearings on the proposed single payer option will hopefully educate the public on what it actually means instead of letting the people in the pocket of the healthcare industry continue their misinformation campaign.

  • sacredh

    Sanders political leanings shouldn’t have anything to do with the public’s interest in reforming the healthcare system. The RW will try to make this about Sanders and not about our broken system.

  • FlownOver

    sacredh:

    Would that it were so. Consider, though, the comparative reach of CSPAN on one hand and the infinitely-funded misinformation campaign on the other. As Damon Runyon said, “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” All the hearings in the world won’t stop the lies, and the Equivalency Media will continue to cover self-interested liars just to have more cheap, flame-fanning content.

  • sacredh

    Sadly, you’re right. Fox has a much larger audience than C-SPAN. The healtcare industry is big business and they’re not adverse to lining the pockets of any group that will keep the money flowing in to them. It’s not about the health of the American people. It’s about the profit margin.

  • southernbell49

    KT, I haven’t commented because I didn’t want to raise my blood pressure. I think the people who hate single payer and public option have had a pass in the MSM when it comes to how they’ve been able to frame the debate.

    A little over a week ago at Dailykos, NYEve posted the bonuses of insurance executives and they were right up there with bankers. And yet we’re supposed to worry about insurance companies not being able to compete…

  • sqr1

    Sanders would rather pass a strong bill with 51 votes (or not pass anything) rather than a weak bill with 60 votes.
    .
    Contrast Sanders’ focus on policy with the focus on politics of Rahm “The only nonnegotiable principle here is success. Everything else is negotiable.” Emanuel.
    .
    Sanders wants to fix a problem. Emanuel and Obama want the political trophy of succeeding where the Clintons failed and passing “health care reform”. Who cares whether it works or not.

  • mccainfluffer

    KT, Thanks for posting this!

    Bernie Sanders is one of the few voices in government who actually speaks truth to power.

  • Commenter 2B named later

    Do you know any more about the impetus and motivations behind this hearing, KT? It strikes me as the kind of thing they’re having so that they can say they discussed it and decided against it, instead of not discussing it and deciding against it.

  • Karen Tumulty

    commenter 2b: that would be my guess, too.

  • jcapan

    KT: Pssst, you know he’s a socialist right?

  • http://gloriafeldt.com/2009/06/09/health-reform-gotta-love-rep-bernie-sanders/ Health Reform: Gotta Love Rep. Bernie Sanders | GLORIA FELDT

    [...] Karen Tumulty tweeted this clip with the comment that this is why God made C-Span. It must also be why God made Rep. Bernie Sanders [...]

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