MSNBC.comWho shouted ‘baby killer’ at Rep. Stupak?
Incendiary remark apparently made by lawmaker during health care debate
msnbc.com
updated 11:56 a.m. CT, Mon., March. 22, 2010
A Capitol Hill whodunit had reporters, bloggers and commentators on the edge of their seats Monday as they sought to identify the lawmaker who apparently called Rep. Bart Stupak a “baby killer” Sunday as he spoke on the House floor.
The comment can be clearly heard in C-SPAN footage of the debate prior to the House’s passage of the health care overhaul legislation.
The unidentified voice yelled at Stupak, D-Mich., as he spoke in defense of a deal he made with the White House to drop an amendment he co-authored in exchange for assurances that President Barack Obama would issue an executive order stating that no federal funds from the legislation would be used to fund abortions.
Suspicions immediately focused on the California and Texas delegations, based on the accounts of several lawmakers who said the voice emanated from the area where they were seated.
Reporters quickly quizzed members after the vote and continued to press for a name on Monday to no avail, though several lawmakers indicated they either knew or had a good idea who the speaker was.
Democratic Rep. David Obey of Minnesota, who was presiding over the debate at the time, told the Talking Points Memo that he knows who yelled at Stupak but “doesn’t see any point” in identifying the speaker.
“I think people have a right to make a fool out of themselves every once in a while without causing Armageddon,” he said.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, told the Washington Post that he thinks he knows, but wasn’t sure. "I can make a guess," Barton said.
But at least two Republican lawmakers — Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Tom Price of Georgia — told Politico that they believed the comment was shouted from the gallery.
For his part, Stupak said he didn’t see who shouted at him.
Several Republican lawmakers who were publicly identified as suspects felt compelled Monday to issue press releases denying they had used the phrase, including Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas and George Radanovich of California.
The breach of decorum on the House floor came a little more than a year after Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., yelled “You lie!” at Obama during his State of the Union address.
The House later passed a resolution, largely along party lines, saying Wilson’s conduct was a breach of congressional decorum that brought “discredit to the House.”
© 2010 msnbc.com Reprints
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35986306/ns/politics-capitol_hill/Tea Partiers Call Lewis 'N****r', Frank 'F****t', At Capitol Hill Protest
Brian Beutler | March 20, 2010, 5:41PM
Tea partiers and other anti-health care activists are known to get rowdy, but today's protest on Capitol Hill--the day before the House is set to vote on historic health care legislation--went beyond the usual chanting and controversial signs, and veered into ugly bigotry and intimidation.
Civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Andre Carson (D-IN) related a particularly jarring encounter with a large crowd of protesters screaming "kill the bill"... and punctuating their chants with the word "nigger."
Standing next to Lewis, emerging from a Democratic caucus meeting with President Obama, Carson said people in the crowd yelled, "kill the bill and then the N-word" several times, while he and Lewis were exiting the Cannon House office building.
"People have been just downright mean," Lewis added.
And that wasn't an isolated incident. Early this afternoon, standing outside a Democratic whip meeting in the Longworth House office building, I watched Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) make his way out the door, en route to the neighboring Rayburn building. As he rounded the corner toward the exit, wading through a huge crowd of tea partiers and other health care protesters, an elderly white man screamed "Barney, you faggot"--a line that caused dozens of his confederates to erupt in laughter.
After that incident, Capitol police threatened to expel the protesters from the building, but were outnumbered and quickly overwhelmed. Tea party protesters equipped with high-end video cameras were summoned to film the encounter and the officers ultimately relented.
After the caucus meeting, TPMDC's Evan McMorris-Santoro caught up with Frank, who reflected on the incident.
"I'm disappointed at a unwillingness to be just civil," Frank said. "[T]he objection to the health care bill has become a proxy for other sentiments."
"Obviously there are perfectly reasonable people that are against this, but the people out there today on the whole--many of them were hateful and abusive," Frank added.
Asked by TPMDC whether today's protesters were more hateful than at other rallies, Frank took issue with party leaders for aligning themselves with the movement.
I do think the leaders of the movement, and this was true of some of the Republicans last year, that they think they are benefiting from this rancor. I mean there are a couple who--you know, Michele Bachmann's rhetoric is inflamatory as well as wholly baseless. And I think there are people there, a few that encourage it."If this was my cause, and I saw this angry group yelling and shouting and being so abusive to people, I would ask them to please stop it," Frank concluded. "I think they do more harm than good."
Shortly thereafter, the same group of people surrounded Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) as he entered a first-floor elevator. Above the cacophony, I heard one man call Waxman a "crook" and a "liar."
"This is incredible," House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) told reporters of the slurs. "It's shocking to me." He said he hadn't heard such vitriol since March 15, 1960 when he was protesting segregation laws that forced him to sit in the back of buses. "A lot of us have been saying for a long time that much of this, much of this, is not about health care at all," Clyburn said. "I think a lot of those people today demonstrated this is not about health care."
What is it about, a reporter asked?
"It's about trying to extend a basic fundamental right to people who are less powerful."
Michael Moore: Republicans Should Be Happy -- Health Care Bill Will Save Their Lives, Too
By Michael Moore, AlterNet
Posted on March 22, 2010, Printed on March 22, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/146121/
To My Fellow Citizens, the Republicans:
Thanks to Sunday night's vote, that child of yours who has had asthma since birth will now be covered after suffering for her first nine years as an American child with a pre-existing condition.
Thanks to last night's vote, that 23-year-old of yours who will be hit one day by a drunk driver and spend six months recovering in the hospital will now not go bankrupt because you will be able to keep him on your insurance policy.
Thanks to last night's vote, after your cancer returns for the third time -- racking up another $200,000 in costs to keep you alive -- your insurance company will have to commit a criminal act if they even think of dropping you from their rolls.
Yes, my Republican friends, even though you have opposed this health care bill, we've made sure it is going to cover you, too, in your time of need. I know you're upset right now. I know you probably think that if you did get wiped out by an illness, or thrown out of your home because of a medical bankruptcy, that you would somehow pull yourself up by your bootstraps and survive. I know that's a comforting story to tell yourself, and if John Wayne were still alive I'm sure he could make that into a movie for you.
But the reality is that these health insurance companies have only one mission: To take as much money from you as they can -- and then work like demons to deny you whatever coverage and help they can should you get sick.
So, when you find yourself suddenly broadsided by a life-threatening illness someday, perhaps you'll thank those pinko-socialist, Canadian-loving Democrats and independents for what they did Sunday evening.
If it's any consolation, the thieves who run the health insurance companies will still get to deny coverage to adults with pre-existing conditions for the next four years. They'll also get to cap an individual's annual health care reimbursements for the next four years. And if they break the pre-existing ban that was passed last night, they'll only be fined $100 a day! And, the best part? The law will require all citizens who aren't poor or old to write a check to a private insurance company. It's truly a banner day for these corporations.
So don't feel too bad. We're a long way from universal health care. Over 15 million Americans will still be uncovered -- and that means about 15,000 will still lose their lives each year because they won't be able to afford to see a doctor or get an operation. But another 30,000 will live. I hope that's ok with you.
If you don't mind, we're now going to get busy trying to improve upon this bill so that all Americans are covered and so the grubby health insurance companies will be put out of business -- because when it comes to helping the sick, no one should ever be allowed to ask the question, "How much money can we save by making this poor bastard suffer?"
Please, my Republican friends, if you can, take a quiet moment away from your AM radio and cable news network this morning and be happy for your country. We're doing better. And we're doing it for you, too.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. I'll have more to say on this tonight, live on CNN, at 9pm ET. I'll be talking with Larry King about the health care bill and where we go from here, considering we still don't have universal health care.
P.P.S. In case you missed these photos in yesterday's NY Times Sunday Magazine... That's the results of seven years of madness. The Iraq War began its 8th year this weekend. How can we remove more of those responsible for this tragedy in November?
Michael Moore is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and author. He directed and produced Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Sicko. He has also written seven books, most recently, Mike’s Election Guide 2008
© 2010 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/146121/
H.R. 4872 - Reconciliation Act of 2010 - Meeting Time: 10:00am Saturday 3/20
- Reconvene 9:40pm Saturday 3/20
- Summary of Amendments Submitted
- Text of the Amendment to the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute
- Text of the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute
- Text of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 3590 (Senate health bill)
- Text of the bill as reported (reported by the Budget Committee)
| MSNBC.com |
Immediate effects of health reform bill
Benefits for children, seniors among more than a dozen ‘early deliverables’
By Julile Appleby and Kate Steadman
Kaiser Health News
updated 10:00 a.m. CT, Mon., March. 22, 2010
Obama administration officials and wonks call them "early deliverables." They're the benefits of the health legislation that would kick in this election year.
The provisions, which could just as easily be called the Democrats' "Incumbents' Protection Plan," suddenly are everywhere—touted on liberal blogs, on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” in talking points by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
They're designed to counter Republican denunciations that the legislation is a government takeover of the health care system that will drain the federal treasury.
But the question for Democrats is whether promoting the early changes will be more persuasive with voters than the Republican arguments. The answer may determine whether the Democrats retain their congressional majority.
James Capretta, a top budget official in the George W. Bush administration, is skeptical. He says he assumes the people who would benefit by the changes before November are in the "single-digit millions," not enough to have a big impact. "There aren't enough people in those categories to say, 'Yes, the increased taxes are worth it.'"
But Chris Jennings, a consultant who was the Clinton administration's senior health policy advisor, says the legislation includes “many important, immediately available policies that people will care about." He adds: “If we can’t market them well, then we will have deserved to fail.”
Changes that would occur this year include:
These are among the more than a dozen features of the new health care overhaul law that would take effect in 2010 under the measure passed Sunday. (Although the Senate bill approved Sunday by the House would become law with President Barack Obama's signature, Senate action is needed on the separately-passed House measure that would amend that law.) Other first-year items include a ban on lifetime limits on medical coverage, more oversight of premium increases and tax credits for some small businesses.
The big changes in the law — the ones that could affect tens of millions of people — don't kick in until at least 2014. Those include insurance marketplaces called “exchanges"; rules requiring insurers to accept all applicants, even those with health problems, and an expansion of state Medicaid programs.
Capretta says that the legislation has big downsides for Democrats, including the sharp cuts to Medicare Advantage. Benefits in this private-plan part of Medicare likely will be pared because the bill includes payment reductions intended to make the program similar to traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage, Capretta says, "is going to get hammered, and it's hard to see how they avoid taking the blame."
Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the The Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter, has some sympathy for Capretta's argument. "The public is unhappy," he says. " The idea that suddenly after the bill passes that Democratic leaders could start talking about it and people would be happy strikes me as Pollyannaish at best.”
Americans have been sharply divided over the legislation — Democrats hope attitudes toward it will swing in their favor as people focus on the details. While some of the more popular elements of the legislation go into effect quickly, some less popular items —such as the requirement that nearly all Americans carry insurance or face a fine — won’t occur until well after the election.
Meanwhile, Republicans are keeping up a steady drumbeat of their concerns, saying the legislation will harm more Americans than it helps by raising government spending in a time of record deficits. Many in the GOP want to build support for repealing the law.
Public opinion of Congress — aimed at both parties — and the legislative process is low. The deal-making to garner votes during the year-long health care debate, such as special payments to specific states, coupled with last-minute maneuvering after Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, soured voters.
Some of the items that go into effect in the first year include:
New help for some uninsured: People with a medical condition that has left them uninsurable may be able to enroll in a new federally subsidized insurance program that is to be established within 90 days. The legislation appropriates $5 billion for this, although that may not be enough to cover all who apply; it's not clear how much consumers would pay as their share of the cost. About 200,000 people are covered in similar state programs currently, at an estimated cost of $1 billion a year, says Karen Pollitz, a research professor at Georgetown University.
Discounts and free care in Medicare: The approximately 4 million Medicare beneficiaries who hit the so-called “doughnut hole” in the program’s drug plan will get a $250 rebate this year. Next year, their cost of drugs in the coverage gap will go down by 50 percent. Preventive care, such as some types of cancer screening, will be free of co-payments or deductibles starting in 2010.
Coverage of kids: Parents will be allowed to keep their children on their health insurance plan until age 26, unless the child is eligible for coverage through a job.
Insurance plans cannot exclude pre-existing medical conditions from coverage for children under age 19, although insurers could still reject those children outright for coverage in the individual market until 2014.
Tax credits for businesses: Businesses with fewer than 25 employees and average wages of less than $50,000 could qualify for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the cost of their premiums.
Changes to insurance: All existing insurance plans will be barred from imposing lifetime caps on coverage. Restrictions will also be placed on annual limits on coverage. Insurers can no longer cancel insurance retroactively for things other than outright fraud.
Government oversight: Insurers must report how much they spend on medical care versus administrative costs, a step that later will be followed by tighter government review of premium increases.
© 2010 This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35984435/ns/health-health_care/
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