On Wednesday, Lawrence O'Donnell took over the hosting duties for Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball.
He interviewed Katy Abram, a stay-at-home mom who has received national attention since speaking out at Arlen Specter's town hall meeting in Lebanon, Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
O'Donnell made a fool of himself. (It certainly wasn't the first time.)
I don't know if he thought he could bully Abram into backing down on her point or if he was just clueless, but O'Donnell was insisting that Obama NEVER said that he favored a single payer plan.
Of course, Obama is on the record, saying his health care reform goal is a single payer plan.
Obama's also on the record saying that he never said he was a single payer supporter.
What a surprise!
Anyway, Abram had the facts right. O'Donnell did not.
Video.
Transcript, NewsBusters
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Well do you believe the President when he says, if you like the health care plan, as you say you do, you can keep that health care plan? Is that something, when you hear it, you simply don't believe it?
KATY ABRAM: I don't believe it because I heard him say on a quote, on television, that, you know, it may take 5 or 10 years but we will move to a single-payer health, or single-payer-
O'DONNELL: He, Katy, he's never said that. He has never said we will move to a single-payer plan.
ABRAM: I heard, I heard it on TV. I heard it on TV. I heard him saying it.
O'DONNELL: The President of the United States. Katy, the President of the United States has never said it.
ABRAM: This was a couple years-
O'DONNELL: Oh it was a few years ago?
ABRAM: It was like in 2002 or 2000-
O'DONNELL: Okay.
ABRAM: It was a couple of years ago. This wasn't, it's not since he was in office.
I think someone probably whispered in O'Donnell's earpiece, telling him that Abram was right.
Otherwise, the arrogant O'Donnell would have kept pressing the issue.
________________
Watch the complete interview here.
O'Donnell is really rough on Abram when he talks about Medicare. He's pompous and a blowhard and a cheerleader for "smart socialism."
O'Donnell sets his trap and goes down a "gotcha" path.
He also tries to discredit Abram. He yaps about 9/11 and wants to know why Abram didn't take an interest in politics until now. He's terribly unfair to her.
Abram is a citizen who attended a town hall meeting. She's not a politician. She's not a political hack. She doesn't appear on cable TV news shows and argue for a living. But that didn't keep O'Donnell from going for the jugular.
Bottom line: O'Donnell came off as uninformed. He acted like a bully. Abram has more class and conducted herself more professionally than he did.
16 comments:
O'Donnell was shameless in the interview. The comman man may not know exactly how he's getting screwed but he knows when he is getting screwed. O'Donnell attacked Abrams as if she were Karl Rove.
Why didn't Katy know her families income?
When she talked to Spector she was angry about the amount of taxes her family pays, but she doesn't know her income. Katy was inarticulate and not credible.
You need to parse the words as thinly as Larry the Liar. He said "The President of the United States" not Saint Obama. Technically speeking, when the two quotes were made, Saint Obama was not President.
So in a technical sense, he's correct.
Amen. Way to stand tall Katy. Lawrence you should be ashamed of yourself for what you did.
Abram made a fool of herself. I recorded this just to watch it later to have a good laugh. She should go back to being a stay at home walmart shopping mother. I'm a small business owner & i sure know how much I pay in taxes-thousands every month! She's good at complaining that's about it. I wonder if her parents will give up that socialist medicaid.
Thanks for posting this "interview"/attempted ambush. It must have really melted his bonnet when Katy Abram said she paid for the services she receives from a health savings account.
O'Donnell has been trying to play this Medicare "trump card" on every conservative he attacks like this. He trots it out as an example of a successful federal government run health care program.
...problem is...it is bankrupt. Without a huge infusion of money in the next few years, it will cease to exist for "boomers, gen X'ers and the rest."
If this is the example of "progressive government programs" with which fools like O'Donnell want to pitch, then it is one heck of an advertisement for federally run national health care.
Hey folks, support a national single-payer health care plan...with your help we can bankrupt America in record time.
Not sure that would sell.
Anyway, good catch!
It would be kind of like interview you wouldn't it.
O'Donnell was very polite and just shot facts at Katy.
Its one thing to get up and shoot your mouth off in front of a hooting, screaming audience whipped up by right wing lies. Its another sit down where you have to answer for what you think is correct, but isn't.
So what should we restore to 1793? Slavery. Or how about taking away Kay's right to vote.
I know you all think this is so cruel, but she should have been smart enough to know what she was up against. She's an adult.
I bucking and sounding confused is your idea of standing tall, I'd love to have you as a boss.
Here we go again.
It's so predictable.
The Leftists attack Abram personally and put words in her mouth.
Of course, the Leftists were going to trash Abram. Was there ever any doubt?
You're welcome, Will.
Actually O'Donnell didn't have to say much, which he really didn't. Picture Bill O'Reilly.
This is not to be down on her because she is an average person. There are many who are average citizens who know what they are talking about.
She came off as foolish, especially the part of liking her high deductible policy, which looks like will be draining her family to the tune of $5,000+.
Sending people like this to stand up for insurance companies is like slave owners sending their chattel to protest at an abolition meeting because they have it so good, or are some of you not getting this?
O'Donnell made a fool of himself.
Much in the same way Mike Tyson Made a fool of himself with Peter McNeely.
WOLVERINES!!!
@ Will -
if you had a choice between three insurance firms to cover all the employees at your company, would you want the one that was bringing in
(a) large profits for its shareholders
(b) non-profit / near-breakeven
(c) a net loss
?
I don't have any problem with Katy speaking her views, however I do believe she misrepresents herself.
http://lebanonpa912project.ning.com/profiles/blogs/meeting-minutes-from-442009
Or D -- a reasonable profit with regulations that prevents insurance companies from cherry picking and requiring that they pay claims.
20 years ago health insurance companies paid out 95% of their revenue to pay claims, but now it is only at 80%. Where is the 15% going?
I am VERY proud of Katy for speaking her mind and standing up for American freedoms. I hope more people are brave enough to do this so we do not loose any more freedoms. May God bless you Katy, stay strong, and keep up the good fight.
O'Donnell actually was quite soft on her given her unsubstantiated presence. She was borderline dumb and just wanted to pay no more taxes. Guess what - so do I. But I bet she doesn't even remember the last time income taxes went up... but health insurance rates have doubled in less than 10 years. So much for the competition in the private sector that will lover rates. The healthcare cost in US runs around 17-18% of GDP with 20% of population uninsured and 50% under-insured(like Katy), while in most western countries cost runs around 12-14% of their GDP with everyone insured. Forget the myth about we having the "best healthcare in the world". I've lived in other countries and I've never met anyone willing to trade his/her universal healthcare for a US one.
We better have the government we have voting power over to make decisions than corporate crooks interested only in profits.
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