Elizabeth Edwards responds to McCain’s ‘cheap shot.’
Filed Under: Health Care
By on Apr 21st, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Elizabeth Edwards responds to McCain’s ‘cheap shot.’
Earlier this month, Elizabeth Edwards, who is now a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, criticized Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) health plan because it doesn’t guarantee coverage for people who have pre-existing conditions — like both Edwards and McCain. She also noted that McCain had benefited from government-run health care his whole life. On ABC’s This Week yesterday, McCain called Edwards’ criticism a “cheap shot.” Watch it:
Edwards responded to McCain today at The Wonk Room, saying her criticism was “not a cheap shot,” but rather “a potentially life and death question for tens of million of Americans. And it is a question Sen. McCain must address.”
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Mrs. Edwards is utterly correct, in her first dispostion and in her present one.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:23 pmso the definition of “the truth” for these people is now “a cheap shot.” They really do see facts and honest discourse as the enemy… It’s the means by which they will be destroyed.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:26 pmBetter knock it off, Elizabeth.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:31 pmYou’ll piss the old coot off.
First off, where is that commie’s flag pin? Why does Mcain hate the flag?
But, assuming that he’s got on red white and blue depends, He doesn’t respond to the charge. His point that “government doesn’t make good health care decisions, families do is so lame I would have expected it from a troll here. Now, it’s corporations who are making those decisions, not families, not government. So why doesn’t Mcain give up his taxpayer funded health care if he thinks it’s so crappy?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pmMcSame gets very angry if you dare suggest he has something which the American people need: Health Care. If you even begin to tell the truth, you are going for the ‘cheap shot’.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:35 pmI know the Canadian system, and have many friends in Britain. No one in their right mind would trade theirs for the best we have. Not one. The big lie of the right is no one likes government run medical. Everybody likes it, even the greedy capitalists are pleased with it. Think about this: What kind of people would turn their well being over to a for profit corporation?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:36 pmOn ABC’s This Week yesterday, McCain called Edwards’ criticism a “cheap shot.”
Substantive criticism is a “cheap shot” , but a fraudulent story on one of your children is “politics as usual” ?
Anyone who votes for this brainless old fart needs psychiatric care ; what an imbecile………….
April 21st, 2008 at 2:37 pmIt must be a pretty sheltered life that thinks the truth is “a cheap shot.”
April 21st, 2008 at 2:38 pmQuick - invoke your POW torture as a reason to vote FOR you, not against you.
Is McCain’s flag pin glowing? What a jerk. John Sidney McCain III is the definition of a cheap shot.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pmI watched McCan’t spout this BS.
He added a remark about the wait time & long lines in Canada & the UK.
PBS’s show last week, ‘Sick Around the World’ clearly pointed out from Consumers of those systems that wait time & ‘lines’ are incorrect. They also testified that quality of care is very acceptable and cost is never an issue.
John McCain - 50+ years of full government health care is good enough for me…but not for you!
April 21st, 2008 at 2:45 pmYeah many families make their own choices on health care these days. They decide to wait until things reach a crisis stage and then resort to taking family member to the emergency room where it costs everybody a pile of money to pay for the uninsured. Because frankly when people can’t afford healthcare they’re not likely to be able to pay the emergency room bill. That means people who have some money end up making up the difference in their 10 or 20 percent copay. Of course insurance policies can be written without a copay for the right price. It would be interesting to see if members of congress have a copay, what it is, and how much does it cost to cover one of them completely. Then, shouldn’t we, at a minimum require that no insurer charge over this amount to insure any other citizen?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pmMcSame gets asked a tough question and his answer: Hehehehehehehe.
Does anybody besides me notice that he giggles when asked questions he would rather not have been asked?
Shorter John: I got mine, let your family decide that they can’t afford health insurance.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pmI watched Michael Moore’s “Sicko” yesterday, and was very impressed, especially by some of the special features. In particular, the one titled “America beats France.” Strange title, because he actually does a review of some of the medical systems in Europe, including France and Norway.
The American people are told, over and over again, that if we have Universal Healthcare, the government will make the decisions for you. In fact, not true, and in fact, the decisions are made by for-profit insurance companies now…not you and not your doctor. However, I’m not crazy about either Obama’s nor Clinton’s Universal Healthcare plans. They are a start, but will never get us to where we need to go. As long as for-profit insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry has seats at the table, nothing is going to change substantially. Until the profit basis of medicine in the U.S. is removed, nothing is going to change. Both the insurance and pharmaceutical industries will fight such changes tooth and nail, and it will take COURAGE to face them down. God knows, our congresspeople are funded quite heavily by these industries, but while they need money for their campaigns, they need VOTES even more. The answer here, and the source of pressure to bring about these changes is thus obvious.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:47 pmI aguess when you go into an emergency room and you’re a senator you don’t have to wait 4 hours like a regular citizen does. Also I showed up for a doctor’s appointment last week 7 minutes late and the doctor left. I was charged $35 for not showing up for my appointment. I’ve NEVER been to a doctor where they were less than 15 minutes late and while I should have been on time I was hauling a sick kid there who then didn’t receive treatment. The flawless American medical system indeed.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:48 pmLOL!
April 21st, 2008 at 2:49 pmThe ABC spinning logo is in just the right position to call attention to the fact that McCain doesn’t wear his flag pin.
Fortunately for McCrazy a lot of people wouldn’t watch Stephanopolous this week.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:50 pmLemme get this straight — Elizabeth Edwards rightly points out that McCain has had government-provided health care his whole life, and he called her point a “cheap shot” because he didn’t have access to government-run health care during the time he was a POW??? WTF???
McCain is allowed to use that as a rebuttal IF (and only if) he spent those five and a half years without government-provided health care identifying with uninsured Americans who either can’t afford insurance or don’t qualify for it, and spending his time reflecting on the problems of those people. I suspect that during McCain’s imprisonment, he had more important things to worry about, which is understandable. But unless he experienced any great epiphanies regarding health care during that period, he shouldn’t exploit his time as a POW as a rebuttal point. That’s just plain insulting.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:50 pmElizabeth Edwards is spot on, and McCain is a fuzzy brained old man who should have quit the business when he was riding high — as it is now, he will be remembered as that fuzzy-headed old man.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:50 pmKarl Rove, Bill Kristol & John McCain weren’t wearing flag pins in TP’s pics this past week.
Pantsuit 1 doesn’t wear a lapel flag, either.
Where’s the beef?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:54 pmFacts and reality are “cheap shots”?
April 21st, 2008 at 2:54 pmFor Democrats/Liberals/Progressives FACTS are plentiful and thus ‘cheap’, for Republicans/Conservatives/Regressives FACTS are worthless, and so are those who who rely on them.
A shot, to R/C/Rs is a bullet fired, in fearful hysterical reaction to anything they haven’t the intellect or experience to understand.
A ’shot’, for D/L/Ps is what THEY have to take every time the RCR’s falsely invoke “cheap shot” , to dull the pain and mantain their conviviality in the face of dangerous stupidity.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:55 pmOh, and in addition to #21, the D/L/Ps still stay sober.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:57 pm5th Estate Says:
Oh, and in addition to #21, the D/L/Ps still stay sober.
Hey, speak for yourself!
April 21st, 2008 at 3:02 pmMcBush got his and says to you, “I’m alright, Jack!”
April 21st, 2008 at 3:13 pm“Did you pick up the tell? Rather than respond intelligently to Edwards’ valid point that McCain has taken advantage of government health care his entire (rather lengthy) life, he pulls the “Hanoi Hilton” card. Anyone think that calling attention to his POW days could be like Giuliani’s invoking of 9/11? Not to detract from the traumas he experienced at the hands of the Vietcong, but what the heck does that have to do with healthcare?”
Via C&L.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:14 pmMcCain has turned-out to be the same as the thugs that imprisoned him in Vietnam. His simplistic views are stunning, what this country needs LEAST, is a NON-THINKER!
April 21st, 2008 at 3:15 pmGood for Elizabeth Edwards! She is absolutely correct and needs to keep speaking up — Lord knows McNumbNuts and the rest of the republicans are short on conscience.
Getting a “cheap shot” reference from McNumbNuts should be considered high praise second only to being called a “jerk”.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:17 pmMy mother just filed for bankruptcy for medical bills.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:33 pmCheap shot? So, let the free market decide. It’s all about supply and demand. The shots against McCain are so cheap because he keeps producing a glut of material to shoot.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:34 pmCareful, now! Can’t confuse the old bastard with facts.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:45 pmI hope Elizabeth keeps putting the pressure on McCain about Health Care. He will never come up with a good Health Care Plan, we all now that.
The voters will recoginize he is scrambling everytime she brings it up and he doesn’t have a suitable response or can’t explain the medical proceedures that is doesn’t cover. That is going to be a huge issue for this election. With so many lost jobs over the last 3 years and millions without health coverage, the Democrats will be able to nail the old man to the wall on this issue.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:28 pmWhat I gather is that efficient healthcare for society as a whole (like roads and post offices) would interfere with social Darwinism and oppression they favor.
Anyone who protests now can be suppressed and both now and in the future certain demographics will never know what a healthy life is and thus will be less likely to complain at all.
Think about what’s cheap to eat…. salt, salt, sugar, sugar, salt, bread.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:16 pm“What’s wrong with (government run health care)? Go to Canada! Go to England” McCain says. What a disgusting man he is. First of all, it’s pretty obvious that neither Canada nor England would swap what they have there for what we have here.
Secondly, and this is what I think is most disgusting about this argument, is SO WHAT?? What if Canada and England’s health care plan is poor. Why does that matter? How does anyone else’s poor health care plan stand in the way of the United States having a great one? Is McCain, or any other detractor from the possibility of national health care implying that we don’t have the resources? That America doesn’t have the know-how, or the will? Listen, people, this is how they shape the argument. By finding some fault with some other country’s health care plan, and I propose it means NOTHING. We need only, as a nation, to have the will to achieve this goal. We need the vision to believe that this nation can accomplish this most admirable goal of taking care of ALL of our sick. We don’t need to settle for a second rate system if we believe that excellent health care is a right for all of our citizens. So, next time you hear someone talk about the long wait for care, or whatever fault they can find in overseas health care, ask them squarely what the hell that has to do with us here in America? Ask them are they so unpatriotic that they can’t envision the United States doing better than these other countries? If this is what we, as a nation, want, ..no.. DEMAND, we can get it done.
The sooner we stop throwing away billions on misguided wars, the sooner we can make this come true.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:36 pmWhat I left out, in my rage of a post just above, is that I AM, besides a jazz musician, a health care worker. I am quite sick of this country’s attitude towards health care.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:42 pmHere’s the harsh reality of our “stellar” medical system: see http://www.careforkelly.org. Kelly is a friend of mine, who has a recently diagnosed brain tumor. It’s a ridiculous story, from how long it took to diagnose, to the search for a doctor who can treat it, to the financial toll on the family. The kicker? Kelly was able to get on the Oregon Health Plan (OHP)because this is a life-threatening problem and due to the economy her husband is only working a part time, low paying job. IF he finds a job that pays enough to feed the family, Kelly looses OHP, AND even if he’s lucky enough to find a job that offers insurance to the family, she’d be ineligible for care due to the pre-existing condition.
Some great system.
April 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pmSpeaking of cheap shots…
About 3 weeks ago a lady I work with collapsed at her desk and had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance. The incident had been caused by a blood clot that had moved into one of her lungs.
She’s OK now and back at work. Today, word comes that the insurance company she is with (provided by the employer) is considering refusing to pay for her hospital bills because they consider the blood clot a “pre-existing condition.”
April 21st, 2008 at 7:42 pmWow, if John McCain says that what Elizabeth Edwards said was a “cheap shot”, I can hardly wait to see what he has to say about what the Democratic party is going to throw at him. They are going to throw his own words back at him and he is going to be confused as hell as how to respond. It’s going to be fun watching what’s going to happen.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:30 pmSince McCain was in the military, he was covered by insurance when held prisoner. He wasn’t hit with ‘prexisting’ when he returned to this country.
To understand what McCain is going to come up with for health care, you need only to look up the National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care, brought to us by Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbuer and Novelli. Their report says long term care should be the ‘Shared Responsibility of Government, Individuals and the Private Sector’, with funding an automatic payroll deduction. In other words, the working taxpayer will pay for it, the funding will be socialized, but the profits will be privatized and government regulation will make it legal. That is their pattern. McCain’s plan will be the same pattern.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 am.
Johnny McSicko thinks it to be a “CHEEP SHOT” that I think Cheney Care is good for me…
I suppose that thinks me to be a bitter elitist… YES?
.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:28 amI’m surprised nobody noticed this: McCain said preexisting conditions would be covered by a “special Medicaid trust fund.”
I believe he means Medicare trust fund. (Medicaid is a program run by the states for the poor; Medicare is the existing federal program for seniors.
So either he’s planning on tackling the problem of preexisting conditions by dumping it on the states, or he’s having another Sunni-Shiite type senior moment…
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:30 amOnce they get ahold of everyone’s DNA, everyone will have a “pre-existing condition” for one thing or another!
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 amMcCain is a “war hero?” He graduated near the bottom of his Naval Academy class. He wasn’t a good enough pilot to avoid being shot down. He apparently didn’t get what his escape and evasion classes were all about since he was quickly captured after bailing out. The Code of the US Fighting Force required him to make constant efforts to escape his internment, something he apparently did not do for over 5 years.
The real cheap shot here is the fact that McCain trades on his mediocre military service as being something “heroic.”
In a country which has cheapened the term “hero” to include people who are paid obscene amounts for doing nothing more than playing games, it’s probably just as unavoidable as it is meaningless.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 am