It appears even loyal Fox News has turned on Senate Republicans for their obstruction of the 9/11 first responders bill. Fox & Friends demanded the bill be passed; conservative guests have criticized Republicans’ opposition; and yesterday, host Shep Smith called out a dozen GOP senators by name who had refused to appear on his program to discuss the bill. Today, Smith zeroed in on Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who has said he will block the bill, even if it means 9/11 responders have to wait until next year for benefits. In an act of public shaming, Smith displayed a photo of Coburn as if it were a wanted poster, urging his viewers to get a good look at “the man who is vowing to slow this down or block it, so the necessary funding for the illnesses of the first responders…doesn’t make it through”:

SMITH: Again, this is the picture of Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma. He is the man who is vowing to slow this down or block it, so the necessary funding for the illnesses of the first responders who made it to Ground Zero to try to save lives on the day that America changed — remember? This is the senator who is vowing to block it. So that it doesn’t make it through. Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, the man who vows today to block or delay the 9/11 first responders bill despite the fact that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York say they have the votes to get it done.

Watch it:

Today on his 700 Club broadcast, televangelist Pat Robertson said that the horrific earthquake that hit Haiti was a result of the country’s “pact to the devil” “a long time ago.” This afternoon on Fox News, Shep Smith did a segment on the devastation in the country and played a clip of Robertson’s remarks, which he then sharply condemned:

SMITH: The people of Haiti have been used and abused by their government over the years. They have dealt with unthinkable tragedy day in and day out. And we’re in the middle of a crisis the Western Hemisphere has not seen in my lifetime, and 700 miles east of Miami, hundreds of thousands of desperate human beings need our help, our support, our money, and our love. And they don’t need that.

Watch it:

“Why would we not want a public option?” Shep Smith asked Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), kicking off a tense and lively exchange this afternoon on Fox News. When Barrasso quickly launched into his Frank Luntz-inspired GOP talking points, calling it a “government take-over of health care,” Smith — who’s been known to go off the Fox News reservation from time to time — pushed back:

SMITH: It’s not a government take over, Senator! That’s not fair and we both know it. It’s not a government takeover because what it would be is a government option if you have insurance now and you like it you can keep it. … That’s not a government take over if we’re being fair is it Senator?

Barrasso struggled to muster a response. “Well compare it to Medicare, which we know right now is going bankrupt,” he said. Later, Smith engaged in fierce advocacy in favor of the public option:

SMITH: As the costs have gone up, the insurance industry’s profits on average have gone up more than 350 percent and it’s the insurance companies which have paid and have contributed to Senators and congressman on both sides of the aisle to the point where now, we can’t get…what more than 60 percent of Americans say they support, is a public option. This has been an enormous win for the health care industry. That is an unquestioned fact. [...]

[E]very vote against a public option is a vote for the insurance companies, sir. It is!

Again, Barrasso replied with trite talking points. “We’re not even allowing the people of America to read the bill,” he said, later adding that “Washington is incapable” of running health care. “I want to be clear,” Smith told Barrasso, “this wouldn’t be Washington running the system, Senator. It would be a government run plan paid for by the people who sign up for the plan.” Watch it:

As Smith railed against insurance companies, Barrasso responded, “I’m not going to defend the insurance companies — I’ve been fighting them for the last 25 years of practicing medicine.” In fact, the Wyoming senator has received a considerable amount of contributions from the health care industry: Over $500,000 from health professionals and nearly $100,000 from the pharmaceuticals and health products industry over his career and nearly $40,000 bundled from health care lobbyists in the last two years.

Fox News constantly peddles the false talking point that the Democratic health care plan would be a “government takeover” (see e.g. Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Greta Van Susteren). Kudos to Smith for letting the Fox audience know that most of their anchors are lying to them.

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This afternoon in his town hall, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he is “unalterably opposed” to using the budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform. “It would be a drastic change in the way that the United States Senate does business.” Fox News’ Shep Smith fact-checked McCain’s claim immediately upon the conclusion of the town hall. “The truth is Republicans used this in 2001, 2003, and 2005 to pass then-President George Bush’s tax cuts,” Smith said. Armed with some research, he then reported this quote from Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH):

“Reconciliation is a rule of the Senate (that) has been used before for purposes exactly like this on numerous occasions.” … “Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don’t think so. … The point, of course, is this: If you have 51 votes for your position, you win.”

Smith concluded that if Democrats “were to take health care and put it in under reconciliation, they could do that.” Watch it: