Michael Moore: One of Ezra Klein's Last Wonkblogs Made an Unwonky Mistake About My Obamacare Op-Ed

[marmar]

January 21st, 2014 9:44 PM

One of Ezra Klein's Last Wonkblog Posts Made an Unwonky Mistake About My Obamacare Op-Ed
By Michael Moore


My New Year's Day op-ed in the New York Times seems to have kickstarted a discussion about how to make Obamacare better. I hope you can read it if you haven't already and get involved.

But it also attracted criticism from, surprisingly, the otherwise very smart and very cool Ezra Klein, who created the Washington Post's Wonkblog. (He's now leaving to create something on his own.)

Ezra wanted everyone to hear about 'What Liberals get wrong about healthcare':

Michael Moore greeted the introduction of Obamacare with an admission many liberals will cheer. “Obamacare is awful,” he wrote.

Its awfulness, Moore said, stems from “one fatal flaw: The Affordable Care Act is a pro-insurance-industry plan implemented by a president who knew in his heart that a single-payer, Medicare-for-all model was the true way to go.”

Like Moore, I’d prefer a more nationalized health-care system. But his analysis relies on a common mistake that distorts both the benefits of single-payer systems and the deficiencies peculiar to Obamacare…the problem with the Affordable Care Act isn’t the insurance industry. In fact, the main benefits of nationalized health care can be achieved in systems with hundreds, even thousands, of for-profit insurers…

Most countries rely on many, many insurers…It’s health-care providers – not insurers – who have too much power in the U.S. system (but politicians) routinely rail against for-profit insurers...

I read that line -- "the problem isn't the insurance industry" — and I wondered, is that true? Are there great universal healthcare programs in tons of other countries where insurance companies are – as under Obamacare – free to make a profit on basic health insurance? Have I been wrong about this for all these years (here's a piece I did on universal health care on NBC's TV Nation, some 20 years ago)? ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/one-ezra-kleins-last-wonkblog-posts-made-unwonky-mistake-about-my-obamacare-op-ed

[sabrina 1]

1. Ezra Klein is a Third Way stooge. Always was. Met him when he was pretending to be just 'another

commenter' on a blog. He didn't stand out at all, there were so many other far more intelligent and interesting people there, but we began to notice how this person who was pretty boring and slightly right leaning, was getting pushed and promoted.

I never read what he has to say now, didn't find him interesting then, and never will. MM shouldn't worry about him, without the push he got, I doubt anyone would have ever heard about him. He simply didn't have that quality that so many others do, to attract a reading audience on his own.

[Scuba]

2. If Ezra really believes hospitals have too much power, then he's been suckered.

Our community, non-profit hospitals (the vast majority of all hospitals in the US) are victims of the system, same as their patients.

[Fumesucker]

3. Ouch, Michael Leaves A Mark

After all this, you might be wondering what made me want to read The Healing of America in the first place. What caught my eye was this glowing blurb: "Extremely good, and extremely readable. It is the clearest and most useful contribution to the ongoing health care debate that I've read."

Who wrote that blurb? Ezra Klein. I agree with him that the book is extremely good and extremely readable, but I think Ezra's wrong about having read it.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. This is typical of the lazy, arrogant scribbling of Ezra Klein

What a hack he is. Can not stand him.