Countdown: Sanders on HCR Bill - "Serious Flaws... Trying Desperately to Make It Better Bill."

[Hissyspit]

Run time: 04:36 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlBQhOpiK8g   Posted on YouTube: December 18, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 18, 2009 By DU Member: Hissyspit Views on DU: 857

 
MSNBC Countdown w/ KEITH OLBERMANN - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) discusses the watered-down Senate health care bill.

OLBERMANN: "Let me cut to the chase. With no changes in the bill, the bill existing exactly as you know it now, would you vote for the Senate health care reform bill?"

SANDERS: "Well, I'm not sure. Right now what I'm trying desperately to do is to make this bill a better bill. So I'll tell you in a few days if I've been successful.

Clearly when people say that this bill has many serious flaws in it, they're right. I worry very much about a massive bail-out of the insurance companies, of the drug companies, of escalating prices, and that is a reality we've got to deal with.

On the other hand, people cannot forget that in the real world, when so many of our people are hurting, when we've got 46 million people uninsured, this legislation provides health care to 30 million people. It does away with the odious practice of providing... making sure that people get health care despite the kind of illnesses they may have had. It goes a long way toward disease prevention. So what you've got is a bill which is by no means the kind of bill that I feel very good about, but it does a number of good things.

As you may know yesterday, Keith, I was on the floor of the Senate doing what I think is the right thing, in presenting legislation which is the real solution, and that is a Medicare-For-All single-payer program, which is the only way, in my view, that this country will ever have universal comprehensive cost-effective health care. Unfortunately, among other things, we ran into Republican obstructionism on that effort as well."

OLBERMANN: "Short of that effort, you mentioned attempts to change this bill. Are you working through other amendments? Do you have anything that we should know about in terms with what you want to modify and how you might do it?"

SANDERS: "Well, let me just tell you right now we're working with the White House, we're working with the Democratic leadership, to make this bill significantly better so that it helps more people and we do everything that we can to try to control the absolutely outrageous increase in health care costs in this country - which is a danger not only to individuals and small businesses, but to the government as well."

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[tabatha]

1. I'm betting my money on Sanders.

He speaks the most sense.

[midnight]

2. We're with you Sen. Sanders.....

[Lorien]

3. People are hurting because they don't have health insurance? no, I'm sorry

people are hurting because they don't have health CARE, I have health insurance with a 12k deductible, therefore I can't afford health care.

[mjvpi]

4. I have "good health insurance"

and my insurance is a mess. A different deductible every time I turn around. My percentage keeps going up. In network, out of network. Nobody is even talking about the toll that our system takes on our industrial base and small business. This bill should die quickly and lets start the real debate next year.

[alp227]

5. Sanders 2012!

He's the one who'll dare express his ideas. Especially when he introduced his amendment for what we Americans really need...socialized med...sorry I meant a government-run health care system. Mr. Change (Obama) and the rest of our current conformist Congress members are just too cowardly and submissive.