We stray into politics often at our peril but I had to share this clip of Sen. Franken kneecapping a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute conservative think tank. In what was supposed to be a hearing on the Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act, Diana Furchtgott-Roth instead used her testimony to pillory against health care reform proposals not even being discussed. After Sen. Whitehouse asks her if she even read the bill at hand, Sen. Franken goes: “You said the way we’re going will increase bankruptcies…How many bankruptcies because of medical crises were there last year in Switzerland?”
<- Franken clip.
In the second clip, Sen. Whitehouse asks: “Did you actually read the bill that is the subject of today’s hearing?”
In the second clip, Sen. Whitehouse asks: “Did you actually read the bill that is the subject of today’s hearing?”Here she uses the big “UC” – that less strict bankruptcy laws have the “unintended consequence” of encouraging more people to seek bankruptcy. Her solution to so many medical bankruptcies is then to make it harder to seek bankruptcy, rather than addressing the underlying over-inflated costs that drive consumers into medical bankruptcy in the first place.
Pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis number among The Hudson Institute’s funders.
You can watch the entire session and read and search the transcript here on C-SPAN.
(Thanks to Dirk!)
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Franken is what we (I’m Canadian, but still) need a whole lot more of in the months and years to come.
@Trai_Dep: Somebody thinking that something shouldn’t be on a website vs. others thinking that something should be on a website IS a dissenting viewpoint, however.
@theblackdog_HalloweenHaunting: Exactly. There used to be a lot of it prior to the rule.
@DoktorGoku: I’ve been reading Consumerist for years and that’s been a rule for a long time. It’s still a rule on all of the sites that remain under the Gawker umbrella.
I’m not a supporter of Sen. Franken but I certainly respect his intelligence ability to debate. If you go in front of that guy, you’d better be prepared.
That lady brought didn’t even bring a knife to a gunfight. She brought a toothpick. Her entire strategy was to simply deflect away from and ignore the issue at hand. How stupid can you be.
@katstermonster: There’s no tone in internet comments. Given that I see the very thing you typed out repeatedly, over and over, in so many sites every day (especially the ones I mentioned), it’s hard to know when one person is joking- especially when I’m also seeing what I discussed on this very website, with certain posters dogpiling on others. One of dogpilers, who happens to be in this very thread, apparently thinks it’s appropriate in intelligent discussion to call another poster a “rotten slug of a human”- and that’s just one example.
That said, your joke gave me an excellent chance to point out the very issue I feel is the greatest downside to Web 2.0- which is a lot more exciting than the research I’m doing right now (Bulk Laxatives vs. Mineral oil enemas for relief of post-op constipation).
Thus, I get relief from studying poop relief by using your joke to point out a philosophical flaw in internet communities!
See? Communities are awesome!
@DoktorGoku: On some level, I stand by what I said. It seems that in this case, ecwis really did just want to know the connection between this and consumer cases, and I’m fine with that. But there are people who comment for the sole purpose of being jerks. If an article doesn’t interest me, I skip over it, and others can do the same. If people don’t like the content, they can take it up with the editors. I’m all for dissenting viewpoints, given that they are expressed with my two favorite things: logic and facts. Sure, we tend to dogpile around here, but more often than not, it’s for the sheer stupidity of HOW a viewpoint is expressed, not the viewpoint itself.
@katstermonster: Generally speaking, agreed!
I love you, Consumerist, you’re my favorite blog, but must you do politics?
@BabyFirefly: I keep seeing this argument and not getting it. Consumerist is about consumer issues. Sometimes those will involve political issues. If a company is pressuring the CPSC to relax safety standards for consumer products, should Consumerist STFU because it’s “politics”?
The article is not about how we should have a single-payer health care system. It’s about how a shill for the kind of companies that vie for the Golden Poo award is an ignorant liar who can only spew talking points.
@jedthehumanoid: Good question. Should we propose a nationwide manhunt to find out the identity of the “hometown hottie” sitting behind Senator Franken?
Franken rocks. I thought he was going to be a blowhard but wow. On the other hand the second video ends with a voice over of a two year old. What the heck was that? I think the consumerist editors dropped the ball on that one.
it’s sad and i really feel disappointed as an american that people out there are against the health care reform. any way you look at it, people are dying because they can’t pay. people are going bankrupt in order to get better. People are choosing which finger to reattach. insurance cut people left and right once they get sick but had no problems taking money for 20 years when they were healthy. it baffles me that people out there actually want to keep this system and say it is working.
I like Sen. Franken, and I like how he’s holding the special interests’ feet to the fire.
However, he’s not entirely honest when he talks about the Swiss health care system. In at least one video, he’s mentioned that the Swiss system does not have a public option, is entirely private, with no taxpayer funding.
That’s not entirely true. The Swiss system mandates employer coverage and requires insurance companies to cover people at rates that do not consider existing health conditions. All well and good, a sick 40 year old pays the same premium as a healthy 40 year old, and coverage is mandatory.
But the Swiss government backstops the risk. True, they don’t have a public option per se, but Swiss taxpayers definitely underwrite the policies.
And here’s the kicker for all the pitchfork-and-torch bank haters out there – guess where the largest percentage of Swiss tax revenues come from?
Franken seems incredibly well educated on the subject. He comes off here like a more polished Barney Frank — surgical when he strikes, merciless yet icily polite. Bravo!
And W00T for my Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. He was a prosecutor and RI’s attorney general, and he certainly sounded like a lawyer when he addressed that incredibly snobbish “expert.” (Her lockjaw patrician accent did her no favors. And what was that … thing… she was wearing? It undercut her gravity like whoa.)
The woman has a point, cancer survival rates are higher in America.
@Jage: That’s a myth born of cherrypicked statistics.
Franken is quickly becoming my hero.
To think he barely squeaked into office…I’m sure “the other guy” wouldn’t have been have as effective as he’s been.
(Also, as a Michigan resident, I’m damn proud of Senator Carl Levin too!)
Al Franken, one of the few senators that genuinely care for his people. Good on him.
@ecwis: Agreed.
Blh blh blh. Th mst mprtnt qstn y ll sm t hv frgttn bt s: wh’s th htt sttng bhnd Sntr Frnkn?
Cn jst sy tht Whths s fckng wsm nm fr pltcn?
I am so glad that Franken is doing a great job. I was nervous at first about him being a senator, but he’s kicking butt. Unfortunately, since nature likes to balance herself out, we also have Michele Bachmann, the Wackjob from District 6.
Better than the Bass-O-Matic
Ok Consumerist and readers I have one question for you REALLY?
I have some other amazing facts for you:
-There are very few drowning deaths in the Death Valley
-Downhill Skiing accidents in Cuba are at an all time low
-Heat stroke deaths are very low in Anchorage in January
Senator Frankin is engaging in the simplistic “I can win this argument with other facts that seem related.” argument. Yes there may be 0 bankruptcys in Switzerland due to medical bills but what is their effective tax rate? Immigration policy? I doubt if you can just cross the border and become Swiss.
I am just pointing out that if Sen Frankin were a Comcast or Best Buy Exec using such a lame argument, most of the comments would roast him well done.
As a Minnesotan I apologize for “electing” this guy.
@dave731: At least Franken was elected.
@dave731: Well if you read up on it, it was a very close election that was decided in court — sound familiar — with all kinds of strange circumstances like 135 ballots for Frankin found in the trunk of an election judges car after the election.
I am concerned where some people may think that the lack of medical bankruptcies in Switzerland is due only to a loving government. Each person becomes individually responsible for buying health coverage and thus meets up to 90% of the cost of medical care.
Basic health insurance is compulsory, not optional until you get sick. Premiums average 8% of income. Deductibles and out of pocket expenses apply and average $1,350 per year.
Monthly premiums for adults age 26 and over average $322. Children’s premiums average $76 per month.
With everyone insured, hospitals and doctors will not have to double and triple the price of a service to be able to cover the uninsured (freeloaders) who do not take responsibility for their own coverage.
Al Franken is the BEST. SENATOR. EVAR.
He makes me want to move the Minnesota.
No they may not have many medical bankruptcy cases senator but before you pat yourself on the back perhaps you should look at the economy there. Very high taxes, inflation, gas prices, cost of living etc. Switzerland’s economy is falling apart. Hell, just look a few aricles down from this one on Consumerist. Switzerland now has the world’s most expensive Big Mac!
There are many other factors that put them into a economical mess but none the less medical contributes. Just having to pay for the bills of those that do not contribute taxes is hard enough. (Swiss unemployment is 4.1%, USA is %9.8. You do the math)
You can put a suit and a tie on a turd, but $hit is still $hit!