Mitch McConnell: Public Option "May Cost You Your Life" (AUDIO)

If you've spent any time following the critics of health care reform, you'd know that there's been some perfectly rational concerns over matters like structural deficits. Of course, you'd also know that there's some pretty insane talk about how health care reform will just straight up kill you, with government star chambers meeting in judgment, dispensing fatal verdicts in the form of death panels. Via Think Progress comes the news that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has evaluated the public option along the same lines, saying that it "may cost you your life."

Naturally, Mitch McConnell has no explanation for how making the consumer choice to receive health care coverage through the public option -- when no other means are available -- will end in death. Though he should know something about fatal consumer choices! After all, the Kentucky Republican has, over the course of his political career, taken $419,025 from the tobacco industry, which makes products that kill a lot of people and create preexisting conditions that disqualify many from private insurance options. McConnell basically thinks that the public option feels like "European style" health care, which Europeans like, but in McConnell's estimation, is basically a terrible, ongoing holocaust.

MCCONNELL: Well, it doesn't make any difference frankly whether you opt-in or you opt-out, it's still a government plan. You know, Medicaid, the program for the poor now, states can opt-out of that, but none of them have. I think if you have any kind of government insurance program, you're going to be stuck with it and it will lead us in the direction of the European style, you know, sort of British-style, single payer, government run system. And those systems are known for delays, denial of care and, you know, if your particular malady doesn't fit the government regulation, you don't get the medication.

MILLER: Right.

MCCONNELL: And it may cost you your life. I mean, we don't want to go down that path.

LISTEN:

And yes, the person deployed to sagely assess the validity of McConnell's claims in this instance is Dennis Miller, a famous comedian who nearly destroyed Monday Night Football, with his thesaurus.

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to [e-mail] -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

Comments

[Bushwillresign]

Shaddup Grandma!

[AirViceMarshalPark]

Cut off his Medicare.

[ProudMilVet]

Yeah, like they have a plan . Here's a guy who's probably a Multimillionaire. Has the best health care coverage in the country, but he's against anything that could improve the lot of others less fortunate, because it's a Democratic plan. How typical !

[CommunistUtopia]

Mitch, you are 100% right on this. The "public option" is nothing more than a way for the hard left in the Democratic Party to control every area of your life.

[phatHawaiian]

freakn I'd*!

[imsosure]

This guy is distorting the reality of the public option, he has it so blown out of proportion, why is that?

I'd like to see a poll of how many of the constituents approve of their politicians distorting reality and exaggerating the truth.

[alkyburner]

We in Kentucky have two senators - McConnell and Bunning - otherwise known as Dumb and Dumber!

[suzdav]

Why would anyone believe anything this creep says?

[rgilley]

Just read this post on the ed show video.." Mitch “show me the money” McConnell, the United States Senator from Aetna."
Mconnel like Lieberman was elected with big ins company money, Mconnel is protecting big ins company now......Any Questions?

[garymc8]

Mitch is right.....IF IT DOES NOT PASS!

[BlueSkyPilot]

Public Option is a myth that been circulating around DC for decades.
The only problem is that the the public option has been over shadowed by the corporate mandate.
The new public option:

being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms should be invoked in accordance with:

Declaration of Independence.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

[blizb]

Mitch apparently doesn't realize that the British healthcare system is leaps and bounds above our own. Britain is a Democratic society but they are still able to provide a public health system and care for their people the same way many other countries and societies are able to take care of their own. We should be able to do the same.

Just because the plan is different than letting the insurance companies rule our healthcare doesn't mean supporting it is a bad thing.

Mitch is able to have government healthcare for himself and his family so why doesn't he cancel his government policy and to to private insurance?

Every person in the Senate and Congress who says they are against any type of government healthcare should cancel their own government policy and go to private insurance.

Why isn't there a tea party protest asking their politicians to cancel their own government insurance?

The article wasn't about the Declaration of Independence or arms but since you mention it:
The Bush/Cheney policies should have been usurped before they collapsed the economy.

Bush came up with the Bailout before he left office. Why weren't there any tea parties then?

[BlueSkyPilot]

$$$$$$$$
vs
>>>>>>>>>>>>

[saveal]

So long as we listen to our politicians, and accept what they say, we will only get more of the same. They have set up monopolies, and anti - trust laws to drain the wealth of the American people. Then they have the nerve to tell us they have to raise taxes to pay for for these programs. Big gov. and Big business need to sleep in different beds.

[KingCujo]

McConnell doesn't care for anyone IN Kentucky. He's out for himself. As powerful as he is in Washington, it doesn't translate to any good here at home, believe me.

[rgilley]

Don't feel alone Kentucky...I live in Maine where we have Sen Snowe who is also protecting big insurance over the american voters choice. Throw the bums out next cycle.

[KingCujo]

I'm Kentucky born and bred, and I apologize for this !diot

[Littlewords]

With Dems on the cusp of pushing through reform, McConnell and his ilk are throwing everything and the kitchen sink at trying to prevent reform, and more importantly to them, any type of Dem win before the 2010 mid terms.

They really have no shame. They care more about blocking Dems than helping Americans. Even seeing the polling, they know their stand on this is both precarious and risky, but they've calculated the risk as lower than the fate they face if the Dems can actually get substantial reform done prior to the 2010 midterms. The Repubs are all in on this and have no path out. They will fight this to the final vote in morbid hope of blocking betterment for America in order to fair better against what they want to claim to be ineffective Dem candidates.

[Deschris]

Very thoughtful and true statement,if only we can get through to their constituents then maybe in 2010 they will be less than 10.

[bratcat]

thanks for the heads up Mitch but I'll take my chances. Hows that govt run healthcare YOU have workin out for you? thought so.