CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo gave an excellent demonstration of the
pathetic low the health care debate has reached. On September 1, 2009,
Bartiromo appeared on MSNBC to "debate" Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
about health care. The discussion was typical of the usual corporate
banter with Bartiromo concerned that the US would have a healthcare
system like the United Kingdom or Canada. The UK's health care system
has been bashed of late, in so much as those that bash it have a
laughable command of the facts. For example, in August 2009,
Investor's Business Daily ("IBD"), opined that "People such as
scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the
National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man,
because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless." Of
course, Hawking was born and resides in the UK but facts like that
sometimes confound the writers at IBD as well as the Wall Street
Journal.
Moving
on to the Bartiromo's MSNBC appearance, it's clear that those that want
to preserve the status quo lack empathy for the many Americans without
health care, are paid shills for corporate America, are themselves
ignorant of the facts, or simply just hate America's middle class.
Bartiromo clearly falls under the third category although these are not
mutually exclusive and she could easily be part of items 1, 2, and 4 as
well. The reason she absolutely falls under item 3 - ignorant of the
facts - is because incredulously she did not know that Medicare is for
those that are over 65 years old.
This revelation came from Bartiromo expressing concern that the US
would have some health care system such as the UK's NHS ultimately
develop. Rep. Weiner quickly pointed out that Medicare is a government
managed system but Bartiromo's response was truly shocking as she said
"How come you don't use it [Medicare]? You don't have it. How come you
don't have it?"
Since Rep. Weiner is just 45, he quickly pointed out that he was 20
years from qualifying for it but even more laughable was that Bartiromo
laughed it off indicating that she did not believe that was why he was
not on Medicare! This is pathetic as Bartiromo is somewhat of a "voice"
for those intelligent business types that follow CNBC and lose their
shirts but more importantly it's concerning because she was the one
that was wheeled out to discuss health care. One would expect that she
would actually know something about health care if she were to provide
an enlightening discussion. However, it's not a big surprise when one
considers that the defenders of the status quo continue to lie and
spread misinformation and as Bartiromo illustrates, laugh off and
ignore the basic facts even when presented directly to them. With this
type of performance, it's only a matter of time until the Wall Street
Journals asks her to pen a health care piece for its op-ed...
