Bill Maher Eviscerates David Gregory’s Republican Talking Points On Meet The Press

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/03/16/bill-maher-destroys-david-gregorys-republican-talking-points-meet-press.html

Bill Maher Eviscerates David Gregory’s Republican Talking Points On Meet The Press
By: Jason Easley
Sunday, March, 16th, 2014, 1:05 pm


Meet The Press featured a real perspective from the left with a profile of Bill Maher. During the interview, Maher destroyed some host David Gregory’s favorite Republican talking points.

Video @ link~

The interview with Maher was taped, but in it, he absolutely leveled some of host David Gregory’s favorite Republican talking points.

David Gregory has claimed that Obamacare is President Obama’s Iraq, and he has argued for a delay in the individual mandate. Gregory has also claimed that the law is too big for the federal government to administer, and he spent months claiming that the ACA website was still broken after it was fixed.

Bill Maher spoke about the real reason many Americans are lukewarm about Obamacare. Maher was asked if Obamacare was a mistake. He answered, “The problem with Obamacare is not, of course, too much socialism. It’s too much capitalism. The reason why it’s so screwed up is because we have to have this Rube Goldberg plan that allows for pharmaceutical companies to get their cut, and insurance companies to get their cut, and hospitals to enrich themselves, and doctors to get rich. It should be a non-profit thing. Perhaps, elections should not be a profit making endeavor or cost two billion dollars. Of course, we’re American, the exceptionalism. Exceptionally stupid on this point, but we are exceptional.”

snip//


Maher was asked whether he was more displeased with Democrats or Republicans, and the Real Time host couldn’t believe the question. He answered, “Oh, come on. Really? Seriously? Republicans, you know, in the last twenty years there really has not been a choice. They just drove the short bus to crazy town at a certain point.”

Bill Maher delivered some reality to Meet The Press. David Gregory specializes in elevating Republican insanity to height of fact. Bill Maher spoke for much of the country when he treated the question like it was a joke.

It is interesting that on the same week that the president of NBC News met with Gregory about changing the format of his show, the most popular liberal entertainer in the country was profiled on Meet The Press. Could the new format involve introducing small doses of fact and truth into Gregory’s Beltway GOP propaganda hour?

Reality isn’t featured often in the fantasy landscape that is the Republican dominated Sunday morning shows, so the fact that Bill Maher got five minutes to deliver a little Real Time style straight talk to the country was a real breath of fresh air.

[underthematrix]

1. I love Bill Maher.

[Control-Z]

2. I started counting the times

Gregory said Obamacare and Affordable Care Act - all with disdain, of course. I lost count. He is able to seamlessly insert Obamacare even into foreign affairs, and really any other subject he happens to be on. I swear Obamacare is Gregory's Benghazi.

I thought, perhaps, after news of his crappy performance and the need for changes on MTP, he might tone down his right wing cheer leading. Nope. Not a chance.

I was just disgusted with him this morning - beyond my usual disgust. Ugh.

[SoapBox]

6. THAT is exactly what I feel about the

CBS news and traffic AM Chanel, here in Los Angeles (1070).

ANY reporting on the ACA is *always* referred to as "Obamacare"...I think disdain is the perfect description.

I just took Mom to a doctors appointment last week. While we waited, they asked a guy to fill out some paperwork ( a quick eavesdrop, told me that he had not been into the office in 2014 and it was updating his file...I did the exact same for Mom in January). He sat loudly complaining to the guy with him, that his having to verify and update his info, was all the fault of that damned O-bama-Care.

The TeaPukers like Gregory, keep flinging bullshit, hoping that tiny bits stick...this guy is a prime example of how this plot has worked with stupid Americans.

[TexasTowelie]

20. It sounds like that guy has a case of "teh stoopid".

Every time that I go in for a medical checkup I'm asked to verify and update my personal info even when the appointments occur within the same week. Those requests have occurred for over a decade.

[Grins]

49. I used to hate the term "Obamacare"..

No longer. I'm proud of it as it directly points to the guy who

"...thanks to (Obama's) health care reform, millions of working families will go to bed at night knowing that they are not an illness away from financial ruin." - David Effing Brooks, March 22, 2010, the day before the ACA was signed into law.

You know, if I was Obama I'd demand that be put on my gravestone.

It won't be long before it is such a success that conservatives will remind us it was invented by that conservative house plague, the Heritage Foundation. Calling it Obamacare is the reminder that it was not.

[chelsea0011]

26. He is wealthy and has a great healthcare program so he would hate the ACA.

Find people without healthcare or people who want a better affordable plan and you get a different response. But these are not the people who work for network television sniffing down at the majority.

[Dawgs]

35. BS. He wants single payer and doesn't want healthcare to be profit driven.

Last edited Mon Mar 17, 2014, 10:15 AM - Edit history (1)

God forbid a Democrat would want something like that.

***************
chelsea, I was informed that my original above post shouldn't have been aimed at you because you were referring to Gregory. Sorry.

[CrispyQ]

40. I think chelsea was referring to Gregory. --nt

[Dawgs]

42. My bad. Guess I'm sensitive this morning.

[CrispyQ]

43. No biggie.

You can stop spanking yourself now.

[valerief]

39. Despite his wealth, he wants the US medical system to be at least as good as other first world

countries. You know, single payer.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. Well the videos didn't show anything

so don't waste your time hoping to see Bill take down stench, I mean stretch
hopefully we will see that later.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

55. discivered that last night. politicus errs on the positive. n/t

[maddiemom]

74. Agree that the actual video disappointed me.

Your post reminded me of the time that Dubya buffoonishly made fun of Gregory for speaking French to his French guest (a bit pretentious, maybe, but something we rarely see due to our American "exceptionalism" and courteous, at least). Obviously, however, "Stretch" took it and liked it (please sir, can I have another?).

[reformist2]

4. Shows like MTP are based on the premise that both parties are reasonable. That's no longer true.

[bvar22]

5. Maher Nails It.... as usual.

Maher should have asked Gregory,

"Do YOU have Health Insurance?
What do you have against ALL Americans having Health Insurance?"


Can NOT Rec THIS enough:

[font size=3]" The problem with Obamacare is not, of course, too much socialism. It’s too much capitalism. The reason why it’s so screwed up is because we have to have this Rube Goldberg plan that allows for pharmaceutical companies to get their cut, and insurance companies to get their cut, and hospitals to enrich themselves, and doctors to get rich. It should be a non-profit thing."[/font]

and THAT is what the 3rd Way Democrats are ALL about.

[obxhead]

8. That is still the wrong question.

Do you have quality health care that doesn't focus on corporate profit?

The profit for "middle corporations" that provide ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, NONE, NO health care that is now MANDATED is the problem with the ACA.

We don't need insurance. Insurance is a bet against the potential problems one may incur. We need health CARE, something EVERY SINGLE ONE of us will require throughout life. Some more than others, but we will all need it.

The "insurance" model does not fit within the needs of health care.

[lastlib]

11. !! This is exactly the problem!!

Why do we allow for-profit health insurance to be sold in this country? It is essentially a bet that the insurance companies can collect more in premiums than they pay out in claims and expenses. It is nothing more than a padded cost to the health-care delivery system, and we would ALL be better if it was killed off. Starting today, if not sooner.

[bvar22]

12. Oh I agree with ALL of that,

...but for someone RICH FUCK who enjoys Health Insurance,
to insist that other Americans shouldn't have that RIGHT
makes me very angry.

Maher did a good job of pointing out some of the BIG problems with the ACA,
problems that I have not been shy about pointing out on DU.

Republicans have now lost three successive elections to control the Senate and they’ve lost the last two presidential elections. Nonetheless, they fought tooth and nail to kill President Obama’s health care initiative.

They lost that fight, but with the corporate wing of Democrats, they managed to bend it toward private interests.
So we should be clear on this, Obamacare, as it’s known, is deeply flawed. Big subsidies to the health insurance industry. A bonanza for lobbyists. No public option....

http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-shutdown-showdown/

[obxhead]

16. I've not been shy as well.

Maher did do a great job.

[Enthusiast]

14. bvar22 nailed it too.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

58. It makes me angry that I have to defend Obamacare against the reactionaries.

I feel like I'm conceding the general purpose of health care to them - that it should remain as a for-profit endeavor - by defending the ACA. The more we talk about the ACA, the less we talk about single-payer.

I'm really bitter about the Democrats and Obama taking single-payer off the table as a bargaining chip, and not even offering up the Public Option.

So, here I am, forced to defend this capitalist solution to health care, against those who want health care to be even more exclusionary.

[obxhead]

7. EXACTLY!

My problem with the ACA is all of the corporations that get a cut of profit from the mandate.

We need care, not forced profiteering.

[Fumesucker]

9. It's kind of a sad commentary that Bill Maher is now "from the left"

It shows how awful the Republicans have become and how far the Democrats have chased them to the right.

[SunSeeker]

41. That jarred me too. Maher suggested he'd move from CA when Brown raised taxes on the rich.

Of course, he never moved. But in comparison to what else is on TV, Maher is pretty left.

[hueymahl]

44. K&R

He used to be considered a centrist, somewhat libertarian, but a centrist. It is amazing he is now considered "left"

[Drunken Irishman]

10. Obamacare is just like Iraq!

Except it hasn't killed 3,000 Americans. Other than that, tho...

[pacalo]

13. K&R.

[Enthusiast]

15. We need a not for profit healthcare option right now, this very moment.

No discussion is necessary. The evidence is in.

I would like to remind you that U.S. health insurance companies do not contribute anything to health care. They are only a PARASITIC middle man taking a cut of "FREE MONEY".

Western European health care systems are far cheaper than the U.S. model. And they are more effective.

The reason for this is profit. In the U.S. everyone along the line takes a profit cut. The health care service providers have to make a profit just as the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies.

This costs all of us. For one thing care is rationed to preserve profits for the insurance industry. And care is denied by the insurance industry.

This is why we desperately needed a strong public option in the new health care legislation. We needed a public option that could evolve into a system that did not include a parasitic insurance industry or for-profit health care services providers.

[Jamaal510]

17. Good luck

getting that through with the Republican House.

[Enthusiast]

24. If every Democratic candidate would campaign on ending the

health care status quo morass and become an advocate for single payer, we could gain a majority in both houses and the presidency.

The problem is, candidates are influenced by corporate contributions and, I suspect, outright bribery. Look no further than Max Baucus.

You only need to look at the polls to know what I say is true. Single payer heath care is favored by a strong majority of the American people.

[Jamaal510]

18. I am genuinely shocked

to hear that Bill Maher, of all people, was featured on this week's MTP. That show must be really flailing in viewership if they're booking actual liberal personalities now instead of just Blue Dogs. Who would've thought he'd appear on MTP?

[babylonsister]

19. Here's why...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024659087

As Ratings Plunge NBC Considers Dumping David Gregory From Meet The Press

[nikto]

21. RT is stealing MSNBC's audience

With its blunt, but factual, anti-corporate rhetoric, RT has a wide appeal
to those who find MSNBC too milquetoast, repetitive, and showing bigtime signs of
news LIMITATION (censoring?) regarding views of corporate America and the GOP's
true ugliness and dishonesty.

Lately, I watch a lot more RT than MSNBC, for sure.
And I know I am not alone.

Krystal Ball's outburst against "Corporate Dems" this week may have been a symptom of
RT's influence---MSNBC seems like it is trying to adopt some of that edginess on corporate issues that
RT makes such a big attraction.

MSNBC is going to have to try A LOT harder, though.

They have much catching up to do.


It is an interesting dance to watch----To see a major corporate news station like Comcast-owned MSNBC
trying to move carefully, gingerly closer to reality to compete in the news market for ratings.

But at the same time, Comcast doesn't want to be too honest and forthcoming, or they will report the TRUTH
about corporate and big bank malfeasance and political manipulation in the US. The truth hurts them, the
corporate bastards they are.

And everybody knows it.

[aquart]

23. RT? I assume you don't mean Real Time because Real Time doesn't share a timeslot with MSNBC.

Only when Rachel says "Go to prison" do I turn to Real Time. Once a week. On HBO.

So what do you mean by RT ?

[mikeysnot]

37. Russia news

http://rt.com/news/

[bluestate10]

61. The poster may be catching Real Time reruns, those come on during the week

following the Friday night show. Some of those reruns may compete with MSNBC news shows.

[nikto]

64. Russia Today

Last edited Wed Mar 19, 2014, 05:59 AM - Edit history (1)

RT, like any news source, has a bias. For example, I wouldn't go looking for
impartiality on The Ukraine issue, and Gay-bashing in Russia.

But for those stories, I have other great sources I can depend on.

What RT provides is excellent muckraking reporting on US Banks and mega-corporations.
And they have guests you never see on MSNBC or CNN like Chomsky, Chris Hedges and Richard P Wolff.

2 of the best shows on RT are Breaking The Set with Abby Martin, and Thom Hartmann's show.
There are other good ones as well. But those 2 are my favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/user/breakingtheset

https://www.youtube.com/user/thomhartmann

Chomsky as guest:

Richard P Wolff as guest
https://www.intellectualrevolution.tv/videos/reaganomics-32-years-of-failed-policy-interview-with-richard-wolff

[MNBrewer]

66. Yes, one must be selective regarding topics when it comes to RT.

[nikto]

76. Not hard to do

It goes with the territory of being an informed person in 2014.




I am still waiting for Rachel Maddow to interview Chris Hedges.


Gonna' be a long wait.

[MNBrewer]

77. Chris Hedges is another of those where on some topics he's great, on others he's completely off base

[nikto]

78. Nobody is 100% right

But Hedges is damn right most of the time on most issues.

[bluestate10]

60. Real Time airs Friday 10-11pm, MSNBC has prison shows on at that time. nt

[stevenleser]

68. RT's numbers in the US aren't anywhere near MSNBC's.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/russia/121219/russia-today-television-rt-satellite-tv-moscow-putin-washington

olumbia, agrees with her students' verdict. “Some of the reporting was fine,” she said, “but as soon as you got onto the subject of America, there was definitely an agenda. There’s a very snarky message about what is happening in the US.”

“I’m just not sure who’s watching it and why,” she added.

She’s not alone. RT's American audience, like that of other foreign cable stations, is too small to be measured, according to a press official at Nielsen, the company that measures TV ratings in the United States.

[DeSwiss]

22. This is the first time this literally happened!

- Except it was red Australian Yellow Tail instead of water!!!!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. David Gregory's replacement...

Just a thought.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

29. Your lips to God's ears!

[stonecutter357]

33. K&R

[valerief]

38. That would never happen because he would be a GREAT choice. nt

[90-percent]

50. Good ole' Keith!

Keith is a national treasure. It is a shame he's forced to squander his beautiful mind on.....games.

Instead of speaking truth to power, which this entire planet so desperately needs in these Corporate Dark Ages of anti-enlightenment.

-90% Jimmy

[maddiemom]

75. I WISH!

[tomp]

27. maher is worried about doctors making too much money?

really? in the same breath as insurance co's, big pharma, and hospitals? in my experience, most doctors are highly trained and hard working. in my book, in a real meritocracy, doctors would be near the the top of the list. maher himself probably makes more than some doctors. this is the thing about him-he just goes off track sometimes in ways that detract from his credibility.

[Vattel]

31. good point. doctors making high salaries is not the problem.

[90-percent]

53. Doctors

I think they deserve to make lot of money. They work really hard to become Doctors and the work they do is really important. Their dedication goes well beyond what most of us devote to our careers.

However, in these corporate owned times, the people that make the most money are those with the most power, which results in the Doctors themselves being squeezed by "the system", resulting in their own struggle to maintain a decent standard of living, just like the rest of us. Corporations want everything from everybody, and that includes Doctors.

-90% Jimmy

[bluestate10]

62. I think that we should pay for the educations of people that successfully complete

Medical and Dental training, then put them to work in public medicine with good salaries and benefits. I feel the same way about teachers. I have nothing against cops and firefighters, but Teachers, Doctors, Nurses and EMT technicians do a more for society on a day to day basis.

[sendero]

67. Shorthand...

... most doctors, especially general practitioners, are paid fairly IMHO maybe even less than what would be fair. However, there are many specialties and such, like some surgeons, cardiac care and others who are grossly overpaid. Medical devices are generally a complete ripoff with unbelievable markups.

The insurance industry makes a show of beating down the prices for general practitioners while letting many other participants "name their price". Why? Because up to a point the more insurance pays out the more it makes. They are like a casino, no matter how much winnings their gamblers have, they make their cut, guaranteed. The more the better.

Up to a point? Well this scenario only works until you have bled the public all it can bear. And of course we are getting close to that point.

IMHO as a long time observer.

[RandiFan1290]

28. How sad

It takes a comedian to finally stand up to David Gregory. The wimpy "democrats" couldn't be bothered.

[yankee dandee]

30. Bill Maher

(First of all, I signed up for the D.U. only to find its website like going to a restaurant which has a menu of over a thousand main courses---too many to chose from. So, I cherry-pick one or two knowing that my post will never get read. Besides, this website is like arguing for and against drinking water or preaching to the choir.)


----Bill Maher has been dismissed as a left-winger nutjob who tosses the F-bomb, is an atheist, who doesn't amount to much...by both Democrats and Republicans.

*Both parties don't like intellectuals, especially ones who are comedy-based. They prefer Christians anyway.

*He rips the scab off politicians' wounds and exposes their festering infections and they just don't like that.

*There is practically no difference between the two parties.

--Republicans are worshipers of the super-wealthy and Democrats agitate about government intervention in just about everything.

[Betty88]

36. Hi let me be the first to read one of your 12 posts (I cherry-pick one or two knowing that .....

my post will never get read)

"*Both parties don't like intellectuals, especially ones who are comedy-based. They prefer Christians anyway."
We love intellectuals, especially funny ones, I don't think most people care about the religion of said funny/smart person.

"He rips the scab off politicians' wounds and exposes their festering infections and they just don't like that."
I know I love a good scab rip so on this one we could raise a glass, it being the day for it

"There is practically no difference between the two parties. "
You must be a guy because as a woman I see a big fat difference between the parties

"Republicans are worshipers of the super-wealthy and Democrats agitate about government intervention in just about everything."
Again cheers on the Repubs worshiping the super-wealthy, but dude we need the government intervention, may be not in my lady parts but lets raise another glass for safe roads, clean water and fresh air.

Happy St Pat's, and remember nothing wrong with lots of choices, I'll take a number 697 no mayo.

[JustAnotherGen]

51. ITA on being a woman

And add to that a black woman.

The only reason I would vote Republican is for my financial interests - on everything else they hate my guts and its pretty fucking obvious.

[IdaBriggs]

45. I read your reply, and found much to disagree with you.

Bill Maher is someone I respect, despite his fawning over certain blonde conservatives. I find him a "truth-speaker" to both sides, which as an entertainer, I expect.

I find your "prefer Christians" comment offensive, especially in the context of implying that intellectuals are automatically NOT.

He also has A LOT of politicians on his show, so again, your comment is insulting, and the opinion is not supported by facts.

While you might get away with saying there are no differences in politicians (again, an opinion not supported by facts), there are SUBSTANTIAL differences between the two parties on issues ranging from Environmental Protection to Civil Rights, from Foreign Policy to the Social Safety Net, to the role taxes should pay in maintaining public education versus "progressive" tax policy intended to stop the creation of a feudal system.

Your comments about Democrats "agitate about government intervention" does not speak well of you understanding your duties to be an involved citizen.

I suspect you are not someone who supports the goals and objectives of the Democratic Party, but if I am wrong, please accept my apologies. Hopefully you are simply exhausted and cynical -- it happens -- and you are still willing to put your shoulder to the wheel to help make this a better country for everyone.

Welcome to DU.

[tosh]

47. Wow, IdaBriggs,

we really read that differently.

[IdaBriggs]

48. It is part of the joy of the internet.

We can't identify "tone" and "inflection" - the comments seemed to me be one tiny step away from blatant Troll.

I hope I am wrong. Maybe I just need some coffee -- I seem to be snarky as anything this morning!

Want to share?

[tosh]

52. My treat!

[tosh]

46. Welcome, yd!

I know that this is at least the SECOND of your posts that I've read. I'm a quiet type, but I remember your name and that the first one I read was a good one.

[AAO]

70. ----Bill Maher has been dismissed as a left-winger nutjob who tosses the F-bomb, is an atheist...

Is he a nut-job because he's on the left? Or is it because he occasionally drops the F-bomb on his own HBO CABLE show? Or is there some shame in being an atheist? Then count me as a left-wing nut-job too. But I will sanely debate you on facts any day.

[Berlum]

34. "David Gregory specializes in elevating Republican insanity to height of fact..."

There you have it. Gregory is a total RepubliSymp -- and it shows.

No wonder he gets no respect.

America hardly needs yet another overpaid Republicon propaganda pimp.

[afertal]

54. Mahervelous!

Bill was Mahervelous as usual and should replace David Gregory. I'd love to see him on there interviewing the Republican'ts.

[AAO]

71. That would TRULY be the end of the repugs.

[toby jo]

56. Gregory's a right wing talker, nothing less. Glad to hear they're changing format.

And hope to see more Maher-like observations. Hearing him yesterday was like a reality shit slap. Finally.

[Jimvanhise]

57. What happened to David Gregory?

During the Bush administration he was regarded as the opposition for the tough questions he asked at press conferences. He once asked a question about a finding the Bush administration had released and his question was dismissed as being "partisan." Now he seems to have embraced the Republican party.

[d_legendary1]

59. Perhaps they gave him an offer he couldn't refuse

Like a fat paycheck in exchange for becominga a mouth piece for Fixed News?

[BumRushDaShow]

65. Q: "What happened to David Gregory?" - A: Karl Rove

[red dog 1]

63. "The reason why it's so screwed up is because we have this Rube Goldberg plan...

..that allows for pharmaceutical companies to get their cut. and the insurance companies to get their cut, and hospitals to enrich themselves, and doctors to get rich. It should be a non-profit thing."

I agree, it should be a "non-profit thing'.

Too bad Obamacare is not "a non-profit thing"


Couldn't changes be made to Obamacare so that the pharmaceutical & insurance companies do
NOT "get their cuts"?

"Can Obamacare be Changed Into a Single-Payer Health Plan?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024670957/

[AAO]

73. Not while we still have a repug controlled house. Profit is their only motive, ya know.

[AAO]

69. If they would only ban McCain and Graham from these shows, I might watch occasionally.

[olegramps]

72. I don't know why anyone would watch that mealy mouthed creep.