Chris Matthews vs. Tim Phillips "Americans for Prosperity"

[democracy1st]

Run time: 09:07 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGsFKeiirnw   Posted on YouTube: August 10, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: August 11, 2009 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 1548

 
Chris Matthews interviews self-described "free market consevrative" Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. Chris begins the interview by asking if he's a "birther," then later in the interview, when asked to "hold on," Chris says "Don't do this hold on crap with me, buddy." In other words, he gets the "Hardball" royal treatment. Phillips is told that his party is "good at playing negative politics" and that they did nothing about health care when Bush was in office.

[Hyper_Eye]

1. K&R... When I saw this on television my draw dropped at the beginning.

Tweety shutdown the games and the standard RW tactics right off the bat. They always do that same thing every time no matter the issue.

Commentator or Anchor: "What do you want to see in the bill?"
Shill: "We don't want to see health care costs driven up by a democrat bill."

Commentator or Anchor: "What do you want to see in the bill?"
Shill: "We don't want Kenyan Pres. Obama to bankrupt America with a stimulus bill instead of another tax cut."

Commentator or Anchor: "What do you want to see in the bill?"
Shill: "We don't want to see that commie put us in FEMA camps after the socialist clunkers program ends!"

(Yes... these intentionally get worse each time.)

Commentator or Anchor: "Do you have any new ideas?"
Shill: "Well a tax cut would work great."

Anyway, after Chris led the conversation down the appropriate path it turned into a very good interview. Good job by Matthews and I give credit to Tim Phillips for being good spirited about it. It would just be nice if the right could come out and be for something instead of always being against something ("We DON'T want to see blah blah bill" as opposed to "We would like to see these great ideas from our plan implemented.") How about a real healthcare proposal that can actually solve the problems we have? I would be happy to check it out and get to understand it and consider your ideas if there were any comprehensive idea on the table. But there never is. It is always a simple position of opposition. Before fighting against something you should find something to fight for. Then you stand a chance of being taken seriously. Contribute to the solution as opposed to ignoring the problem.

[lisa58]

2. This was so good yesterday I watched the replay...

...very rarely is Chris Matthews this focused.

[KoKo]

3. I saw it live and it's worth a second view... K&R

[unapatriciated]

4. The problem I have with going across state lines for Health Insurance is...

Every state has different laws regarding pre-existing conditions and safeguards. Without strong federal laws you would get Insurance Company's setting up shop in State's that do not have laws on the books to protect the consumer. The ROP and Americans for Prosperity know this and and do not address this issue. They are pushing this as a cost saving measure when in reality it would give Insurance Companies even tighter control on your health care. This would allow them to deny coverages to policy holders who buy and live in a state that has strict laws based on the more lenient state laws where the policy originated.
This is just another tactic the Insurance Industry is using to get around laws in states that do not favor them.