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| Democrat stands ground after 'die quickly' health care remark |
| 2009-10-02 |
| Freshman U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson refused to back down Wednesday from remarks made on the House floor the night before, in which he said the Republican health care plan calls for sick people to "die quickly." In fact, Grayson, a Democrat who represents a central Florida swing district that includes Orlando, made another floor speech in which he apologized to the dead and their families for not acting sooner on health care reform. He then defended both speeches on CNN's "The Situation Room." "What I mean is they have got no plan," Grayson told Wolf Blitzer. "It's been 24 hours since I said that. Where is the Republican plan? We're all waiting to see something that will take care of the pre-existing conditions, to take care of the 40 million Americans who have no coverage at all. If we don't do this in the next five weeks, it'll be too late and we'll all die! "That's what I meant when I said that the Republican plan is don't get sick. And if you do get sick, die quickly." Gee, I guess my conservative masters forgot to program me with this knowledge. Republicans pounced on Grayson's late-night speech and demanded an apology. Here we go again. "That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Rep. Jimmy Duncan, R-Tennessee, told Politico. On Wednesday, Grayson apologized, but it wasn't the apology the Republicans wanted. Citing a Harvard University study released this month that said 44,000 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance, Grayson called on Democrats and Republicans "to do our jobs for the sake of those dying people and their families." I'm sure this will drop to zero as soon as Obama's plan kicks in. "I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America," he said. Not even close, idiot. That prompted National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain to issue a stinging rebuke, saying Grayson is "doubling down on his despicable remarks, and he is dragging his party with him." "This is an individual who has established a pathological pattern of unstable behavior," Spain said. "He is derailing the national debate on health care reform and embarrassing his constituents as a result." Oh, in other words he's a fully qualified congressman. But in a spirited discussion on CNN that included Democratic strategist James Carville and Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, Grayson stood his ground. He rejected the suggestion that his remarks were the political equivalent of South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson's shout of, "You lie," at the president during his nationally televised speech on health care. "I didn't insult the president in front of 40 million people," he said. " ... When you don't have a plan, what that means is your plan is don't get sick. So what I said is true. What Joe Wilson said, on the other hand, is false." Castellanos insisted that Republicans agreed with the Democrats on pre-existing conditions and would "stand with him 100 percent" if the president added such Republican-backed proposals as tort reform and allowing citizens to shop across state lines for insurance -- a strategy Democrats say will drive insurance companies into the states with the most lax regulations. "The congressman is at least giving the chance for the Republicans to look responsible. It's not fair to say that the Republicans have no plan. They actually do," said Castellanos, whose campaigns include those of George W. Bush in 2004, Mitt Romney in 2008, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the late Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina in the 1990s. Carville, who was Bill Clinton's lead strategist during his successful run for the presidency in 1992 and worked on Hillary Clinton's campaign last year, congratulated Grayson for having "the courage to go up and say what he said." But Carville backed away from Grayson when the congressman said that Republicans he believes are obstructing health care reform are "foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals." "I would call [them] regressive as opposed to Neanderthal," Carville said. Grayson also rejected comparisons between his comments and those of some Republicans, including former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, that the Democratic reform plan called for "death panels" to decide who would get life-saving treatments. "I said to myself, 'I wish Sarah Palin read the bill.' That's not what this bill says. That's a scare tactic," he said. "What I said is the God's honest truth." Well, why doesn't someone read it and show me what all the fuss is about. Until then, I choose to believe someone will be weighing who gets what because money is limited. Unless, of course we are switching over to communism in which case this health plan will be the least of our worries. Grayson said he decided to deliver his after-hours speech Tuesday after the Harvard study was released and he realized "we cannot go on any longer in this country where people cannot afford health care, where the coverage they got is good until they need it." Well, it's being paid for one way or another. Might as well formalize it. But better follow the money, get rid of extreme lawsuits by penalizing people who file frivolous claims, have hospitals justify why CAT scans cost $12,000/hour, etc.. And I don't mind if the government has a health plan as long as they don't employ creative financing when it comes to making sure the government doesn't spend a dime on health care, and that the whole plan will evaporate as soon as it does. Calling for universal health care, he slammed "whoever it is that's causing the Republicans to fight tooth-and-nail against anything, absolutely anything, to have every vote come down to being 257 to 175 in the House, over and over and over again." Probably for the same reason that the Donks fight tooth-and-nail so that the vote always ends up being 257 to 175. "Those are the people who are really disserving Americans," he said. Oh, and one more thing: Congress members have to live and die by their own health plan. One bit of preferential treatment and it evaporates. Head off to another country for treatment and it evaporates. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #3 Rep Grayson is in Florida and trying to scare the older voters who were previously scared by the idea that medicare might be cut back by the Dems. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2009-10-02 13:32 |
| #2 I appreciate Grayson's efforts to hand his seat back to the Republicans next year. The more fooolish he talks, the more help he will give us. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-10-02 11:01 |
| #1 Just keep hammering back about how Congress and their family members won't be forced to accept what they will impose on the rest of America. And keep hammering. Throw in the illegal alien access as well. Then watch them squeal like a pig. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-10-02 09:06 |