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That headline is a shocker, I know. Go here for the CNN video.
First, Hillary says, “No other country has, that is an advanced country, has so many of its citizens without health care.”
Is the good Senator ignorant of EMTALA, which requires any emergency room to give treatment to any person who requires it? Perhaps what she means is that people do not have health insurance, but that is different from health care. And as nations like Britain and Canada have shown, having insurance does not guarantee access to health care. As the Canadian Supreme Court said upon ruling unconstitutional a law that banned private health care, “access to a waiting list is not access to health care.”
Next, Hillary says, “The outcomes in countries…that have a uniform national system are better, on balance, than they are in this country. I can give you the statistics, and you can shake your head.”
I wonder what statistics she is referring to? Life expectancy and infant mortality?
Finally, you’ll notice that Hillary’s response is delivered in that schoolmarm, authoritarian tone that (1) makes you prefer hearing nails on a chalkboard and (2) makes pretty clear that Hillary isn’t interested in listening to anyone who disagrees with her. And if you doubt that last point, here is her closing remark to that gentleman:
You come and introduce yourself to myself staff and we will try to give you some information if you are interested in being educated instead of being rhetorical.
Do we really want a woman who is so convinced of her superiority in charge of our health care system, let alone be president?
(Oh, and if you want a good sense of how screwed up our politics are when it comes to race, watch the clip that follows on whether Barack Obama is black enough.)

+ May 2007
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