Going Down With Betsy McCaughey.

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I've posted numerous pieces about health care reform liar Betsy McCaughey (just type her name in the search box above.) She helped kill reform in 1994, and she's neck deep in nonsense again this time around.

What the hell--let's highlight her horseshit again:

From Salon.com:

15 years ago, Betsy McCaughey was a pivotal figure in the debate over healthcare reform; with her article in the New Republic, "No Exit," she helped seal the fate of the Clinton administration's proposal. Now, the magazine that published the piece that made McCaughey famous has completely disavowed her work, and has printed a scathing piece in which she's dubbed "the blue-state Sarah Palin.

If healthcare reform passes this time around -- and, increasingly, it looks like it will, at least in some form -- it will be despite McCaughey's best efforts. She's been responsible for the majority of the most pernicious myths about the Democrats' plans, and some of those myths were downright terrifying. But she's become a marginal figure lately, one who has ended up with little influence over the debate.

As Politico's Ben Smith observed after moderating a Monday night debate between McCaughey and Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., McCaughey is "nowhere near the player she was in 1994 -- in part perhaps because she's seen as a partisan, not an honest broker, and that's due in no small part to the relentless, effective assault from the left, a refighting of the last war that ensures they won't lose that battle, at least."

It's been a fairly easy war this time around, in part because the left was ready for her and in part because so much of what she's written has proven easily debunked. (Back in August, I took a look at what she wrote about Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, who's been advising the White House on healthcare reform; that post is here.) The media was ready for her too, aware of how much she'd gotten wrong in "No Exit" and of her troubled history since then. As a result, the false claims she's made have gotten little or no traction in the mainstream press.

McCaughey had another bad day Tuesday, when she went on MSNBC for another confrontation with Weiner, this time moderated -- sort of -- by host Dylan Ratigan. The debate eventually devolved to the point where no one came off looking mature ("Takes one to know one" was one of Ratigan's retorts), but the segment showed McCaughey scrambling, unable to defend her positions and totally outmatched. It was just one more sign of how far she's fallen.

Betsy McCaughey has fallen and she can't get up.

Resigned To The Fact That She's Paid To Lie About Health Care Reform.

I've posted about health care reform liar Betsy McCaughey so often that I'm not even going to provide you with a link. Just type her name in this blog's search box and you'll find her bullshit easily enough...

Anyway, when people are fired from high-profile jobs, it is often announced that they "resigned." Well, Betsy McCaughey has "resigned" from her high profile job.

From the Washington Independent:

Betsy McCaughey — an outspoken proponent of the myth that Democrats’ health care reform proposals will lead to the creation of “death panels,” as well as a former lieutenant governor of New York and adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute — has stepped down from her position as a director of Cantel Medical Corp., which bills itself as a “leading provider of infection prevention and control products in the healthcare market.”

From a press release:

CANTEL MEDICAL CORP announced that on August 20, 2009 it received a letter of resignation from Ms. Elizabeth McCaughey as a director of the Company. Ms. McCaughey, who had served as a director since 2005, stated that she was resigning to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest during the national debate over healthcare reform.

McCaughey found herself the subject of widespread ridicule after an appearance on “The Daily Show” Thursday, during which host Jon Stewart aggressively challenged her positions on health care reform.

"Ridicule?" She got her ass handed to her.

You can watch the interview by clicking here. Funny how she didn't mention her "resignation."

Betsy McCaughey Enters The REAL "No Spin Zone" And Spins Herself Dizzy.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Betsy McCaughey Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Betsy McCaughey Extended Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

In The End, We All Die Alone.

I have posted about health care reform dissembler Betsy McCaughey on several occasions (here, here and here.) She helped kill reform in 1994 with her bullshit, and is at it again.

Anti-reform conservatives--spurred on by McCaughey's spurious insinuations--are fanning out hither and yon, lying to Americans by telling them there is a "mandatory" end-of-life provision that will await them in any new health care legislation. According to ThinkProgress, "(to) substantiate their claims, conservatives point to Sec. 1233 of the House Tri Committee bill, a section titled “ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION.” But while the language allows Medicare to reimburse providers for consulting with patients about end-of-life issues, nothing in the section mandates a consultation."

There's more here.

So, no, America--in the real world, the Grim Reaper disguised as a government bureaucrat will not be required to show up at the homes of our seniors, counseling them on The End. That Goebbels-like, ghoulish lie is straight out of Far-Right Fantasyland.

Oh, Canada!

Graphic courtesy of Health Insurance 2008.

President Obama calls spiraling U.S. health care costs a "ticking time bomb." Almost 50 million Americans aren't covered, while every Canadian has access to care.

Why is the United States so late to the game?

Canadians I have known love their country's health care system. The people who don't want the U.S. to move toward serious health care reform--particularly those railing against a single-payer system--have been lying about Canada's successful and popular health care for years (that means you, Betsy McCaughey.) To hear the dissemblers tell it, the typical Canadian wait for care is longer than a typical American waits for the truth on FOX News. And we all know how long that's been.

Here's Bill Mann of dcweasels.com, via HuffPo, with a personal account of health care in the Great White North:

The scare ads and op-ed pieces featuring Canadians telling us American how terrible their government health-care systems have arrived - predictably.

There's another, factual view - by those of us Americans who've lived in Canada and used their system.

My wife and I did for years, and we've been incensed by the lies we've heard back here in the U.S. about Canada's supposedly broken system.

It's not broken - and what's more, Canadians like and fiercely defend it.

Example: Our son was born at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital. My wife got excellent care. The total bill for three days in a semi-private room? $21.

My friend Art Finley is a West Virginia native who lives in Vancouver.

"I'm 82, and in excellent health," he told me this week. "It costs me all of $57 a month for health care, and it's excellent. I'm so tired of all the lies and bullshit I hear about the system up here in the U.S. media."

A Canadian-born doctor wrote a hit piece for Wingnut Central (the Wall Street Journal op-ed page) this week. David Gratzer claimed:

"Everyone in Canada is covered by a single payer -- the government. But Canadians wait for practically any procedure or diagnostic test or specialist consultation in the public system."

Vancouverite Finley: "That's sheer b.s."

I heard Gratzer say the same thing on Seattle radio station KIRO this week. Trouble is, it's nonsense.

We were always seen promptly by our doctors in Montreal, many of whom spoke both French and English.

Today, we live within sight of the Canadian border in Washington state, and still spend lots of time in Canada.

Five years ago, while we were on vacation in lovely Nova Scotia, the Canadian government released a long-awaited major report from a federal commission studying the Canadian single-payer system. We were listening to CBC Radio the day the big study came out.

The study's conclusion: While the system had flaws, none was so serious it couldn't be fixed.

Then the CBC opened the lines to callers across Canada.

Here it comes, I thought. The usual talk-show torrent of complaints and anger about the report's findings.

I wish Americans could have heard this revealing show.

For the next two hours, scores of Canadians called from across that vast country, from Newfoundland to British Columbia.

Not one said he or she would change the system. Every single one defended it vigorously.

Further proof:

Not long ago, the CBC asked Canadians to nominate and then vote for The Greatest Canadian in history. Thousands responded.

The winner? Not Wayne Gretzky, as I expected (although the hockey great DID make the Top 10). Not even Alexander Graham Bell, another finalist.

The greatest Canadian ever?

Tommy Douglas.

Who? Tommy Douglas was a Canadian politician - and the father of Canadian universal health care.

If you are on the fence about a single-payer "Canadian-style" health care system in the U.S., please do some research of your own before swallowing the naysayers stories.

Better yet, ask a Canadian.