Sucked then, sucks now.
Yep:
And for those who might have wondered, that isn't a lisp, he isn't gay, he's just got whistling dentures.
Posted on 07/21/2009 7:28:22 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
ohn Roberts, on the July 21 edition of American Morning, appeared to expect Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to turn in a weak performance on the issue of health care. Hilarity ensued, as Jindal, who turned down Harvard Medical and Yale Law for a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford, proved to be anything but a pushover.
The would-be newsman kicked off with some misleading statistics about Jindal’s performance as governor:
Governor, it’s good to see you. You penned a rather scathing editorial for the Politico.com on the Democrats’ health care proposals. But your state ranks dead last in the United Health Foundation survey of overall health. It also had the fourth highest Medicare cost per patient in the country from 1996 through 2006, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. So some people out there might be wondering if you’re the best person to be criticizing the administration’s plans for health care reform?
Since Jindal is a classy fellow, and realizes that this debate is not about his performance as Louisiana Governor, he neglected to point out that he took office January 14, 2008. That’s at least a full year after Roberts’ statistics ended. The Rhodes scholar responded:
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL: Well John, a couple of things. We’ve actually got a very aggressive waiver in front of the federal government allowing us – asking them for permission to allow us to revamp our public health care programs to put more of an emphasis on outcomes. Louisiana’s a great example of what’s wrong with many of our government-run health care programs. You look at Medicare – the Dartmouth data shows that higher spending doesn’t always correlate to better outcomes.
This is not the full quote from Jindal, but you get the idea. Roberts, finding himself uncomfortably on his heels, fires back:
ROBERTS: Okay, a couple of other points here. You said most Americans would end up being forced into government-run health care, in this editorial. What makes you think that most Americans would be forced into anything, first of all? And secondly, saying it’s government-run health care really is misleading, isn’t it? It’s actually not the government that would be running the health care system. That would still be private, it would just be providing insurance.
Jindal, instantly recognizing the advocacy, replied:
JINDAL: No, you’re talking about a government-run health option. And this is a very important point…
ROBERTS: But it’s government-run health insurance, it’s not government-run health care, which is what you said in your editorial.
JINDAL: Well, it’s government-run health care in that they’ll be deciding the rates. They’ll be deciding what benefits are covered. They’ll be deciding who they’re going to pay, what procedures you can get. That’s government-run health care. But look at the Lewin study. They estimate that as many as 100 million Americans may leave private coverage for this government-run plan. And this is a very important point…
Under Roberts’ frame of mind, since the government would not actually directly control hospitals, doctors, pharmacists, et al., it’s not a government takeover – it’s not socialism, if you will. And Roberts is technically correct. The term used for indirect government control over privately-run companies is not socialism, it’s “fascism.” A tongue-in-cheek kudos to Roberts for figuring that out.
But Roberts is still not content to simply take his lumps and move on. Jindal then is forced to explain market economics versus government-subsidized enterprise in a nutshell:
ROBERTS: But they also say that as few as 10.1 million may leave for government-run health care depending on how the plan is formulated. That 119 million was the upper level and even the people who wrote that report said that’s a worst case scenario.
JINDAL: But you’re talking about the same government that’s paying for health care, regulating health care, now competing. It’s going to be taxpayer subsidized. By their own estimates they say because the government will be shifting costs to the private sector, they’re going to be underpaying providers. They’ll be able to undercut their competition until they drive the competition out of the marketplace.
And now, the coup de grace – John Roberts, falling back on a liberal think-tank and Kos talking-points to back his claims:
ROBERTS: That is one argument. But the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center said, “Private plans would not disappear. Private plans that offer better services and greater access to providers, even at somewhat higher costs than the public plans, would survive the competition in this environment.” You also pointed out in your editorial, you said someone other than patients and doctors would make the decision on treatments and medicines that we can have. Doesn’t that already happen under private plans?
The Urban Institute normally pairs with the left-leaning Brookings institute for its studies advocating liberal tax policies.
Now, let’s recap. Roberts shows up for the interview in attack mode, using left-leaning statistics from left-leaning groups, backs them with Kos talking points – and even attempts to implicate Jindal for failing, federally mandated health-care programs that predate his term as governor. And Jindal crushed him for it.
One wonders if Roberts was expecting Kenneth the Page.
I say the GOP ain’t finished yet. But it’s got to support the RIGHT PEOPLE to be their leaders and candidates for national office ( not the Romney’s and McCain’s of the world — Ya listening Mr. Steele ? ).
Bobby Jindal is going to have a wickedly awesome resume in 4-8 years, and it’s only going to get better. Here’s my thoughts on perfect placement for the GOP stars:
Sarah Palin: Leader of the Social Conservatives. If she does not run for president, then I’d make her the energy secretary.
Bobby Jindal: Anyplace he wants to go, given enough time to season. The rebuttal to Obama’s speech earlier this year was devastating to his short-term image, and it needs time to go away.
Mike Pence: The New Newt. Seriously, this guy has wheels, and he’s loads of fun to watch.
Tom Coburn: Hardnosed chops-buster. Give this guy whatever the Senate version of a battleaxe is, and get out of the way.
Mitch Daniels: Possible VP candidate? Possibly the most fiscally responsible governor in all of America. Now that Mike Sanford has self-destructed, my eyes are on him as either the next Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidate.
Roberts should go back to spinning records in Toronto.
As anyone who grew up in Canada in the 80’s can tell you, John Roberts is NOT a journalist...back then he was a merely a prettyboy VJ on MuchMusic (Canada’s MTV), and went by the moniker JD Roberts.
Sucked then, sucks now.
Jindal is now off my list, I want no Rhodes scholars in government.
Thanks for that. I’m a big Jindal fan.
“What makes you think that most Americans would be forced into anything, first of all?”
Because that’s the entire point, as everyone with half a brain knows. Liberals like it, conservatives loath it, but even if neither admit it, both know the whole issue is a government takeover of the healthcare industry.
United Health Foundation?
United Health Foundation Announces Series of Investments in Community Health Centers and Support for Effective Use and Measurement of $2 Billion in Public Stimulus Funds Allocated to Community Health Centers
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2009_Feb_23/ai_n31374318/
UnitedHealth Group and United Health Foundation Support President-Elect Obama`s “Day of Service” Through Coalition to Fight Cardiovascular Disease
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS113630+19-Jan-2009+BW20090119
Can you say conflict of interest?
I continue to be impressed with Jindal. Thanks for posting this!
And can every conservative and conservative commentator please start out every discussion of the health bill with...
If you really want to get health care costs under control then it has to begin with TORT REFORM and that is nowhere to be found in this bill. Let’s put TORT REFORM in place FIRST and see how that makes health care much more affordable before even considering a bill like this.
Liberals have to learn that every time they try to do an end run around the Constitution, we’ll come after their sacred cows with the bbq grill on HIGH!
I know a lot of people here like Palin, but she can’t handle this sort of thing the way Jindal can.
Jindal needs a speech coach to slow him down and flatten his clipped Louisiana accent (dropping the ends of words makes it certain that a non-southerner will miss his every tenth word).
Other than that, he’s my first choice for Prez in 2012.
Although I’m not from Florida, I’ve read/seen/heard good things from/about Marco Rubio. Hopefully he can get his campaign machinery up to speed and crush Crist to make his mark as a GOP star.
Oh damn thought I recognized him. We used to get MuchMusic on UHF here in Idaho.
“The term used for indirect government control over privately-run companies is not socialism, it’s ‘fascism.’”
“Fascism” is but one particular form of socialism. It happens to be a relatively free market form, but only on the margin. There may have been a time and place where “socialism” meant central control of the entire economy. That time is not now. We use the term to denote a Third Way between Communism and Capitalism, such as fascism.
Nothing bothers me more than people who come up with statistics like “The federal government only directly owns and operates 2 percent of all U.S. companies,” or whatever it is they say, to prove that we aren’t socialists. As if we have to have arrived at complete socialism to be socialists. It’s a process. Not even Stalin was finished. There were still private farmers, black marketeers, etc.
We may overstate the case when we say the takeover of GM was proof of socialism. It’s a symbol. But more important are the various laws, regulatory agencies, and other things standing between the consumers and the producers. The government holding a stake in a particular bank isn’t nearly as important as the fact that the Federal Reserve System manipulates prices at whim. There’s your control.
So Washington isn’t going to outlaw private insurance providers, nor are there going to be members of The Party on every factory floor telling people how many widgets to build. Doesn’t matter. We’re still socialists. There is no free market if government-operated insurance providers and government-coerced employers make thousands of decisions before Joe Lunchpail ever steps into a hospital or clinic.
Marsha Blackburn is a true conservative, and a pretty face to boot. I wonder why she dosn’t get more atention.
Jindal is now off my list, I want no Rhodes scholars in government.
Same here. I’m not so sure I want another skull and bones guy either.
ROBERTS: But it’s government-run health insurance, it’s not government-run health care, which is what you said in your editorial.
Then we have Roberts next question.
ROBERTS: But they also say that as few as 10.1 million may leave for government-run health care depending on how the plan is formulated.
Nuff said
Well to be honest, Jindal was the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in 1996.
From Wiki.
In 1993 Republican U.S. Representative Jim McCrery (for whom Jindal had once worked as a summer intern) introduced Jindal to Republican Governor Mike Foster.[19] In 1996 Foster appointed Jindal to be secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, an agency that then represented about 40 percent of the state budget. During his tenure as secretary, Louisiana’s Medicaid program went from bankruptcy with a $400 million deficit into three years of surpluses totaling $220 million.[citation needed] Jindal was criticized during the 2007 campaign by the Louisiana AFL-CIO for having closed some local clinics to balance the budget.[20] In 1998, Jindal was appointed executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, a 17-member panel charged with devising plans to reform Medicare.
What's really disheartening is just how few people, even among Freepers, know enough about Rhodes scholarships to even understand your point...
Dittos. Bobby J organized an incredible response to last year’s hurricane season.
He is brilliant and competent.
I have been watching Pence for the last couple years, and I love that man. If (please Dear Lord) we retake Congress next year, I say he should be speaker of the house!
The others you listed are great too, and would love to see DeMint as Majority leader in Senate, but then Thune is good there too.
There are a few others, McCotter?........something like that, from either Michigan or Minn I think, is a real fire cracker too. We need these people out there with loud mics!
I like his speech, and accent. And rarely is there an uhhhhhhhh out of him.
Yes!! I was already a fan of his, but seeing his response to the hurricane just wooed me all the more. Watching him give press conferences was really something...he never referred to his notes (I’m not sure he even had any notes), yet he was able to rattle off non-stop streams of information. There was so obviously a plan in place. He had complete command of the situation. It was such a stark contrast to the Dysfunctional Duo of Blanco/Nagin. Just...wow.
She gets lots in Congress, just not in the media. Conservatives LOVE her, that is why she doesn’t get more attention.
I love her, but I understand what you mean. I would be thrilled, however, with a Jindal/Palin ticket.
A Democrat could get by with that but not a Republican.
Jindal needs to brush up on speaking and debating skills. His performance as rebuttal to Obama's inaugural speech was far far short of optimal.
One of the earliest coaches of the New Orleans Saints was named JD Roberts. Wonder if they’re related?
LOL! This video is circa 1986:
Cheers!
lol...
listen razorback, blame Arkansas for Clinton, not Rhodes.
I like the idea of a guy who’s smarter than anyone else.
These points need to be pounded over and over and over.
Jackpot.
Where and when did this "cult of stupid" emerge as a leading "conservative" principle?
Conservatism has it's roots in intellectual excellence and scholarly work. It's a good thing that Buckley didn't live to see the day where someone who purports to be a conservative champions anti-intellectual nonsense.
Please, I know how Rhodes Scholars are chosen and scholarship is only a little part of it.
Buckley also said, he would rather be governed by the first thousand names in the phone book than by the staff of Harvard.
Correction:
I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.
He should just be himself. I'm so darn tired of having made for TV Presidents!
sw
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