Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 16 August 2009

Various driveby media television networks ^ | 16 August 2009 | Various Self-Serving Politicians and Big Media Screaming Faces

[Alas Babylon!]

The Talk Shows

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala.; J. James Rohack, president of the American Medical Association; John Rother, executive vice president for policy and strategy at AARP.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): FreedomWorks chairman and former Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas; Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; R. Bruce Josten, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.; Gov. Bill Ritter, D-Colo.

FACE THE NATION (CBS): White House press secretary Robert Gibbs; former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.; former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.

THIS WEEK (ABC): Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Sens. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Sebelius; Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; Reps. Mike Ross, D-Ark., Tom Price, R-Ga., and Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas.

[bray]

Interesting concept, never heard of that. Guess you could say a volunteer fire dept is the same thing.

Pray for America

[Girlene]

Bruce Josten(sp?), Chamber of Commerce - good points. Medicare/Medicaid transfers cost to private plans by underreimbursing providers.....only paying 70-80% of what private will pay.

A public option will undercut private insurance. Should be out.

[rodguy911]

A scary thought snugs but quite possbily true.

[kabar]

Obama wants to eliminate the Medicare Advantage Program, which covers about 22 percent of all Medicare recipients. I wonder how many AARP members are aware of that.

[Fishtalk]

Call Friday morning from Meet the Press producer...

P-President Obama....got your call, how can we help you?
O-Joe, I need you to help us out here.
P-Sure, Mr. President, how can we help?
O-I need you to do a big segment on the dangers of these Town Halls, about death threats to the congress people. I heard you’re having Dick Army on?
P-Yes, he’s scheduled as a guest.
O-I need you to emphasize how a few of Army’s organizations encourage violence...
P-Mr. President...with all due respect, we’ve just had a week of Town Hall meetings. The only violence we’ve had was done by YOUR side in the form of the SIEU. How can we justify pursuing this very non-news story?
O-Joe, lookit, let’s be honest here. You know that MTP is one of the few political shows that non-political people follow. Even at that few watch it. We’re going after the busy housewife who didn’t have time to read or listen in on the Town Hall...the guy working all sorts of overtime...you know the types...they get home from church and flip on the TV. They listen to MTP in the background.
P-Mr. President, I do understand but you’re asking us to invent a story. Besides, I hear that the staff has been calling all over to get guests on the show and they can’t get a single Democrat congress person to come on. How on earth are we going to invent a story and make it believable?
O-Joe, I’ve got Tom Daschle all lined up....
P-Tom Daschle? You’re kidding, right? He’s a non-player, how can we justify him?
O-Joe, remember who we’re trying to reach. That housewife with the three babies, that tired guy installing cable. We need help against Dick Army and you should be looking for an opposing point of view to be fair.
P-Why can’t you get any other elected Democrat to help us on this, since you’re asking so much of us?
SILENCE fills the cell air waves.
O-Lookit, we’ve got Rachel Maddow ready to come on...
P-Rachel Maddow!! Jeez Louise she’s an MSNBC talking head.
O-Again, Joe, that housewife doesn’t know who she is and she looks just like the sort of woman that housewife wants to be.
P-Aw, I don’t know, Mr. President. I would think the least you could do is give me one elected Democrat....get me somebody who’s been to or held a Town Hall.
O-I’ll get back to you, Joe.

Phone rings.

O-Joe?
P-Yeah?
O-We got Charlie Rangel set to come one but he’s only got 10 minutes to spare..
P-Charlie Rangel? With all due respect Mr. President...
O-Dammit with your due respect Joe. Remember that big contract we’ve got with NBC coming up for a vote? I talked to your boss, Joe. We’ve got a right to have our voice heard...
P-:::whispering:: I’m willing to give you a voice if you’d only get me an elected Democrat, someone who held a Town Hall would be ideal. I’m thinking none of them are willing to come on.
O-Joe, you there?
P-I’m here. :::Whispering:: Charlie Rangel, jeez, he is such a partisan even that housewife will see through him. :::Raising voice::::
Okay, Mr. President, get me Daschle, Maddow and ten minutes with Rangel. We’ll do our best.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the fruited plains a busy housewife puts the baby bottle in the baby’s mouth and looks up at the TV. “Gus, what’s going on? Have they been violent last week or something? And who’s that guy? I like the lady. Jeez, why they gotta be violent to make their point, Gus.”

Gus looks up, sees Charlie Rangel speaking.

“Hell Mary, I don’t know that guy’s name but I know he lies about everything. Don’t believe a word you heard on this show this morning.”

[snugs]

With texting you can quickly read the text message and see if you need to act on it whereas with voicemail you have to listen to it which often is more intrustive to others around you so you tend to ignore it till later and then find out that you needed to have done something earlier, that is the major benefit that I see with texting.

Many people at work have their phones to just give one bleep if a text is received with all other bells off and can quickly read the text and act appropriately. In the past the person the other end would have had to ring via the switchboard and the receptionist possibly have to find you or leave you a message whereas with the text no one is bothered apart from one small bleep.

[Girlene]

Thank you, Tom Coburn! He’s explaining that “comparative effictiveness” puts a divide between the doctor/patient in terms of treatment that will be offered.

Daschle wants to push the “comparative effectiveness” junk because of the statistics (think rationing). Dr. Coburn understands the danger in this system for the patient.

[top 2 toe red]

Obama invokes grandmother's death in health debate.

To use the White house's own word, I still find it very, very 'fishy' that his grandmother died the week end before the election...WHILE he was visiting her!

[kabar]

Doctors can only take what fees Medicare will reimburse. If they try to recoup their actual costs they end up in trouble with the law. This is why some doctors won’t take Medicare patients. Others (like my orthopaedic guy) make up the shortfall by charging higher fees to insurance companies who pay for younger patients, hence the higher medical costs. Medicare is actually the cause of much of the higher insurance costs for under 65 Americans.

Nine out of ten Medicare recipients, including myself and my wife, have private, supplementary insurance to cover what Medicare doesn't. My doctor charges me the market rate and then is reimbursed by Medicare and my private insurance company.

It is Medicaid that is the problem. Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals are already so low – 30 to 40 percent less than under Medicare, that a growing number of doctors and hosptials don't accept Medicaid patients.

[rodguy911]

That assumes the rats actually care about the money they are printing, they obviously don't.
So the defense of the dollar will be left to us.

When you think about Axelrod's strategy of spending it all before we ever get another chance, it's pretty slick. Knowing that we are responsible and will do everything in our power to handle the debt they have left so our kids and theirs are not hopelessly saddled with a bankrupt country, they can actually spend everything and anything that will be spent by govt. for the next 20 years and get away with it with it using a compliant DBM.

Hopefully we can will expose what they are doing,Coburn fired a great volley over the bow(of their now leaky ship) today.

[MNJohnnie]

Good grief! The DC mantra is that Palin is a kook and talks irresponsibly.

The junk media might want to check out what happened when the DC Noise Machine stated squealing about another "irresponsible talking kook" back in the 1970s.

His name was Ronald Reagan

[txradioguy]

What does it tell you about the mindset of the Democrat Party and the POTUS when they see people of all races...income brackets...and political leaning come together in a united voice against something the Government is trying to do to them and they are looked upon not as what they are...but as racists...paid protestors and terrorists?

[top 2 toe red]

Perhaps we are all to get the same 'duty to die' injection or perhaps pillow to the head that obama's grandmother got...

I have my tinfoil hat secured with a chin strap. ;^)

[mathluv]

In the school supplies at Target, there was a folder of net lingo. I think there was or is one here at FR - like LOL. I heard of a web site - http://netlingo.com/ - that might help.

[rodguy911]

Exactly it's gonna happen,my guess is the dems are waiting until we are in charge and then will push for it(upping the retirement age) and then blame us as they died with tarp and GW. He fell for so many of their traps it was a shame.

[rodguy911]

Thats a good one.

[kabar]

Part A: (pays for inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility, and some home health care) For each benefit period Medicare pays all covered costs except the Medicare Part A deductible (2009 = $1,068) during the first 60 days and coinsurance amounts for hospital stays that last beyond 60 days and no more than 150 days.

For each benefit period you pay:

A total of $1,068 for a hospital stay of 1-60 days.

$267 per day for days 61-90 of a hospital stay.

$534 per day for days 91-150 of a hospital stay (Lifetime Reserve Days).

All costs for each day beyond 150 days

Skilled Nursing Facility Coinsurance

$133.50 per day for days 21 through 100 each benefit period.
Part B: (covers Medicare eligible physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, durable medical equipment)

$135.00 per year. (Note: You pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for services after you meet the $135.00 deductible.)

Additional information about the Medicare premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance rates for 2009 is available in the September 19, 2008 Fact Sheet titled, “CMS Announces Medicare Premiums, Deductibles for 2009” on the www.cms.gov website.

*Note: If your income is above $85,000 (single) or $170,000 (married couple), then your Medicare Part B premium may be higher than $96.40 per month. For additional details, see our FAQ titled: “ Medicare Part B Monthly Premiums in 2009”

[txradioguy]

It’s another case of the minority group in this country (the Libs) trying to convince everyone that the majority is just some kind of kook fringe.

[rodguy911]

Not yet snugs but that's probably coming as well. But only if pubbies call for it. The dems don't have the guts/desire to do anything responsible.

[snugs]

Thanks. I remember about 5 years ago I saw a booklet in the local bookshop I am glad I never bought it as there are many places such as you linked me on line that explain it for “free.”