Mika Brzezinski Defends Anti-Catholic HHS Mandate by Rattling Off Obama Talking Points
On today’s edition of Morning Joe, MSNBC gave a significant amount of coverage to the Obama administration’s federal mandate that religious colleges and hospitals cover contraception in their health insurance plans, regardless of whether doing so would violate their church’s teaching. To no surprise, co-host Mika Brzezinski was prepared for the discussion having talked it out with her handlers in the White House. [MP3 audio here]
Brzezinski admitted that she did not fully understand the issue and was curious to know more. So of course she went to the White House for clarity, rather than say columnist Peggy Noonan who wrote a column that the White House convinced her was “very misleading.”
Following the White House script, Brzezinski made the points that “there’s a one to two to three-year grace period for religious institutions to work it out,” and that “there are 28 states that have these policies in place.” Host Joe Scarborough dismissed the talking point as “number two that the White House is putting out,” to which Brzezinski casually responded, “Yeah, I know, I had a call with them yesterday.”
Yet these White House talking points being pushed by Brzezinski don’t turn out to be entirely true. As pointed out by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the federal mandate is much more strict than the mandates in place in 28 states. ObamaCare’s federal mandate closes all avenues that exist in the states for religious institutions to exempt themselves from coverage that directly violates their faith.
Scarborough attempted to explain to Brzezinski that she was misled, saying “Mika, you talked to the White House yesterday, who is spinning wildly right now. Because they’re in trouble.”
Perhaps Brzezinski is getting too used to spewing the White House’s talking points, as this is not the first time she has done it. On March 26, 2010, Brzezinski spent an entire minute reading White House talking points on ObamaCare straight from her BlackBerry.
Perhaps that’s why Joe playfully snarked as he closed out the segment, “You wanna check your BlackBerry and see if the White House is e-mailing you?”
The relevant transcript follows:
Morning Joe
6:07 a.m. Eastern
February 7, 2012
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Well, it’s just the Peggy Noonan piece left some things out. I think we're going to have her on, right? Maybe not today? But we are trying to get her.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I hope so.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: As the governor of Connecticut pointed out yesterday, there are 28 states that have these policies in place.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Great.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Six states have the one that the Obama administration are putting in place, and the thing that was really left out is that in this new order, there's a one to two to three-year grace period for religious institutions to work it out, to try to find a model in which it can be done. Like Hawaii has one.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Ok, so lets start with this –
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Now I’m not– That’s just really important information that we’ve never.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Let’s start with number two first that the White House is putting out.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yeah, I know, I had a call with them yesterday. So when you ask Mark what the White House is saying, you can also ask me because I took copious notes on this trying to figure it out because I don’t agree with it.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well I know you do–
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: But I have to say that the article, appears to be very misleading.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: They send you the memos, I understand now [unclear].
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: No, I actually was very curious about this, because I don’t understand it.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well very good.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So I did some work and actually, you know, got information that we didn't have.
6:17:20
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The President is going to back down on this.
MARK HALPERIN: I agree.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, he’s going to back down. Because I think they had a real blind spot here and they got surprised. When, you know, we have a story about, I guess even the head of the Army ordering Army chaplains not to read a letter from the Archbishop, I think, this is all, it's all taken off very quickly. And I would be shocked if the President didn't back down.
MARK HALPERIN: But the same principle will apply if he changes. If he changes, however incremental it is. There will be pressure from the left to say you've caved. He's still going to have to explain it. He still needs to lead us to understand how is the country going to balance these difficult issues.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well the President –
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Well, yeah, ok. Well the President, the way it is laid out it leaves a good amount of time for that to happen. It’s not like, this is not a blanket overstep, which is what I thought it was when I read Peggy's column, to be quite honest.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Mika, you talked to the White House yesterday, who is spinning wildly right now. Because they’re in trouble. I would be–
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Of course I did. Ok, you know what, I don’t agree with the White House on this, okay? But I did call to listen to them, because thats what we do. Ok?
JOE SCARBOROUGH: I know that’s what we do. Did you call Peggy as well?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: You know what? I thought she was on today? Is she on today? Or is she on tomorrow?
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Alex, is she on?
ALEX [Off-set assistant]: She can do Friday. We’re working on it.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: We’re working on it.
MARK HALPERIN: She’s a hard booking.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: She is a hard booking.
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Comments
Mika make a cogent, rational and original argument?
Submitted by drsamherman on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 7:04pm.
You might as well expect blood from a stone.
She is such a parrot she should be renamed "Polly" and offered a cracker on her perch. Everything she says is certainly worth about as much as parrot exhaust.
Brzezinski admitted that she did not fully understand the issue
Submitted by djwolf12 on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 7:16pm.
Gee, that's a real shock. The only thing this ditz understands is everything that is texted to her from the White House.
She certainly doesn't understand the Grand Betrayal
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 9:28am.
When Obamacare was a few House votes shy of passing, Pelosi and the WH realized that they needed to persuade pro-life Democrats like Bart Stupak that religious institutions would not be forced to provide for health services that were contrary to their faith and good conscience. The President promised Stupak that he would sign an Executive Order ensuring it, and Stupak voted Yes.
Now that Obamacare is the law of the land, Obama has renegged on his promise and is shoving the mandate down the throat of the RCC.
Obama outright lied to the pro-lifers to gain their support, then kicked 'em to the curb. Had they not cooperated, Obamacare would never have passed. One former pro-life Democratic Congresswoman said this week that she regrets ever voting Yes on the bill.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/dem-rep-kathy-dahlkemper-i-wouldnt-h...
It's another self-inflicted wound for the Obama Administration. The pro-GOP Super PACs will have a lot of fun with this debacle.
OMO!!! Obama reneged????
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 9:33am.
Let me show you my shocked face.
Racist. Code. Word.
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 11:16am.
:)
I'm really going to have to start "that" list. Alas.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Brzezinski no commie would
Submitted by jkwtrading on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 8:07pm.
Brzezinski no commie would ever understand.. but now that you've involved God, you better get a grip and get one soon.
Tired
Submitted by rusino on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 8:17pm.
I am tired of the Mika and Joe Show.
there's a one to two to
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 10:41pm.
there's a one to two to three-year grace period for religious institutions to work it out, to try to find a model in which it can be done. Like Hawaii has one.
Yes, Mika, let's hear about the Hawaii "compromise."
the Hawaii bill “covers all FDA-approved ‘contraceptives’ (including drugs that can cause an abortion); and the religious exemption is very narrow (though it does not include the requirement that the religious organization serve only people of its own faith to be eligible).
“It adds an extra feature — the requirement that any religious organization that is exempt must still tell all enrollees how they may directly access contraceptive services and supplies in an expeditious manner.”
So Catholic institutions can't just tell women to go elsewhere, they have to keep a list and actually give the women directions on where to go.
If certain insurance plans don't include dental coverage, is any employer required to inform its employees where they can obtain it?
How about vision coverage?
And why not?
Princess Mika didn'tknow what's in the . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:54pm.
. . . HHS mandate or Hawaii Compromise. She merely regurgitates the WH talking points.
HHS Directive
Submitted by kmichaelfrancis... on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 10:22pm.
Can we rename the program "Polly and the Cracker", or would "We Blind Mice" be a better choice?
A "Grace Period" to "work it out"????
Submitted by Blonde on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 10:35pm.
How's that going to work?
I have no words. A thousand years of doctrine, to be "worked out".....right.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Good grief!!
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 10:47pm.
I just had a vision of that idiot mayor in the old Carter Country TV series waving his hand and saying "Handle it! Handle it!"
A Grace Period...
Submitted by Radical1979 on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 10:47pm.
...to have Obama smile his 10 point smile (according to Matthews)
...to have the press revive scandals of the Church
...to find sob stories about women who cannot afford birth control or keep their legs closed
That is what his grace period will be for.
Their intention is plain
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 10:58pm.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is willing to work with Catholic universities, hospitals and other church-affiliated employers to implement a new policy that requires health insurers to offer birth control coverage, a top adviser to the president's re-election campaign said on Tuesday.
They intend to "work with" them to "implement" the policy. Does that sound like they are willing to grant waivers?
And when the Catholic Church doesn't give in...
Submitted by Radical1979 on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:05pm.
Obama will say the wouldn't "compromise" or "work with me".
⇒ I agree, Rad
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:11pm.
For fear of starting a war in this thread, I will only say we've seen a very similar game played out within the last 100 years. It wasn't pretty.
⇒ Sure does to me, MB
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:08pm.
Because it's a "new policy" requiring birth control coverage. It's not the "old policy" requiring birth control coverage.
I hate to say it, but I'm not convinced he'll lose this fight.
Somehow or another, he'll advance the ball.
Cool
Submitted by Radical1979 on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:13pm.
What fight has he lost? If he can't do something legally he does it illegally (non-recess appointments) and our do nothing GOP sits back and takes it like a whipped puppy.
I agree with my husband, I'm glad I won't be alive in 50 years.
I disagree, Cool. I think the
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:16pm.
I disagree, Cool. I think the bishops have drawn a line in the sand. They've already taken Catholic Charities out of the adoption system.
OTOH, he might be trying to advance a different ball. That of getting a major employer to stop providing health insurance, and getting all those employees into the public insurance pool.
You know...."We can no longer count on employers....."
motherbelt
Submitted by Radical1979 on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:19pm.
I think Obama considers it a win that Catholic Charities is out of the adoption system. He wants government to be the only game in town.
So your theory about the different ball is most likely right on target.
⇒ Rad
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:43pm.
I don't know how parochial schools fit into Obama's plan here, but I've got a sneaking suspicion they do.
Cool
Submitted by Radical1979 on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 12:10am.
You are becoming the Amazing Kreskin. I'm quite sure there's nothing
the teacher's unionObama would like better than to get rid of those pesky Catholic schools whose teachers don't make quite so much and whose students actually learn something besides gay rights.
h/t to MD, strikethough is kind of fun.
⇒ That's exactly it, MB
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:31pm.
That same tactic is what I presented to Jer several minutes ago, with the example that if Coke decides to pay the low-cost fine and dump its employees on Obamacare, Pepsi has no choice but to follow suit.
It's a matter of competitive economics.
This very issue is also Obama's best argument for a single-payer system.
Jer & norfman
Submitted by Radical1979 on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 12:06am.
Note Cool Arrow's post above. Yeah, obama wasn't serious about single payer. It was just a wild fancy...
Rad...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 1:54am.
Did I say Obama was never serious about single payer? If I did, my wife must have hijacked my keyboard while I was raiding the fridge and posted the comment under my name.
Politics is the art of the possible. A clear majority of Americans favored a significant overhaul of our healthcare system. Obama campaigned on the issue. He won the election. He delivered what he could.
Jer
"Politics is the art of the
Submitted by MightyMouth on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 2:10am.
"Politics is the art of the possible. A clear majority of Americans favored a significant overhaul of our healthcare system. Obama campaigned on the issue. He won the election. He delivered what he could."
1. No.. Politics in the USA is leave me alone.
2. "A clear majority of Americans favored a significant overhaul of our healthcare system". REALLY? Says who?
3. Obama campaigned on the issue. He won the election. He delivered what he could." a total lie, he promised our health care plans would not change if we liked them. I liked mine now it costs me 33% more.
Take a hike liberal Obama apologist.
I don't feel like taking a hike...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 2:24am.
I liked my plan, too--until the insurance company quadrupled my premiums, eliminated all prescription coverage and imposed a 40% co-pay, all before Obama was even a candidate for president.
Can you read public opinion polls? If so, read them.
Jer
And one more thing: Brady's wife was only half right. Her husband couldn't throw the f-ing ball when it was crunch time. His idiot wife needs to keep her piehole shut.
Prove it Jer. Prove your
Submitted by MightyMouth on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 2:30am.
Prove it Jer. Prove your lies! I can read links if you have them!
And plz explain to me why your insurance company went postal on you out of the f---ing blue! "ALL before Obama was even a candidate for president" Mine didn't, why would yours?
BTW idiot. If the passes were caught not during crunch time there would be no need for f--king crunch time.
I've linked it before, MM..
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 2:45am.
You'll have to wait until tomorrow for that. I have to call it a night.
Because the insurance company is run by faceless, heartless a-holes who once the insured develops a condition which locks him or her into the policy know they can turn the screws as tight as they wish...so they do.
Jer
Well boo-freakin'-hoo...a pro quarterback was forced to deal with crunch time in a Super Bowl. He was tested and he failed. There's always next year.
Okay buddy good night, I can
Submitted by MightyMouth on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 2:54am.
Okay buddy good night, I can kick your ass tomorrow as well if you like. :-p
Bring it on, MM...
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 3:03am.
Unless you can kick better than Brady can pass, my ass will be just fine. :-)
Later, buddy....
Jer
Jer, Jer, Jer....when will
Submitted by Liberallies on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 3:08am.
Jer, Jer, Jer....when will you learn that you are not posting in the Huff'nPuff where mindless Liberal tools will not challange your Liberal propaganda? LOL
1) Yes, a majority of Americans favored a significant overhaul of our healthcare system. I was and still am one of them, so are my 40+ family members living in the USA, guess what? None of us voted for Obama or cared one ounce for the changes he made to the healthcare system.
just because we want change it doesn't mean that the change Obama made is the one we were looking for.
Throughout the debate of the healthcare system, your line was used by the media, Liberal pundits and politicians, "polls show that a clear majority of Americans favor a significant overhaul of our healthcare system..." YOU, like them assume that the change was Obama was offereing and did is what we wanted. WRONG!!!!!!!!
2) Obama delivered what was politically convinient for him to the deliver. The Democratic party, which controlled both houses of Congress by a clear majority which prevented the REpublicans from blocking anything, which also controlled the Presidency blew a great chance to bring real, true and affordable changes to our healthcare system. Instead these retards played politics, as always.
Obama could have pushed hard for tort reform, and done it, in healthcare, but no, he couldn't, why? because he would lose the support of the ABA and every single bar association around the USA!
Without tort reform in healthcare, our healthcare system will NEVER go down in price, ever!
I have enough physician friends which show me how much they pay for malpactrice insurance, thanks to my job I have seen the ease with which people can "win the lottery" through malpacrite law suits costing hospitals, clinics, doctors millions which guess what? they pass on to the consumer.
sorry Jer, Obama did what was political convinient for him to do. Lie to the American people, get in bed with teh pharmaceuticals and helath insurance companies and over for the lawyers.
My health insurance plan went up exactly the day after Obamacare came into existance and early mandates started taking hold. I remember my job typing a detailed letter of why it was going up and it was all thanks to Obamacare.
3) I work in the health care industry and education. Here is something else that Obamacare didn't plan for. When you bring new people into the healthcare system, forcing everyone to have insurance, you need to have doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers in the system to care for the new patients. Guess what Jer....we have a shortage of physicians and nurses in this nation. Did you know that? did you?! of course not. Huff'nPuff didn't tell you neither did the Liberal media, so you don't know this. Obamacare is going to bring new patients into the system, whether they want it or not, and there won't be enough doctors, nurses, etc to take care of all of us. Guess what this leads to? SHORTAGES!!! oh yeah....but shhhh...if we talk about this FACT, we are considered wackos.
Funny thing is, medical schools like mine talk about it all the time with pre-medical students, pre-health advisors, etc, etc, etc.
Obama didn't delivered what he could. Obama could have done TONS more, but he went just far enough to protect himself, his politics, his chances to get re-elected, etc, etc.
Please tell me you are not as naive as to believe what you are saying about Obama.
Jer.
Submitted by Gary Hall on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 3:55am.
And I apologize, as I cannot hang around.
I supported - in fact lobbied my soul away for major health care reform - including much national "sensible" regulation. For years, I did this. The night before the Blair house faux meeting, I asked the R's to show up with blank yellow pads (ask Blonde - I advertised it - they did) to ask Obama to sit with them and put their best ideas on the table. Well, it didn't go well. But, we tried. Nothing of what Obama (Pelosi, Reid and lobbyists) proposed I support.
(;~/ Gary
Jer
Submitted by Radical1979 on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 8:48pm.
Arguing with my teenage daughter really should have prepared me to debate with you. You didn't say Obama wasn't serious about single payer, but you did say he had to deal with the "practical and the real". Well, Cool has pointed out that Obama found a way to make it practical and real.
By the way, that line about politics being the art of the possible, I know it from the musical "Evita". Is that it's original source or did Andrew Lloyd Webber pick it up from somewhere else?
Perhaps
Submitted by KornKing on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 11:38pm.
Bubbles could go measure her breasts and compare them with Her IQ-keep her busy for awhile
When is this show
Submitted by Okieflyover on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 1:34am.
Ever relevant ? Mika hasn't brought any value to a discussion yet.
Why
Submitted by Okieflyover on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 1:40am.
Is this not up for a vote in congress? This is what politician and bureaucrats do when you give 2,200 pages of open ended legislation.
The way was paved when civil
Submitted by amyshulk on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 7:41am.
The way was paved when civil rights were forced on us. Do I believe people should be treated differently because of color? No. But neither do I agree that gov't should force us in who we choose to interact with.
That said, this is just another bump on the same road - gov't knows best, so get with the program.
Ronald Reagan
wow dumbness shows thru the bleached hair..
Submitted by D'saredumbpeople on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 8:52am.
does the white house tell her when to go potty too.
MSNBC
Submitted by desert3030 on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 9:30am.
Has two blonde bimbo's of note, Mika and Chrissy working from WH notes.
I wonder what Bubbles would
Submitted by inquiringmind on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 10:59am.
I wonder what Bubbles would do if Obama did something very out of the norm for him. Like maybe keeping Gitmo open or increasing the drone strikes and killing civilians.
Cricket cricket,, yeah, I thought so.
Mika
Submitted by mmilesll on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 12:49pm.
It seems a daily occurance-Mika says truly stupid things-oh wait, those were democratic talking points. Well the DNC picked the right person-airhead, has trouble finding her way to work and never would have gotten the job if she had a different last name. You would think that after awhile somebody would catch on that she is really a very stupid person and since she is too dumb to bake cookies maybe she could get the job at Burger King-they are hiring.