Just how leftist is Michael Moore on health care as he promoted his new "Sicko" documentary? Time found out:
TIME: Of the declared presidential candidates, down to the Dennis Kucinich level, say, who do you think has the best health-care plan? Including Kucinich? We could include him.
Michael Moore: Then Kucinich, but he doesn’t go far enough. He supports what he’s calling a single- payer nonprofit plan, but from my read, it would still allow [private] entities to control things, as opposed to the government. What’s wrong with the government? The right wing and the G.O.P. have done a wonderful job brainwashing people that government doesn’t work, and then, as Al Franken says, they get elected and proceed to prove the point. [Laughs.]
And then, this:
TIME: You also speak rhapsodically about the French and Cuban systems and travel to Cuba, where you interview Che Guevara’s daughter. France, Cuba, Che. Are you going out of your way to annoy the right?
Michael Moore: I give people more credit than the media and the political machine running this country do. The story line is: France, bad; France, cowards. What crime did France commit? We wouldn’t have had this country without their support in the Revolution. They gave us that statue that sits out in New York Harbor. They responded immediately after 9/11. And they remain eternally grateful for what we did during World War II.
As for Cuba, yes, when I’ve got a film crew there, they’re going to show us their best. But there’s a reason the World Health Organization ranks their health-care system [among] the best in the Third World and that people from Latin America come there for their health care. There’s also a reason Cubans live on average a month longer than we do. I’m not trumpeting Castro or his regime. I just want to say to fellow Americans, “C’mon, we’re the United States! If they can do this, we can do it.”
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
"gov,t doesn't work...th
May 25, 2007 - 12:53 ET by mattm"gov,t doesn't work...they prove it..." Funny joke, but it misses the point by a mile!
1) If GOP office holders prove government doesn't work, as Libidiots just said, then the fact is established and we should begin the privatization of Health Care, Social Security and tons of other failed gov't programs.
2) They imply that to make government work we need Democrats...and then they start touting the programs of commie dictators - with bogus statistical evidence about people living a month longer on average???
Moore and Franken definitely are comedians...although the jokes on them - and their brain-dead followers.
Michael Moore fears "THE
May 25, 2007 - 22:00 ET by ZoneDaiatlasMichael Moore fears "THE TRUTH" about the Healthcare in Cuba...
TheRealCuba.com
Cuban Health Care
May 25, 2007 - 13:01 ET by River CityCuban health care is so good that Castro had to fly in a doctor from Spain to take care of what ever ails him.
The main problem with our health care system is the government. Mandates: every state has mandates and the federal government has mandates. These add enormous costs to our care and the health insurance policies we own. Why should single men and women who don't want children or are done having them pay for maternity benefits? Why should people who don't want infertility treatments pay for them? It is much worse than just these two examples.
Another problem is Medicare and Medicaid paying less than cost for services. Someone has to make up the difference.
In a lot of retail sectors you get a cash discount. Not in health care. You get a discount if you have a third party payer. If you pay cash in health care you get penalized and pay more than Medicare and more than the insured.
Where did this idea of health care as a right come from? Is food a right? Is housing a right? None of these are in the Constitution. We have to stop these people. Don't allow them to bastardize the language and co-opt the Constitution and turn every need or desire into a RIGHT.
¡Viva Cuba! ¡Viva Che Gue
May 25, 2007 - 13:06 ET by MilesD¡Viva Cuba!
¡Viva Che Guevara!
¡Viva Michael Moore!
If Moron Moore loves Cuba so
May 25, 2007 - 13:08 ET by SouthJersey1953If Moron Moore loves Cuba so much, why doesn't he move there?
No RINOs in '08 - Vote for a true conservative!
The reason, as I understand
May 25, 2007 - 13:11 ET by MilesDThe reason, as I understand it, is because he is not completely happy with their "tax structure"
In what way? They take too
May 25, 2007 - 13:41 ET by Challenger GrimIn what way? They take too much or too little? Would they interfer with his haliburton stocks?
Be sure to get your daily Fred Thompson Fact!
RINO's
May 25, 2007 - 15:11 ET by PAPA LNo RINO Senators or House Members either!
Cubans live an average of one
May 25, 2007 - 13:14 ET by Hero SquadCubans live an average of one whole month longer than us, and all we have to do is sacrifice our basic freedoms and pay through the nose in order to get it?
Sorry Michael, I'll gladly give up that extra month to live my life the way I see fit.
A month... does he realize how dumb that sounded?
Why would he think that government is better at handling healthcare, when he absolutely hates at least half the people who he wants to put in charge.
Just for fun, Republicans should start calling him on his words and welcome the opportunity to run the healthcare system.
*****
"Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine no possessions?'" - Elvis Costello
It would give him all the m
May 25, 2007 - 13:18 ET by MilesDIt would give him all the more reason to hate it and make some moore movies out of it
- Emm Dee
Moore
May 25, 2007 - 13:34 ET by doug1950I suspect if Michael Moore suddenly found out he had some kind of serious ailment or disease he would not be hauling his fat butt down to Cuba for treatment. One needs to be careful of making bold statements like his, he may find he will have to put his money where his gapping mouth is. I agree with another poster; if he likes Cuba so much why doesn't he just move there while Castro is still alive. Once the old dictator kicks the proverbial bucket I doubt Cuba will stay the same. It may again become a jewel once freedom is restored to the people.
Yeah, for some reason Cubanos
May 25, 2007 - 16:38 ET by BDYeah, for some reason Cubanos do not seem to die from things like:
Sky Diving
RV Accidents
Bungy Jumping
BMX accidents
Skiing accidents
See a trend?
Ah yes, a classic Michael M
May 25, 2007 - 13:38 ET by Dave in TexasAh yes, a classic Michael Moore interview. He's asked two questions... and doesn't answer either one of them. He just uses the basic subject matter of the question as a starting point for some illogical rant.
His "logic" on France was great. They supported us in the Revolutionary War, so we should emulate their health care system. I guess we shouldn't emulate Britain's then, since they're the enemy and we're at war with them.
"But there’s a reaso
May 25, 2007 - 13:41 ET by ckc1227"But there’s a reason the World Health Organization ranks their health-care system [among] the best in the Third World and that people from Latin America come there for their health care."
Perspective, Michael. Just because John Doe is the richest of three bums living on Skid Row doesn't mean the rest of us should strive to achieve his level of (non)wealth.
Maybe they do have the best system out of all the third world countries, but that doesn't mean it's worth a crap. That just means it's not as bad as the other's, not that it's better than ours, you doofus.
Glad someone else caught that
May 25, 2007 - 13:44 ET by Challenger GrimGlad someone else caught that. Isn't it about like saying, "Well she won a beauty contest competiting against rosie o'donnel.
Or... "well they won a war against the French".
What more can we dream up...
Be sure to get your daily Fred Thompson Fact!
"Glad someone else cau
May 25, 2007 - 14:39 ET by ckc1227"Glad someone else caught that. Isn't it about like saying, "Well she won a beauty contest competiting against rosie o'donnel.
Or... "well they won a war against the French".
What more can we dream up..."
The bad thing is he knew what he was saying. He said it that way because he knows many Americans won't catch it.
Saying Kucinich is "too
May 25, 2007 - 13:43 ET by Phan of TruthSaying Kucinich is "too moderate" is like saying Gramsci was too moderate.
"The right wing and the
May 25, 2007 - 13:55 ET by seldumonde"The right wing and the G.O.P. have done a wonderful job brainwashing people that government doesn’t work..."
I think government's done a damn good job of that itself. It's proven it can't handle the simplest things like mail and transportation as well as private entities. It certainly can't handle retirement planning or do much of anything to help poverty. It can't even keep track of its money.
I have a proposition to people like Moore. Give the government all your savings and investments to invest. Until they are willing to let the government handle their financial wellbeing, I'm not ready to let the government handle something even more crucial, my health care.
Maybe Moore should be locked
May 25, 2007 - 14:45 ET by UnsaneMaybe Moore should be locked in a room and not allowed to leave until he reads the Cuba section of The Black Book of Communism.
And one more thing: as much as the Left gushes over Cuba's health care system, I don't think they will like Cuba's treatment of AIDS patients there. Just the first step of their treatment alone will be enough to make the Left take pause. Maybe.
"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???." - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)
Have no fear folks, anything
May 25, 2007 - 19:14 ET by Clear thinkerHave no fear folks, anything MM is for we should always be against, and there are a lot more of us than those that beleive in "His Fatness".
Help a wounded soldier here...
http://newsbusters.org/node/12877
Hey, Mikey! If you believe
May 25, 2007 - 21:03 ET by MikeBHey, Mikey! If you believe Cuba to be such a paradise on earth, why don't you emigrate?
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Moore calling Kucinich what?
May 26, 2007 - 08:01 ET by goldenthroatSo the Pillsbury doughboy is accusing Gollum of being 'too moderate'? Then he says "I not trumpeting Castro or his regime."
Oh really, fat boy? You shoot off your big mouth about how bad you think the American health care system but look like one of your regular daily stops is Krispy Kreme!
Maybe you can open a donut franchise in Havanna and let their so-called wonderful health care system unclog your already plugged-up arteries!
Hypocrite!
Never dance on an empty stomach unless it's a liberal.