At an event held by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday, former President Barack Obama spoke out and smeared GOP lawmakers for trying to get rid of ObamaCare. “It's certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple of months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents,” he told the crowd. And during their evening broadcasts, both CBS and NBC applauded Obama’s condemnation.
“Senate Republicans say their new health care plan may be their best chance for getting rid of Obamacare. That brought its namesake out of retirement today to defend it,” announced Anchor Anthony Mason during CBS Evening News.
CBS Correspondent Nancy Cordes noted that the Graham/Cassidy health care bill kept ObamaCare’s taxes in place but block granted the money to the states. But she parroted Obama’s assertions, saying that “former President Obama, in a rare public appearance, argued today that some states might allow insurers to once again charge more for pre-existing conditions.”
“Cassidy insists his plan does meet what he dubbed the Jimmy Kimmel test after the late-night host whose infant son has a heart defect. Kimmel himself slammed the plan last night,” Cordes added, noting Kimmel’s anti-GOP tirade from the night before.
During NBC Nightly News, reporter Kasie Hunt insinuated that the GOP’s primary reason for wanting to replace ObamaCare was for more cash in their coffers. “After Republicans failed to repeal ObamaCare in July, they're now under intense pressure from major donors to show they're actually doing something,” she asserted. “And Cassidy is spearheading the effort.”
Despite the fact that she reported how the bill requires states to account for how they will cover pre-existing conditions, Hunt leaned on liberal health care advocate Abbe Gluck to spread falsehoods about coverage. “That is the only bill we've seen so far that effectively lets state just dump that pre-existing condition requirement. It allows insurers to discriminate against you if you're sick,” Gluck declared.
Hunt also pointed out how Obama was “defending his signature legislation” today. And she sympathized with Kimmel’s attacks, claiming: “For late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel, the new push to repeal ObamaCare is deeply personal.”
It was just another opportunity for liberal networks to get underhanded shots in on GOP lawmakers trying to better the lives of Americans. None of them dared to mention ObamaCare’s failures nor Kimmel’s admission that he was willing politicizing his son’s medical condition.
Transcript below:
CBS Evening News
September 20, 2017
6:38:29 PM EasternANTHONY MASON: Senate Republicans say their new health care plan may be their best chance for getting rid of Obamacare. That brought its namesake out of retirement today to defend it. Here's Nancy Cordes.
[Cuts to video]
NANCY CORDES: Republicans bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham sprinted from meeting to meeting today.
(…)
CORDES: The Graham/Cassidy bill would keep Obamacare's taxes in place but turn most of the revenues over to the states to come up with their own health care systems. Former President Obama, in a rare public appearance, argued today that some states might allow insurers to once again charge more for pre-existing conditions.
BARACK OBAMA: It's certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple of months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents.
CORDES: Cassidy insists his plan does meet what he dubbed the Jimmy Kimmel test after the late-night host whose infant son has a heart defect. Kimmel himself slammed the plan last night.
(…)
...
NBC Nightly News
September 20, 2017
7:17:11 PM EasternLESTER HOLT: We're back with a new battle heating up in the health care wars. The latest attempt by Republicans to repeal ObamaCare. They plan to put their new bill to a vote next week and already it is highly controversial. NBC's Kasie hunt tonight on what the bill would do and a celebrity right in the middle of the fight.
[Cuts to video]
KASIE HUNT: For late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel, the new push to repeal ObamaCare is deeply personal.
(…)
HUNT: After Republicans failed to repeal ObamaCare in July, they're now under intense pressure from major donors to show they're actually doing something. And Cassidy is spearheading the effort. Last night Jimmy Kimmel said he's had enough.
(…)
HUNT: Cassidy's bill with Lindsey graham would eliminate the individual mandate to buy insurance, redistribute Medicaid expansion and Obamacare subsidy money to individual states to let them implement their own plans, but states could opt out of covering pre-existing conditions, though they would have to explain how they intend to keep those people covered. But experts warn –
ABBE GLUCK: That is the only bill we've seen so far that effectively lets state just dump that pre-existing condition requirement. It allows insurers to discriminate against you if you're sick.
HUNT: Former President Obama today defending his signature legislation.
BARACK OBAMA: It's certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple of months to keep our leaders from inflicting real human suffering on our constituents.
(…)
