Bill Clinton calls Michele Bachmann divorced from reality on health care

• This one  is very hot topic to talk and taking about bill Clinton is helps you or...,well I  think Bill Clinton say true.....

• I think its was very interesting controversy between them Michele Bachmann said we have a best health care and Clinton said its factually untrue....whatever I enjoyed your stuff..

• This can be achieved by creating the perception that liberals are intelligent and therefore elitist, or by describing an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory to incite fear.

• I think what America needs as much as anything else is to stop conducting its politics.

• Bachman and the entire Tea-Bagger party are living in denial of science, reality, and thoughtful spiritualism. Their version of Christianity is an oxymoron, they use Christ's name to spout the most unchristian views imaginable.

• Sorry Kirk, read some UNBIASED opinions about healthcare costs instead of lies from Fox Noise. Tort reform would only save 1% of healthcare costs, your figure is completely false. (Check Factcheck.org for studies that have been done.) Two of the biggest factors in healthcare costs are Admisistration/Overhead (all that paperwork you get in the mail!) at 25% - 35% (depending on the study you read), and uninsured coverage (people with no insurance running to emergency rooms). On top of that, the biggest expense is simply out of control medical costs (doctor/hospital fees). And since we have no price controls in the US, it just keeps getting worse every year. Educate yourself before spewing lies! Besides, this isn't just about the costs in this country. Currently, the BCBS health care I pay out of pocket for can kick me off if I get some disease that they don't want to cover. Does that seem fair to you!?!?! Cost controls sure won't help me there Kirk, so your solutions fail again!

• Kirk, I would GLADLY pay that in taxes for my healthcare instead of what I am paying now. Do you have any idea how much you (or your employer) are already paying for your care? My family of 3 (husband, wife and baby) are currently on the *cheapest* BCBS MN plan that costs (if all deductible is used each year) $11,600 PER YEAR. There's a $5,000 per year deductible in there, so if I wanted to lower my monthly premium, I would have to increase my deductible (to $7,000, $9,000 or more.) How is our US system "better" again?!?!?

• Another massive tirade from someone who doesn't know anything and who parrots spoon-fed propaganda. please spare us.

• Mr. Clinton was trying to be kind.

• Do the math: 2 wars costing a minimum of $1 billion dollars a day for 10 years with interest is a multi-trillion dollar bill...wars started by Bush and his cronies. Who are these wars being fought for and why. For Oil and Mineral companies who are waiting for "cooperative" governments in Iraq and afghanistan.

• You forget all the goodies you benefit from taxpayers: police, fire, school for you and your kids, paying less taxes because you claim kids, your government taxbreak, your mortgage interest deduction for your home....need I go on? Beware of what you wish for. When you lose your job and cannot afford to pay healthcare you will wish for some program to help you. As for the rant about "leeches", you have been spoon-fed too much propaganda by your conservative friends. There is very little aid for poor and elderly people left to cut; that is why GOP is not cutting middle-class programs like Pell grants and Government subsidized loans. What will you do when your kid cannot afford to go to college?

• re-read the article. He did not resort to name calling. He stated facts. He did not "dodge" the draft; he was a Rhodes scholar. However, Rumsfeld bragged he got over 20 deferments so he would not be drafted. If you want to go after draft-dodgers, I suggest you look a little closer at your ideological view. You might find reality differs from your view.

• don't forget flat-out name calling.........

• This accumulated surpluses would be sufficient to pay the liabilities to 2029 at current payroll tax rates..Thanks

• Well There are plenty of frivolous law suits filed. The exact cost of malpractice insurance is very hard to determine and widely debated.

• They spread hate. They leave the impression that by their very words that violence is acceptable. You ought to see..Thanks

• You need to get out of the past and into the present... Look at the CURRENT FACTS... The Republicans just passed the tax extension for all... They pushed for the top percent getting the break with the pretext of it creating jobs... Even though they got the tax break originally 4 years ago and that is when jobs started disappearing, they claim that now if we extend the tax breaks it will create new jobs... I don't see how that will happen, since the FACTS show it hasn't happened yet and the rich have had over 4 years now to do it... That isn't only one thing happening right now, there are numerous other instances where they are saying things that aren't true same as Michelle Bachman and her health care claims... Regardless of what you think of Bill Clinton, during his 8 years the economy and the country was in better shape than 8 years fo George W Bush, so if you want to live in the past and look at bad things, then at least go with bad things relevent to today as opposed to things that happened over 10 years ago (especially considering the time they happened were different that they are today)... You can't change the past and you bringing it up is irrelivent to this article...

• God bless ya Bill! I love you for understating bachmann and her loony tune opinion on health care, but if you were a little bit nastier and truthful [like I am] You would actually say bachmann is divorced from all reality. She is a member of the "I will say anything to keep the donations coming in and to get a vote" gop. "It doesn't have to be truthful or even close to truthful because their is a sucker born everyday"!

• M impressed ....bill clinton is doing a great job, revealing the truth...he is so straight forward...its nice...go onn...

• he made the rich feel safe. That's about it. Stop making excuses for the worst president this country ever had.

• All of you are running in circles sounding like children. How about trying to comprehend issues and not just repeating recycled insults?

• Wow, you're slow.

• Conservatives are dumb.

• I am going to assume that you are being facetious, and if so that is funny. However, if you do believe that Colbert is a conservative commentator you should look up the word "satire" or the phrase "tongue-in-cheek."

• Clinton is wrong. Bachmann is divorced from reality when it comes to EVERYTHING.

• I love people like you, Kirky; you jump into rants feet-first without checking who you are talking to, or what you are talking about. I realize that my tax dollars pay for my medical care. I realize that the tax base in Canada is probably much higher than yours in MN. That said, since the Canadian government is effectively a single-payer system, only $0.01 of every dollar I contribute to the system goes to paying the bureaucrats running it; compare to $0.31 per dollar on your end. The for-profit system stinks, and you are vehemently defending something that would have no problem letting you die to save a dollar (well, not YOU exactly, since you so obviously work for them). And on a related note, one of the reasons I have no problem paying taxes for single-payer healthcare is because I believe that everyone deserves a fair shake at life. There are always going to be people who abuse the system, but unlike you and your money-obsessed ilk, I do not see fit to punish those who are just going through a rough patch to make sure that the infinitesimal amount of people who are screwing the system get punished. Oh, and before you start blustering on about how your taxes are so high, keep in mind that the only reason you can still drive that red-neck-express SUV of yours without going bankrupt is because the fed subsidizes gas prices in the US, too. Otherwise, you would probably be paying close to $8-9/gallon to tank up your hummer.

• Wow 16 people liked this. Brainwashed morons! Again straight from your horses mouth- (President Clinton said on March 23, 1993 at a press conference: "My economic package will cut $500 billion from the deficit in five years." Yet the projected deficit in 1998 with Clinton's budget is $234 billion, the projected deficit in 2001 with Clinton budget is $401 billion. (These figures come from Bill Clinton's budget document, "A Vision of Change for America."-Feb. 1993.)

• It cost zero, really? So your one of those collective sponges? Produces nothing, only consumes? A parasite, with a existence that is whole dependant on the hard work of others and the taxes they pay? If not, take a look at every thing you consume. How much of a cost increase did you pay for that item. This could include taxes on energy, cigarettes/alcohol (these are HUGE providers for healthcare), food, clothing, soft goods, agriculture, biotech, grains, real estate, and yes even healthcare. Remember, you need to follow a product to it's source. Lets use a metal widget. Figure in taxes, fees, permits paid for mining of the metal ore to make the widget. Now the transportation of the metal ore (include vehicle fuel tax, vehicle license tax, etc). Next the refining of the ore (huge fees/taxes here), Now the milling/processing of the metal to process it into stock. Now the taxes paid on product design fees, Now the final product machining. Now the shipping. *Remember to include fuel tax for the transportation of these products from place to place. So in Canada, lets say your tax/regulatory-licensing fees structure is comprised of 20% on everything you purchase. 20% is probably a very conservative estimate for the increase you see on everything you consume when you factor in the feds share, state share, import tariffs, etc. ($8 widget cost $9.6 after government induced increases at 20%) Here in Minnesota, our annual health & human services budget is aprox. 29% of total budget state budget. So, you earned $40,000 last year. Paid $8,000 in income taxes and you blew the rest on bills and fun. (End of year balance = 0) On the remaining $32,000 you paid 20% in your product cost increases including sales tax. ($32,000 x 20% = $6400) $8,000 + $6,400 = $14,400 Minnesota health & human services slice of the pie = 29% So $14,400 x 29% = $4,176 So earning $40,000 you contributed $4,176 directly or indirectly to Minnesota's health & human services. Keep in mind this number may be 22% less because of the Federal tax redistribution rate (money fed takes in vs. given back to the state = .78 of each dollar in Minnesota) Fun stuff! I encourage all to attempt to calculate what your glass of beer or wine would cost without government intervention. Besides my fellow Minnesotans, your all idiots if you feel paying for someone’s healthcare in Mississippi is beneficial to you. YOU ALREADY PAY FOR HEALTHCARE IN MINNESOTA. Minnesota Health Care Programs include: • Medical Assistance (MA) • MinnesotaCare • General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) • Minnesota Family Planning Program • Home and community-based waiver programs • and more. Have any of you, whom cannot afford healthcare, tried to apply for any of these state programs before you go and support throwing another Fed program on top of these available? Dayton just added 90,000+ new Minnesotans to State program rolls.

• Why is Bill here talking about this? He is supposed to be working in Haiti where, after a year, he has made virtually no progress to improve the situation. Real people are dying Bill. Get to work.

• Who cares what you think, troll-boy?

• Just ignore the troll... Kirky here is probably on the payroll of some medical insurance company... paid to sit at a computer all day and make blatant ad hominem attacks at any article that might actually convince the US that their healthcare system is fudged up... PS: Kirky, I'm from rural Canada, and I get GREAT healthcare. My wife had a c-section when my son was born, and we had to spend a week in hospital to recover (in a private room)... guess how much it cost, c'mon guess! ZERO dollars! Yay Canada!

• who cares what an impeached pervert thinks?

• In all fairness, part of the surplus praise can go to the Republican congress that Clinton had while in office (not to say that he didn't "reach across the aisle" to make compromises), and to the business boom that focused around the growth of computer sales and investments in future products. And while it is 100% true that with Clinton there was a surplus and with Bush we fell into debt- certain circumstances have to also be realized. Bush caught the end of the economic electronic and internet bubble, and essentially started 2 wars. Not that I think each one was viably justified (I'm not trying to argue the past), but looking at each budget in context can explain where the money went. And in addressing the Bush economic policy, he did what Americans wanted at the time and made people feel safe- but at what cost?

• Exactly. As you as you have a profit-driven system, people get screwed. Mounds more money per capita spent on health care, yet nowhere near the longest life expectancy.

• " however neither of these measures take into account the fact that obesity is linked to lower life expectancy" Why should that be adjusted out? Is that not a part of our medical problem?

• You want cheaper healthcare? Remove the insurance companies.

• Conservatives are scared. It's their defining characteristic.

• See what's going on here is exactly what I don't understand about modern conservatives. You have valid points in your statement but the way you present yourself is bullish, rude, and insulting. What is the point in doing that? How do you expect people who are not starting on the same side as you to see past your malice and improve their perspectives? You certainly don't know everything and neither does anyone else. But if you and people like you (which seems to be the majority of conservatives who post on blogs like these as well as all the louder voices in government) go on with this kind of attitude all you do is further polarize people. Isn't the goal to help everyone? Or is it to make you sound like the smarter, more aggressive male? And why with valid disagreements would you agree to revoke the entirety of the health plan instead of suggest incremental improvements? I'm sure you realize just as anyone else who has watched politics for a while that bills do not pass very often and it's the best thing we've got so far to improve our system.

• The greatest conservative commentator in America today, Stephen Colbert, said it perfectly: "You can't trust facts. They have a proven liberal bias."

• 1) If you are only paying for the exams you are going to have, there's no point in insurance. You might as well just pay directly for the exam. The whole point of insurance is to spread that cost across a larger pool of people. (I would also suggest you look into data on addiction. Just because someone is 75 does not mean they are immune to issues of substance abuse and addiction) 2) As a medical student, I am all for tort reform. There are plenty of frivolous law suits filed. The exact cost of malpractice insurance is very hard to determine and widely debated. 3) Why is your plan more expensive in your state? If there is a reason why it is higher, for example if your risk of developing certain diseases is significantly higher than someone in ND, then sure, your rate would go down, but the person in ND would see their rate go up since they would now be taking on the burden of the people in your state's higher risk.

• Several issues with that. While it is true that under EMTALA any hospital must stabilize an emergency medical condition, that is all they are required to do. If you have cancer, they are not required to treat your cancer, they are only required to stabilize you should your cancer lead to an immediately life threatening situation. Sure, St Jude's will treat children with rare cancers, but that's a pretty specific scenario. Besides, do we really want the basis of medical care for the large number of uninsured to be hoping to find a charity that is able and willing to take care of them? When it comes to medical facilities going bankrupt, sure, treating illegal aliens is the same as treating any other uninsured person. The hospital counts it as a loss and attempts to spread some of the cost to insured patients. This is a large part of why healthcare is so expensive in the first place. You are at least partially subsidizing those uninsured patients that the system is required to treat. But to simplify America's healthcare issues to "It's all them illegal aliens' fault" is just incorrect, plain and simple.

• Are you kidding me?! Let me guess, you have healthcare and do not actually understand that what you said is not reality. I couldn't pay for my medical bills and guess what?! I didn't get help, my parents had to pay them and I was 23. They were not responsible for me but couldn't let me deteriorate to near death because I couldn't afford it(unfortunately I was not poor enough to get medicaid, I was better off not having a job and being on welfare) Unless you have experienced it you may want to shut up. Even with insurance medical bills are high. Why pay for insurance when it doesn't really cover much. Wake up buddy, just because you are not experiencing the pure shittiness of the US healthcare system doesn't mean that millions aren't either. I cannot understand how people don't get that the middle working class is suffering, not poor jobless losers. And do you live in the UK or Canada? No, so don't comment. I live in the UK now and I am not going bankrupt because of medical bills. And the UK has a lot of illegal immigrants, I am not even sure what point you were trying to make there.

• Ok, so I’m happy that schools back in session, because some of you peoples collective mush between your ears isn’t computing properly yet. Bill Clinton IS A LIAR plain and simple. He has proved this. Bill Clinton told a lie under oath regarding his alleged connection with Monica Lewinsky. He was the second president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives for lying under oath. He was accused of a sexual indiscretion, to which Clinton had replied, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Are you referring to the guy who absolutely, positively guaranteed that if he was elected governor of Arkansas in 1990 he would serve 4 years? The one who said that a 4% income tax rate on the wealthiest 2% of the population would raise 165 billion dollars, reduce the deficit, and allow a middle class tax cut? The one who claimed that the republicans had killed the Lani Guinier nomination? The one who claimed that he had decided to make himself available to the draft after 4 acquaintances were killed in Viet Nam (rather than after his birthday had been drawn #311 in the draft lottery)? The one who claimed that "affirmative action "benefits white men? (as a black man, THAT'S FUNNY) How about when he said that the new gasoline tax (4 cent per gallon) would go to a deficit reduction trust fund. No such fund has been established to date. The NY Times reported that people earning under $100,000 paid an additional $3 billion in '94. But wait, Clinton and the media claimed that only the top 2% were going to pay more taxes. Was that another lie from the Clinton? Clinton said; "But its important that we not panic; there is no immediate danger to retirement. Our accumulated surpluses would be sufficient to pay the liabilities to 2029 at current payroll tax rates." Didn’t they just release a report saying that the social security administration would pay out more than they will be taking in starting next year? Is it already 2029? Also Given that Clinton seems so concerned about the "hateful rhetoric" in: politics these days, I wonder if he intends to own up to his comments such as: "taking food from the mouths of children", "war on the poor", "throwing the elderly out on the streets", and "contract _on_ America, Evil, Extreme, Mean Spirited. Let's go back to April 24th, 1995 in Minneapolis. President Clinton said this shortly after the Oklahoma City bombing. CLINTON: We hear so many loud and angry voices in America today whose sole goal seems to be to try to keep some people as paranoid as possible and the rest of us all torn up and upset with each other. They spread hate. They leave the impression that by their very words that violence is acceptable. You ought to see, I'm sure you are now seeing the reports of some things that are regularly said over the airwaves in America today. It is time we all stood up and spoke against that kind of reckless speech and behavior. Ever notice how liberals like Bill are quick to separate people in group/classes? Why is that? Divide and then conquer maybe? Hey fattweets, "When Clinton was in office we had a surplus" Are you a victim of some liberal lie? You must be going on something you've heard, right? (President Clinton said on March 23, 1993 at a press conference: "My economic package will cut $500 billion from the deficit in five years." Yet the projected deficit in 1998 with Clinton's budget is $234 billion, the projected deficit in 2001 with Clinton budget is $401 billion. (These figures come from Bill Clinton's budget document, "A Vision of Change for America."-Feb. 1993.) Was Bill Clinton lying about the deficit, or are you lying about Clintons deficit? Group thinking, brainwashed, fools... oh wait, not fools but victims You want cheaper healthcare? 1. Remove the mandates - A 21 year old doesn’t need insurance coverage for a prostate exam. A 75 year old doesn’t need coverage for chemical addiction treatment. Here in Minnesota, you have no choice. Government mandate coverage for lots of un-neccary crap. 2. Tort reform - Malpractice insurance accounts for 10-20% of your healthcare costs 3. Allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines (currently you cannot) My Blue Cross plan is 18% cheaper in North Dakota. My cousin is a claims agent. Anyone else have any ideas? Or are ya waiting for direction from who you call "master"?

• Conservatives are scary.

• "For 50,000,000 US citizens and their dependents, it is non-existent." No, grossly incorrect. Any hospital providing Medicare support must stabilize a medical condition. There are many hospitals that provide proper medical treatment regardless of the patients ability to pay such as St. Jude's. Did the several bankrupted emergency medical facilities that went broke near the Mexican border do so because they turned away non-paying patients? I would guess that Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden have better health care for their 60 million (or so) total population or so. How many illegal aliens have they? I do not accept that Canada or Great Britain do. Germany's is top notched.

• Liberals are funny.

• Do not feed the trolls.

• It's about time we heard some sense around healthcare and why it needs to change.... I congratulate you Mr. Clinton!

• sauce on that? they don't have teenage pregnancy in other countries?

• "Slick Willy"? Wow you manchildren really never get past their lame grudges and name-calling. Don't forget to add that he smoked weed and dodged the draft so that nobody notices that he's talking about actual facts, something your collapsing ideology abhores.

• Mark Twain is attributed to having said 'There are 3 kinds of lairs; Lairs, damned Lairs and Statisticians.' With that said, what Clinton said was factually correct, even as it is misleading. The US does have a much lower rank in life expectancy and infant mortality among first world countries, however neither of these measures take into account the fact that obesity is linked to lower life expectancy and teenage births linked to infant mortality. When these factors are taken into account, the US comes out a head. The US also has the longest survival rating for cancer (averaged across cancers) then other countries.

• **Welcome to the Right-Wing Nutjob Response Generator! **INCOMING THREAT DETECTED **Analyzing....... **......................... **Done! **Generating response from formula: Rule 1) If the factual basis of threat argument cannot be refuted, attack credibility. Rule 2) If providing a counter-argument, use vague, angry language and provide no references. Rule 3) Suggest either explicitly or implicitly that liberals are not true Americans. This can be achieved by creating the perception that liberals are intelligent and therefore elitist, or by describing an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory to incite fear. If in doubt, do both. **Response generated successfully!

• Right on President Clinton. Tell it like it is. For 2,000,000 US citizens and their dependents who are rich the US health care is fine. For 320,000,000 US citizens who are employed, its too expensive, it restricts your mobility and its too easily and too often revoked should you ever need it even ONCE. For 50,000,000 US citizens and their dependents, it is non-existent. A poor woman is better off having her baby in Cuba than in Washington DC.

• can you please do constructive criticism, all I hear are a bunch of rants and void of real facts. If you think you know any better please state it other wise please refrain from going off on tangents that have nothing to do with clinton or bachmann's statement above. Clinton is factually correct we arent a great nation we are testing lower than most other countries in terms of health care, unless of course your a multi millionaire and can afford it which isnt fair to middle and lower class americans that dont have a choise

• When Clinton was in office we had a surplus, when Bush was in office, he spent all of that money, so how exactly are the Republican's "conservative " ? How is it possible we live in a country where there is a political group that literally spent everything our country had, and then calls themselves conservative ? I'm baffled !

• Cool story bro. But really, any thoughts about what Clinton _said_ and not just about him as a person or a politician. You see, he _said_ that Bachmann was full of it and that the USA doesn't in fact have the best health care in the world. And regardless of your opinion of him, his politics or his credibility you didn't waste a single keystroke trying to refute what he said. Because you can't.

• Living up to that name...

• Global domination? haha. Keep living in that parallel universe, there, Kirk.

• @KirkTheConservativeJerk, A couple questions for you: "your following (liberals) are so smart that they're able to look beyond your past history, because hey, history never repeats it's self. The ends justify the means right?" Could you add some more detail to your comments? Which part of history are you referencing as it pertains to what Clinton said? And what's the parallel with what you're seeing right now? "As far as Michele and Bill; One speaks about what you can do to make yourself and the United State exceptional, and one speaks about how you can "feel good" about sacrificing for the unknown. Hows that quest for global domination going Bill?" What does this have to do with what he said? It sounds like you're saying that Bill is on a quest for global domination, but your argument as to why isn't expressed. Could you add some more explanation regarding Bill's Davos talk and how that equates to his quest for global domination? Thanks.

• Nowhere in that statement did it refute the actual words that Clinton said. Ad Hominem is what you're looking for here..

• Oh slick Willy, how is it that you have any credibility? That's right, your following (liberals) are so smart that they're able to look beyond your past history, because hey, history never repeats it's self. The ends justify the means right? Bill Clinton in recent years, has mostly used his political stardom to aid foreign nations that have relations to the UN by funneling U.S. money outside the U.S. Save the starving, is the mantra of Mr Clinton, as long as they're from outside the U.S. As far as Michele and Bill; One speaks about what you can do to make yourself and the United State exceptional, and one speaks about how you can "feel good" about sacrificing for the unknown. Hows that quest for global domination going Bill?

• Thank you President Clinton,,and please continue, the real truth must and will shine through, and with your help I am sure it will !!!

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