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Michael Moore Tells Democrats: 'Find Your Spine' on Health Care
WASHINGTON - Sans video camera, filmmaker Michael Moore on Tuesday turned his megaphone on the current health care system and those Blue Dog Democrats he claims are "dogging" the health care debate.
Moore, an advocate of a single-payer, government-run health care system, called the current setup "cruel," and said that two-thirds of Americans support a single-payer system and would punish those Democrats who steer the conversation away from that option.
"To the Democrats in Congress," Moore said, "find your spine. Read the polls. And see us coming."
The contentious documentarian spoke at the Washington offices of Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy group. Moore has a new film called "Capitalism: A Love Story" slated for release Friday, and says he's using the media attention to push for single-payer health care.
When asked why the single-payer option hasn't won much support in the health care debate in Washington, Moore said Democrats "haven't felt the heat."
Moore also criticized liberal voters, who he said lacked the motivation of Republicans and "wouldn't get up at 6 a.m." like their conservative counterparts.
"There's a lot of anger out there that's simmering beneath the surface," said Moore, adding that the Democrats haven't tapped that fury.
Echoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower's famous words regarding associations between the military and private business, Moore took aim at what he called the "Health Care Industrial Complex."
The filmmaker also applauded President Barack Obama on several fronts, but said the president needs to "hit the reset button, and go back to the drawing board" with the health care debate.
On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee rejected the "public option" for revamping the nation's health care. The public option would have created a government run insurance company to offer low-cost health insurance coverage to those who could not afford private plans.
The vote, in which five Democrats joined all 10 of the panel's Republicans, is a rejection of one of Obama's central proposals for improving coverage for millions of Americans without health insurance.
During the entire congressional debate over healthcare, no legislation to create a government-run health system like those in other developed nations has garnered significant support.
Moore's other well-known movies include: "Roger and Me," about General Motors chairman and chief executive Roger Smith; "Bowling for Columbine," about gun violence following the mass killings at a Colorado high school, and "Fahrenheit 9/11," about America after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
(The Medill News Service is a Washington program of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Heid, a graduate student in journalism from Ann Arbor, Mich., covers health care policy.)
61 Comments so far
Show AllI applaud Michael Moore for leading the pack in these times where a spine is hard to find. Usually I am skeptical of entertainers that fight a cause right before the release of a film but Moore is not an entertainer he is in Colbert’s own words an “edumatainer”. What is missing from this article is the fact that we are having this health care debate in the first place because of Michaels film Sicko. Keep up the good fight Michael there are many of us that share your thoughts and feelings that are willing to back you up all the way.
I agree totally with what you say. While saying this, I'm still waiting for real solutions from the crowd around here that are more interested in slamming Michael Moore and are too lazy to get off their asses and actually fight for real healthcare reform as Moore is calling for. It's just so much easier to slam Obama and the Democrats for not being pure enough to the "progressive" cause.
The "fight" for single-payer could've been won fairly easily and effortlessly.
Obama appoints a FCC head who believes in a new improved Fairness Doctrine and taking anti-trust action against the media megaliths.
Quickly right-wing talk radio is pared down from 98% domination to around 10%.
The remaining licenses are distributed fairly and equally to liberals, moderates, independents etc.
This instantly puts an end to the thundering propaganda and misinformation such as "government takeover" and "death panels".
In its place a discussion of cost and efficiency occurs.
The public, now educated, demands a single-payer system.
"Obama appoints a FCC head who believes in a new improved Fairness Doctrine and taking anti-trust action against the media megaliths."
Change a couple of faces on the Supreme Court and this would be a great idea.
q
"To the Democrats in Congress," Moore said, "find your spine. Read the polls. And see us coming."
The Democrats are so spineless that they are afraid to even have the Republicans filibuster against the plan. So the Repubs get the benefit of the filibuster with out the political cost they may suffer if they actually did one.
The Dems should pass a plan with a 51 vote majority and let the Repubs filibuster against it and see what happens then.
When you boil off all of the scum and look at what's left, here is what you have: The Politicization of what is best for the people of the country. Notice how scores are kept? Republicans 10, Dumbnocrats 5. If this government truly functioned as intended, the single-payer choice is a no-brainer; it is what ss BEST for "We the People", therefore, the country.
Simple question: HOW CAN LOBBYING WITH CA$H BE LEGAL?! In my dictionary it's called BRIBERY--completely against the Constitution.
Simple question: HOW CAN LOBBYING WITH CA$H BE LEGAL?! In my dictionary it's called BRIBERY--completely against the Constitution.
Yup I think that same thing almost on a daily basis.
Yeah, that is the problem. MM, the demorats are spinless because like Baucus and the rest their spines have been removed with $$$$!
gnken
Why isn't "SICKO" being play around the country now? It would be very effective.
Well at least the pistol packin mama from Alaska was correct about one thing: we do have Government run death panels!
The U.S. is hooked on what, for lack of any better name, I call the "if only" syndrome.
If only this or that political party had a spine. If only this or that politician could be persuaded that the public really wants such and such. If only some symptomatic aspect of U.S. political theatrics could be nudged this way or that way.
Until Amercans can force themselves kicking and screaming into the horrific realms of reality the chances for any real change are nil. The problem isn't cowardice, nor ignorance, nor stupidity, nor lack of understanding of public wants and wishes. It's total systemic corruption and the politicans are playing their roles in that totally corrupt system with full knowledge and understanding -- and with considerable "spinal" attributes, it might be added.
In fact, the vast majority of U.S. politicians of both corporate parties not only have "spine", they have the gall of canal horses when it comes to standing firm for the interests of their paid sponsors and against the demands of the peasantry. They do so BECAUSE it actually coincides with their own self-interest and anyone would be forced to do likewise or face defeat under the established U.S. political system as it has actually evolved.
The problem is neither individuals nor parties. It's systemic and, in fact, it's merely one reflection in one of many theaters of "The American Way" (TM).
Half the Democratic Party politicians are indistinguishable from Republicans, but Michael Moore keeps on telling us to vote for that party. The other half are so marginally different from Republicans that they still are no great shake anyway. Michael needs to grow a spine and tell people for a change to break away from them. 'Find Your Spine', Michael!
Re pilarerecto September 30th, 2009 12:51 pm, who urges
"'Find Your Spine', Michael!"
Exactly. I think Moore's suffering from buyer's remorse after having trashed Ralph Nader (and, by extension, anyone who voted third-party).
Be careful, Mike, while you're looking for your spine, not to let your own credibility sink with O'Bummer's.
Agreed.
But I'm afraid its too late. At this point in the game, the edge of energy and momentum are gone.
And the elections of 2010 and 2012 will likely be devastating to the democrats.
Prepare to return to the shallows, progressives, to await the next savior.
If we thought the 8 years under Bush were bad, the next stretch of republican rule will be brutal.
Or, maybe he knows he will be supported enough by enough people to make a very good living (and advance his causes), almost no matter what he says? I am not saying he is in it for the money (and he apparently has been very generous), or that he doesn't make powerful and courageous films, but I have noticed that what he is doing seems to work well for him, despite his "dumbness."
M. Moore is smart and knows exactly what he is doing. He is supporting the Demoks despite their crimes because he is required to, if he wants his films distributed. If he were totally honest he would say it in public. Apparently anyone utilizing US big media has to support the Demoks, which translates into effective support for those elements the Demoks truly represent.
To all liberals and progressives out there, we must say to our senators and congresspersons to vote this piece of rat excrement down like what it is and flush it down the toilet. Yes, we can start from scratch, and we damn well must if we want even the slightest bit of real health care reform. It's time to stop making excuses for leaving the fox in charge of the chicken coup.
AD
leaving fox news in charge of the chicken soup is a tad closer
First off it is sad that the author of this article is a graduate student in Journalism, and one that covers health care policy because single payer is NOT "government-run health care system" as Heid asserts. It is Government funded not government run, very big difference.
Moore only errs in assuming the Dems have no spine, the problem is they work for the same people the Repubs do. So they are standing up for what they believe in, it just happens to be what they believe in is selling out the American people to serve corporate power.
The two parties are owned and operated to serve the interests of the wealthiest few, our plutocracy.
Very correct in this assertion - there is no spine for what progressives want but they certainly have the spine to carry the bags of money that they receive from their pimps all the way to the bank. We cannot expect anything from the Democrats because they are the heads to the tail of the same coin. How long is this country going to suffer a false dialectic of democracy? Are there only two voices? A country with 50 states, cannot afford any longer to be ruled by two parties that have already agreed on how to partition the spoils of their serfdom. Break up the parties and lets be pluralistic!
All Congresspersons are smothered between a lot of rocks and one big hard place. The hard place is the insurance and drug companies and the rocks are all of the constituents...what to do? Vote for what the people want and lose all of the precious campaign money or screw the public once again and whistle a happy tune on the way to the bank..Perhaps someone should point out that all of the money in the world will not get them reelected if they fail their constituents as no one will vote for them...and maybe they really don't care now that they have sopped up enough dough to 'retire' to their comfortable first, second, or third homes. Sooner or later this country will catch up to the rest of the world on health care but it will be a bloody fight as the 'constituents' are poised and ready to march across party lines, party politics, party greed, and party hubris. This is about what is best for America and Americans will have to fight the beast of self interests to get what is rightfully theirs.
"Perhaps someone should point out that all of the money in the world will not get them reelected if they fail their constituents as no one will vote for them ..."
Everbody can tell them whatever they wish to tell them. It won't make the slightest difference in the face of all of the incontrovertible historical evidence to the contrary and the undeniable controlling facts of mass mythology and manipulation.
The reality is that almost all of those controlling mechanisms are held by the same monied interests that control the entire political processes and the politicians themselves -- and, unlike the general public, the parties and their individual members are very well aware of their place in that totally corrupted system.
But, by all means, do keep on trying to get them to understand "the truth" of the situation as you perceive it. One or two congressional newbies might actually believe it for a few months of their initial terms in office, but you can be sure that they won't be chairing any committees that really matter until they wise up to the actual realities. And they won't be seeing a second term unless they do.
They're not caught between a rock and a hard place. They're caught between a rock and the one of the mushiest, easily manipulated and indoctrinated, muddle-headed electorates on earth. The choice isn't just obvious; it's inevitable in the established and prevailing circumstances.
The newest and still uncorrupted members of Congress are hijacked between home and Capitol Hill. By the time they reach their brand new sparkling offices and decide who gets to grace them as aides they have sold out, lock, stock, and barrel, not to the highest bidder, but to each and every bidder from day one. The current debate over whether or not to have a public option (a notion that somehow this is what the American people want)is nothing but a pacifier. They can not discuss the real reform that the majority of Americans want, universal health care, or Medicare for all because it would be a conflict of interest as that is what they already have, a healthcare, the very best health care plan that is paid for by their constituients. They scream about how dreadful a government run plan would be but you don't hear a single one of them explaining how bad their own plan is..mostly because it isn't a bad plan at all or they wouldn't be on it. Period!
In other words, more Congressional Democrats might find their spines if their big, fat wallets were not in the way.
Poeple tend to forget that President Eisenhower's reference was to the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex. Likewise, I think we need to refer to the Medical or Healthcare-Industrial-Congressional Complex.
Actually 'Ike' as well as Maj. Gen, Smedly Butler, USMC were referring to the "Plutocratic Oligarchy", they were simply using slightly different 'verbiage' and the only reason they were mentioning it in the first place is because they were not being 'invited to play with the big boys'----and were 'pissed on and then off'.
The 'PO' runs the entire 'dog and pony show' that the USA is and has been in charge of it from 1776 to now---and will remain in charge as long as the 'people of the USA' keep it in power or allow it to keep itself in power.
They may wish to accelerate the 'change' since the rest of the world has most likely reached its 'saturation point' with the 'good ole USA' and their patience has been worn thin----very thin.
"If the USA were another nation the USA would invade the USA to keep the world safe; and they would be justified."
Your sig line makes me smile every time I read it. So true. And yet one wonders whether, in fact, the invasion hasn't already been accomplished for all practical intents and purposes.
The "occupying forces" certainly seem evident enough when called upon to extinguish any resistance to manifestations like G20 conferences. Although the police uniforms have outnumbered the military ones so far, I'm not sure that really matters much. I'm quite sure the tactics and weaponry can be exchanged and scaled up as may be required.
If Democrats have no spine, why are they so good at resisting progressives?
I couldn't vote for a Republican. But I will vote for progressive Democrats and against all conservative Democrats.
Yes, Michael, it's true. The Democrats have so spine. They are also missing another part of their anatomy. For them to discover just what part that is; all they have to do is loosen their belt two notches, reach down about a foot, grope around and find....NOTHING.
Who are the 5 Losers who voted with the Neo fascists?
They should catch all hell from folks all over the country shouldn't they?
Why won't the media mention them by name?
Why are we not plastering their names across every blog we can?
Isn't condemning progressive Democrats along with regressive Democrats like throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
Shouldn't we be making clear distinctions between their cons and their libs instead?
With few exceptions, dear ezeflyer, it's becoming hard to tell the difference. We should cherish and support the few and the proud progressives. But let us not let our frustration, disappointment and anger at the rubbery hypocrisy of the Democrats block our the recollections of how horrible the Republicans are.
I have been watching House "debate" on CSPAN. Somebody has to do it. Lest we forget, I will tell you the Republican blockheads work together as a block to block anything from happening. They are not looking for comprimise and solutions to problems. They are exceedingly tedious and dilatory. You would think that they are obtuse, except that you can see that they want to block things because they are so white and so prosperous and the system is working for them. Why should they disturb their own way of life? The lives and needs of other people are beneath notice. It would be a waste of time to try to behave in a conciliatory manner with such people.
They do not worry about facts. They repeat "big government", "higher taxes". They have colored charts from Kinkos or somebody's art department with circles and percentages unlike anything you ever learned about in math class. They say anything they can regardless whether it is true.
They talk about how public health of any kind will block people from getting care. It will give the [big, inefficient] government the right to deny care. That is so illogical - right now there is no care at all for many people, so almost anything would be an improvement. Right now if you have private insurance, they constantly deny payment as well.
One of the Republicans said that his 80 something year old father just got fine heart bypass surgery within a few days of diagnosis, whereas he would have had to wait in some other country. Is his father on government Medicare, may I ask? Did Medicare say "no" forcing him to turn to his private bank account for thousands of dollars? Not likely if it was a medical necessity.
Nobody is suggesting that people should not be free to buy a private policy if they so choose and can afford it. Or that they be prohibited from paying for anything out of pocket. Both rich and poor alike will still have the same opportunity to pay minimum $20,000 out of pocket for a heart bypass. (or $10,000 in Canada, free in France for French people, $8000 in India, including airfare and hospital resembling a luxury resort).
Medicare is the best thing we have in health care. It is straightforward and involves much less paperwork and bureaucracy than many private insurances. It is too bad you have to reach age 65 to use it. Are there Republicans calling for an end to Medicare because it is run by the government? I do not think they can risk doing that directly. But they will attack it indirectly if they find any pocket of corruption - real or fabricated.
Joe
Sure.
All those who got together to refuse to sign a bill without a robust public option deserve praise.
Anyone have a list?
Just watching the House of Representatives on CSPAN. Rep. Todd Akins, (R) Missouri, just said we dont't want a government plan that will "crowd out all the privates".
Mordechai, anyone? I just fed you a straight line.
Joe
Mikey they got a spine all right, the kind of spine that comes with a complete lack of ethical let alone moral codes. They have the spine to effectively flip off the public, defy them. What are they going to do? Vote Republican? (a Bill Clinton line)
Mike please go one step further: The Democracy Inc., winner takes all, two-party system is a sham, totally phony. We get the same failures decade after decade. Mike slandered his former mentor Ralph Nader and pitched for Obama during the campaign. The two party system means zero sum game: vote for Nader one more vote for the Republican. The system is anti-democratic and is used to divide the left. Just think about that for a moment Mike.
I have never been able to detect much difference between Democrats or Republicans or Independents.
The all are simply 'prostitutes' to the Plutocratic Oligarchy, and with the exception of their 'special talents and skills'----they will do whatever the highest bidder desires.
With the absence of the total elimination of the 'PO', I would think that 'most americans' being 'sports fans and all' would option out for some 'hard competition' for those 'prostitutes favors'---you know ----hold a special election for the ability to 'out bid' the 'PO'---at least 'everyone would be serviced' and the only 'losers' would be the ones who could not 'afford' more than a 'quickie in the back seat'----or a "BJ in the front seat'
or
"hey baby, its extra to have the 'lights on'--- ya know?"
"If the USA were another nation the USA would invade the USA to keep the world safe; and they would be justified."
In the "it's funny because it's true" department, I always smile when I think of a characteristic of Kilgore Trout, a fictional character in Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece, "Breakfast of Champions".
The narrator informs us that Trout can't tell one politician from another; to him, they all comes across as "formlessly enthusiastic chimpanzees".
I suffer from a similar defect, if that's what it is. Thanks for sharing; a CommonDreams denominator must surely be "misery loves company".
· Yr Obd't Servant
The spine is made of Green - dollars!
Voting for either Demoks, or Repuks, is the same as not voting at all. In contrast, voting for third parties makes a voter into a partner in the revolution.
I think we ALL need to get a little spine. Nothing like a million or so marching on Washington and stopping the gears of the machine to make people wake up and take notice.
The Democrats never had single payer bill on the table.
Remember it was "Pelosi the Democrat" in partnership with
Obama, who would not allow it on the table.
Sen Dodd should introduce a single payer bill in the Senate if he has a spine, and bring it to a vote, so that we could see who is on our side, all we have had so far is a game plan from the Insurance companies.
Michael Moore is dead on, but he has one serious flaw. He still believes the shine that Brand Obama can bring 'Hope(TM)' and 'Change(TM)' to America.
So many of those on CD have finally awoken to the truth that both the Democrats and Republicans are nothing more than the two faces of the same coin, that being Corporate America.
Unless, and until, the stranglehold that the military/industrial/insurance & banking/entertainment complex has on America (and the world) is broken, no chance of meaningful reform or advance is possible.
As long as the legal fiction of 'corporate personhood' exists, these 'persons' before the courts will have more rights than extant human beings, and will use and abuse that power to achieve their only reason for being, that is, profit at any cost.
The corporate charters were granted at the pleasure of the government, and could be rescinded by the same. But as long as the various corporations control the election fund purse-strings, and thus the politicians 'elected', there is no chance for reform or revocation of corporate charters.
So what to do?
Mass boycotts. General strikes nation and world wide.
Starve the beast.
This is not just a problem endemic to the US. These monsters (there is no other word for these abominations) must be brought down, with mobs bearing torches and pitchforks if necessary.
But even as we embark on this path we must remember that the tools of the corporations, their bought and paid for politicians, will use every weapon at their disposal, including disinformation, media distortion, police and military troops and all their weapons to maintain their parasitic death grip on our souls.
Talk of non-violent resistance is all well and good. But at some point you must decide whether you will die on your feet as free people, or live on your knees as little more than slaves to tyrants.
I am a Canadian and very glad of it. Currently I have had a string of unfortunate health concerns. I am a type 2 diabetic, I fell and broke my right wrist, and developed cellulitis in the big toe on my right foot. All told - during the past seven days I have visited the doctor three times, spent time, on five different days, receiving treatment at an outpatient clinic at a major hospital in our city. I have a fiberglass cast on my wrist, I am receiving intravenous antibiotics for my cellulitis and just to be sure the infectious disease specialist at the outpatient clinic, is having a bone scan done to make sure we get it all. None of this treatment has cost me a penny - nor will it. Our Federal and Provincial governements realize(sometimes reluctantly) that universal health care is essential to the good governance of the nation and the quality of life its citizens enjoy. I have been observing with interest the debate raging in your country over President Obama's proposed health care changes and I am amazed at how blind and pig-headed people can be. This is a no-brainer folks. Michael Moore is right - the majority of the citizenry know that this has got to happen - no choice - that it is supposed to be government OF THE PEOPLE - BY THE PEOPLE and FOR THE PEOPLE - NOT THE HMO's. If I were living in the USA today I would be bankrupt. In Canada I am just another citizen cared for by our Health Care System - which I - and everyone esle pays for with our taxes. The United States of America can show its true colours by resolving this issue. Currently you have 43 MILLION American citizens who have no Health Care coverage of any kind - that is more than our entire population. All of our people are covered
Michael Moore's instincts are mostly humane and democratic, and as a filmmaker he does as well as his present abilities allow.
Since he's the only well known producer of mass distributed film documentaries that progressively hit issues head-on, it's hard to criticize him. But he leaves much to be desired. Specific reform ideas in his films, if coherently argued at all, are often sloppily thought through or too sentimentally presented to motivate much more than the choir.
Moore's cinematic blend of entertaining melodrama and semi-education has its place, I suppose. But the potential of popular docu-cinema to inform and rouse people to progressive action is, I think, much greater than Moore's particular style has so far achieved or maybe can achieve.
I think Moore's style needs, and surely the issues demand, some vigorous competition (parallel, but stylistically smarter efforts, if you prefer) in this medium, from within the artistic left.
That Michael Moore is virtually the only progressive non-fiction filmmaker who's successfully mainstreamed progressive perspectives to date may be to Moore's credit, but it's also to the equal discredit of the artistic left in general.
The US public needs, no less than Moore the artist needs to be challenged by, more cinematographers taking a cue from his trailblazing, consciousness-raising creations.
I agree with your thoughtful and articulate comment!
I just wanted to get that in before the Gingham Dog turns up, and you have your paws full!
· Yr Obd't Servant
People who criticize Michael Moore need to do one of two things:
1. Name someone who is doing more to help us in Moore's field of endeavor.
2. Do more than Moore to help us in their own field of endeavor.
Progressives and liberals need to stop the circular firing squad. Michael Moore is generally on our side. Support him, buy his movie if you can or borrow it and show it to people with an open mind.
No offense, but I disagree. People who criticize Michael Moore need to keep on doing what they're doing, provided such criticisms are made in good faith.
I haven't figured out exactly where it came from, and how it became pervasive-- but there's a popular misconception that if one supports a public figure, one must become a cheerleader dedicated to accentuating the positive, and eliminating the negative.
This misconception drives political culture wars, especially during a campaign. They're as rampant on Internet forums as anywhere.
Obama's the obvious example. Zealous supporters seethed with self-righteous resentment towards critics unable or unwilling to give Obama proper credit for performing admirably under impossibly stressful conditions.
Criticism stands or falls on its merits. Stupid criticisms motivated by sheer animus, whether of Moore or Obama, fall of their own accord. Reasonable, shrewd criticisms are valid, useful, and perhaps even prophylactic or therapeutic. No one should get, or expect, a free pass.
The simplistic, dualistic notion that one cannot appreciate both redeeming and damning characteristics of public figures is one of the most pernicious intellectual traps in today's dumbed-down Amerika.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Well said!
So true. We have to retain the capability for complicated thinking.
As with any morally primitive creature, politicians and corporations respond to both positive and negative reinforcements. Once we have used words to analyze their strong and weak points, we have to follow up with punishment and reward. For positive reinforcement, praise them briefly. If they continue to do the right thing, scratch them under the chin, give them money and help them get elected. For negative actions, say a loud and immediate "NO", give a sharp tug on the leash, vote them out, bring lawsuits against them or boycott their products.
Michael Moore, however, is not a morally primitive creature. I think friendly criticism and support on a human level will be appreciated.
Joe