Just when you thought things couldn't possibly get any weirder in NYS politics...
A reader who lives in Manhattan reports he received a poll call last night that appeared to be testing the viability of former LG Betsy McCaughey as a statewide candidate for either governor or the US Senate.
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Just a little taste of the whooping Weiner handed down last night, I'm still looking for longer video. Ben Smith was there and gives a brief run down of the humiliation.
By GottaLaff
RSVP for Healthcare Reform Debate with Rep. Weiner and Dr. McCaugheyIf only I lived in New York.
Monday, October 5
7:00 pm
A Debate on Healthcare Reform: What Works and What Should be Changed?
featuring
Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Queens, Brooklyn)
and
Dr. Betsy McCaughey, Health Policy Expert, Patient Advocate and former Lieutenant Governor of New York (1995-1998)
moderated by Ben Smith, Senior Political Writer, Politico
7:00 pm (Doors Open at 6:30pm)
Farkas Auditorium, NYU/Langone Medical Center
550 First Avenue (at 31st Street)
5/6 train to 33rd StreetSubmit questions online for the debaters!
Supporting Organizations
New York University, New York Young Republican Club, the Young InvinciblesRSVP required to guarantee admission
$5/non-members, free for Annual Members
By GottaLaff
The person credited with inventing the “death panels” claim about health care reform worked with tobacco giant Phillip Morris to railroad health care reform in the Clinton administration, Rolling Stone magazine reports.In an article in the magazine’s October 1 issue, not yet available online, writer Tim Dickinson reveals that Phillip Morris “worked off-the-record with … writer Betsy McCaughey as part of the input to the three-part expose in The New Republic on what the Clinton plan means,” Rolling Stone reports.
Cancerous Death Sticks + Death Paneler = Death to Americans. There you have it, our very own homegrown "terrorists" proving themselves to be a bigger threat to humanity than any Rushpublic will ever admit.
What part of saving lives don't they understand?
ABC News credited McCaughey earlier this summer with being the person behind the “death panel” falsehood, when she said in a July appearance on the radio program The Fred Thompson Show that the health care reform effort was “a vicious assault on elderly people, all to … cut your life short.”
In that interview, McCaughey asserted that senior citizens would have to face “death panels” to determine their worthiness to continue living every five years. [...]
Susie Madrak, in her blog at Crooks and Liars, cites key parts of the Rolling Stone article:
[W]hat has not been reported until now is that McCaughey’s writing was influenced by Phillip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company, as part of a secret campaign to scuttle Clinton’s health care reform. (The measure would have been funded by a huge increase in tobacco taxes.) In an internal company memo from March 1994, the tobacco giant detailed its strategy to derail Hillarycare through an alliance with conservative think tanks, front groups and media outlets. Integral to the company’s strategy, the memo observed, was an effort to “work on the development of favorable pieces” with “friendly contacts in the media.” The memo, prepared by a Phillip Morris executive, mentions only one author by name:
“Worked off-the-record with Manhattan [Editor's note: At the time, McCaughey was a fellow at the Manhattan Institute] and writer Betsy McCaughey as part of the input to the three-part expose in The New Republic on what the Clinton plan means to you. The first part detailed specifics of the plan.”
McCaughey served as lieutenant governor of New York from 1995 to 1998, under Republican Governor George Pataki.
You're only as good as the company you keep...
Oops.
Dick Armey was forced out of his lobbying shop, and now opposition to health care reform has taken a professional toll on another critic: A New Jersey medical device company, Cantel, just announced that Betsy McCaughey -- the day after sparring with Jon Stewart -- is "resigning to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest during the national debate over healthcare reform."
By GottaLaff
"Like any other paid spokesperson trying to shill a product, she's welcome to buy commercial time on MSNBC (and I'll even make a call to the guys in advertising to see if they can find her a spot during a break in Countdown)."Word to the wise: Don't mess with Keith. Especially if, as in this case, you're not even mentally or emotionally equipped enough to debate Keith's desk.
By GottaLaff
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
If Keith Olbermann of MSNBC could defend the health provisions slipped into the stimulus bill on their merits, he wouldn't be resorting to personal attacks on me. Olbermann calls me a shill funded by the drug industry (2-12-2009). That's not true.I am not paid by the pharmaceutical industry or by the Hudson Institute. I hold only an honorary Fellows position at Hudson, and take no money or benefits from it. If Keith Olbermann has the courage, I invite him to debate me on his program.
The Obama administration promised transparency, but gave us a sleight of hand. Slipped into the stimulus bill are provisions that change healthcare in major ways. If these provisions are so good for us, why are they hidden in a stimulus bill and rushed through Congress?
Transparency is not a partisan issue. Good people may differ on their health care views. But who can argue with the fact that the health provisions in the stimulus bill should be removed and offered as separate legislation, so that the nation can consider the long term consequences and make an informed decision?
Mr. Olbermann, do you have the backbone (and the facts) to debate me?
Olbermann took up the issue on his show Thursday night after McCaughey wrote this commentary on Bloomberg.com about some of the health provisions in the stimulus bill. Olbermann's objections also included the fact that McCaughey's commentary was picked up by Rush Limbaugh, the Drudge Report and Fox News.
D'oh! She's all a-sputter. Keith, please invite her to be on Countdown, taking her up on her offer to debate you. Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease.
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