Fox News's Shep Smith: 'Every Vote Against The Public Option Is A Vote For The Insurance Companies'

For what it's worth, Bill-O said "The Folks" should have the option of an affordable government plan. BTW, am I weird for being slightly creeped out by his use of the phrase "The Folks"?

My, oh my, oh my. It is true and interesting that Bill O has been warm to some sort of public option.

Frankly the Dems will screw themselves if they pass a HC bill w/o some sort of public option. One of two things will occur if there is a mandate and not public option, the cost of the plan will be too high or the costs not covered by the plan will bankrupt those who believe they have coverage. Either way the Dems will be blamed.

Looks like Shep has seen CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, and he was moved to start kicking some ass... NICE!

Shep has his moments. Like in New Orleans during Katrina.

like when he took on Nader, on the night Obama won the election when Nader said it remains to be seen if Obama is an Uncle Tom. Shep didn't let him get away with that. It didn't go unnoticed.

Shep has his moments.

If you bring back the "Day in 100 secs" you have to continue ending with Shep. At the end of the day, deep down, he seems like the type of guys who is connected to reality.

I dislike Fox News Channel as much as the rest of y'all (and I have to watch it for weeks at a time, whether I like it or not - long story).

But cut Shep a break. I believe he is the real deal and his show is actually not as obnoxious as pretty much everything else on FNC.

I also think that Murdoch is interested in earning money above everything else, and this is somewhat of a cynical move to add a dash of blue to FNC. I am thinking that he let Shep off the leash a bit. Don't any of you make the mistake of thinking that anybody goes 'off the reservation' for very long at FNC without someone above approving of it.

Didn't that Republican just argue against his own party's position on a number of issues?
Such as Medicare fraud(the GOP are against addressing it), preventative medicine(the GOP calls that government control over people's lives)etc etc?

If the Dems come out with an unfunded mandate and no non profit government program, they are screwed and they know it. Hence eventually they will come around and offer a non profit government sponsored insurance program. What they oughtta do is open Medicare to everyone, it's the only thing that makes sense.

Sounds like Shep is experimenting with a populist approach -- I think this may be a new Fox fad.

Common sense and (far more stunning) TRUTH from Faux News?

Excuse me, I need to go see if Hell froze over.

Barrasso curiously fails to note that, of the 5% of people that account for 49% of healthcare expenditures, 43% are 65+ and 61% are 55+ years old. 65+ yr olds consumed 36% of healthcare expenses. So, that's your answer as to why Medicare is spending money. Sure, lifestyle can play a part in some of the major conditions responsible for this concentration of expenditures (mood disorders, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, hypertension), but the "fixes" Barrasso proposes will not do squat to really address the problem.

I live in Senator Barasso's state. His argument about tort reform, as a GOP goal, is a farce. In WY there was an attempt to get medical legal caps in our state about 2 years ago. WY is a very republican/conservative state. What happened? It got voted down handily. Why, because of the famous attorney of our state (Jerry Spence) went around telling everyone that this infringed on personal rights and that statistically doctors were more dangerous than guns.

I believe that tort reform is necessary to make our health care system work better, but the GOP continuing to argue that they are in favor of it is a complete joke.

Go Shep go. I cheered him when he came out against torture and I cheer him in this interview.

Sounds as though Shep is ready to move to MSNBC or maybe Fox can Trade him for the Lou

Fox News - Fair and Balanced. All opinions are aired unlike the Obama News Agencies - NBC, MSNBC.

The Democrats will be in trouble if a mandate passes with no public option. They will be way too vulnerable to hot-shot stories like folks filing bankruptcy because their $1,000 monthly health care bill (not unlikely for a family) was unaffordable.

They'll never subsidize enough to make the mandate work and in the future, once the budgets get tight, the subsidies will be cut. The best result is a real public option (or a modified single payer plan) that everyone can join. A distant second is a modified public option that limits availability to those in certain income brackets who are uninsured. I don't however, see this as desirable simply from an equity/fairness perspective. I shouldn't be forced to pay the 20% private insurance markup (in comparison to a public option) merely because I make more than others who are eligible for the public option.

It just looks so bleak at this point because the best solution is the one that's off the table.

I've loved Shep since I saw the clips of him on Fox imitating (e.g close-up on face at weird angle with puppy-dog eyes) and otherwise taking the piss out of Glen Beck on the day nobody showed up for his national protest.