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Steele: We Don't Need Comprehensive Health Care Reform

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RNC Chairman Michael Steele

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Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, in an interview this weekend on Univision, said, "I don't think we need a comprehensive overhaul of our health care system."

"Because our health care system," he continued, according to a transcript posted by Latina Lista, "while it remains the best in the country and while it provides largely the services that people need and the quality of those services are very, very good, there are costs associated with this system that needs to be address more directly."

He explained the Republicans' plan for health care, describing it as "elbow grease" that requires neither regulation or taxation.

"It's common sense solution, it doesn't require a nationalizing of our health care system, and it doesn't involve or require a great government intrusion through regulation and taxation and other confiscatory policies," he said. "What it requires is applying a little, you know elbow grease, to allow those businesses, those Hispanic businesses for example, under the market place and get the health care that they need."

During the interview, Steele also offered his thoughts on immigration reform and Glenn Beck's assertion that President Obama is racist.

On immigration:

Basically what we should be saying is that there are rules that you need to get into the country, go the right door, fill out the right form, have some apple pie, hum a few bars of the star spangle banner and get to work, God bless you, and I think that that begins to set us on the right road to dealing with this issue.

And he didn't condemn Beck's comments, even when given two chances by host Jorge Ramos.

Ramos: For instance, when you hear commentators like Glenn Beck saying that for him President Barack Obama is a racist, with a deep seeded hatred for white people, how do you react?

Steele: That's one man's opinion.

Ramos: Yes, but...

Steele: That's one man's opinion.

Ramos: but should you defend Barack Obama against these types of comments? I don't know, it's just a question.

Steele: No, no, look the reality of it is when I ran for the United States' Senate and I was called an Uncle Tom by leading Democrats in the country, when I was called a slave by Steny Hoyer who is now the majority leader in the House no one came running to my defense and no one seemed to think that that was racists at the time. I don't play the race card, I don't play the race game, the way some tend to want to do.

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51 comments

Recommend Recommend (1)

October 19, 2009 11:13 AM   

"Because our health care system," he continued, according a transcript posted by Latina Lista, "while it remains the best in the country

Remains the best in the country? Is he refering to his own RNC-supplied HC plan? What's the "our" in this sentence referring to? Seriously, what does he mean?

Does this clown ever talk in clear, plain English?

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October 19, 2009 11:31 AM    in reply to jolly ranchero

Imagine how his Spanish translator felt.

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October 19, 2009 11:58 AM    in reply to Schmed- ley

He sounds like he's been taking syntax lessons from Sarah Palin.

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October 19, 2009 1:15 PM    in reply to Flybynite

Word salad, dressing on the side

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October 19, 2009 3:52 PM    in reply to Schmed- ley

Wouldn't it be a smart idea to look up a video and see if the transcript is accurate? That's what I'd do.

Another thing I'd do is point out something that's important to keep in mind when reading Jorge Ramos interviews. Write TPM and ask them why they didn't tell you that.

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October 19, 2009 6:31 PM    in reply to LonewackoDotCom3

FOX "News" is owned by furners, so should all patriotic 'merkins boycott it? Or is it okay in their case, because Murdoch is white?

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October 19, 2009 8:03 PM    in reply to jolly ranchero

I think he misspoke, I think he meant the best "in the world"... remember, one of the Reps' and right-wingers' mantra has always been that we have the "best health care system in the world"..

of course how a health care system in which about 40 million people don't have access can be considered "the best in the world" is beyond all reason and logic, but then these retarded morons have never been big on reason or logic.. just myths and delusions and superstition, thank you very much..

did you catch Sen. Kyle saying this past weekend that the Harvard study that came out last month saying about 40,000 people in this country die every year because they lack access to health care is not true? no evidence, no way he can prove this, no nothing, it's just a truth he doesn't like so of course it's not true. period. I simply can't understand the people who continue to vote these morons into office. In no other modern democracy in the world could these retarded morons win elections... only in America..


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October 19, 2009 11:16 AM   

Basically what we should be saying is that there are rules that you need to get into the country, go the right door, fill out the right form, have some apple pie, hum a few bars of the star spangle banner and get to work, God bless you, and I think that that begins to set us on the right road to dealing with this issue.

That's his solution to the immigration "problem"? Jeebus, this man is a first-rate idiot.

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October 19, 2009 11:33 AM    in reply to commie atheist

The words "God bless you," spoken after every sneeze, are really the foundation of any Republican's health care plan. Who needs flu shots when you can invoke the Almighty instead?

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October 19, 2009 1:31 PM    in reply to commie atheist

I want to see that drafted into legislation.

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October 19, 2009 4:53 PM    in reply to Minne sconsin

Yeah, me too. I'd vote for that - especially the humming part!

What is up with this bird? Is this some kind of act he puts on? Is he going to break out in "Swanee" and do a little shuffle ball change? How does he keep his job? People walk away from me if I talk like that. I'm sure the Latina community was so impressed by his interview that they are going to rush out and vote republican ASAP after they get through humming a few bars and applying elbow grease to that health care issue.

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October 20, 2009 1:52 PM    in reply to bluesplashy

He is the GOP's House Negro. If they dump him, they will just make it obvious to everyone (as if it isn't already) that they are the White Man's Party. If they keep him, they will make it obvious to everyone that he was an affirmative action hire, who was elected chairman simply because they figured they needed a black face to counter Obama, and that any black face would do (where have you gone, Alan Keyes? A movement turns its lonely eyes to you, woo-woo-woo). In all, a win-win situation.

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October 19, 2009 11:22 AM   

I think when he inevitably gets fired by the GOP, the dems should keep him around. He's unintentionally like Colbert in the way they both "support" the Republican strategy.

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October 19, 2009 11:23 AM   

The greatest lie the Republicans ever told was that they were our friends.

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October 19, 2009 11:53 AM    in reply to Schmed- ley

Nice fact check work, Schmedley!

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October 19, 2009 1:19 PM    in reply to Schmed- ley

Oh, it gets even better. Let's look at the incident Steele specifically referred to in the quote.

"No, no, look the reality of it is when I ran for the United States' Senate and I was called an Uncle Tom by leading Democrats in the country, when I was called a slave by Steny Hoyer who is now the majority leader in the House no one came running to my defense and no one seemed to think that that was racists at the time. I don't play the race card, I don't play the race game, the way some tend to want to do."

Hoyer Remark 'Racist,' GOP's Steele Charges

The original remark by Hoyer, by the way, was that Steele made "a career of slavishly supporting the Republican Party." Perhaps a poor choice of words, he didn't call him a slave, he nonetheless apologized immediately, and no leading democrats called him an Uncle Tom. That's a blatant lie.

A little more research shows that I'm not the only one who noticed this: Michael Steele Doesn’t Race-Bait, Except When He Does

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October 19, 2009 1:55 PM    in reply to guest4000

Excellent digging around re: Steele's veracity. Doesn't he realize every time he unleashes a whopper, he'll be exposed. It's like he's asking for it. Shades of Gary Hart daring the media to follow him, which they sure did, big time.

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October 19, 2009 11:33 AM   

So America's health care system is the best health care system in America? Really?

Is the RNC's current plan really to prove that W wasn't the stupidest human being in existence?

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October 19, 2009 11:41 AM    in reply to kevbo

Well, it would be unpatriotic to say that it was the worst in the country, right?

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October 19, 2009 11:42 AM   

Why does it always seem like this guy is out there all by himself? Is there really no one, on his staff, in the RNC, no one they could bring in from outside...... who can help this guy deliver a talking point or two any better than this?

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October 19, 2009 11:48 AM    in reply to FlyingV

I think you have to consider his target audience. He's not addressing democrats.

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LFC

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October 19, 2009 1:23 PM    in reply to rbe1


F**! He's not even addressing adults with IQs over 80!

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October 19, 2009 1:42 PM    in reply to rbe1

I think you got it wrong here. (and poor Mike Steele missis this point too).

The GOP has NO INTEREST in Steele providing sound argument in their favor. His is merely a token to appear inclusive. This stsategy os twofold...

1st (and most obvious): Have someone other and a 60+ white guy spouting their BS talking points.

2nd (& most often missed): In the mind of the target audience of the GOP (Read:uninformed), every mistake Micheal Steele Makes is a direct reflection on Obama's lack of qualification(as, like Steele, a black man) to handle the presidency.

I'm not saying ALL Repubs are Racists, just, all Racists are Republicans and that constituency, like all others in the party are courted with deliberate actions and rhetoric.

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October 19, 2009 2:32 PM    in reply to _jonny_5_

"2nd (& most often missed): In the mind of the target audience of the GOP (Read:uninformed), every mistake Micheal Steele Makes is a direct reflection on Obama's lack of qualification (as, like Steele, a black man) to handle the presidency."

That idea just set off an alarm bell in my head, hadn't considered it before. Scary concept if true, but would explain a lot.

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October 19, 2009 11:45 AM   

OK - this has to be another hoax. There is no way Steele said "fill out the right form, have some apple pie, hum a few bars of the star spangle banner and get to work" in an interview with Univision.

With Univision for f***'s sake?

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October 19, 2009 11:54 AM   

Ever wonder who's coaching Michael Steele? Makes it clear once you know.

http://bit.ly/3ppyiu

(satire)

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October 19, 2009 11:59 AM   

What a complete embarrassment and a complete coward. "That's one man's opinion" - Really?

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October 19, 2009 12:11 PM   

Ummmmmmmmm!
A deal is being cut to include a special program in the upcoming health care reform - the Gr-ass-ley amendment. For the price of a $10 co-pay, they are adding a program to provide psychological counseling for those Republicans who want it. The bipartisan nature of this program may help to ensure passage of the legislation.

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October 19, 2009 12:28 PM   

I doubt that Steele will get fired because there is no other 'token' African American who could replace him, or would want to anyway.

His handlers need to keep him as close to their vests as they can even though he strays so far away with his nonsense.

The Repuglicans have to have an African American at the Chairman of their party so they can use that against all of us.

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October 19, 2009 12:31 PM   

Come on, folks. Where's the love? We should all get behind Mikey as re-invents the GOP. Who knows, maybe he'll be able to deliver our "Dream Ticket" for 2012. Yeah, you know...
Palin & Bachmann!

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October 19, 2009 1:25 PM    in reply to jacks45

Actually contemplating a Palin/Bachmann election poster costume for Halloween... Let's face, it there is nothing scarier... for the GOP.

Palin/Bachmann 2012... America has had enough sane solutions, let's try something else.

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October 19, 2009 12:42 PM   

love my Michael Steele updates.

Everything you could ask for in a buffoon and more.

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October 19, 2009 12:51 PM   

Try this on for size: Palin/Steele 2012.

Can you imagine how much fun the campaign and debates would be?

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October 19, 2009 1:09 PM   

Steele is a token? Then the Obamanator must be the 'uber' token.

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October 19, 2009 1:22 PM    in reply to amabo666

Sheesh, we need a better breed of troll here at TPM. If this is all the better Redstate and the freepers can do, it's no wonder that the GOP is in trouble.

I will say it very slowly for you amabo666 so that you can understand... Since the Democratic party has a broad range of support, a black man is not a token in the party (since we have plenty of African-American politicians).

But since the GOP is mostly rich white privileged guys, yes, Steele is a token.

Just for you, amabo666 - a trivia question - who is the highest ranking black elected GOP official in the country?

Just askin', ya know.

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October 19, 2009 1:48 PM    in reply to Minne sconsin

Trivia Bonus Round: How many GOP member are there in the Congressional Black Caucus.

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LFC

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October 19, 2009 1:31 PM    in reply to amabo666

Not at all. Obama is a highly intelligent person who worked hard, took advantage of his opportunities, ran an excellent campaign against both Clinton and McCain, and stopped torture.

Compare that to that wealthy welfare child, George W. Bush. He accomplished almost nothing on his own. Everything was handed to him because of who his daddy was.

Now I have to admit, Palin doesn't suffer from the same "daddy's little faded gene" problem. But as dumb and intellectually incurious as Bush was, Palin surpasses him on the Stupidity Scale (tm).

But hey, maybe the GOP will run Mike "I Don't Believe in Evolution" Huckabee.

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October 19, 2009 3:37 PM    in reply to amabo666

You do understand what a token is right?

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October 19, 2009 1:12 PM   

If the Obamanator gets dumped in the 2012 primaries 'who you gonna call?'.

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LFC

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October 19, 2009 1:32 PM    in reply to amabo666

Oh, puh-leeeeeaze. Now your just having a Glenn Beck wet dream.

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October 20, 2009 9:03 AM    in reply to LFC

Take it easy on the racist guys, they are an endangered species. They have tried every way to hide their true identity and failed, so please allow them to die a quick but agonizing death. Their time has come and gone. Like my friend said to me the other day, you can't tell your kids anything mean about others based on race, b/c they'll quickly accuse you of being a racist.

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October 19, 2009 1:37 PM   

republicans: YOu get what you deserve. The GOP..leading America into oblivion.

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October 19, 2009 1:39 PM   

Steele is a coward. He is being used and he lets himself be used.

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October 19, 2009 2:31 PM   

You have to just keep hoping Steele keeps it up--he's so incoherent that even with Bush keeping a low profile and Palin in and out of the public eye, we can remain assured that the Republican "leader" cannot speak straight. (You can follow the transcript and hear Steele misspeaking under the translator--unfortunately, the transcript is pretty accurate excepting a couple homonyms.)

Not only is his syntax all over the place, but he talks about only needing to apply "elbow grease" to the "healthcare system" that is "the best in the country" to get businesses the health care they need. No practical solutions to actually fix something that even most Republicans admit needs fixing, just elbow grease (why not use a "monkey wrench", too?). No concern about the millions of people (heck, he is so petty he even disputes the numbers, rather than showing some compassion for ANYONE) without health care coverage; just have to get the businesses in the marketplace and everything will be better.

And how much more condescending can he be toward those who would like to become citizens than to tell them to just eat apple pie and hum the Star-Spangled Banner, fill out the right forms and go through the right door? Maybe he could explain how this works exactly--I bet Univision would be happy to give him 15 or 30 minutes uninterrupted to lay out his detailed plans for immigration reform. Maybe the potential immigrants would even play baseball and chow down some hot dogs in his extended remarks.

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slb

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October 19, 2009 4:34 PM    in reply to TexasSkeptic

A monkey wrench -- hmmmm, yes, the Republicans seem to be pretty good at throwing monkey wrenches into things, so that would be an appropriate analogy!

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October 19, 2009 3:24 PM   

Steele: We Don't Need Comprehensive Health Care Reform

RNC: We Don't Need Comprehending Chairman

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October 20, 2009 2:09 PM    in reply to LisB


Republican Base: We Don't Need No Education

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October 19, 2009 3:24 PM   

Of course he doesn't think we need health care reform. He has health care.

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October 19, 2009 6:20 PM   

Mikie, What Up? I was just wondering if it bothers you that all your hip-hop ideas get shut down immediately? Including your latest blog. Or that you are a living race card but don't get it?
Anyway Mikie, so many questions, so little time.

Keep it real, really.

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October 20, 2009 2:15 PM   

What's so awesome about Michael Steele is that he has done and said so many stupid things in the past year that everyone seems to have forgotten the famous "Oreo" incident, or should I say non-incident:

After a September 26, 2002 gubernatorial debate, which had occurred without reported incident, Paul Schurick, Ehrlich's communications manager, claimed that the Kathleen Kennedy Townsend campaign handed out Oreo cookies to the audience.[19] Five days after the debate, Steele said that one or more Oreo cookies had rolled to his feet during the debate suggesting a racist statement against him, that of being black on the outside and white on the inside like an Oreo. "Maybe it was just someone having their snack, but it was there," Steele said. "If it happened, shame on them if they are that immature and that threatened by me." At the time of the debate, Schurick had not mentioned any such incident, but in November 2005 he claimed "It was raining Oreos... They were thick in the air like locusts. I was there. It was very real. It wasn't subtle."[20] In a November 2005 Hannity and Colmes appearance, Steele agreed with Hannity that cookies were thrown at him.[21] Neil Duke of the Baltimore NAACP, who moderated the debate, praised the "passionate audience" and noted their "derisive behavior"[19] but did not see such behavior. "Were there some goofballs sitting in [the] right-hand corner section tossing cookies amongst themselves and acting like sophomores, as the legend has it?" Duke said. "I have no reason to doubt those sources; I just didn't see it."[20][22][23] The operations manager of the building where the debate was held, interviewed three years after the event by The Baltimore Sun, disputed Steele's claim and said "I was in on the cleanup, and we found no cookies or anything else abnormal. There were no Oreo cookies thrown."[20] Some eyewitnesses, including AP reporter Tom Stuckey[24] and Project 21 representative Kevin Martin,[25] have said cookies were handed out and thrown. Other eyewitnesses did not corroborate Steele and Schurick's claim.[26][27]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Steele

I was reminded of this when I read a recent comment somewhere by a freeper-type that said something to the effect of, "Michael Steele was pelted with Oreos at several events when he was running for the Senate." So, in wingnut lore, a single event which probably never even happened has mutated into several events, proving once again that liberals are the real racists.

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