Friday, March 19, 2010

You Decide

"You know we're going to control the insurance companies" - Vice-President Joe Biden

Is it just another case of Joe Being Joe or did we finally get a little bit of honesty from a politician? Personally, I'm going for the latter.

5 comments:

Silke said...

What is the source for this quote, Chris? And what is the context of his statement?

Christopher Lee said...

It's from an interview he have to ABC's Jake Tapper. He's rambling on, giving the usual talking points about how everyone will be able to keep their insurance when this little gem popped out of his mouth. I tend to think it was a moment on honesty that wasn't supposed to come out.

Silke said...

Here is the context of the quote. In terms of the health care legislation it sounds like the Vice President is talking about controlling the insurance companies by ensuring consumer protections (i.e. no more loss of coverage for pre-existing conditions or losing your job).

TAPPER: When you talked to these members of Congress, you told me what you tell them. What do you hear back from them? Do you hear back from venerable members who are worried this bill will cost them their jobs?

BIDEN: Well, I yes. Some of them I say they say, well, Joe, look, man, I mean, you know, you guys haven't massaged this very well. And, you know, this thing has gone on so long, I don't know. And my response is, hey, man, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I'm telling you, you know, pre-existing, they're going to be covered. You know we're going to control the insurance companies. You know people aren't going to lose their health care with their employer like is being advertised. So you've got to if you really want to make sure that you get the benefit of what you've already done, vote for the bill. And I look, Jake, I really, truly believe that the worst place to be, as a legislator, is being in the position where your side is being pummeled for an idea and there's misrepresentations about all the bad things the idea is going to generate. And then the idea fails and then they go, see, I told you Jake was for it. And had I not stopped, Jake, there would have been death panels.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/03/exclusive-vice-president-biden-says-obamas-cancelled-trip-not-a-bad-sign-for-health-care-bills-prosp.html

Christopher Lee said...

Yes, I've heard the audio and read that page. He's rambling on and in the middle of it says "You know we're going to control the insurance companies". Which means one of two things. Either they're going to pull another GM and take them over or they're going to force them to bend to their will.

Silke said...

Why would it mean only one of two things? Aren’t there other possibilities? Couldn’t it mean what the Vice President is talking about in the context of his remarks (i.e. consumer protections)?