Coming Up on ‘This Week’: David Axelrod, Sens. Dick Durbin and Jon Kyl
EmailIt’s down to the wire on healthcare reform in the Senate. Can Democrats get to 60 votes? We’ll ask the President’s top adviser, David Axelrod, whether the White House can beat the Christmas deadline and whether reform is dead if they miss it.
Plus we’ll talk with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Minority Whip Jon Kyl about the battle for every last vote. With anger from the left and Democratic calls to “kill the bill”, can Harry Reid prevail?
And will concerns from conservatives over abortion doom reform efforts? Axelrod, Durbin, Kyl … our "This Week" headliners.
Plus, our powerhouse Roundtable: George Will, Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson and Donna Brazile take on the healthcare debate, climate talks, sagging poll numbers for the President and all the week’s politics. You won’t want to miss it.
See you Sunday.
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6.26 per 1000 live births.
That is the current infant mortality rate in the US, according to the 2009 CIA Fact Book that you can find on Wikipedia and in a recent report filed by the OECD.
Our infant mortality rate is the highest in the industrialized world. It is twice as high as the infant mortality rate of Sweden or France, each country with a so-called “socialistic” medical system. It is even higher than the infant mortality rates of Canada, Great Britain, and Cuba, the three countries with medical delivery systems that conservatives target as failures of “socialized” medicine.
According to Statesmasters.com, Washington DC has the highest infant mortality rate in this country, followed by the states in the so-called Bible belt, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. According to a recent report by CDC, inadequate prenatal care is one of the major reasons for our disgraceful infant mortality rate. In addition, the lack of health insurance drives many desperate women to abortions.
And while babies in Washington DC. are dying Jon Kyl is collecting bribery money from lobbyists. I checked out Center for Responsive Politics, and discovered that Kyl has received $ 646,393 from health professionals, $428,015 from securities and investments, $242,420 from insurance companies, and $ 197,240 from pharmaceutical industries. Kyl’s top individual contributor is the Club for Growth, funded in part by health insurance and pharmaceutical companies), I dare Stephanopoulos to confront Jon Kyl with this information
Next, week we will be celebrating Christmas, which all the religious crazies on the right wing constantly remind us represents the birth of Christ. Very well. How would Jesus fare if he were born today. First of all, Mary as a poor woman, would not be able to afford prenatal care, so odds are that Jesus would die. Or Mary, like many other desperate women, would resort to an abortion.
Will George Stephanopoulos raise these issues with Jon Kyl. I don’t think so. For real Jon Kyl is a baby kyller.
Posted by: William Joseph Miller | December 17, 2009, 9:02 pm 9:02 pm
The above commenter missed the statistics for people age 60-5 years old. We are ranked 65th in the world in this country. In Canada the median age is 5 years older but their mortality rate is 70/1000 vs. 120/1000 for the U.S., that’s an additional 13,000+ deaths per day in the U.S. just for this age category.
Posted by: dr_t | December 18, 2009, 12:42 am 12:42 am
“First of all, Mary as a poor woman, would not be able to afford prenatal care, so odds are that Jesus would die.” – William Joseph Miller
Mr. Miller, Mary didn’t have prenatal care over 2000 years ago and Jesus didn’t die.
Also, odds are he wouldn’t die based on the statistics you provided at the top of your post.
“Or Mary, like many other desperate women, would resort to an abortion.” – William Joseph Miller
Bill, obviously you don’t know Mary. She would never have an abortion.
Your post is riddled with faulty logic. You should read what you wrote and put some time into really thinking about what you said.
From your tone it sounds like you are a liberal who supports abortion.
If you really are concerned with babies dying, there are far more that die from abortion than during birth. Maybe you should find a Pro-Life group to join where you live.
Posted by: Noz | December 18, 2009, 10:08 am 10:08 am
Anybody who uses Wikipedia as a primary source needs to have their head examined. Also, infant mortality rates from country to country are like comparing apples vs oranges. Every country has their own Infant Mortality rates standards. Some countries don’t include children that die before 1 year of age in their totals. The US includes every child that tries to be born.
Posted by: Lannes | December 18, 2009, 10:16 am 10:16 am
To William Joseph Miller:
And did you check out Obama’s “income” and background, or Axelrod’s? Now there are some stories — except that it takes some real probing since none of it is too “transparent”.
You are barking up the wrong tree. Do some more research.
Posted by: PC | December 18, 2009, 10:23 am 10:23 am
William J. Miller- My friend is a nurse and she said anyone without insurance can come into the hosiptal and deliver their baby free of charge-no one turned away. On the other hand women who do have insurance pay very dearly to make up for the deadbeats that don’t work, carry no insurance but get top of the line care. No one is turned away! Go back to sleep!
Posted by: Marsha Hunter | December 18, 2009, 1:59 pm 1:59 pm
If they truly want to reform the Healthcare system, they need to reform the system of paying off those who don’t agree with your premise because they know how stuff works in Washington, DC. End the corruption, take away the privileges of a government that raises it’s salary before raising the rate of other “previously promised” social programs like Social Security and Medicare. Nothing good can come from the taint of a corrupt legislative bodies like the US Congress/Senate and a corrupt Administration.
Posted by: NewJerseyVet | December 18, 2009, 6:02 pm 6:02 pm
You may tell Axelrod and Durbin that although I will still happily vote for democrats from the governor level on down, based on this morning’s cave-in to Ben Nelson and continual capitulation to Lieberman I will NOT vote for any democratic senators, representatives or Presidents until after 2012 at the earliest.
With the vote this morning you let a major portion of your base know that you are completely out of touch with their financial reality. You made a lot of people enraged at you this morning.
Posted by: jan | December 19, 2009, 10:01 am 10:01 am
George Stephanopolus — he has 7 guests, and only 2 are republican, the rest are far left liberals.
Welcome to ABC – another Barack Channel
Shame on ABC News. How predictable.
Posted by: Karen | December 19, 2009, 4:42 pm 4:42 pm
WOW George you could not create a blanaced panel? You have to get have democrats out number the republicans? Gee thats swell. I guess the threats from Rahmbo worked. The Washington Syndicate is really holding your feet to the fire eh George?
Posted by: ChicagoBob | December 19, 2009, 11:26 pm 11:26 pm
George has been on the Democrat payroll since working for the Clinton administration. He may get a pay cut for letting the two Repubicans on. Remember the democratic debates? He never made Hillary address the question asked, he just let her spout her campain retoric.
On a ligher note, had a giggle each time Alexrod said “I think”. He is a democratic mouthpiece, he hasn’t had an original thought since leaving the Hyde Park Herald. The whole administration circus awaits direction from the ringmaster, who in turn remains too distracted with post-campaign depression to actually focus on the significant issues affecting the country.
Posted by: Silence Dowell | December 20, 2009, 11:22 am 11:22 am
Yea, this is a “fair and balanced discussion”. Sam, Cookie, and Donna vs George with a little of George thrown in. With four who carry dumocratic party membership cards voicing their liberal beliefs, I only viewed this program for about half a second. You shouldn’t have to wonder why viewers to your network resemble a meeting that can be held in a telephone booth.
Posted by: findthemorons | December 20, 2009, 11:26 am 11:26 am
How can you sit there and listen to the lies these politicians throw at you? Would you consider being the first to hook them up to a lie detector?
Posted by: Rob | December 20, 2009, 11:27 am 11:27 am
No wonder the Democrats think the American people are too stupid to see the future effect of the health care bill , they elected Obama didn’t they. The experts keep talking about how Mayo sets the standard. Don’t they know you can’t go to Mayo unless you sign that you are willing to pay the difference between what Medicare pays and what Mayo charges.
Posted by: Maureen Perfect | December 20, 2009, 11:34 am 11:34 am
Dear George,
I appreciate your Sunday show, but find it very liberal. Everyone is for Obama and his lies. Why not get a couple true conservatives and two liberals to debate the truth.
I was rather saddened by the show today, 12/20/09, about the disinformation your panel gave. My gosh the bill is over 2000 pages, you think the senate read it all? Their is a lot of hidden things and if they are bargaining, what’s changed? Verbage? and things are still the same?
Thank goodness their are conservative radio people that tell things how it is.
Americans aren’t stupid and the polls show it, we don’t want healthcare reform as it is being shoved down our throats.
Gary O
Yakima, WA
Posted by: Gary | December 20, 2009, 11:58 am 11:58 am
Once again, you have three liberals and one fairly none speaking conservative to comment on the opinions of the nation. We are tired of having Washington know more that the rest of us. Our legislators and the commentators live in the bubble of Washionton where everything is so much more important and so much more informed than the rest of the nation could possibly understand. You and the Congress are not on Olympus to let the rest of us poor mortals know what is right for us. I personally am disgusted by the whoring of America by Harry Reid in buying off Louisiana, Vermont and Nebraska. I’ve never worked on an election, but I will on this one and I will work to expell every current sitting representative and senator. The Republicans did it under Bush and the Democrats are doing it on steroids under Obama who lied and continues to lie to the American people under the politics as usual for Chicago(I spent most of my life there and I know from experience).
Try to have a really balanced discussion for once in your round table.
Maybe one conservative voice who will talk up would be refreshing. Try it and maybe the watchers may get something approximately truth.
B. Nelson
Posted by: brn | December 20, 2009, 12:00 pm 12:00 pm
Note to Donna, Kokie and Sam: Many of us conservatives don’t believe its the governments role to make sure everyone is has insurance. The current insurance problems are because of government intervention, not lack of intervention. Kokie: No, we will NEVER look back at this and see it as progress. It is a move toward a single payer sytem and thus a step toward socialism.
Posted by: Jim | December 20, 2009, 12:04 pm 12:04 pm