Alan Grayson Cares – Keith Olbermann Talks Universal Healthcare with Grayson

Alan Grayson

Keith Olbermann hits hard against the Health Insurance Cartel’s financially-crippling price fixing monopoly and brings up the obvious question:

“Isn’t it time to strip the anti-trust exemption from the health insurance industry?”

Excellent question.

Anti-trust laws prevent companies from holding monopolies over markets. That is apparently not currently applied to the “Health Insurance Cartel” that behaves outside the laws — price gouging and committing other abuses with reckless abandon for the past 64 years. In 1945 a law (the McCarran-Ferguson Act), allowed Insurance companies to act as a monopoly and reap enormous profits.

The Judiciary Committee finally decided to address this today. The Health Insurance Industry Anti-Trust Enforcement Act of 2009 would repeal the Anti-trust exemption for the Health Insurance Cartel. The Cartel claims that their anti-trust exemption allows for them to keep costs down. Luckily Chairman Leahy and others don’t believe that this is the case and Senator Chuck Schumer seems to believe it is imperative that the senate work together to make sure it’s part of the health reform bill.

I think we can all agree that that isn’t really how it has all gone down. The Health Insurance Cartel’s profits continue to rise while we the people get priced out of affordable health insurance.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D) of Florida (@alangrayson) visits Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss his rallying support for the public option. Grayson explains to Olbermann that he believes this anti-trust exemption being stripped away is long overdue and needs to be done now. But it was this bold statement by Grayson that was the show-stopper of the interview:

“[Insurance companies] bought and paid for that favor from congress and now we need to take it back!”

When Olbermann asks Grayson whether he believes Democrats in the Senate have abandoned the public option too easily, Grayson explains that it isn’t the Democratic Senators but, rather, the leadership that is trying too hard to placate the other side. Grayson calls the Democratic senate out to stand on the courage of their convictions and to “get it over with – vote!” He is no easier on the Republicans to whom he offers the following eerie premonition if they don’t straighten-up and fly right:

“The public will remember that the Republicans don’t want better health care for America.”

Grayson implores people need to get on the phone, online, and write letters insisting on justice for the public and universal comprehensive healthcare in America.

I have to agree with Grayson. Without a public option, there is no reform. Amongst the Democrats, there’s too much worry about bipartisanship and getting along rather than calling a spade a spade by saying to Republicans ‘you either you care about saving lives and money or you don’t”. We need more politicians to have the Chutzpah to come out and cast a light on the corruption in congress and other areas of government and fight for our health care rights by rallying for universal health care. The health care industry owns the Senate and the States. People need to stand up and make them afraid. Government and corporations should fear the people in a democracy and free market, not the other way around.