Jim Clyburn says Democrats are 'in bed' with insurance companies over Obamacare

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., conceded that Democrats got "in bed" with insurance companies while crafting Obamacare, as he argued that the companies should do more to promote the law.

"We need to push this out into the insurance companies," Clyburn said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "If we are going to be in bed with them, let's bring them into this process. A lot of these insurance companies could be signing people up, they could be informing their policy holders — this letter that they're sending out, don't just cancel the policies, let them know what their alternatives are."

Clyburn's comment concurred with NBC's Chuck Todd's analysis, who explained why "the White House is disappointed" with the insurance companies' failure to promote Obamacare.

"They're in bed with the insurance companies," Todd said. "They're disappointed that the health insurance companies aren't more publicly enthusiastic since this law was essentially designed to give them more business."

Clyburn seems not to realize that insurance companies are directing policyholders to new Obamacare plans, but some of those policies cost more to provide less. For instance, the city workers in Bel Aire, Kan., lost their coverage only to have inferior alternatives offered to them.

"I simply wanted you to know the pain this is causing me and my staff in losing the terrific health coverage we had through Blue Cross Blue Shield in exchange for worse coverage at a higher price," city manager Ty Lasher wrote in a letter to Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., last week.

"BCBS offers other plans that we can choose from based on the government’s standards," Lasher wrote. "All offer higher deductibles and the two closest to our old plan each cost more than what we were paying. In addition, because we are under 50 employees, we no longer get a ‘group’ rate so everyone is being judged as a single."

Via: Washington Examiner

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[VIDEO] No. 2 House Dem: Obamacare Attempt to Change 'Value System in Our Country'

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.). the assistant House Democratic leader, said on CNN's "State of the Union With Candy Crowley" on Sunday the Obamacare is an attempt to change a "value system in our country."

"The fact of the matter is, this is a rollout problem, this is not a values problem. And I think that if we were to look at what we're attempting to do with the Affordable Health Care Act, you will know that what we're trying to do is change a value system in our country."

Clyburn didn't elaborate on the nation's "values system." Instead, he talked about policy cancellations, which are nothing new to him:

"I've been hearing from constituents for the entire 21 years I've been in the Congress about cancellation letters that they've been getting from insurance companies as soon as a child is born with diabetes, cannot get on your health care policy, gets sick, go for your second treatment you get a cancellation letter, you limit your benefits, you get annual benefits -- a cancellation letter from your insurance company.

Via: CNS News

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Dem Rep.: Right-Wing Blogs ‘Manufacture Controversy,’ Like Pre-Holocaust Nazi Propaganda

Are you talking about Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS, NSA?  You hold the prize for propaganda!!

In a satellite radio appearance Wednesday morning, Rep. James Clyburn (D-MD) scolded “extreme right-wing blogs” for not being “news” and for acting in manner he believes is destructive like pre-Holocaust Nazi propaganda outlets.

Asked by Sirius XM POTUS host Jon Deckerwhether race relations have improved under President Obama, Clyburn answered in the affirmative before going off on the “negative” aspects of the Internet:

“You have manufactured controversies. You have people’s words and phrases being misrepresented and looped through the news media and thrown out there on the Internet, and people run with it because these things start getting reported in the mainstream media, and before you know it, people believe that stuff.”

He warned that such “manufactured controversies” could have similar consequences as seen in pre-Holocaust Germany:

“The people of Germany believed Hitler’s foolishness that led to the Holocaust. They believed that stuff. People will tend to believe what they hear through the media.”

Before citing specific outlets, Clyburn said that many of these negative stories originate from people who “are not media people,” but are “bloggers for the extreme right-wing.” The controversies over ACORN and the resignation of USDA official Shirley Sherrod, Clyburn said, are examples of right-wing blogs feeding “misrepresentations” to the mainstream media.

He concluded: “The media has not been discerning enough, to say to people, ‘This ain’t news. This is foolishness.”

Listen below, via SiriusXM POTUS:

VIa: Mediaite

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Rep. Clyburn likens American media to Nazi propagandists

Dem Rep. James Clyburn Compares “Extreme Right Wing Bloggers” To Nazi Propagandists…

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat, on Wednesday accused the U.S. media of spreading "manufactured controversies" that pose dangers similar to the propaganda spread by the Nazis during the Holocaust. 

Speaking to "The Morning Briefing" program on Sirius XM, Clyburn accused the modern Internet-based media of misrepresenting the statements of people in order to hurt their reputations.

"You have people's words and phrases being misrepresented and looped through the news media and thrown out there on the Internet, and people run with it because these things start getting reported in the mainstream media, and before you know it, people believe that stuff," Clyburn said. 

The consequences of such misrepresentation, Clyburn warned, could be severe.

“The people of Germany believed Hitler’s foolishness that led to the Holocaust. They believed that stuff,” Clyburn said. “People will tend to believe what they hear through the media.”

Clyburn singled out “extreme right-wing” bloggers in particular for criticism. He accused such bloggers of forcing Shirley Sherrod to resign from the Department of Agriculture after misrepresenting statements she made to make her appear racially biased. He also said they had libeled the progressive group ACORN, leading to the group’s disbandment. 

Via: The Hill

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