. from washington, the mclaughlin group. the american original. for over two decades, mississippi.org to see what we can do for you. issue one, nick's obama care. >> socialists and you will not abandon the party. [ inaudible ] >> you have awakened sleeping giant. >> the voice of the people,

the message, no on obama care. the president's effort to reform the healthcare insurance system, an effort that includes a government funded insurance agency is lagging. 49% of americans now disapprove of obama's health insurance vision. 43% approve. most worrisome is the growing detect from his block. 35%, over one out of three of independents are now more sympathetic to the town hall protesters. 16% less so. >> question, how do you explain the ranker, the town hall meetings are exhibiting, pat? >> there's real anger at the belief in middle america that they are experiencing the blunt of this recession. the politicians had that huge stimulous pigout. that is one thing. secondly, healthcare, they believe this reform is going to

take away benefits they have. i tell you, as exhilarated by these democrats, calling them un-american, harry reid calling them evil mongers, other people calling them mobs and thugs. the backlash against the democratic party here is astonishing. middle american by 2 to 1, they agree with the protesters and not with the democratic party. >> eleanor. >> first of all, cindy said to shout down over people views is un-american. they didn't call the shouters un-american. i think the president has lost momentum here. people who have insurance are worried that they are going to lose something in this very extensive package. and the president really doesn't have a single bill that he can point to. he doesn't have a clear message and all of the bills floating around on political provide lots of inviting targets for people who want to kill healthcare and want to kill the

obama presidency along with it. the political stakes here are huge and the president has done a good job with the special interest. they are all tentatively on board. it's the political opposition that is much more intense this time and it seems to have caught the obama administration by surprise. >> you are seeing the american people are mad and they are not going to take it anymore. they see an out of control, unresponsive government which is supposed to be responsive and representative of what they want and what they need. they don't see that. they saw a trillion dollars in economic stimulous that failed to stimulate the economy. it was a political act, not an economic act. they see cap and trade passed in the house, which is handed out to the biggest tax increase in the world. this is the straw that broke the camel's back. healthcare overhaul, nationalizing or near nationalizing of nearly 20% of the u.s. economy.

people are really angry, john, and for democrats to show contempt for the american people, when those same american people pay their salaries to represent their interest is not exactly a very good political move. president obama who on the campaign trail was a master of rhetoric, really he mastered the art of the silver tongue. for him to not be able to sell his plan now, this is why you see these numbers falling and also because the substance of the plan is so bad that the american people are recoiling from it. >> mort. >> i think they understand now that this plan involves an expence and a deficit over the first decade of a trillion dollars. what are they getting for it? 90% of americans have healthcare. 77% really like it. this is money that is going to the people of lower income. the whole idea of getting healthcare costs under control seems to have been lost in the process. they don't know what in the world this program is all about. he lost the momentum entirely on this thing and it is getting

worse and worse. >> you don't think -- >> he is now resorting to an attack that is not going to suit him well. >> because they can get the plan now on the computer and there is widespread computer use and they can see what is in the plan, is that what is causing the sustain on the part of the american people? they understand it. they understand this so-called government option, which is a slippery use of words anyway. >> right. i think that is a part of it. what the fundamentals are is something disturbing to them. we are looking at a huge addition to the national debt. people are really concerned. they now realize debts have consequences. they have mortgages that exceed the value of their homes. they have credit cards they can't pay and they see this in the country and they don't like it. >> let me get this. what does barack obama really believe in his heart is the ideal health insurance system for the united states? >> if i were starting a system from scratch, then i think that

the idea of moving towards single payer system could very well make sense. that's the kind system you have in most industrialized countries around the world. >> what does the single payer system mean? >> a single payer system is what we have with the medicare system. the government pays, you can still go to your own doctor. >> obama likes the single payer system. >> no, he is saying that if he were to start over, it would be much more efficient to have a single payer system. we have a whole insurance industry in place and he is not about to disrupt that and in fact, howard dean who is a physician and a liberal says he is in favor of the hybrid plan, which is uniquely american of the insurance companies, because the insurance companies have gotten out of hand and i don't know if anybody has been sick, but insurance companies get in the way between you and your doctor and what the obama

administration is trying to do is beef up the public part of the system so the insurance companies don't rule the roost. >> do you think he can get to what he wants, a single payer system, which is a government financed system, through the method that he has? arguing the economist does that you can't really compete with a piece of it being government because the government would tax away, can move in and take over? [ inaudible ] >> i started out quoting howard dean and i didn't finish that. he supports the hybrid system. this is not a trojan horse. >> of course it is. >> that's exactly what it is. >> let pat in. >> when a government comes in -- john, look obama basically believes in the single payer system. he basically believes in a government takeover. they want to get the government option in there because when it gets in there, it under cuts the private insurance. people more and more move

toward it. it's a complete takeover. >> has the public -- hold on. has the public found out something else from reading it on the computer? namely that this new system when it is installed is mandatory on everyone. >> exactly. there's all these things in there. obama comes in -- >> you don't have the choice about taking the insurance. you must take the insurance. is that understood? >> he promise you can have your own doctor and your own insurance company, but everybody knows all these pressures are moving you away from that. >> let her in. >> no, this is three against one as it always is. but there is nothing sinister about requiring people to have health insurance. we have automobile insurance, what that does is increases the pool so everybody can get covered. >> it is not mandatory, by the way. >> i'm going to go to you right after this. >> i think it's 4-1 eleanor.

obama's self-inflicted injuries. >> why is obama losing the political battle? has he wounded himself? self-inflicted injuries, for example, surgeons. did obama borrow trouble by taking this shot at doctors? notably, surgeons. >> you come in and you've got a bad sore throat, or your child has a bad sore throat or has repeated sore throats. the doctor may look at the reimbursable system and say to himself, you know what? i make a lot more money if i take this kid's tonsils out. >> a cheap shot? whatever, these words that triggered this response from the american college of surgeons self-described as quote, a scientific and educational organization that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical

practice, unquote. the college has more than 76,000 members and is the largest organization of inb@ in what they said, que, that remark of president obama was ill informed and dangerous. and we would dismayed by this charactezati ofon the work surgeons do. surgeons make decisions about recommending operations based is right for the patient, unquote. >> question, was it a mistake for president obama to suggest that a surgeon would remove a child's tonsils in order to make more money? mort. >> it's the kind of political charge in this environment and in my judgment isn't going to get them anywhere. what he is going for is the defeat for services program. by every single procedure, every single visit. every single prescription is a part of the bill that is paid for by the federal government and right now there are no incentives to keep that system under control. that's what he didn't introduce in his healthcare program and

what he should have done. that's what is causing run away healthcare costs, which is what the country knows we have. >> let's pursue this further. hitting surgeons again. >> obama took another shot at surgeons this week. >> if a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they are taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a little. but if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $50,000 immediately the surgeon is reimbursed. >> this is the surgeon's response to the president's remarks. evot tarhe ree times when eticenpatient needs his abdi surgeoet the president's remarks are truly alarming rgand run the ri of damaging the all important trust between e surgeons and

their entipats. we assume that the tipresident made these mistakes unintentionally, but we would urge him to have his facts correct. >> question, was it a mistake for president obama to suggest that a surgeon would amputate a foot in order to make more money? >> yes, and he keeps making this mistake. the first one you could say, he went off the tell prompter, maybe he didn't mean it. >> he was reading that, wasn't he? >> he keeps kicking doctors in the head. i'll tell you something else, the healthcare reform panel advising him is led by dr. emanuel. none of these doctors advising him see patients on a daily basis. they are philosophers, they are into ethics. that leads to the total deafness that we have seen. >> let pat in, eleanor. >> this is an utterly shameful thing to say about doctors. many of us have had great favors done for us by doctors. him keep coming back to that,

that reflects who he is and where he comes from. he ran a great campaign as a moderate. what is coming out is a hard anticapitalist -- >> wait a minute. does it go beyond that? is it class warfare? >> this is saul speaking. >> he wants to amputate all the conservative's foot, is that what you are trying to say? >> you want to defend obama on this? >> i want to say you have distorted what he said. what he is saying is the primary care physicians who take care of people who are mostly well do not make money, what we need is people to manage people with chronic illnesses. and the surgeons make a large amount of money for doing operations. i'm not saying the operation wasn't necessary, but we have a shift to the chronic management of illness and away from the secret service and part of -- i'm sorry. you can laugh all you want, but

that's what he said. >> for goodness sakes, you could not misintrept what he said. >> the doctors are basically supporting the plan because they know the system we have now is unsustainable. >> the membership is in revolt. they are in revolt of what the delegation of the ama says. >> physicians are supportive. >> no, they aren't. >> he falsified the fees for taking off a foot, which is $1,050. exit question, has the momentum of obama's fundamental healthcare reform stalled irretrievably? or can he regain traction? >> it is in reverse. he is losing every day. the correlation of forces out there for some kind of reform that will enable obama, i think to get something, if he starts dropping off these crazy things that have been add ons. >> eleanor. >> yes, he can get the

momentum back and in part thanks to pat and monica and people like them and they are over the top distortions of what this healthcare reform is about. >> i didn't hear my name in there. >> and i'm still optimistic enough to believe the truth will win out. >> the american people are in near revolt. you see these poll numbers hemorrhaging on healthcare reform, over 50%. 53, 56% of senior citizens are in revolt against this. over 60% of independents are in revolt against this. i think he lost the momentum because it is no longer about healthcare. it's about the government's role in individuals lives. >> mort. >> he has to refocus and talk about cost containment. that's not what he is talking about. >> this comes at the expense of the elderly. >> the fee for services program, there has to be a change in that system. otherwise, the federal government is seen as a person

who is going to pay all the bills. >> hold on, $3,000 to remove a foot versus caring for a patient. has a lot to do with the service and the distortions of that. >> he lost momentum irretrievably on this formulation. if he drops public option, which congress will force him to do, so-called public option, which means government funded health insurance, and he concentrates on one or two of major changes in the health reform. he is can get a health bill, like portability and its successor to that. he will get his bill and he will go for that bill and he will say we will accomplish it later. when we come back, hillary in africa. when planning for retirement these days, the forecast is full of ifs. if i'm too exposed to downturns. if i'll go through my savings too fast. to help you feel more confident consider putting a portion

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these attacks and all those who commit them and abet them. we state to the world that those who attack civilian populations using systematic rape are guilty of crimes against humanity. >> secretary of state, hillary clinton spent 11 days in africa this month. the visit included a trip to the refugee camp in the congo. now the democratic republic of the congo, the drc, formerly zirir. she condemned the epidemic of rape that has broken out in the congo. >> question, why should hillary be spending her time in africa? i ask you eleanor. >> it's instead of going to martha's vineyard. it's the dead of august and she is spending a lot time there and particularly paying attention to development issues and development issues regarding women. she is really -- ever since she was first lady of arkansas, she has been involved in those

microloans trying to empower women in these communities. and also africa, some places doing well. there are some failed areas there and they are breeding ground for terrorism and al- qaeda is over there as we speak. so i mean, there's a serious side to this in addition. >> we have a lot of people over there. we have a lot of military people in the embassies. embassies in all the countries. they all communicate with each other. it's quite possible that hillary could get information. isn't that true? >> absolutely. >> about al-qaeda? >> it is still a side show. let's face it, it's not many of the major issues. >> should she take credit? >> she is doing what she can do. that unfortunately is -- >> mitchell has the middle east. dennis ross has iraq. gates is all over the place and her husband is over there taking the cream off the north

korea thing, so she gets africa. >> is africa a failed continent? >> yes. >> a failed continent? >> we have a president okay, hillary took a question about what allegedly about what allegedly mr. clinton thinks about chinese trade in the congo. >> what does mr. clinton think through the mouth of mrs. clinton? >> you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state, i am. you ask my opinion, i will tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channeling my husband. >> question, why did this question touch a nerve with hillary? is it the point you made earlier? >> it's a long, hard trip and she let down her guard. that dominated her whole trip. >> they mentioned clinton. about mitchell, about biden, all getting a piece of the

state department. >> about clinton bringing back the two hostages and him being in vegas. >> she supported that. she was in boston. >> is hillary clinton a figure head, a token? >> no, she is a substantial person and she could have used a little more humor in that answer, but she has 3 1/2 more years, she is going to do fine. >> has she done a lot already, particularly with china? >> she is behind the scenes, she is very active. >> hillary had a moment to be fair to her. the questioner meant mr. obama, what does he think? it was translated as mr. clinton. the point is when president obama proposed this job to her, he promised her that she would have free reign in personnel appointment and all of the big portfolios, all of those things have been taken away from her. >> mitchell delivered syria, should the president put limits on these other envoys that are crowding hillary? >> he brought them in there

specifically to cover these areas. you can't limit somebody who wants to try and resolve the middle east dispute between the isrealis and palestinians. >> do you think he is dividing up the world and giving it it out in envoys? >> if i were the secretary of state, i would object to it. >> actually, on meet the press, she said it's a good idea because the world is big and the world is complicated. we'll be right back with prediction s.the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. the mclaughlin group is brought to you byismisssippi development authority. visit when planning for retirement these days,

the forecast is full of ifs. if i'm too exposed to downturns. if i'll go through my savings too fast. to help you feel more confident consider putting a portion of your savings in a metlife variable annuity. when the market goes up, it gives your assets a potential to grow. while protecting you if the market goes down with a steady stream of income. let america's number one annuity provider help you stay on course with guarantees for the if in life. get answers about annuities at metlife.com.

heads roll at the white house because of the healthcare debockle. >> yes, that was my prediction last week. >> in a few months. >> yes indeed they will and we can't wait for it. don't forget to follow us on twitter. bye bye.