Reason Writers on the Tube: Shikha Dalmia Debates Sicko's Donna Smith

At the Real News Network, Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia recently debated California Nurses Association's Donna Smith, who starred in Michael Moore's Sicko. Smith was among the cancer-ridden patients who traveled with Moore to Cuba to get "free" care at the expense of Cuban taxpayers. Smith is a big believer in a single-payer health care system. Dalmia is not.

You can watch the heavily-edited debate here.

Comments

[Old Mexican]

Smith was among the cancer-ridden patients who traveled with Moore to Cuba to get "free" care at the expense of Cuban taxpayers. Smith is a big believer in a single-payer health care system.

Sorry, but they are not taxpayers - the Cubans are technically serfs.

[smartass sob]

I would have said slaves, but you posted before I did. 😉 Not a whole lot of difference in practice, I should imagine.

[heller]

Highlight from the comments on the video:

Ms. Dalmia's libertarianism is basically social Darwinism, which is essentially eugenics-lite. Let the undesirables die off , slowly, through lack of resources.

I bet she comes from a high-caste family in India and spits on lower caste people.

[smartass sob]

Whoever wrote that doesn't have much of a clue about social Darwinism - or probably even ordinary Darwinism.

[smartass sob]

Meaning that no matter what kind of system is in place, no one escapes "selection", natural or otherwise.

[Spur]

Presumably she is from a high caste and she moved to America so she wouldn't have to spit on the lower castes...

[Hugh]

Not on the top of my head? Jesus Christ, Shikha, learn fucking idomatic English and then take up economics. Or just go back to India. Stupid cunt.

[.]

Why don't you learn to spell idiomatic, dick.

[Bubba]

Spur: Classiness and splleings (!) are not your strong suit, but neither does it seem is your hearing. She clearly said the top "off" my head, asshole, and that's what the transcript says. You are obviously deaf and dumb, but if you could learn to be mute too the world would be a better place.

[Bubba]

Sorry that was Hugh, not Spur. Many apologies, Spur. Names are not my strong suit!!

[doctor]

Don't worry, scrote. There are plenty of 'tards out there living really kick-ass lives. My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.

[Name Nomad]

In case anyone else read it the same way I did, the video is unfortunately NOT heavily edited for graphic sex and swearing.

[XM]

Yeah, I was kinda looking forward to Dalmia on Donna D&D action. Just like Portman and Mila Kunis in Black Swan. What a shame.

[alan]

The Olivia Wilde lesbian sex intro to an episode of Fox a few seasons back was actually more risque than the leaked sex scene from Black Swan. I even ran it through a filter to add occlusion lighting (fakes overexposure) but it did not reveal anymore skin. Damn disappointed. Aronofsy is obviously holding back for the unrated DVD cut.

[alan]

episode of Fox

House. But in my defense, she is a fox.

[Jerry]

Why do these lefties keep bringing up the infant mortality rate? We know what is causing this: adolescent pregnancies and a higher average number of pregnancies amongst African-American women. It has little to do with the health care system as such.

[Max]

Right, and the fact that African American woment don;t get decent health doesn't matter because they're not real Americans. If you factor them out--and we do--American health care is still pretty bad, but mostly for Mexicans, so who gives a fuck? Leave your head up your ass, Jerry. Nobody wants to see it.

[sevo]

Max|1.18.11 @ 7:51PM|#
"Right, and the fact that African American woment don;t get decent health doesn't matter because they're not real Americans."

So you're claiming that only AA women are excluded from "decent health"? Please define and please cite.

[doctor]

Don't worry, scrote. There are plenty of 'tards out there living really kick-ass lives. My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.

[sevo]

Jerry|1.18.11 @ 7:14PM|#
"Why do these lefties keep bringing up the infant mortality rate? We know what is causing this: adolescent pregnancies and a higher average number of pregnancies amongst African-American women. It has little to do with the health care system as such."

And while Max is full of it with the typical lefty talking points, I gotta say that your claim either needs cites or correction.
See here:
http://skepticalob.blogspot.co.....r-amy.html
"The correct statistic for measuring obstetric care (according to the World Health Organization) is perinatal mortality. Perinatal mortality is death from 28 weeks of pregnancy to 28 days of life. Therefore it includes late stillbirths and deaths during labor.
The US has one of the lowest rates of perinatal mortality in the world."
IOWs, the lefties cherry-pick "infant mortality" since it is a stat that matches their ideology.

[Jerry]

If American women were having their first child on average at age 29 (like in the Netherlands), they would also show higher perinatal mortality rates.

[sevo]

Jerry|1.18.11 @ 8:47PM|#
"If American women were having their first child on average at age 29 (like in the Netherlands), they would also show higher perinatal mortality rates."

And you can show this how?

[Jerry]

Looking at the perinatal mortality rates per age group (not counting the high perinatal mortality rates for teen pregnancies).

[sevo]

How about a link so I don't have to chase all over?

[DesigNate]

so because American's average age is 25 (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/02news/ameriwomen.htm) it's not fair to compare them to anyone else? But it is totally fair to compare all these countries using only data that supports your idea? Hello pot.

[Tman]

I have to credit Ms. Dalmia for her restraint. The way that Ms. Smith goes from health care "availability" to health "insurance" without so much as a tone change was borderline criminal.

What depresses me is that this is somehow labeled a "debate" when the two of them never actually argued the same point.

We already have decent "healthcare" Ms. Smith. You are complaining that homeless people can't afford health insurance, which is an entirely different argument.

I know why Ms. Smith doesn't argue the latter point, and it isn't because she has a better argument.

[Tman]

I just wanna say one more thing because I'm drunk and stupidly watching this video for no good reason other than hypocrisy amuses me, but at 17:29 of said video Ms. Smith says:

"I'm not advocating that we have the British health-care service here. People often say that, oh, people want it to be just government-owned health care. That's not what we're saying when we talk about Medicare for all in this country."

Annnnnnnd....cut!

Thanks, where's my Oscar.

[Poppin' Caps lock]

Man. I should've gotten at least buzzed while watching this. A beer (or three, or four) would have made the constant monotone so much more bearable.

[yonemoto]

when will someone play the race card in the healthcare debate. As a person of color, the diseases that I can get are much less likely to be treated, the drugs that are available are less likely to treat my conditions, and the safety of said drugs are less likely to be, for obvious statistical reasons, well-tested to be safe for me.

Single Payer Healthcare is basically a tax on everyone to give to the whites.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Oh lord...after reading those comments...Urge to kill...RISING!!!!!!!

[JW]

Show us on the doll where Sarah told you to kill.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Heh, I wonder if my rhetoric was too contentious.

To clarify, I was talking about the ill-informed, poorly worded, emotional diatribes posted on the real news website underneath the "debate" video, not the glorious profanity-fueled opuses penned by the Hit N' Run commenters. Also, apparently someone needs to see the Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror V.

[Paula]

So, Donna & her nursing union associates are willing to take a big pay & benefit cut in order to help "the poor" can afford coverage?

[Nooge]

I assure you they are not.