Enraged over Republican opposition to ObamaCare, on The Ed Show on MSNBC Wednesday, host Ed Schultz screamed at viewers: "The Republicans lie! They want to see you dead! They'd rather make money off your dead corpse! They kind of like it when that woman has cancer and they don't have anything for her."
The woman Schultz was referring to was a relative of a woman who asked Republican Congressman Eric Cantor a question at a health care town hall in Virginia. Cantor replied to the woman, Patricia Churchill, by mentioning charitable care. After playing the question and Cantor's response, Schultz launched into a diatribe: "This is a classic, because when you present the Republicans and the obstructionists with a real-life scenario, they don't have an answer.... they're great at holding up the socialism, the communism, the Marxism, all kinds of 'isms, but they don't have an answer for that woman...Americans, you can't trust Eric Cantor!"
At one point, Schultz cited health care in the international community: "I was watching the U.N. coverage today here on MSNBC....I wish I had gone over there with a camera and done an international man on the street or leader on the street and asked them if they do health care in their country the way we do it here. But I know the answer. It's no. We like to butcher people who have got cancer that don't fall in the correct percentage point."
Schultz went on to denounce any effort by Democrats to work with Republicans on reform: "My God, Democrats! What's wrong with you?! You can't deal with these people! At all!"
Here is a full transcript of Schultz's outrageous rant:
6:00PM
ED SCHULTZ: Eric Cantor's suggestion that if the public option were off the table, heck, all the Republicans, they'd be on board with health care reform. Annt! Another lie. The Republicans want one thing, do not forget this my friends, and that is failure. They will blame the public option until the public option is dead and then they'll blame something else. They want to dismantle reform. They'll never work with the Democrats on this. Now, here's another dandy from Mr. Cantor, himself. Just a couple of days ago, the Congressman holding one of his, well, his only health care town hall in the state of Virginia. A woman named Patricia Churchill stood up and told this story. Here it is.
PATRICIA CHURCHILL: I have a very close relative, a woman in her early 40s, who did Have a wonderful, high-paying job, owns her own home and was a real contributing member of society. She lost her job. Just a couple of weeks ago she found out that she has tumors in her belly and that she needs an operation. Her doctors told her that they are growing and that she needs to get this operation quickly. She has no insurance.
ERIC CANTOR: I guess I would ask what the situation is in terms of income eligibility and the existing programs that are out there, because if we look at the uninsured right now, there is probably 23%, 24% of the uninsured that is already eligible for an existing government program. Beyond that, I know that there are programs, there are charitable organizations, there are hospitals here who do provide charity care.
SCHULTZ: That is a classic, my friends. Did you get all of that? A woman's got stomach issues. She's got cancer. She needs surgery now. This is a classic, because when you present the Republicans and the obstructionists with a real-life scenario, they don't have an answer. They're still talking percentages. How would you like to be in the percentage where you're left out? You're just SOL? That's their reform. That's their answer. You know, they're great at holding up the socialism, the communism, the Marxism, all kinds of 'isms, but they don't have an answer for that woman. She's just at the wrong spot at the wrong time, and we've got to talk about the redistribution of wealth.
You know, I was watching the U.N. coverage today here on MSNBC, and all the speeches that were given. And they took a wide shot of all the different diplomats and leaders of the countries that were there, and I wish I had gone over there with a camera and done an international man on the street or leader on the street and asked them if they do health care in their country the way we do it here. But I know the answer. It's no. We like to butcher people who have got cancer that don't fall in the correct percentage point.
So here's my point. Americans, you can't trust Eric Cantor! Cantor's response speaks volumes about how inept the Republicans are and how they are simply not solution-based. Charity? Is that what he said? This woman can't get a government program. She's in her early 40s. She's too young for Medicare. She doesn't qualify for Medicaid, but there's always charity, or what the heck? You can go to the hospital and plead your case and say, 'well, you know, I'm broke.' Cantor should know that there's no such thing as a free lunch in health care. The hospital passes the costs on to the other patients or they pass it on to the insurance companies and then they pass it on to you and me in some form of a higher premium. And that's how the hell we got started in this whole debate in this country in the first place about health care reform.
Hold it right there! The Republicans lie! They want to see you dead! They'd rather make money off your dead corpse! They kind of like it when that woman has cancer and they don't have anything for her. That's how the insurance companies make money. By denying the coverage. My God, Democrats! What's wrong with you?! You can't deal with these people! At all! But it's socialism. But it's about taxes. Let's get to the larger issue here. Cantor thinks that there are more important issues than a life or death thing for that woman. You know, there's the pressing issue of amendments over on the Senate side that he hasn't said anything about like, 'hey, man, let's go after ACORN.' What do you say we make sure we don't have any czars in health care reform.
-Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.