http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/anthony-weiner-smacks-down-peggy-noonan-on-health-care.phpAnthony Weiner Smacks Down Peggy Noonan On Health Care (VIDEO)
Jillian Rayfield | March 19, 2010, 12:16PM
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) appeared on Morning Joe today, and things got a bit heated when he told Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan that her criticisms of President Obama and health care reform were some "of the most cliched, hackneyed assessments of this thing."
Noonan started off by stating that Congress was already "one of the most unpopular institutions in America before they went through this dreadful process, with all of the buying of Congressman and the buying of the Senators."
She also claimed that President Obama "misunderstood what history was asking of him" when he started the push for health care reform, and that it was "fatally off-point."
Instead, she said, the President should have been focusing on jobs and the economy.
Weiner was not having any of this: "These are two of the most cliched, hackneyed assessments of this thing. One, that this was not a good process. It went through five committees. The most open process I can imagine. Every single Republican amendment was considered."
"This is how legislation works," he added.
Weiner continued: "Secondly, this idea that we are not losing jobs because 20% of every dollar we spend goes to health care is just wrong."