And you wonder why people are confused about the health care debate.
What’s particularly striking about this exchange is that, when offered the most clear and concise possible explanation for why 44-year old Anthony Weiner isn’t on a government plan that’s only open to people aged 65 and over, she just whoops it up as if she’s caught him in some sort of damning contradiction.
Obviously, the real punchline is that many of the people criticizing the Democrats’ health care plan don’t have the foggiest idea how any of it works. And Bartiromo in particular reveals–however inadvertently–that she thinks elements of the proposal make perfect sense. Yes, she’s wrong to assume Weiner could buy into Medicare, and she’s wrong to assume that he chooses not to because the coverage is sub-par. But ironically, the idea that Weiner should be able to buy into Medicare seems totally uncontroversial to her. And that, of course, is the whole point of the public option.