This is just awesome. Debbie Stabenow is pitch-perfect. From TalkingPointsMemo:
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) argued that insurers must be required to cover basic maternity care. (In several states there are no such requirements.)
"I don't need maternity care," Kyl said. "So requiring that on my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive."
Stabenow interrupted: "I think your mom probably did."
You know what, too? It is really just this goddam simple and straightforward.
One of the problems throughout the health care debate has been that there has been a striking omission of empathy and personal, lived experiences from the more technical aspects of the debate.
It's true that health care is a moral, legal, and economic issue. But at its core it is very, very, very personal. It is whether you can take your ailing relative to see a specialist. It is whether you can get care for your spouse's newly diagnosed severe illness. It is whether your family can rest assured of health care while you strike out into the world of self-employment.
And it is whether YOUR OWN MOTHER CAN RECEIVE CARE WHILE SHE IS PREGNANT. Perhaps Kyl's mother did not get such care, and consequently a little piece of his heart did not develop properly.
Because it is just so goddam simple and straightforward. Was this little line of legislation really so offensive to Kyl?
(Amazingly, Arizona has an EVEN DOPIER AND MORE CRAVEN SENATOR than John McCain.)
PS: Hopefully needless to say, but Kyl's amendment was voted down. So, Kyl, you know... eat it.
UPDATE: My first time on the rec list, so as tacky as it sounds - thanks. And, per suggestions in the comments, here's the vid but do click through to TPM, they rock...