billybam has a great recommended diary up right now. Unlike others that feel that the tone is worth universal adoption, I think that the use of this tone strategically gives us the means to new tactics to win our argumentative points. The title to this diary gives the best example of how this works.
O'Donnell does a great job of adopting the Fox news interview tactics towards a right wing guest. Whereas he is generally looking to gain the advantage by demontrating the congressman's doublespeak, I think the best gain from this interview is by exposing the strawman argument that the congressman uses to demonstrate the inefficiency of Medicare.
During the section of the interview regarding the "crisis in cost," Rep. Culberson states that 1 in 3 dollars in the medicare durable medical equipment costs goes to fraud, most clearly depicted through the Rascal, etc., scooters that everyone is familiar with.
I'm totally willing to give the congressman the benefit of the doubt that this is in fact true. The significance that this plays in the overall cost of health care, and that is exemplifies "crisis" is something that immediately smelled fishy.
So I did a quick google search and I came to this report on the NIH website which states that costs associated with durable medical equipment leading to increased mobilization (such as the scooters cited, as well as walkers, etc.) account for 2% of overall Medicare spending. One third of two percent does not a crisis in cost make.
I say to Congressman Culberson, "If you are looking to end the crisis of cost in US healthcare spending by attacking Medicare fraud regarding mobility equipment, you are not representing the goals of your constituents or millions of US citizens looking for real cost savings and real health care reform. Good day sir!"