In my last post I tried to shine light on the abuses of the health insurance industry by highlighting Bill Moyers' Journal conversation with Wendell Potter about their efforts to keep the American people from knowing how universally acceptable Universal Health Care is.

Today I want to continue it with video clips of my state rep, Bart Stupak (D. Mich) forcing the insurance execs to admit that they wouldn't change their policy of arbitrarily turning down PAYING clients for whatever reasons suit their needs (i.e., to keep profits right where they are).

The first clip shows Joe Barton (R - Texas) and Stupak doing the kind of smack-down we've been wanting to see for lo, these many years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sYTLbAtzhs

Bravo to both of them, and a big "thank you" to Republican Joe Barton, who courageously took the righteous road.

But the following clip goes into my all-time favorite video clips file. Stupak, from the wilds of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is the kind of "rube" that Wilford Brimley played to perfection in "Absence of Malice". I'm betting those big shot execs took one look at Bart, heard him speak, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Bad mistake. Stupak's passion for the people makes him a seemingly unlikely but most formidable opponent. He hates cheating creeps, and he makes no bones about it. But he bides his time. He has a knack for asking seemingly innocuous questions, building on them, and then letting these people dig their own graves.

You gotta love a guy like that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y97__KA4xHQ

Again I'm asking you to pass these clips along. This hearing took place a month ago. Both Paul Begala and Karen Tumulty wrote about it soon afterward, but since then there's been virtual silence. So please - send them to everyone you know. Post them in your blogs. Include them in your comments. Get them OUT there. The insurance companies are winning and good people are dying because of them. We just can't let that happen.

And while you're at it, you might want to contact both Barton and Stupak and thank them for their service. They're my Good Guys today and I salute them.

(Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices here)

Ramona