"Socialized medicine can refer to any system of medical care controlled and financed by the government." - wikipedia.org

Maybe Senator Clinton needs to become educated…

i love how she says its not socialized healthcare. i can't think of any other term to describe it. but everyone makes out the word socialized to be a bad thing, because its not "democratic." socialized healthcare works. period. call it what you want, but it is still socialized healthcare. kudos to Kiara Ashanti for having the gonads to ask this question of hilary.

When we talk about government providing health care (whether universal or socialized or Medicare or whatever) we have to be clear: we are talking about the use of force. People are forced to be a part of the system and pay for it. (even in Republican schemes like Romney care). This is is how it works everywhere else that any similar type of scheme has been set up.

In the 21st century, aren't we a little more civilized now? Can't we come up with voluntary solutions? Here's a radical thought: stop taxing the crap out of people, let them keep their money and make their own decisions.

Oh no…save us from people with "the knowledge."

hillary: yuck! she sounded snitty and arrogant to me.

Interesting. CNN's headline read "Clinton: Get educated, drop the rhetoric".

The CNN article gave virtually no effort to covering the journalist's view. He was proposing that a presidential candidate was not providing full details on a campaign "promise" - Imagine that!

instead, the CNN article seemed to validate everything she said.

Impartial reporting? I think not. CNN and Fox continue to demonstrate that viewers/readers must interpret their broadcasts/sites.

I teach my 11-year-old daughter that freedom of speech is a delicate right. Our press is no longer free - it is purchased by the appropriate party or highest bidder.

Pity.

Hillary has no policies and no intention of doing any health care.
I don't know why the msm is so obsessed by her because she would not give this country the change it needs. Only more of the same failed policies of the past 20 years.
why the american people actually believe the spin they are given on the msm news and don't bother to find out the real story for themselves but, as long as this theater continues we will be stuck with another in a long line of bad presidents.

So Mr. Ashanti considers himself a journalist, yet he can't be bothered to review the material Sen. Clinton has in support of her position.

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised.

There was a time when a journalist considered it his/her job to provide the population with independently verified facts and figures from both sides of the debate, then let people decide for themselves what they believe. Now, the Mr. Ashantis of the world — of which there are far too many — seem to decide FIRST what they believe, then pick and choose the facts that seem to support their position, ignore everything else, tell us what to believe, and call it news.

This item ended to soon! Well, I want to hear those refutations from Mr. Ashanti. He is doing exactly what he accuses Clinton of doing. I also want to know his political affiliation. Seems like he was there more to make trouble than to educate.

If Ashanti has the "knowledge to refute everything that she's saying," then give him the space to do so here… or at least provide his blog address. Otherwise, this is just another example of non-news "news" slanted to make Clinton appear more "presidential."

Senator Clinton is correct that the US has one of the weakest health care systems of all 'advanced countries' in the world. It is interesting to hear that a 'freelance writer', who happens to have his very own political blog, has all of the knowledge on the subject. Let's hear some ideas on how to make things better, rather than grand-standing. At least the Senator has been trying to correct this terrible wrong for more than a decade. Every American deserves quality health care, regardless of income.

Unfortunately, there is not enough information in this blog to make a decision. Yes Clinton's plan and medicare are socialistic in nature, but shouldn't we have health care for all americans especially in light of our prosperity. I would like some real answers from someone and not just political b.s. for vote talling purposes. The only problem is the mass public does not really care.

Ashanti obviously has not heard the healthcare horror stories that Clinton has. Sure medicare is good but it is also bad. It is not (a either/ or) good or bad situation. If Clinton can get rid of the bad–more power to her!

The more I hear of Clinton, the more I realize what an intelligent, strong woman she is. She would be a formidable leader for this country.

If he could really refute all of her arguments, he would have tried to use this interview to make his point. As it stands, his comments are completely vacuous.

1)I thought "socialized" medicine requires health care workers to be employed by the government?
WHERE in Hillary's plan, in 1993, and NOW does it require that? NO WHERE. "Health Alliances" are NOT health care workers being forced on Americans.

2)I looked up Mr. "Kiara Ashanti's" previous writings, and yes, he is a Republican. How a Republican gets away with having a name more girly than Beyonce, I have no idea.

Clinton was 100% right again! J Why would anybody want to be ripped-off by Capitalistic Insurance Companies that collect everyone’s money in advance and pay someone else’s medical bills late if ever. L By putting the burden of health care on employers puts American business at a competitive disadvantage compared to foreign businesses where health care is a universal public benefit. L Bottom line: every penny that goes for Insurance company stockholders’ profits is drives up the cost of health care and puts big hole to drain on our national economy.

Who are these stockholders that exploit your illness?
Wouldn’t you want your healthcare dollars to actually pay for your health care?
Isn’t it better that the money you invest in health care actually went to health care instead of profits for capitalistic insurance companies?

So somebody who has media access to her - go track her down and follow up!

i enjoyed that. good work! ashanti does have a point!

I'm not even a Clinton fan, but her answer was exactly correct. It's uneducated fools like this Ashanti character who use the scary terms perpetuated by the forces who benefit from our screwed up health care system (i.e. the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, etc.) who have forced us to endure this nonsense for decades.

The democrats are taking this country towards communism. If you read the 10 planks of the communist manifesto, you will know what I mean. It is a list of 10 things that must exist for a country to be considered communist and we are 60% there. The Republicans are taking this country towards Fascism. Mussolini defines fascism as the marriage between government and corporation. Boy are we ever there, especially with the Federal Reserve. Hillary wants a socialist society. She doesn't want the America of the Founding Fathers.

oh SNAP!

if ONLY people would actually get educated on the issues instead of resorting to talking points.

Calling it "socialized medicine" is a misnomer. All the proposed health care plans still provide choice, so it's incorrect to term it "socialized", however, that's almost an issue in semantics. With the exchange, I don't see anything wrong with Clinton lashing back with the tough rhetoric; that's what Ashanti did when he tried to pose the egregious statement that black communities will be hurt by UHC. That's a ridiculous claim, just like Conservatives who claim that UHC will create waits where people die waiting for care. If someone made a baseless claim in a snarling tone (which I'm assuming) instead of one of a naive person, I can see myself being snarky back. I'm not in the 46% of Dems who favor Hillary, too, right now in full disclosure.

I fail to see how this is reportable news. It seems to me more of an opportunity to swipe at Clinton. So the freelancer is the new "authority" on healthcare? Let's have some real campaign news.

Is it about the label, "socialized" or the service provided?
USA is the only developed nation without universial health care!
I don't care what we call it, but it has to be fixed.

Oh my goodness. I just watched the clip, and I especially didn't like her TONE and "authority" in the response at the end, "…if you're interested in being educated instead of being rhetorical".

Here, the "white man" - ok fine, white PRIVILEDGED woman… comes and now educates the minorities.

Ridiculous. Boo to Hillary on this one. Two thumbs down.

How will socialized healthcare hurt african american communities? It will help them if anything. I am from Canada and our system is very efficient. I see my doctor on demand and within that day or the next and I never see a bill. I had an MRI in week. When are Americans going to wake up and realize what is best instead of calling everybody who tries to improve the system a communist. This issue displays typical American ignorance and does not display much intelligence.

Not a Clinton fan, but not impressed with Kiara Ashanti.

Ashanti is lacking in facts and does not understand socialized medicine and/or Medicare. I do not see how he concludes that socialized will exclude black Americans. Medicare was the best thing for black seniors. He is out there just with words, including the remark that he has the knowledge to refute everything Clinton says. I have been a Registered Nurse since Medicare began. He should not be published in mainstream media by someone like Roland Martin because he is distributing misinformation at the expense not of Senator Clinton but of millions of Americans of all colors.

This blurb comes across as a hit job on Clinton, even though the teeny bit hidden after the fold (so to speak) suggests that Ashanti had little interest himself in following through, even though Clinton and her staff invited him to.

Sorry, but Ashanti comes across as the jerk in this exchange, not Clinton.

I would say that is typical of the black community, they use our hospitals in the inner cities more then anyone, I would expect they would want everything free, anyone who listens to Roland Martin on CNN knows he always feels the african americans are to be felt sorry for, and everyone is to blame for there being behind in the worldly world.

Is anyone going to call out Hillary Clinton here? Socialized medicine means medicine that is subsidized by the government through coercive taxation. It's not a matter of opinion whether most of America thinks it's good or whether it has paid for people's medical bills or not. Medicare is by definition socialized medicine. Ashanti's point was that socialism does not work; it has 'blowback' and it does more harm than good. I wish the media would stop coddling the establishment candidates and call them out on their sophomoric rhetoric.

Roland,

It would help if you would list two or three of the facts that Ashanti knows that refute _everything_ Hillary is saying. All I can tell from this article is that Ashanti apparently considers Ashanti well informed.

Some particulars next time. Ok?

Sounds like to me, Ashanti is bitter that he got owned and that Hillary was ready for him instead of being flustered by the question. If he had the knowledge to refute everything, why not offer up that info rather than giving a vague response. He could have posted his supposed facts on his blog.

I am NOT a Hillary Clinton supporter, but her health care system may be just what America needs.
So what if it's socialized medicine?
If it works then that's all that counts.
In the US socialism is alwys equated with communism. Well, it's not the same at all. I was born in the Netherlands, which is one of the most democratic countries in the world. They have a social democratic form of government.It's about time people in the USA became a little bit more socially aware. If everybody pays a little more in taxes then everybody can be covered with health care. I'll be glad to pay a little bit more in taxes so everybody can be covered with health care.

Based on what I get out of thie report it seems Mrs. Clinton was ambused by this questioner. This is a real danger for anyone standing in front of people and trying to be prepared for anything. I think Mr. Ashanti should take Mrs. Clinton up on her offer.

Why doesn't he go talk to her staff
and see what they tell him. If he has the knowledge as he calims, it wpould
validate his position even more.

So far, all I know from this is that a blogger didn't take Clinton's answer as gospel, but you didn't provide enough information to check out the blog to find out what possible angle the questioner had going. Felt like you ran out of word count before you got to the heart of the story.

Clinton hit the nail on the head. The republicans know that "socialized" anything will kill it in the public. So, that is how they label any plan they don't like. Perhaps they should come to the table with an idea besides "health savings accounts?"

Go Hill!! She's such a great person, and will do great things for this country when she becomes president.

“She can’t deal with the fact that I have the knowledge to refute everything that she’s saying.”, was the statement CNN reported Ashanti saying to explain his reaction to Clinton's remarks. I didn't realize that freelance writers who are able to rant on their own political blogs were able to get press passes. It's not that Hillary 'can't deal with the fact' that Ashanti could have argued back, I think it's more relevant to note that she doesn't in fact need to debate every self-proclaimed muckraking journalist.

It's obvious that Ashanti knows very little about healthcare and probably has little factual knowledge to refute anything about it.

What's typical is people using the term "socialized" to attach a stigma to the proposed system changes.

Health care should be a right, not a priviliege. And while yes that is an assumption, I believe it is a valid one. When a great number of US citizens do not have access to the same medical care as the wealthy then you know you have a serious problem on your hands. Especially when even with supposed coverage the incentives are to provide as basic as possible care, if even.

It is a quite literaly a crime against humanity to draw such lines of division when lives are literaly at stake.

I have been fortunate. I am not a US citizen, and while I may dish out a higher dollar percentage in taxes, I am secure in the knowledge that if I should ever need medical attention, I, like the PM and the crackhead down the street will receive the same quality and quantity care.

If that is the evil of a "socialized" care, then we have a serious detachment from reality and if the evil view prevails, we'll soon have quite a border hop for medicine up here in the "socialized" Canada.

Then again, we allready do.

I'm still somewhat lukewarm towards Clinton, but good for her! Wonderful, wonderful answer — were it not for "socialized" Medicare, my mother would be unable to obtain the drugs she needs. Certainly "market forces" haven't produced them at prices she can afford. As for Ashanti, he'd have some credibility with me if he had gone and met with Clinton's staff. She challenged him - he failed to respond other than with empty rhetoric.

She's there speaking to you, Give her some credit. All of her answers can't be right ALL THE TIME or the perfect answer just for you, that will NEVER HAPPEN. Just say thank you and move forward.

Ahanti's response is what's typical, not Clinton's. Clinton's response, an invitation to come talk to her staff about the subject of health care, is anything but typical… For any journalist worth their salt, and not your 'wolf in sheep's clothing' variety of "journalist" who asks questions as a way of expressing opinion, it would be the opportunity for the scoop of their career. This guy passed on that, and I think that says alot about him and his motivations. And his response, that he had the information to refute Clinton, was what was typical - because though he claimed to have it, he didn't bother to say what it was. A stuffed shirt wearing a press pass, if you ask me…

I don't think it is any coincidence that Mr. Ashanti is a Republican blogger. Call her plan what you will but kudos to Clinton for calling Ashanti out on playing the "name game." No one, African-American or otherwise, would suffer from health insurance. You gotta love "freelance journalists." For the record, I am a freelance journalist. So is anyone that posts a comment on this website.

This guy is dumb and he knows it.Hillary killed him on national television. I love the fact that she knows how to defend herself.

Clinton did go too far though as she once showed how she can pander to a particular crowd by raising her voice and talking down to the gentleman like she was right and he was wrong without any debate. She should've asked him why he doesn't like "socialized" medicine and taht would've brought his beliefs into more perspective for everybody.

I'm curious as to what the alternative to "socialized" medicine is.

If people can't afford insurance or afford to buy medicine or have surgeries that can save their lives, then how is the medical care going to happen?

I don't really think its humane to say "Every man or woman for himself or herself".

And it shouldn't be our purpose as civilized folk to keep people with little or no money from getting adequate healthcare.

It seems to me that people like to mischaracterize the single payer model of health care financing as "socialized medicine." The news outlets need to get it right: socialized medicine is when GOVERNMENT owns the medical facilities and employs the health care workers (like in the VA). Compare that to single payer financing, where private companies and individuals own and run medical facilities and doctors work in private practice, but the health care is financed through a government insurance system (like Medicare). Clinton's proposed model in the 1990s is a single payer model, NOT socialized medicine.

Then he added, “She can’t deal with the fact that I have the knowledge to refute everything that she’s saying.”

Don't feel along Ashanti…! It is just typical Clinton….peirod!

Ashanti is a dodo! He obviously lacks knowledge and is only interested in listening to his own voice.

So if you want to know everything Mr. Ashanti knows about refuting everything Sen. Clinton has to say please visit him at any one of his media outlets, namely "his own political blog".

C'mon, sure everyone has something to say (and has every right to) but it seems like a shill to me. A man looking to make a statement is one thing, but a freelance writer looking to make a name for himself is another. I guess it's good that someone is standing up and questioning our countries politicians. However, I think those questions are better served for the people, not just one man.

Hillary Clinton comes off to me as a know it all. Very abrasive and condenscending. This will catch up with her as this race goes on. She didn't even have the decency to ask the man for his name and stabbed at his education. She needs to be careful. You never know who your talking to.

“Do you think Medicare is socialized medicine?” she challenged him. “To a degree it is,” Ashanti said. “Well, then you are in a small minority in America because Medicare has literally saved the lives and saved the resources of countless generations of seniors in our country.”
So her argument was that it wasn't "socialized" because it has saved lives? It sounds like she wants a change in terminology, and is trying to make that happen simply by skirting the question.

bad headline for your story.

I think Mr. Ashanti is the one who needs to get educated and drop the rhetoric. There was nothing he said that refuted anything or added anything intelligent to the discussion. he just used the typical buzzword, "socialized medicine" that freaks out many Americans.

I think Clinton actually handled this pretty well. The questioner was clearly trying to get her goat and she stood her ground. She wasn't personal towards him, and she had every reason to want to defend her positions. This is sort of a preview of how she's going to handle it when the right wing machine attacks her with the same kinds of ideas, and I'm glad she's prepared to defend herself reasonably and take them on without getting personal. Maybe she got a little testy towards the end, but that came across (to me) as strength rather than anger. The moderator was also very rude in saying they weren't there to have a debate. What kind of nonsense was that? What's the point of having a Q & A session at all if that's the rule?

Yes, it's "socialized medicine." And that's a good idea, it works. Using the buzz words of the far right as though they meant something is just insulting to the intelligence of us all. Yes, Medicare is a step toward "socialized medicine." We NEED socialized medicine in this country. The current system of enriching the insurance companies in the hope that they will let us use some of that bounty to actually obtain medical care is not working.

Personally I am in full favor of socialized medicine… We need a 2 tier system…

Tier 1. Basic heathcare should be free… period. Make doctors do "pro bono" work while they are "new/young doctors" to help offset the costs…

Tier 2. If you want bells and whistles beyond free coverage (i.e. better docs,less waiting lines, etc. etc… then you can pay for it via Insurance)

There is no reason on earth that the "leaders of the free world" cant take care of a sick kid, unwell elderly person, or the general middle class cant get a basic free checkup and basic healthcare.

I would usually agree about not listing the blog address, but if he does have the points to refute her and he has them on his blog, then I actually DO want to know where his site is so I can see for myself.

I find that Ashanti seems to be a little full of himself. The last quote perfectly displays this:

Then he added, “She can’t deal with the fact that I have the knowledge to refute everything that she’s saying.”

A little cocky? I think so.

Personally, I could care less what happens at these forums as they are a waste of time. The candidates always answer in vague ways and never address the issues at hand.

They will say "I have a plan to fix health care and it will work!" Then, when people ask, "what is the plan, how will it be funded?" We don't get any answers. Just look at Obama and his universal health care plan, he refuses to go into details about how it will be funded, but the truth of it is, it will be a large income tax anywhere from 40-60% of income.

Currently, if you are making $30,000 a year now at your current job and paying $50-$150 a paycheck for your health care, so $1300-$3900 a year based on bi-weekly pay. If you had universal health care, besides the waiting lines, you would be paying roughly $5000-$7000 more in income tax to pay for it (seeing how you pay about %24 now on your income as the current tax rate). Therefore, it ends up costing you more money to have universal health care!

If you make more then $30,000 a year, then it just gets worse! Do the math people, don't waste your money and dont allow the government to have this power!

Without commenting on the Mr. Ashanti’s naivety, I will gladly say that at least the semblance of a real issue has gotten covered from Mrs. Clinton’s visit to the NABJ forum.
I will say that I am a bit disappointed that either, no really tough questions were asked or that if they did, they did not get covered.

I think we can safely assume that Kiara Ashanti and Roland S. Martin are Obama supporters upon reading this biased account and hearing a biased question asked. A true reporter would not ask a biased question as Ashanti did, nor, would a true reporter WRITE AN ARTICLE WHICH OBVIOUSLY SHOWS SUPPORT FOR ANOTHER REPORTER"S VIEWS! Perhaps both Ashanti and Martin need to find another job….a good choice might be with Obama's campaign!

Roland, you end your commentary by quoting Kiara Ashanti as saying, "She can’t deal with the fact that I have the knowledge to refute everything that she’s saying.” But then you don't follow through with any evidence that he has that knowledge, so we're left hanging. If he does have that objective knowledge, we need to know that. Otherwise, we have no reason to question Sen. Clinton's response to his question.

And then… did he REFUTE what she said? And if he did, why didn't you report it? If he did not, why didn't you report THAT? No disrespect intended, but this is so typical of the media these days, to let someone make an accusation and then not press them to back it up.

"government-run health care" "socialized medicine" = buzzwords! I hate how people attach negative context to words that describe a hope for a plan that would create a better future for Americans.

Fear not the government, but abhor those who create the elaborate systems to which we are forced to give our time, money and resources into the pockets of such organizations who buy out our leaders in government to further their own interests!

Questions like the one he asked sound like something right from Fox News…

You end your "piece" with the implication that this self described politcal blogger(?) can refute Clinton assertions-You think this passes as journalism? Validate or refute his overstated allegations-get Clinton's response to your findings then you would have a story, Right now all you have is "playground gossip."

All journalists have a golden opportunity now to do fine exciting work which would be appreciated by the rest of us. But this story and God knows thousands of other meeaningless words strung together; which in the end only make noise, not journalism; is what we are stuck with.

Did Clinton go too far with what, exactly? As near as I can tell, the only thing she did was go over the time limit — hardly the first politician to do that. How was her invitation to the journalist to speak to her staff "stinging"? It seem to me your piece is hostile, prejudicial, and biased against Clinton without offering any rational critique, yet written so as to imply we all know what she did was wrong. Very strange.

Whilst I am all for national health care, having experienced its financial and social benefits whilst living in the UK, I also feel the need to point out that Ashanti is right: Clinton did not answer his question.

Just because a system like Medicare has 'literally saved the lives and saved the resources of countless generations of seniors in our country' doesn't negate the fact that it is socialized medicine

If Clinton wants to promote national healthcare, then she should stop dodging the 'S' word, and start talking openly about what national health care means to Americans in both practical and symbolic terms.

I was very surprised at Sen. Clinton's response. Not only did she not even answer the question, but she blasted the questioner practically calling them stupid and insulting their intelligence. She seemed cocky and rude, and is that what you want out of a candidate? Not me. Also, why did she say that the questioner should talk to her staff? Why not talk to them directly? Come on Hillary! Why not "have a conversation" with them? She has been cocky and rude for the past few weeks, not to mention her huge flip-flop on nukes in Pakistan. She may be the frontrunner in the polls, but she's got to get her act together, before it's too late. I hope others see this and really make sure they know the candidate they're voting for. Sen. Clinton, has lost mine.

Great column … she really put that guy in his place.

And??? That is it? Nothing about the guy's knowledge to refute everything?

Sounds like a setup question from a right wing agent to me.Maybe you should dig a little deeper into the questioners background.

Senator Clinton finally shows some emotion and I think that's great. And it's true what she is saying. Glad to see that she is backing health care for all Americans and won't let the issue be negated by someone just trying to gain attention. BRAVO Senator Clinton!

Clinton isolating a black journalist…. Nice.

She cannot afford to lose any black votes in this primary.

It's very easy to criticize and offer no better solutions or alternatives as Ashanti had attempted to do. I'm glad Clinton showed him to be the uneducated ignoramous he apparently is….

Democrats will say anything to their core to get elected. They know that thr average democrat voter (the Six-pack crowd) votes with their heart and not their minds or getting educated on the facts.

Score one for the good guys…er woman! Get thee educated! Too many people keep regurgitating Faux Noise talking points after having those falsehoods shoved down their throats for so long. And as studies have shown, fewer people are able to relay facts instead of opinions after watching that crap. I'm not voting for her, but that was an entirely appropos response. So take her up on it. The time is long overdue that we break the Roveian (sic) frame of issues and looked at them head on. So kudos to Clinton, well done.

Of course the fact the reporter is black AND is obvioius in his support of Barack Obama has nothing to do with the slant in this story, right? Sure.

More slanted "reporting" from CNN, every bit as bias as Fox News.

This was a real cheap shot by Clinton. She never seems to handle tough questions very well, and folks think McCain has a short fuse… If this was a republican white male who said "get educated" to a black reporter this would have made headlines. For all she knows he may very well be highly educated and have done plenty of research beyond sound bites when it comes to health care.

Hikkary was correct in her response to Ashanti in my opinion. Rhetoric is in large part the reason we have all this incivility going on throughout our country.

From this article, Mr. Ashanti doesn't seem to have the knowledge to refute, just the ability to question. I'm curious to see why he feels a national health plan would hurt the black community so much. Having lived in a country where national healthcare was avaialble FOR ALL, his comments truly seem misguided at best.

I thought her response was brilliant. she is smart, knows the subject and refused to be pigeon-holed by a broad, uninformed statement/question.

Why is Hillary Clinton being given a free pass by the media, not much of what she says is challenged. So it is refreshing when an African American journalist makes a statement.

I don't understand either why this writer is so against socialized medicine, or why Hillary Clinton is against it! It is the only fair way to make sure everyone in this country has health care. How in the world would it hurt the African-American community. It would provide millions of uninsured Americans with the care they need to quit living their lives in fear. Our current health care system is the equivalent of saying that if you can't afford it, the fire department and the police department won't respond to your calls. Fire and police protection are rights of every American. Why shouldn't health care? Why should someone be tied to a miserable job, just to have health care? Why should someone lose everything they've saved their entire life, just because they encounter a major illness? Why should people have to file for bankruptcy to pay the doctors, the hospitals, and the pharmacies?

The idea that socialized medicine doesn't work in the UK, France, Canada or other countries is simply a myth perpetrated by the insurance, pharmaceutical, and hospital corporations. Why do people buy into this nonsense?

Funny how bloggers know more than the people with access to some of the best minds and information that government has to offer. Or are they just opinionated? Remember the old comparison about everyone having an opinion … seems to apply.

Clinton did a great job I watched the debate this guy roland s. smartin, Is a big obama supporter and would never say anything positive about anyone else even tho obama has least of all the candidates to offer. He is race struck

I sympathize very the very bright questioner. Clinton's answer is consistent, with her smug, I know how to live your life better than you do liberalism. She is truly a stulefying maternal politician who engages in the crudest banalities.

How about some real reporting, Roland?

Clinton says Ashanti doesn't have enough info; Ashanti says he can refute everything she says about health care.

We need more than 'she said; he said'. We need details and facts, so we can decide for ourselves.

Maybe the ticker isn't the place for it; but perhaps links to supporting info (on both sides) would make sense.

Good for her. Loaded questions ("Would you liberals prefer to burn the flag or urinate on it?") deserve to be torn to shreds, and I'd say she did it here.

The reporter's question:

In a time when Britian and Canada are moving away from (big right-wing scare word ) SOCIALIZED MEDICINE becuase they HURT THE LOWER ECONOMIC PART OF THE SPECTRUM…

Excuse me?

The beauty of right-wingers is they can throw a question out there like this, a stink bomb, a lapdog servicing the for-profit healthcare industry, and there's no need for evidence or support of any kind. What a string of absurd, outrageous claims!!!!

Maybe this guy needs to write an article explaining why free healthcare is worse for people with no money than giant co-pays. And why the richest man in my state is THE HEAD OF AN HMO!!!

Oh, and Mr. Martin, I'm not that impressed by:

"Ashanti said he was a freelance writer from Orlando, Florida, with his own political blog, and who has written for Black Enterprise, BET.com, and the Active Trader."

You know, Ann Coulter's been in USA Today. That doesn't make her any less of a right-wing hack.

My question to Mr. Ashanti would be, why do you hate America? And why are you a corporate nazi? How's that for loaded, you hack? I'm so sorry no one will listen to you defend your oh-so-salient points. And I'm sure you've got convincing proof that global warming is a hoax.

It's just a tough media climate for right-wing shills, ins't it? Maybe America's finally waking up to how screwed up we are thanks to 20+ years of conservative madness.

For all the media coverage and talk of inclusiveness, bigotry and race, I'm absolutely dumbstruck over the idea that there's an association of black journalists. It just strikes me as highly ironic.

Great, way to go Clinton…if you can't handle a reporter without attacking him, then how can you handle the presidency?
YOUR JOB is to get attacked and then defend yourself, which you did admirably, up until the point when you made a personal attack on a questioner in the audience.
I question, and always will, your conniving and backhanded ways. Your "behind-the-scenes" politics is worse than Bush, Cheney, and Rove. Someone should write a blog post on this blog about that–Hillary Clinton, we have no place for you in American politics.

No way did Clinton go too far. The USA needs to bring its public health insurance system up to the level of the rest of the world. Clinton is not advocating socialised medicine, just coverage for people who can't afford the health care for their kids.

If he had knowledge that would refute her position, why didn't he say what the information was? He is doing the same thing that he accuses her of doing. I think many people have a problem with the fact that she is a strong woman. That just doesn't play well. That, plus the fact the Obama is in the game, erodes her chances. I think Obama would make a fine president after he gets a little more international experience. We can't let the white, male voting block divide the voters. This is our chance to prove to the world that the U.S. is not run by old, white men.

My response is if he has all the information to refute what Hillary Clinton says then he should take her up on her offer and then write a column and let the public know if he can refute what he had found out. Since he did not say he would take here up on her offer, I am guessing he is trying to spur his own political agenda for future use. I am in the health care field and see the good and bad side of medicare.

Thanks,
Sharon Evans

Roland Martin is biased towards Hillary Clinton, while favoring Obama. On one interview clip with Paula Zahn, he said he was thrilled to see a black man (like himself) to run as a presidential candidate.

He is a CNN contributor, and at times, achoring CNN for Paula Zhan, and others. As a journalist, he should not take sides supporting one particular candidate (Obama) during the broadcasts. I have not seen him picking flaws of Obama during his broadcasts.

She will never be honest with her audience re the truths about socialized medicine: YOU'RE going to pay for it, and it can take months and YEARS to schedule surgery.
She prefers to treat you as if you're stupid. That's FACT and not rhetoric.

Am I missing something here, or did Ashanti still not say anything? Nice text-bite Martin.

Gutsy move on Senator Clinton's part - I think it was a good, honest reaction (something rarely seen in politics). I agree with her, to the extent that I understand the very confusing health care system (which is not much). I think it would have the free-lance writer’s comments and point of view would carry much more weight if he had taken Senator Clinton up on her offer to meet and talk, instead he steps away and continues with bashing the Senator. At least if he had met with her there would have been the impression that he some found basis for the bashing – at the very least it would have given him some hits on his blog. As it stands, we already know what his blog says…

My respect for Hilary just went up a notch. Some of our right-wing friends have a ridiculous habit of throwing around the word "socialism" when it is apparent that they either don't know or don't care what it means. Ashanti is a perfect case in point. I especially like the fact that she asked him whether he considered Medicare to be socialism- revealingly, he said yes. Ha!

Is this the kind of attacks the right wing is going to put up against Hillary??

Black people, or any other segment of society, will not benefit form programs like medicare, medicaid, wic or the VA?!?!?!?

Why is this news, because Hillary gave the dude a whooping?? If the question of your article is if she went to far? the answer is NO WAY. That impostor "journalist" with his own right wing blog should have gotten much more for promoting right wing policies that hurt his people.

Typical. Another blow-hard journalist who doesn't have the stones to step up to the plate. If he "has the knowledge", then why doesn't he accept Clinton's challenge and discuss the issues face-to-face? I'm no Clinton fan, but she owned this little weasel.

Yeah, HE sounds like the one with the problem. Medicare has it's problems, for sure, but I wouldn't go so far to label it socialized medicine. I'm with her in that he needs to be schooled!

Have Ashanti share that 'knowledge' he posses with evryone.

How can universal health care NOT be socialized medicine? If all medical personnel work for the government, and the hospitals and medical equipment are owned by the government, and our taxes are used to pay for everything, then that has to be a great definition of socialized medicine. If it looks like a duck, smells like a duck, and walks like a duck, then it must be …

America needs good health care system.It has the worst one in western countries !!
The candidate that wants to win this election must give the American people a strait answer.
Lets take care of our people first.
Forget about helping and saving the world.
Spend the money at home for EDUCATION,EDUCATION,EDUCATION !

Sincerely ,
A voter that loves USA to much

Just because "everyone else is doing it" is no reason for us to introduced government funded/operated (aka "socialist") healthcare here in the United States. We've seen how people become dependent upon government services in the past, and how inefficient those systems tend to become, let alone the fact that there is no incentive for the public to break away from those programs in the future. What our nation needs is legislation that will free up smaller insurance companies to work across the various state borders, allow small companies or independent contractors to pool themselves together under a single plan to reap the benefits large companies do, and so on. The government does not need to be our nanny and wipe our noses each time it runs.

I can not criticize what Hillary Clinton had to say. I can say that the author of this story let the freelance writer have the last word, and still did not present any of his facts for us to judge for ourselves.

On the need for universal health care: We need some type of system in place. labels are an easy way for people to deny what is right for our country, and the growing population who don't have health care insurance.

Hillary Clinton's health care plan will bankrupt this country. It is easy for people to say "Healthcare is a right and should be available to anyone" but as an Emergency Room RN, I disagree. I have encountered many people who engage in very unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking, who have no desire to take better care of themselves, regardless of the availability of education or preventive medicine resources. Many of these people believe it is their right to have "free" medical care. When the average American will end up with significantly higher taxes (like England's almost 40% income tax), waiting for weeks or months for a routine medical appointment, or having age and time limits imposed on treatment options like they have in England and Canada, I do not believe people will be so eager to provide health care to those people who choose not to take care of themselves. This is another case of people becoming educated using a 30 second TV ad or internet posting rather than putting in the time and energy and investigating the issue themselves.

…he has the knowledge to refute everything that she is saying? That sounds like the "typical" response of someone who doesn't know much at all. Just my two cents.

First off, I am not a Clinton fan and will not be voting for her but Ashanti had the opportunity to expose her for the fake that she is and he chickened out. Maybe he's one of those that's only brave when hiding behind his rhetoric and his pen…

Clinton's plan IS socialized medicine. The Dems say they want to emulate the socialized models in other nations, BUT they say ours would work where theirs doesn't. Snicker.

We can get passport offices to send out passports, there are huge lines to renew drivers licenses, bridges are crumbling, politicians are on the take, and Clinton wants the government to get put in charge of another thing because (she feels) government can do a good job on that TOO? Snicker

So why does this article not explain to more of us what ther refuting points are? All I get out of it is that Ashanti disagrees with her but not why. That would be more informative for this article

The question about socialized health care was a loaded bullet. In which way will socialized health care hurt the African community? Oh where in the USA does this African community resides? It would have been better to express concerns about the USA population that sits below the poverty level. Clearly it's just not the African community that is a concern. I am surprise CNN, you should know better.

I realize the nature of this piece is supposed to be about healthcare, yet every time I see a piece written by a black person, there has to be a racial spin of some sort …

Pathetic, continued use of the race card. Many black activist state, "blacks just want to merge into mainstream society …etc".

If this is true, why do so many blacks force this separation?

I can't understand why so many Americans are against Medicare?
We have had Medicare in Canada for decades and I don't know of one Canadian that would want to loose it.

We can still buy into other private and corporate Health Plans if we want additional coverage to what Medicare provides. Many do so who want the added options of a Semi Private Hospital room vs. a ward, eye and dental coverage which the Medicare does not provide. Our Government provides such emergency care for those receiving Social Assistance.

I would have to work three jobs if I had to pay for all of my visits to my Doctor, for surgeries, X-Rays, Scans, Tests, etc. These are all covered on our Medicare and those who can't afford other Health Care don't have to worry that they will be turned away when they need Health Care.

Our mothers do not pay for the right to have families. Their maternity hospital care and gynecologists are paid for by Medicare.

I don't know what Americans pay in taxes but I know I'd gladly pay more if needed rather than do without our Medicare. One hospital visit I'm sure would be at least half of what I pay in taxes here. Canadians vacationing in the US ensure they get extra coverage before leaving Canada as we are aware of the astronomical costs of Hospital and Health Care in the US.

I have always found the term "socialized medicine" to be a laughable bogey-man. There are two losers in the European medical landscape: the terminally ill; and health care companies. My experiences with the medical quality of the UK's National Health Service have been every bit as good as my experiences in the US. Like Michael Moore in "Sicko," I tried to find a check-out counter where I paid at least something after a six-day stay with a fractured jaw. If Hillary Clinton can introduce something comparable in the US, people with an agenda like Mr Ashanti's can stick it with whatever inflammatory label they want. Meanwhile, if I do become terminally ill, I'll go ultra-conservative and try prayer.

Even if Medicare *is* "socialized
medicine", that does NOT mean, as
Mr.Kiara(?)Ashanti claimed, that it
will "hurt African-American communities
more than anyone else". Socialism by
definition works BETTER for POORER
people. What does Ashanti think about
our "socialized" public education
system? Does he really think that
black Americans are rich enough to
be able to afford to educate all their
own children privately? That he chose
to respond to your reporter by claiming
that he had "the knowledge to refute
everything she says" is just
outrageous. He's ignorant, period.
And he enabled her to score "political
points".

If he has everything to refute her point of view where is it?
I myself am tired of paying excessive medical cost due to our capitalist medical system. I love capitalism but our medical needs should not have a dollar amount attached to it.

I'd glad she stood her ground. This guy was obviously trying to bait her playing a different version of the same old tired "race card". As hard as Mr. Ashanti may find this to believe, not everything in this world should be measured only by the impact it has on African Americans. Maybe he would benefit from moving his professional affiliations outside the black community occasionally.

Can someone explain to me why universal single-payer health care would hurt African American communities?

The essence of totalitarianism is that the self-designated leader knows better what is good for you than that which you may wish to choose for yourself.
Hilly knows best.

What a great article. We don't get to hear an in-depth explanation of EITHER side let alone both. Any chance we could hear how he would've refuted what she said? Any chance we could hear what her actual plans for health care are? I can't really tell what the point of this commentary is.

As a physician who has trained and worked in 2 European countries and in Taiwan and currently works in the US as a kidney doctor, I can palpate the anger that Clinton must feel at this question. In my own area, systems with universal health care work much better than the system that we have in the US. For instance the death rate on dialysis in the USA is about 25%/year, but only 12.5% in Germany, 8% in Singapore and 6.8% in Japan ! Life expectancy is better in these countries as well. They do have what corporate insurers have cleverly called "sozialised" medicine. Medicare indeed works by far more efficiently with the available resources than the "private" corporate giants, that spend huge amounts of money fighting and paying lobbyists (4 per congressman alone in Washington) in order to hold on to their undeserved profits and smear medicare while depriving their patients of health insurance when they need it.
As a primer, I recommend anyone who has any interest in the matter to see Michael Moore's "Sicko", which cleans up with quite a few of the misconceptions about "socialized" medicine.

I don't understand how a government-funded universal healthcare system would hurt any "minority". I would actually think that given the fact that minorities overall earn less, the system would be mainly funded by the people who pay more taxes. And it should certainly help them raise their quality of life. Someone else know why?

This man obviously has no idea what he's talking about. There are no if, ands or buts about it: America is the only advanced country in the world that allows so many of it's citizens, in raw numbers and in percentages to go without healthcare.

And if he had been trying to get a serious answer, rather than trying to trap her, he could have dropped his own inane description of her health program. I'm glad he got slammed.

Let me guess…you both are rooting for Obama?

If this gentleman claims to have more knowledge, he should probably know then that engaging in a discussion with a candidate is not a propper way to adddress an issue. He could mention the subject to know the candidate point of view, and then present his opinion on his blog. Mentioning that he does blogs shows that he is really just looking for his fifteen minutes of fame.

My commentary is simple, Ashanti has attempted to "beat" a seasoned and accomplished scholar at her own game…and lost miserably. Clinton will do more for this nation's health care, diplomatic standing and overall morale then any president has ever HAD to do.

Well, I guess socialized medical care is far better than no medical care at all! Far too many of our citizens, especially the elderly, are without any care and simply cannot afford the high cost of medicines. It is a sad commentary when folks have to choose between paying for medical care and/or medicines and food for the table.

That's funny, here is a man who refuses to say that he may have been wrong. I am not a fan of any healthplan, mainly because it doesn't help me, it only helped me when my son was born extremely premature and clinically dead. When I have to talked to friends and colleagues, the only people I have found benefitting from healthcare, have been the minority groups. I am glad because alot of my friends belong to these groups, and they need it. However, we have children without healthcare because we missed the income bracket bu a small margin, yet we still have trouble buying milk, much less health insurance. The real kicker here? We are white. Which proves that skin color is not a defining factor, and should never be a defining factor in the way we look at people or situations.

I watched the clip of that mini-debate and I must say, Clinton was not backing down and seemed to very knowledgeable about the question that was thrown at her. It appeared to me that she handled the potentially embarrassing situation with a flat footed stance. I can respect that. Too bad the freelance writer didn't not take her up on her offer to communicate. My thinking is this: if you have "the knowledge to refute everything she is saying" … why not take a crack at it. The writer was bold enough to challenge Clinton, but not gutsy enough to take the challenge to go to the next level.

I watch CNN everyday morning and evening, Mr. Martin is very unfair person when he talk about 2008 election. I could figure out whose side he is, so please don't put him too often on CNN because CNN is the most trustworthy Network. I would appreciate.

Very odd title to this story, and an odd final few lines as well. Wasn't this really about Clinton dealing with a heckler? And who was the heckler and what in the world did he mean by his conclusory, self serving statement at the end? What does he know? What is his background? If he has something of substance to add to the debate, why not let us hear it? Sounds to me like he was looking to stir things up and was basing his comments on things he's heard, not anything he knows. Either way, since when were journalists trained to let the reader do their homework — isn't it supposed to be the other way around? C'mon, Roland — ask some questions!

If he has the knowledge to refute Senator Clinton then why didn't he impart that knowledge to us? Perhaps the whole thing was a self serving attempt of Mr. Ashanti to promote himself and his blog.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if she took her own advice? Drop the rhetoric and get educated Hillary. And then this:
“Do you think Medicare is socialized medicine?” she challenged him. “To a degree it is,” Ashanti said. “Well, then you are in a small minority in America because Medicare has literally saved the lives and saved the resources of countless generations of seniors in our country.”

What a non-sequitir, that's exactly what we need in the White House. A woman that thinks she's a man and is 'black' enough to lead the country. One that can say 'nukes are off the table' as a Senator, because of the timing…(she wasn't a presidential candidate at the time). Does that make her core values different? Ans, as "merely a Senator", should she have been discussing that anyway? Why are so many people infatuated with her becoming president?

Ashanti seems to be confusing "socialized medicine" (also known in more civilized countries as public or universal health care) with the political movement of socialism.

It ls likely he understands the difference between public health care and socialism, but he is just one of many conservative shills trying to blur the lines between the two in the minds of an American public who might not immediately understand the difference.

Those of us who know better aren't listening to this false comparison, however, even those of us who vote Democrat but don't support Clinton.

You can try and make Clinton look bad about her beliefs on her health care agenda and her resistance in this situation to the media in regards to it.
However, she knows what she is talking about and I applaud her tanacity of setting the record straight. She has been exploring the best options for modifying the health industry for years and knows exactly what needs to be changed. Is it so terrible for her to demonstrate her leadership skills? As far as I am concerned she only earned points with me in this situation.

Oh come on! You said you were going to find out about the questioner, but there's really nothing there. Is that all he would say?

Well that exchange was very well done in my opinion. Now remember that in almost every audience is going to be one or two people that are sent there from either another political campaign even from the GOP with the simple purpose of asking a question in such a way as to embarass or slander the candidate. It wasn't that the person asked a simply pointed question. It's that he already phrased the answer when he asked it. He didn't ask if it was "socialized medicine", he said it was. He said it was "failed" in other countries, although that is very debatable. So where is the question in his supposed question? No matter how you try to answer such a question it makes you look the bad guy. These questions need to be better managed by the people putting on the question/answer session. It's not a free speech issue, more of a "fair" speech question in my opinion.

Telling it as I see it,
Wynter

I had not heard the argument that socialized medicine "will hurt African American communities more than anyone else"

Can someone expain that to me?

Socialized medicine is better than nothing but is not better than what we have in the U.S. Despite Clinton & Moore rhetoric, there continues a steady influx of immigrants/foreignors seeking medical treatments in the U.S. Other than Moore's propoganda, where do you see U.S. Citizens flocking to Cuba, Canada or Europe to find better medical treatment? The U.S. system needs improvement (call if fixing if you like) but it is still the best in the world. The myth about better and free medical treatments blows up when you consider the state of the economies in socialized countries. There is simply "no free lunch" and never was. Quite dreaming, Billery!!!

I would like Mr. Ashanti how "socialized medicine" would "hurt African American communities more than anyone else."?

What I would like to know is; What precisely, is wrong with socialized medicine?
Why all this hatred for a system of healthcare that has served several countries of the EU so well for so long?
Is it somekind of "propagandistic" coldwar world view that somehow socialism is the same as communism?

As far as I can tell, at least from this article, Kiara Ashanti doesn't have anything to say worth hearing.

Who is this know it all Ashanti…go to hell. "He can refute anything she says", shut the hell up, PLEASE.

It astounds me when someone can ask a hard question, but then not follow up on it. He said the forum worked well for her because there wasn't time to refute her, but really he has all the time in the world. He could go meet with her team and then write