Sparks Fly As Lafayette Panelists Disagree Over The Cost Of Healthcare Reform

This morning's edition of Winging It Wednesday during "Mornings With Ken and Bernie" featured panelists Carol Ross, Raymond Lalonde and Mike Stagg talking about the cost of healthcare reform, Russia and Israel's position on Iran, and George Zimmerman. The panelists gave their point of view on each of these issues.

The panelists were each asked their opinion of the following news headlines:

A new study suggests President Obama's landmark healthcare measure won't do much to control costs. The study was conducted by a Republican member of the board which oversees Medicare financing. Conservative policy analyst Charles Blahous says the healthcare initiative will add more than 340-billion dollars to the budget deficit over the next decade.
A new report that says the Russian military expects Iran will be attacked by this summer. Businessinsider.com reports the sources say the Russian military is working on a plan to stage troops near the Iranian border. Russia's former NATO ambassador, Dmitry Rogozin says, "if Iran is involved in any military action, it's a direct threat to our security." Other sources say Russians have cautioned of "unpredictable consequences" if Iran is attacked by Israel.
George Zimmerman has not been charged in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin but NBC News reports he has set up a personal website to collect funds for his legal defense. By late Monday afternoon, nearly 17-hundred visitors had gone to the site. Zimmerman insists he shot Martin in self-defense because the teenager was beating him.

On the issue of the cost of the healthcare reform act, panelist Carol Ross says she was, "not surprised" that another study has come out suggesting that the cost of healthcare reform would not save money. Ross says she can't believe that people can't see that costs will go up when the number of people being served increases along with dwindling resources that will be available. Former Louisiana legislator Raymond Lalonde agreed with Ross on her prediction that costs will just continue to rise under the healthcare reform act citing the amount of taxes that are in the bill. Mike Stagg, a democrat, disagreed vehemently with the two of them, saying that this "study" was conducted by a Republican, and he says, "his numbers are not correct". Ross and Stagg then began to fight about the issue.

To hear how the battle went, click below: