11
Aug
OBAMA TAKES ON HEALTH CARE CRITICS, DISSECTING LIES, ROVE REVEALED
WHEELS OF TRUTH MOVE SLOWLY: It has taken years, but, finally, the role played by Karl Rove and the Bush White House in the “political cleansing” of US Attorneys they considered politically unreliable is coming out. The New York Times reports today on its front page on a story that has been all over the blogosphere for years: “Congressional testimony and e-mails showed Karl Rove and others played an earlier, more active role in the 2006 firings of federal prosecutors.” It took two years for the House Judiciary Committee to question Rove who is now a FOX NEWS commentator.
The Washington Post reports: “The dismissal of U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias of New Mexico in December 2006 followed extensive communication among lawyers and political aides in the White House who hashed over complaints about his work on public corruption cases against Democrats, according to newly released e-mails and transcripts of closed-door House testimony by former Bush counsel Harriet Miers and political chief Karl Rove.”
OBAMA FINALLY GOES ON THE OFFENSIVE-DEFENSIVE
THE “DEATHERS” EMERGE FROM RANKS OF “BIRTHERS”
MORE BAD NEWS ON THE ECONOMY, CHASE BEING PROBED
The President is trying to respond to critics but he picked a friendly audience, perhaps unrepresentative of those who are heckling his plan. Here’s what happened:
Helene Cooper reports in the NY TImes:
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Fans and foes of President Obama’s push to overhaul health care descended on a local high school here on Tuesday, ostensibly to give the visiting Mr. Obama a piece of their minds. In reality, they appeared to spend a lot more time yelling at each other.
“Parasites!” yelled the protestors on the right side of the school’s driveway who oppose the president’s plan.
“Ignorants!” yelled the protestors on the left side who support it.
While apparently failing to convert the people on the right side of the driveway, Mr. Obama sought to reassure the 1,800 people inside the school gymnasium that health care overhaul did not mean Americans would lose their coverage or surrender treatment decisions to the government. Special interest groups seeking to block change, Mr. Obama said, were trying to scare people with misinformation, creating “boogeymen out there that just aren’t real.”
“Where we do disagree, let’s disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that has actually been proposed,” Mr. Obama told the audience.
LBN: ANGRY CROWD CONFRONTS SENATOR ON HEALTH CARE
A hostile crowd shouted questions and made angry statements today at a Pennsylvania town hall meeting on health care led by Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter. The meeting drew an overflow crowd of about 250 people, with more gathered outside to demonstrate for and against President Obama’s push to expand health insurance for 46 million people without coverage while bringing down costs.
STEVE KORNACKI, NY POLITICKER: SHOULD WE ANTICIPATE A BETRAYAL ON HEALTH CARE?
“The signs are unmistakable: The Senate’s Democratic leaders are laying the groundwork to compromise away the “public option” that, to much of their party’s base, is the litmus test of whether any health care reform plan is worth enacting.
“We might have to give up the public option or go to a co-op,” Dick Durbin, the Democrats’ chief vote-counter in the Senate, told the New York Times last Friday. “I favor a public option. But I won’t say that I’d vote against a bill if it does not include the public option.”
And Chuck Schumer, who last month declared that Al Franken’s arrival as the 60th Democratic vote in the Senate would make any further compromise on the public option unnecessary, is suddenly expressing support for private “co-ops”—the public option alternative being pushed by some cautious Senate Democrats—provided that it’s not “a measly little thing that’s just a fig leaf.”
These sudden pronouncements strongly suggest two things: (1) that, despite their threats, Senate Democrats are not seriously considering using the filibuster-proof reconciliation process to pass health care legislation; and (2) that the biggest obstacle to passing health care reform this year may now be posed by Democrats.
ARIANA HUFFINGTON: ON THE CAVE-IN
“The White House has now shown itself willing to cave on the two essential elements of real health care reform – drug price negotiations and having a public option. Giving us health care reform without those key ingredients is like serving a PBJ sandwich without the peanut butter or the jelly. It makes no sense – practically or politically. Health care reform that doesn’t contain costs is destined to fail – arming the GOP with a powerful “I told you so” cudgel to swing in 2010 and 2012.”
THE RIGHT-WING MESSAGE POINTS: HERE”S WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Spin Translation from Townhall.com, a right-wing site:
No discrimination for pre-existing conditions: You can wait until you get sick to sign
up for coverage, and thereby game the
system, costing the rest of us
No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or
co-pays :You can’t have a health savings account
(HSA) even if you want to keep one. If
you want to save money on your
premium by having a high deductible,
the government won’t let you
No cost-sharing for preventive care An unelected and unaccountable
government board of bureaucrats will
decide what procedures must be first-
dollar, even if you don’t value them
No dropping of coverage if you become seriously ill This only happens in Helen Hunt
movies, but Congress will demagogue it anyway to scare us
No gender discrimination You’ll be forced to have your tax dollars
pay for abortion and other things you disagree with. You’ll also be forced to
purchase a plan which covers abortion on demand for all nine months
No annual or lifetime caps on coverage Congress will tell insurance companies
how they have to price their coverage and determine risk
Extended coverage for young adults “Children” up to age 30 will be able to
stay on their parents’ insurance at taxpayer expense
Guaranteed insurance renewal so long as premiums
are paid Another red herring that Congress will use to scare people into adopting
government medicine
MOVEON: FIVE TOP LIES ON HEALTH CARE REFORM
Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back
Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!
The truth: These accusations—of “death panels” and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: “No ‘death panel’ in health care bill.”4 What’s the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.5
Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!
The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama’s reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.6 Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.7
If you’re happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.8 But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can’t afford health care now.
Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!
The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.
Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.9 And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.
Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens’ Medicare benefits!!!
The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.10 Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.11
Lie #5: Obama’s health care plan will bankrupt America!!!
The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.
Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.
Deconstructing the Right Wing Lies on the Health Insurance Bill
The right’s lies about the current health insurance proposals before Congress have rarely been compiled in such concise form before:
WILLIAM GREIDER:CRITIQUING THE WHITE HOUSE BIG PHARMA DEAL
Trudy Lieberman CJR:
MEDIA COVERAGE: PROJECT ON EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM REPORTS HEALTH CARE TOP STORY
Due in good part to the contentious town hall confrontations between politicians and protesters, the health care debate was the No. 1 story in the news agenda the week of August 3-9, according to a report by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Attention to health care policy filled 16% of the newshole last week—down from 19% the previous week and 25% the week of July 20-26. The story filled 5% of the newshole in newspapers, online and on network news. But it dominated on cable news (37%) and radio (33%), the sectors that tend to be more debate-oriented.
Indeed, in the 13 cable and radio talk shows examined by PEJ last week, 59% of the airtime was devoted to the health care issue. Much of that conversation involved an argument over whether the town hall protests represented genuine grassroots sentiment or were choreographed by conservative interest groups.
Filling 15% of the newshole, the economic crisis was the No .2 story for the sixth consecutive week. In each of those weeks, attention to the economy has been consistent—between 10% and 15% of the newshole. Last week, a small dip in unemployment and how the financial meltdown is affecting day-to-day life were among the key economic narratives.
DXM ON THE DEATHERS:
Waves of Euthanasia
The industriousness of the pro-health care insurance industry recruiting mindless, thoughtless and careless deathers as dupes have effectively replaced the Republican birthers, and in far greater numbers spilling over into Democratic town hall meetings. There was an all-for-show gun-totin’ “Give me Liberty or give me Death” anti-Obama anti-health care (insurance) reform protester in a church parking lot near where Barack was to speak.
Club for Growth spreads “deather” conspiracy theory
“Politico’s Jonathan Martin explains that claims from groups like Club for Growth that health care reform will spur ‘waves of euthanasia’ are ‘not true’:
“We’ve heard about the ‘birthers,’ now we’re hearing about the ‘deathers’ … It’s these folks saying that health care reform will spur waves of euthanasia, and of course, that’s not true.”
Before Palin crazy, there was Gingrich crazy
“On August 4 — three days before Palin’s deather rant — Newt Gingrich made the same basic claim, asserting that through adviser Ezekiel Emmanuel, the Obama administration was seeking the ‘foreboding’ and ‘threatening’ power to ‘euthanize’ Americans.”
From Seattle: Editorial Cartoonist David Horsey on the Fear Machine
