ObamaCare Aided by Big Doses of Media Spin

MRC ^ | March 15, 2010 | Rich Noyes

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

The end of Congress’s long debate over ObamaCare could be near, as the President pushes for a final vote this week before his Asia trip, and House Democrats want a resolution before next week’s Easter break.

Yet whether or not liberals’ dreams are ultimately realized, they have had a huge advantage throughout the process. Over the past twelve months, journalists have continually stacked the deck in favor of a big government takeover of health care. A review of the worst spin:

■ On March 1, 2009, previewing Obama’s first White House meeting on health care, ABC’s Dr. Tim Johnson championed the liberal side. “We spend more than twice as much, per person, on health care in this country as the average of all other industrialized countries, yet we’re the only one that doesn’t have universal coverage. That’s a national shame,” Johnson announced on World News.

■ Obama’s March 5, 2009 health care conference drew rave reviews. On Nightly News, NBC’s Chuck Todd saluted how Obama had abandoned the “secrecy” of Hillary Clinton’s mid-1990s effort, and he enthused over the “Knute Rockne-like boost” an ailing Senator Ted Kennedy provided. On ABC’s World News, Tim Johnson gushed: “I was blown away by President Obama’s grasp of the subject, how he connected the dots, how he answered the questions without any script.”

■ As Obama kicked off his push for legislation, ABC News on June 24 hosted a two-hour prime time “town hall meeting,” with ABC’s anchors using the White House as home base for Good Morning America, World News and Nightline. On World News, reporter David Wright claimed “Democrats and Republicans alike” hoped Obama would succeed in fixing health care “because something needs to be done....The need is obvious.”

■ At the outset, the networks permitted little conservative dissent. The MRC’s Business & Media Institute calculated that, during the first six months of 2009, 70% of soundbites supported Obama’s liberal health care ideas, and gave short shrift to complaints about the hefty price tag.

■ As opposition to ObamaCare began to take hold, journalists led a counterattack. On the July 22 Good Morning America, ABC’s Chris Cuomo indignantly asked California Govenor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Do you believe that the Republicans are playing politics here, at the risk of people’s health care?...Is this getting to be a little bit of a reckless situation?” On NBC’s Today, Matt Lauer accused Senator Jim DeMint: “Are you rallying conservatives to the cause of health care reform? Or are you rallying conservatives to the cause of breaking a President?”

■ As citizens voiced opposition in town hall meetings over the summer, journalists disparaged the dissenters. Writing on AOL’s “Politics Daily” site, ex-CNN reporter Bob Franken blasted anti-ObamaCare protesters as “a crazed group” engaged in “organized intimidation.” Hardball host Chris Matthews blamed it all on racism: “I think some of the people are upset because we have a black president.” And Good Morning America’s Bill Weir warned “the rising anger is now ramping up concerns over the President’s personal safety.”

■ MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann was the most extreme, equating ObamaCare foes to suicide bombers: “When Hamas does it or Hezbollah does it, it is called terrorism. Why should Republican lawmakers and the AstroTurf groups organizing on behalf of the health care industry be viewed any differently — especially now that far too many Tea Party protesters are comparing President Obama and health care reform to Hitler and the Holocaust?”

■ Even as anti-Obama protesters were being vilified, the lobbying favor of ObamaCare continued. On August 6, Time senior political analyst Mark Halperin, previously political director at ABC News, declared on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight: “We’re the only industrialized democracy that doesn’t cover every citizen. That is immoral.”

■ The broadcast networks seized on long lines at a free clinic in Los Angeles as evidence of, as CBS’s Katie Couric led her August 13 Evening News, “why many believe reform is desperately needed.” Two days later, ABC’s Dan Harris hit the same story on World News: “Tonight, a vivid demonstration of the health care crisis: A clinic that provides free health care has been inundated with patients. Almost 46 million people in this country do not have health insurance, but the problem is a lot bigger than that....”

■ After Ted Kennedy passed away in August, journalists tried to use his death to boost ObamaCare. “Even though he’s gone, his energy may help push this Obama plan through,” CBS News presidential historian Douglas Brinkley hoped during live overnight coverage just hours after Kennedy’s death was announced. “There is already an e-mail circulating that I’ve received today that reads simply, ‘In lieu of flowers, pass health care reform,’” NBC’s Brian Williams promoted early the next morning on Today.

■ Obama’s September 9 health care speech to Congress also drew raves: “This might have been the most emotional speech I’ve seen President Obama give....This is very close to President Obama’s heart,” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos enthused moments after the speech ended. On Nightline, ABC’s Terry Moran saluted how Obama “sought to draw on the grand rhetorical tradition of President Kennedy and others, trying to summon the country to a great and necessary endeavor.”

■ By late September, however, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz was frothing at ObamaCare’s opponents, accusing them of wanting Americans to die: “The Republicans lie! They want to see you dead! They’d rather make money off your dead corpse!” Two weeks later, MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan seconded the inflammatory charge: “There are people that are actually trying to derail health care in order to take down Obama, even if it means half the country dies.”

■ On her September 18 CBS Evening News, Katie Couric touted a “Harvard study” that claimed “nearly 45,000 American deaths every year are linked to a lack of insurance.” Neither Couric nor reporter Jim Axelrod noted the “study” was really produced by a group pushing an end to private insurance in favor of a single-payer system.

■ After the Senate dropped provisions for government-run insurance, ABC’s Charles Gibson fretted on December 18: “Without a public option, without an expansion of Medicare, is it better than nothing?” ABC’s Tim Johnson vouched for the bill’s liberalism: “I would personally prefer to have the public option....But what’s left is not insignificant.” Two days later, on ABC’s This Week, Cokie Roberts argued people were against the bill out of ignorance: “A lot of people are going to like it a whole lot once they see what’s in it....It’s just a question of understanding it.”

■ Anti-ObamaCare candidate Scott Brown’s victory was treated as dour news by the media. NBC’s Meredith Vieira asked Brown about his post-election phone call to Ted Kennedy’s widow: “How comfortable was that for both of you, knowing that you plan to do whatever you can to derail what Ted Kennedy called, called ‘the cause of his lifetime,’ which is health care reform?”

■ After a year of setbacks, reporters were still quick to crown Obama victorious after his health care “summit” with Republicans. On the CBS Evening News, Chip Reid insisted that Obama had laid the groundwork for jamming through a final bill, saying the President had succeeded in showing “that the Republicans are the party of no, they won’t compromise, and he now has no choice but to move ahead with Democrats alone.”

No conservative quest has ever been treated to the helpful press coverage ObamaCare has received. If it fails, liberals can’t blame a hostile media.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Slander Alert!

THREE Congress-Critters SLANDER Protesters. And they are BUSTED
Video Surfaces of John Lewis “N*****” Incident at Tea Party Protest on Capitol Hill

ABC: Anti-ObamaCare Protest ‘Turned Very Ugly’ with ‘Racial and Homophobic Slurs’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2475865/posts

If they want to hear genuine racists, they need to visit Senator Byrd and Senator Harry Reid.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Japan’s now ahead of us in inventions. US innovation has been squashed for a long time now.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Not everyone is in the loop, FRiend. This is the kind of thing Rush might read to help newbies keep up. It’s important. We don’t need to read it to help ourselves understand anything. That’s not the point.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Bookmarked for media bias history. That kind of post takes a lot of work. Thank you, FRiend.

[Diogenesis]

With great gratitude to Stephen E. Fraser, MD, I have reordered,
compiled, and sorted, his findings in the Abomination known as ObamaCARE.

THERE ARE DEATH PANELS.
MANY MANY MANY MANY DEATH PANELS.

DEATH -PANEL: Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e...re-admissions). Page 280 Sec 1151
DEATH -PANEL: Govt mandates "Advance-Care Planning Consult." (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.) Page 425 Lines 4-12
DEATH-PANEL: Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again -- no choice!) Page 430 Lines 11-15
DEATH-PANEL: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing! Page 272 SEC. 1145
DEATH-PANEL: GOVT COMMITTEE decides what treatments/benefits you get Page 30 Sec 123
DEATH-PANEL: The Govt mandates a program for orders on "end-of-life." (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!) Page 427 Lines 15-24
DEATH-PANEL: Rationing Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans Page 85 Line 7
DEATH-PANEL: The Govt provides an "approved" list of end-of-life resources; guiding you in death. (Also called 'assisted suicide.')(Sounds like Soylent Green to me.) Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3
DEATH-PANEL: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services.Page 494-498 DEATH-PANEL: Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you Page 42
DEATH-PANEL: An "advanced-care planning consultant" will be used frequently as a patient's health deteriorates. Page 429 Lines 1-9 DEATH-PANEL: HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED Page 29 lines 4-16
DEATH-PANEL: An "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans.. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?) Page 429 Lines 10-12
DEATH-PANEL: Govt mandates establishment of outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want -- rationing.) Page 335 L16-25 Pg 336-339
DEATH-PANEL: Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of 'special needs people!' Unbelievable! Page 354 Sec 1177
DEATH-PANEL: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors. (Low-income and the poor are affected.) Page 239 Line 14-24
DEATH-PANEL: GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.. (I wouldn't want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!) Page 429 Lines 13-25
DEATH-PANEL: Rationing Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members - your health care WILL be rationed!) Page 85 Line 7
DEATH-PANEL: Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. (And it's mandatory!) Page 425 Lines 17-19:

ACORN: Payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & ACORN Page 65 Sec 164
ACORN: Govt will use ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan. Page 95
ACORN: Community-Based Home Medical Services = Non-Profit Organizations, ACORN Medical Services Page 469

Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make.Page 127 Lines 1-16
Doctors: It doesn't matter what specialty you have trained yourself in -- you will all be paid the same! Page 241 Line 6-8
Doctors: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!) Page 317 L 13-20
Doctors: Govt sets the value of a doctor's time, profession, judgment, etc. (Literally-- the value of humans.) Page 253 Line 10-18
Doctors: Govt creates more bureaucracy via a "Tele-Health Advisory Committee." (Can you say HC by phone?) Page 379 Sec 1191
Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission -- the Govt will penalize you. Page 298 Lines 9-11

Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll! Page 149 Lines 16-24
Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. (NO choice!) Page 145 Line 15-17
Employer with payroll between $251K & $401K who doesn't provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll.Page 150 Lines 9-13
Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time employees AND their families. (Employees shouldn't get excited about this as employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.) Page 126 Lines 22-25
Employers: Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure - Page 22
Employers: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt monopoly. page 12 4 lines 24-25
Employers: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the 'Exchange.' Page 84 Sec 203

HOSPITALS: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.) Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3

ILLEGALS: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay.) (Like always)Page 170 Lines 1-3
ILLEGALS: HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise. Page 50 Section 152
ILLEGALS: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (illegal aliens.) Page 91 Lines 4-7

MARRIAGE: Officers & employees of the GOVT HC Admin.. will have access to ALL Americans' finances and personal records. (I guess so the government can 'deduct' their fees from your bank account)Page 195
MARRIAGE: Govt will cover marriage and family therapy. Page 489 Sec 1308
MARRIAGE: Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer. Page 59 lines 21-24:
MARRIAGE: Govt will have real-time access to individuals' finances & 'National ID Health card' - Page 58

MONOPOLY: Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. (Forcing people into the Govt plan) Page 341 Lines 3-9
MONOPOLY: Govt mandates and controls productivity for "private" HC industries. Page 265 Sec 1131
MONOPOLY: Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. Page 102 Lines 12-18
MONOPOLY: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. (Can you say ACORN?) Page 321 2-13

NEW TAXES: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.Page 167 Lines 18-23
NEW TAXES: The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that!) ( a 'fee' instead) Page 203 Line 14-15

[Diogenesis]

“Of course we lie. Lie lie lie. Then, Lie lie lie. We are NBC”

[jersey117]

I quit relying in stupak. He’s been playing us. What we have left is working to expose what’s in the bill and ruining their celebration in the aftermath. This isn’t over.

[chilltherats]

Beccera from CA was on C-Span a few minutes ago and let the cat out of the bag. He said that at the end of the day he thinks they’ll win. He was real keen on making a big deal out of stating they would win. So, they haven’t won yet and they don’t have the votes - just expect/hope to by the end of the day.

Also, rules have changed - they will vote on the senate bill first.

[sirchtruth]

And boycott the advertisers too!

This is where you can get immediate results. In fact writing letters, sending emails, and making phone calls letting them know you are boycotting and actively trying to get others too, is an effective way of stopping these biased media liars! Advertisers dropping off like flies gets their attention. This is why Air America Radio no longer exist. Can't pay the bills, can't run a business. Plus, they couldn't get listeners because they were so FOS and everybody knew it!

Conservatives are just not activist politically, but could be very formidable in this area where it really matters! Conservatives are going to have to step up if we want to reclaim standards and get our country back on track!

[chilltherats]

I think conservatives, each of us, needs to resolves to do, say, two hours a week of emailing, faxing and calling various representatives at all levels of government as well as talking to, say, five people per week about a current political event, even if it’s just a brief conversation at the grocery store or the office or in a bar, restaurant, the gym or at the park. Make three solidly backed strong points that take about two or three minutes each to explain so you’re taking less than ten minutes of a person’s time. That’s a total of three hours per week - 25 minutes per day average.

[Canedawg]

[OafOfOffice]

Stupak’s Been Lying All Along!!! Video Surfaced! Obama’s Deal Won’t Even Count!

http://www.lonelyconservative.com/2010/03/21/stupaks-been-lying-all-along-video-surfaced-obamas-deal-wont-even-count/

[sirchtruth]

This is doing something! Good suggestions!