The Heritage Foundation (R)
Like many Americans, I have begun to receive political mailers in my mailbox, mostly from Super PACs promoting the objectives of the GOP. American Crossroads and American Crossroads GPS have been the primary sponsor of mailers designed to promote misinformation about President Obama's stance on health care and welfare. As usual, I seriously read the mailers for its content, and then readily dismiss them as representative of the current litany of Republican rhetoric.
Just today though, I received a new mailer and this one came directly from the Republican Party of Florida. Across the top of this mailer screamed the headline "Obamacare Robs Medicare of $716 Billion to Fund Itself" per The Heritage Foundation, a well respected independent think tank...which would be a perfect line of reasoning for the GOP considering The Heritage Foundation is in fact a Right Wing ultra-Conservative group dedicated to fighting anything that could possibly be promoted as a good idea by the Democrats. But how can I say such a thing? Certainly, I am showing my "blue" bias (again) in making such an outrageous claim! Nope. According to Forbes, Stuart Butler of The Heritage Foundation proposed an alternative to the Democratic health care plan proposed under President Clinton. The Heritage Foundation plan? "We would include a mandate in our proposal–not a mandate on employers, but a mandate on heads of households–to obtain at least a basic package of health insurance for themselves and their families. That would have to include, by federal law, a catastrophic provision in the form of a stop loss for a family’s total health outlays. It would have to include all members of the family, and it might also include certain very specific services, such as preventive care, well baby visits, and other items." Gee, sound familiar? It should, it has basically been incorporated in Obamacare! The only difference is the role employers would play in the plan. Starting to see my point? The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act was originally a Conservative health care plan. Once a Democratic president proposed it though, all bets were off and it was off to the races to destroy the plan and Obama! Most folks in politics would label the statements on health care from The Heritage Foundation to be "distortions," but most Americans would consider a more base label..."lies."
Enter today's mailer from the GOP. In a series of check offs, the mailer states the following as facts: "X They'd put unelected bureaucrats in charge of OUR healthcare." Really? What do you call the folks that currently make these decisions for us while working for the insurance companies? If you think I am wrong, I can tell you at least two recent occurrences where my insurance provider's "formulary" decided, over my doctors written directives, to refuse to pay for medications I need. They even went so far as to cover a drug that I had a dangerous liver related reaction to. They backed off, but only after I threatened them. Who decided my health care needs here? Some stranger in Utah, not my doctor. Next, "X Makes Decisions that should be made by doctors and patients." See above. "X Decides what ;procedures and medications you can receive. See above again. X Makes drastic cuts in Medicare payments." Oh this one is TRUE. But the cuts are in the form of reimbursements to doctors and insurance providers, NOT the elderly. See how they slyly slide around the whole truth with a half-truth? And the next X? "Raise taxes on seniors." Nope, not true. Think this is enough to be labeled an outright political lie? Not yet? Perhaps not, but wait for it...we have a local professor of political science by the name of Kieth Fitzgerald running for Congress against GOP Incumbent Vern Buchanan. This mailer has the chutzpah to actually and unabashedly state; "That's the Obama-Pelosi-Fitzgerald plan." On the other side of the mailer it reads; "Nancy Pelosi and Kieth Fitzgerald should be ashamed!" Really? Kieth Fitzgerald has NEVER been a member of Congress, never! Since he has never served in Congress before, how in the world can you claim he should be ashamed for a plan he took no part in? It's one thing to lie about what the ACA does, it is another lying about someone voting for it when they were never a member of Congress.
You might want to call many of the political claims out there to be distortions, but I call them LIES! I guess it all depends on your perspective.
See you all late tomorrow or Sunday. Have a peaceful weekend!
Just today though, I received a new mailer and this one came directly from the Republican Party of Florida. Across the top of this mailer screamed the headline "Obamacare Robs Medicare of $716 Billion to Fund Itself" per The Heritage Foundation, a well respected independent think tank...which would be a perfect line of reasoning for the GOP considering The Heritage Foundation is in fact a Right Wing ultra-Conservative group dedicated to fighting anything that could possibly be promoted as a good idea by the Democrats. But how can I say such a thing? Certainly, I am showing my "blue" bias (again) in making such an outrageous claim! Nope. According to Forbes, Stuart Butler of The Heritage Foundation proposed an alternative to the Democratic health care plan proposed under President Clinton. The Heritage Foundation plan? "We would include a mandate in our proposal–not a mandate on employers, but a mandate on heads of households–to obtain at least a basic package of health insurance for themselves and their families. That would have to include, by federal law, a catastrophic provision in the form of a stop loss for a family’s total health outlays. It would have to include all members of the family, and it might also include certain very specific services, such as preventive care, well baby visits, and other items." Gee, sound familiar? It should, it has basically been incorporated in Obamacare! The only difference is the role employers would play in the plan. Starting to see my point? The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act was originally a Conservative health care plan. Once a Democratic president proposed it though, all bets were off and it was off to the races to destroy the plan and Obama! Most folks in politics would label the statements on health care from The Heritage Foundation to be "distortions," but most Americans would consider a more base label..."lies."
Enter today's mailer from the GOP. In a series of check offs, the mailer states the following as facts: "X They'd put unelected bureaucrats in charge of OUR healthcare." Really? What do you call the folks that currently make these decisions for us while working for the insurance companies? If you think I am wrong, I can tell you at least two recent occurrences where my insurance provider's "formulary" decided, over my doctors written directives, to refuse to pay for medications I need. They even went so far as to cover a drug that I had a dangerous liver related reaction to. They backed off, but only after I threatened them. Who decided my health care needs here? Some stranger in Utah, not my doctor. Next, "X Makes Decisions that should be made by doctors and patients." See above. "X Decides what ;procedures and medications you can receive. See above again. X Makes drastic cuts in Medicare payments." Oh this one is TRUE. But the cuts are in the form of reimbursements to doctors and insurance providers, NOT the elderly. See how they slyly slide around the whole truth with a half-truth? And the next X? "Raise taxes on seniors." Nope, not true. Think this is enough to be labeled an outright political lie? Not yet? Perhaps not, but wait for it...we have a local professor of political science by the name of Kieth Fitzgerald running for Congress against GOP Incumbent Vern Buchanan. This mailer has the chutzpah to actually and unabashedly state; "That's the Obama-Pelosi-Fitzgerald plan." On the other side of the mailer it reads; "Nancy Pelosi and Kieth Fitzgerald should be ashamed!" Really? Kieth Fitzgerald has NEVER been a member of Congress, never! Since he has never served in Congress before, how in the world can you claim he should be ashamed for a plan he took no part in? It's one thing to lie about what the ACA does, it is another lying about someone voting for it when they were never a member of Congress.
You might want to call many of the political claims out there to be distortions, but I call them LIES! I guess it all depends on your perspective.
See you all late tomorrow or Sunday. Have a peaceful weekend!
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