ABC News' Johnson debunks "death panel," abortion funding, Medicare funding, and Socialized medicine health care myths
August 13, 2009 9:53 am ET
From the August 13 edition of ABC's Good Morning America:
Expand All
Expand 1st Level
Collapse All
The other right-wing media mogul you should worry about
Palin's book and Obama's bow: a media week to forget
Media Matters: The Palin chronicles
I hear junk like this all the time
1. Points out that funding for abortion is still possible. This is debunked? Nope.
2. Medicare has more choices? Ask seniors in NYC where fewer doctors are accepting Medicare patients. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/business/retirementspecial/02health.html) Why? Red tape of dealing with the govt and low reimbursement rates. How do you think Obama is going to cut waste? Slashing reimbursement to doctors? Hardly debunked and Johnson even notes that has to be watched.
3. Govt. insurnace is not soc. medicine - this is playing word games. No, the govt would not own and operate hospitals. But by completely controlling payment (and do not kid yourself...economics tell you that a public option will lead to single payer - in fact some pols - Barney Frank - are on record as being in favor of such a transition!) will make the system one that is de facto socialized medicine.
As we see all along, the Dems are blocking real, meaningful effective health care reform by instead going for a big govt medicine power grab. Rather than work to enhance competition that will truly drive efficiency and excellence as well as address access issues (covg. for pre-existing conditions and recission), the Dems are more interested in establishing a big govt. solution that will only aggrandize their power at the expense of the average American. Fortunately, as we are seeing aroung the country, average Americans are waking up to this and loudly speaking out even while the Dems launch smear campaigns against average Americans who dare to stand up for economic liberty and freedom.
Keep watching Fox . . . you're one of the very few Americans who do.
The Republicans demonize the government with flair and scare tactics that go beyond hyperbole when it's convenient to them. The Right demonizes the government as "power mongers", but then defends the suspension of habeas corpus and dismisses the Constitution for the Patriot Act.
I want to feel the sense of pride that Canadians do with their Health Care system, instead of the disgust I feel whenever I hear about Insurance companies cancelling insurance for those who need it the most or see a report that 75% of those who declared bankruptcy due to health care problems had insurance.
Having said that, there are those on the right exploiting this gap in knowledge and replacing healthy speculation and criticism with blatant lies. They have several months head start on the administration. They are using the public airwaves to repeat their message about 45 hours a week.
Much of that audience will more than likely never see this ABC report. If they do, their version of it will be highly edited. I am almost afraid to use the word, but over the years a virtual cult has been created in America which only takes its message from its leaders - and as a whole believes they alone are right, and all those who disagree are the enemy (or liberals or leftists or Marxists or socialists or traitors or Nazis or have a mental disorder or want to destroy America, or are part of ACORN, or just plain lying). I don't see how those minds can ever be changed.
It should have been short and basic... similar to what England did after WWII. It seems this nation needs to come together to acheive a goal this important. The goal needed to be defined before a single word of legislation was put to paper.
1. Limit medical malpractice awards to $250,000, already done in California. This will reduce insurance costs and stop the defensive medicine that must be practiced to avoid lawsuits. Savings=$hundred of billions a year.
2. Require illegal aliens to pay for care or be denied treatment. Sorry, medical care is for legal immigrants and citizens only. Just ask the three hikers what happens when you enter Iran illegally. Savings=$hundreds of billions a year.
3. Require a co-pay of $20 for every doctor visit whether person is covered under insurance, medicare, medicaid etc. This will stop recreational medicine and fraud. If the person is poor, out of money and receives aid, deduct the copay from future payments. Savings=$hundreds of billions a year.
Total Savings = Hundreds of billions a year, enough to pay for catatrophic care for un-under insured. Result = No destruction of American healthcare system.
MYTH: "Corporate Special Interests are bankrolling Health Care Protests"
REALITY: The are bankrolling the Obama supporters. They are the supporters:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26076.html
I'm not an Obama supporter, I'm an American citizen who works closely with the insurance industry and who, because of a couple of pre-existing conditions can't get insurance coverage. Our health care system is broken [the system, not the health care providers] and it's going to BANKRUPT our country. BCBS is cutting its workforce here at their LARGE facility . . . why? Because of the unemployment numbers and business closings, they are writing fewer group policies. This nonsense is beginning to affect even them.
This isn't a right v. left issue, it's about human beings and about the health of our COUNTRY. Grow up.
When the general elections come around how will republicans respond when every one of them is asked to renounce the Nazi imagery now being used by right wingers? They can't do that, because without your fringe elements, you know you have nothing, that's why your party panders to them so much. But if they don't renounce, nobody outside very conservative circles will endorse them.