CPR ‘SQUEEZED’ OUT THE TRUTH…. In May, Rick Scott and his Conservatives for Patients’ Rights launched its first hopelessly dishonest ad on health care reform. Its new one is worse. Here’s the script:
“Some of Congress’ health care plans could squeeze you four ways. It could raise taxes by $600 billion — even taxing soda. It could add a trillion to the federal deficit. New rules could hike your health insurance premiums 95 percent. You still might end up on their government-run health plan. Tell Congress you’ve been squeezed enough. Say no to a government-run health plan.”
The Kaiser Health News Service looked for even the slightest bit of honesty in the right-wing ad, but couldn’t find any.
Although CPR lists individual sources for each statement in the ad, the facts are largely taken out of context, come from biased industry groups or have been discredited. “There’s absolutely nothing here that’s right. It’s unbelievable,” says John Holahan, director of the Health Policy Research Center at the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. [emphasis added]
Alas, it’s all too believable. We’re dealing with right-wing activists and corporate interests committed to defeating reform at all costs. That means lying, bullying, intimidating, and terrifying as many people as possible.
What would be encouraging, though, is if news outlets declined to air advertising when “there’s absolutely nothing here that’s right.” Con artists, perpetrating a fraud on the public, may be able to write a network a check, but there’s no reason a station should want their business.
