Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has introduced his "Healthy Americans Act" before, aiming to bring about universal health coverage. This year he’s trying again, facing not only legislative hurdles in gaining support for the plan but a critical — and misleading — ad campaign by a coalition of labor unions.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the National Education Association are airing a radio ad in Wyden’s state,
The Bad Apples Theory
CBS’ "Face the Nation" on May 17 featured the divergent views of Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York. Host Harry Smith asked about President Obama’s decision to block the court-ordered release of photos allegedly showing harsh treatment of detainees during interrogations in Iraq and Afghanistan. That led King to say that top government officials didn’t know about the abuse of prisoners, while Romero said the "highest levels"
Moran’s Miscues in Virginia
Brian Moran is so far the least visible of the trio of candidates competing in the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary, set for June 9. He’s the only one who hasn’t run a TV spot yet. But on May 17, he went up with his third radio ad, aiming to show a lot of daylight between Terry McAuliffe, the front runner, and President Obama. McAuliffe, on his Web site, calls the ad a "False Attack."
"The truth is,"
Not So Swift
A new fundraising plea from the Democratic National Committee highlights the link between a new conservative group’s health care ads and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — but it goes too far in its claim of a connection.
An e-mail message from David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, says:
Plouffe, DNC pitch: We knew healthcare reform would face fierce opposition — and it’s begun. As we speak, the same people behind the notorious "swiftboat" ads of 2004 are already pumping millions of dollars into deceptive television ads.
Drop in the Bucket? See for Yourself.
In our "What’s in a Number" post on May 7, we noted a clever video by Salt Lake City software developer Matt Shapiro, showing how little $100 million in savings would amount to when compared with the $3.6 trillion in federal spending being proposed by President Obama (about one-quarter of a penny on the scale of the budget being equal to $100.)
Now Matt has come up with a second video to help us wrap our brains around the latest figures.
Health Savings Still Optimistic
Back when he was courting voters, then-candidate Barack Obama boasted that his health care plan would save the typical family "up to $2,500" a year. And May 13, as President Obama, he repeated the claim, this time relying both on undefined "comprehensive reform" and a cost-control promise by the insurance and medical industries to garner such benefits:
Obama, May 13: On Monday I met with representatives of the insurance and the drug companies, doctors and hospitals,
Cheney’s Gitmo Recidivism Claims
Former Vice President Dick Cheney used his May 10 appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation" to, once again, strongly defend the Bush administration’s handling of alleged terrorists taken into U.S. custody. At one point, to back up his characterization of Guantanamo Bay detainees as ultra-bad guys, Cheney claimed that detainees sent home from Gitmo had already demonstrated significant recidivism: "We released hundreds already of the less threatening types. About 12 percent of them, nonetheless, went back into the fight as terrorists."
More on Mexican Guns
After we posted our April 17 story ("Counting Mexico’s Guns") pointing out the absence of data to back up statements from Obama administration officials (including the president), journalists and others that 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the U.S, we still had a few questions about the tracing process. At the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), we sat down with Charles Houser, chief of the agency’s National Tracing Center,
The Real Scott’s Shady?
We had plenty to say recently about a misleading health care ad from a group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights. We criticized the ad on its merits — but another organization has taken a different tack.
Health Care for America Now released this TV spot, titled "Shady," on May 7, attacking the character of the chairman of CPR, Rick Scott. The ad says that Scott’s former company (that’s Columbia/Hospital Corporation of America) "pleaded guilty to 14 felonies" in a Medicare fraud case that involved "overbilling"
Misquoting Yamamoto
Advocates of gun rights often argue that in World War II Japan was deterred from invading the U.S. mainland by a fear of American citizens with guns in their closets. They frequently quote Japan’s Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as saying: "You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."
But this quote is unsubstantiated and almost certainly bogus, even though it has been repeated thousands of times in various Internet postings.