Here’s a quick follow-up to this week’s story on health care reform lies. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal and NBC News announced a wide-ranging poll looking at how Americans feel about the health care reform debate. Among other things, including reports of poor PR by the Obama folks, the poll showed that many Americans believe an unhealthy chunk of the “misinformation” (aka “brazen lies”) swirling around the country about health care reform. The poll specifically measured the percentages of Americans who believe that legislation includes “death panels” (45 percent); that illegal immigrants will be covered (55 percent); and that abortions will be paid for with taxpayer dollars (40 percent).
The most interesting parts of the poll, at least to this writer, were the comparisons of respondents who get their news from CNN or MSNBC with those who prefer FoxNews. To no one’s surprise except perhaps their own, those who primarily get their news from FoxNews believe the misinformation about health care reform in far greater numbers than other respondents. For instance, 72 percent of FoxNews watchers believe the illegal immigrant misinformation, 69 percent believe the abortion lie, and 75 percent — three out of every four FoxNews watchers — still believe the “death panels” nonsense, even though it has been thoroughly, and repeatedly, debunked by the more “reality-based” media. Oh, and 79 percent of Foxies think health care reform will lead to a “government takeover” of health care.
This article appears in Aug 18-25, 2009.
Rush Limbaugh was prattling on today about how, “reproductive care,” is “code” for, “taxpayer-funded abortion”. He repeated several times that Planned Parenthood’s role in reproductive care is exclusive to, “making money from abortions.” This, of course, is patently untrue and intellectually dishonest. Not that I would expect anything less from Limbaugh, whose show I catch during lunch for entertainment, shock value, and just to hear the thoughts (to use the word loosely) of what passes for a “conservative” these days. Abortion, as even a modestly informed citizen knows, is only a small part of the Planned Parenthood’s operation. Regardless of one’s feelings on the matter, the organization plays a substantial role in the world of healthcare.
While female reproductive health (and male reproductive health, too, for that matter) might be of no concern for the talk radio crowd, it’s certainly an issue that needs more attention (and funding) in America. The right-wing pundits are certainly planting false ideas in the heads of those gullible enough to take them seriously, though. Then again, that’s par for the course, isn’t it?
Why can’t just those why pay taxes get health benefits…how b’out that Obama and the rest of the health care reform starters??? NO seriously, this I could be in favor of, but not just letting any old person that comes to America, even the illegal’s to get health care and our taxes go up the roof???? No, sure, I will cont. to fight this…
Mr. Grooms, it seems that you have a plagiarist. Too bad she didn’t even cite your blog. It would have been the proper thing to do, don’t you think?