Refuting the Lies Pushed by Health Care Reform Opponents
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Anyone who has read a newspaper, seen a television report or attended a health care reform event has to be amazed at some of the outrageous, bizarre and just off-the-charts lies being spouted about health care reform.
Health care reform, according to the ranters and ragers, will make private insurance illegal, socialize medicine, convene death panels to kill grandma and give undocumented aliens Mayo Clinic quality care. And those are just a few of the delusional claims.
The folks at Media Matters have identified 14 of the most cited (including those above) health care reform myths and lies that opponents are spreading, including the crazed fringe and even mainstream Republicans, media outlets and health care industry groups.
The First 100 Days: Media Attacks on Employee Free Choice
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The folks at the watchdog group Media Matters have been taking a close look at media attacks on President Obama and his policy proposals in the opening months of his administration, and they’ve found many examples of media fear-mongering, disinformation and just plain weirdness in the first 100 days.
One of the worst is this piece of rot from Rush Limbaugh, who attacks Obama for his support of the Employee Free Choice Act. Apparently, Limbaugh gets his information about how union formation works not from workers who’ve tried to form unions, but from fictional TV shows. He thinks that bus drivers like Theresa Gares, nurses like Kelly Beringer or casino dealers like Aneil Patel are lead-pipe-toting cartoon mobsters. Limbaugh will say anything to keep workers from having a voice on the job.
The team at Media Matters has picked a dozen of the most outlandish moments of unfair attacks and unhinged rhetoric, and they’re holding a contest to determine which is the “Worst Media Moment” of Obama’s first 100 days. Limbaugh’s attack on workers’ freedom to form unions is our choice for the worse.
Media Matters Turns Its Lens on Media’s Portrayal of Labor, Economy
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The non-profit Media Matters for America has earned a nationwide reputation for tracking media integrity on a variety of issues, earning the wrath of Rush Limbaugh and others along the way. Now it will apply its same scrutiny of reporters, pundits and self-proclaimed “experts” on cable talk shows to determine how they portray unions, wages and the Employee Free Choice Act.
The organization’s newly launched American Workforce and Labor project is aimed at cutting through dishonest or misinformed spin and getting out the facts about the critical economic issues facing the country.
