If anyone wants to argue that this President does not have the backing of our MSM they need to look no further then this most unbelievably biased decision by ABC to become the White House advertising company.
On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care — a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!
Highlights on the agenda:
ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.
The network plans a primetime special — ‘Prescription for America’ — originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.
They no longer care about at least pretending to be unbiased, now they are giving Obama and friends the reins to a major media outlet to help achieve a policy position.
This is nothing short of amazing, and on a policy that will cost this country 1.3 trillion dollars AND turn our health care system into a socialist nightmare.
ABC News responds:
To that end, ABC News announced plans to broadcast a primetime hour from the White House devoted to exploring and probing the President’s position and giving voice to questions and criticisms of that position. We hope that any American concerned about health care will find our efforts to be informative, fair and civil.
Second, ABC News prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers — of all political persuasions — even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABC News is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue. ABC News alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience.
Third, there already has been extensive coverage of the upcoming health care debates, on ABC and elsewhere, and there will be much, much more. Indeed, we’ve already had many critics of the President’s health care proposals on the air – and that’s before a real plan has even been put before the country.
In the end, no one watching, listening to, or reading ABC News will lack for an understanding of all sides of these important questions.
Ok, then why do it from the White House? Why get access to the President and all his cohorts while disregarding the other side of the aisle? And that’s not even accounting for GMA, Nightline, and The World News:
As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC’s astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.
Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party’s views to those of the President’s to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party’s opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.
In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.
I gotta agree with Malkin here:
ABC News should be required to register as a federal lobbyist.
But why should this astonish us anymore. No President in history has had the major media behind it as much as this one…..the consequences be damned.
See author page
Wake up people. He has already taken over the auto industry, most of the financial industry and now is working on the health industry. He has taken in ABC and sooner than you can blink your eye, you will be living in a communist country. This man cares nothing about the United States and wants to take it down to it’s knees. His allegiance goes to his religion and islam. If you don’t care about yourself, think about your family and their family. It isn’t all about you, it is about the country as a whole. Regardless our station in life, creed or color, we are citizens of the United States.
ABC is owned by disney. I have chosen to boycott ABC and anything related to disney. It won’t provide much of a punch however I won’t pay any price because I do not need either.
It isn’t too late to stop these ‘changes’, but will soon be.
God Bless America and may she always be free from tyranny
I remember the days when about the only time the Prez went on the air was either the State of the Union or somebody was about to be invaded (Iraq) or might be (Cuba).
**sigh** I long for the days of MAD. Life seemed so simple then…
But why shouldn’t the White House accommodate ABC? After all, the phony powers that the Oval Office and Congress have been exercising for many decades have been delegated to them by the Constitution-ignoring, special-interest controlled MSM like ABC, as opposed to by the Constitution.
/sarc off
Please consider the following.
What the MSM is wrongly ignoring about Obama’s health care plans is this. The Founders made the 10th A. to reserve the lion’s share of government power to serve the people to the states, not the Oval Office and Congress. And the Constitution’s silence about public health care makes health care a state power issue.
In fact, Jefferson had noted that the Founders had trusted the states, not the federal government, with the care of the people. See for yourselves.
“Our citizens have wisely formed themselves into one nation as to others and several States as among themselves. To the united nation belong our external and mutual relations; **to each State, severally, the care of our persons** (emphasis added), our property, our reputation and religious freedom.” –Thomas Jefferson: To Rhode Island Assembly, 1801. ME 10:262 http://tinyurl.com/onx4j
But more importantly, Chief Justice Marshall had established the following case precedent, now wrongly ignored, which appropriately limits federal government power to lay taxes.
“Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States.” –Chief Justice Marshall, GIBBONS V. OGDEN (1824) http://supreme.justia.com/us/22/1/case.html
So not only is misguided Obama’s stimulus package and proposed health care constitutionally unauthorized, but based on Justice Marshall’s official notes, the feds never had the power to lay taxes to fund these programs in the first place. In fact, federal government funding for the states for these things can be thought of as the feds returning to the states money that the feds have stolen from the states anyway.
The bottom line is that the people need to wise up to the ongoing, illegal usurpation of state powers by the Constitution-ignoring feds and MSM and put the constitutional leash back on the renegade federal government by doing the following. The people need to elect pro-state power people to the federal and state governments in 2010 who will do as follows. Pro-state power leaders need to use their power to amend the Constitution to repeal the ill-conceived 16th and 17th Amendments, the source of power for the corrupt Democratic Party now running the country, in my opinion. The 16th A. in particular, the amendment that gives the feds the power to tax citizens directly, has to go. It needs to go because it has made it too easy for the corrupt feds to lay constitutionally unauthorized taxes, in my opinion.
And once the 16th A. has been repealed and the federal income tax eliminated, the states can finance the federal government with higher state taxes for the following reason. The states can use their greater constitutional powers to serve the people to fight a downhill battle with the feds, eliminating constitutionally unauthorized federal taxes, keeping as many tax dollars in a given state as possible for running things like state healthcare programs. (Did you hear that California?)
And when any state lawmaker shows the voters that they are more interested in protecting the welfare of the federal government than that of their own state, then they can look for another job.
The truth of the matter is that the phony powers now associated with the Oval Office and Congress, powers that the corrupt feds have been scandalously stealing from the states with the help of the MSM since the days of constitutionally clueless FDR, need to be destroyed. Again, repealing the 16th and 17th amendments is one way to do this, in my opinion.
I’m not for it either.. it doesn’t go far enough. It’s time to get medical insurance off of our employers backs. Do you want to give business a break on taxes?? Why not give them a break on medical insurance instead? Do other industrialized nations corporations have to pay medical insurance for their employees? NO they have a national health insurance plan. In many cases single nonprofit payer.
31% of every health care dollar currently goes to private insurance and paper work.
Streamlining payment through a single nonprofit payer would save more than $350 billion per year!
Here are some US Physicians that are all for it:
Congrats CRAP, you just smacked your wife again.
Now tell us again how much you love her.
Well only a matter of time before they make quality of life decisions for us… Who gets this, who gets that… ur to old for this treatment… etc etc etc.
I remember Reagan’s speach about Socialized medicine. How it will be the socialists way into power etc. Man must be turning in his grave.
While casting about for health care systems to emulate, Canada’s system isn’t as represented. The reality is that Canada’s Medicare is breaking.
http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/05/canadas-breaking-health-care-system.html
Obama and company should do their homework on Why people are dying while waiting for help North of the 49th parallel? Waiting a whole year+ for a major and critical operation is very common place.
So in the US if you are poor, can’t afford insurance and you get sick – what happens?
@GaffaUK: Just about the same thing that happens in Canada if you’re employed and can afford insurance – you sit on line waiting for treatment until it gets bad enough that you can go to the ER.
Socialized Medicine has a history of failure anywhere on the earth. It means rationed care and long waits for procedures. The cost of this second rate care is not affordable nor is it worth the “investment”. Obama’s apparent goal is to turn the US into a Third World Nation within the first year of his administration.
Presently anyone can get care in any ER in the US. Medicare is available but will go away as soon as this assinine plan becmes law. It is bogus like every other thing that Team Obama has meddled with so far. Wake up America! Your Magic Kenyan is pulling a fast one again. The man is a liar!
Big Brother’s Ministry of Propaganda is officially instituted.
I’m sure that Chris Matthews is weeping because he was not selected to pass along the words of “The Won”
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/abc/white_house_health_reform_communications_director_is_former_abc_news_correspondent_119126.asp
CLASSIC
Another point of view on Obama Care. Guess who benefits from it big time?
The Unions and ACORN.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/back_to_acorn_general_hospital.html
“So what is the unions’ goal for American healthcare? According to the Kaiser Family Foundation on March 19th, 2009:
The Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association on Wednesday announced an agreement under which they will seek to unionize employees at hospitals nationwide and promote expansion of health insurance to all U.S. residents, the New York Times reports. Under the agreement, the unions will focus on efforts to unionize employees of larger hospital systems, where nurses would join CNA and other workers would join SEIU.
It brings to mind a mental picture of the AXIS powers dividing up the healthcare world, doesn’t it? And why not? If the UAW gets to have controlling interest in the American auto industry, why shouldn’t AFSCME, SEIU, and ACORN be allowed to run the 14% of GDP currently known as the American healthcare system? Millions and millions and millions of new dues-paying members from countless communities ripe for organizing. All without the hassle of passing card check.
Hey, nurses: Just fill out the card.”
HOw are other health care providers like Dentists or chiropractors effected by Obamas plan? Are they allowed to remain in private practice? What about animal doctors?
@ trizzlor
Triz, you are way smarter than that. That is the single largest line of horse dung ever written. Every state, EVERY STATE has a medicade type plan for the poor. If you are unemployed, there is COBRA. If you can’t afford to make COBRA payments, you qualify with the state. No one in this country is without some type of medical insurance unless they choose to be.
@Aqua:
Have you actually read the Medicaid eligibility requirements? Short version – you’re only covered if you have a kid, are disabled/insane, or old; everything else is either temporary or non-existent.
I’m not buying Gaffa’s insinuation that socialized medicine would provide for all sick people; but you’d have to use stronger terms than “horse dung” to claim that the poor sick in the US get better treatment than employed sick in Canada (per my original comment).
@ trizzlor
Ok, I retract my horse dung statement. You made a good point.
My wife used to work for DFCS. The amount of welfare money that went out was crazy. They also helped people get medicade and in Ga. they have a thing called Peachcare for kids. The case workers were discouraged from investigating reported income, employment and citizenship. If the people that are scamming the system would quit or if they could be investigated and prosecuted, there would be a lot more money for those that truly need it.
@Aqua: You’re right about that, I’ve known many elderly people who are scamming these programs, even in seemingly innocuous ways such as going to the doctor much more frequently than they need to. Of course, I would argue that the failures of the current program justify improvements not elimination, but I’m not in the majority here :). At some point, you have to weigh the inevitable loss due to waste and fraud versus the gain from more preventive medicine and less poverty. The experiences I’ve seen second-hand from MassHealth are positive … but the plural of anecdote is not data.
As for Canada, statistics I saw here not long ago showed that population-wide statistics such as infant mortality rate and life expectancy (when adjusted for other covariates) put the US on the same level. Likewise, the rate of our poor who don’t get treatment due to money is about the same as their poor who don’t get treatment due to long lines. They spend less on health-care per capita, but they also have fewer high-class tech like MRI’s, and they’re obviously smaller. Who knows …
@trizzlor
Why not means testing? If MassHealth proves to be a great solution, great. But before we jump into a major overhaul, isn’t there some way to means test different ideas to find the one that works best for everyone?
Personally, I think we need to move away from the employer-based system. If you get a kidney disease or some other illness while you’re at your current job, decide you want to move on, that illness could prevent you from doing so because of the employer-based plan.
Hard Right.
that’s it you got it if someone disagrees with you smack them on a personal level instead of addressing any real issues..
Typical right wing BS.. you are so full of yourself!
Hey Sky55110….
Irony and Hypocrisy are holding for you on lines 1 and 2.
Irony and Hypocrisy….lines 1 and 2.
Aye = another typical right winger that can’t speak to the subject at hand and instead chooses to smack someone on a personal level…
Way to go RIGHT WINGER!! No substance just smack people when they don’t agree with you.
That has been your mode of operation all along!
CRAP, Allow me to explain it to you.
When you care for someone you want them to be healthy and to succeed. You don’t push them towards things like prostitution, drugs, crime, etc. Those are things that can kill them. Encouraging them to engage in such destructive behaviors IS NOT a sign that you love them. Defending those that want them to do such horrible things further proves you do not love them.
You see, pushing America towards the equivalent of prostitution, drugs use, and crime in the form of socialism is absolute proof you do not love America or even know what it is to love her. You defend the left no matter what they do to harm this country then try to claim you are a patriot. You don’t know the meaning of the word.
Oh, and please don’t give me line about Rush wanting obama to fail. I heard what he said, and I have heard what he has said since and it is has not changed. He does not want obama to succeed in his efforts to turn America into a socialist country. Rush wants America to succeed. Obama does not.
Lastly the reason why I don’t bother to debate those like yourself is because it’s a waste of time. Any links will be ignored/dismissed and anything contrary to your belief will be ignored/dismissed. You will spew the same tired leftist talking points, moral equivalency, elitism, and hate as usual. I could have a more productive conversation with the homeless guy that talks to light poles.
Ok, one more thing. While I have bashed larry pretty hard he is merely guilty of delusional/wishful thinking. Actually, I don’t think he’s a bad person. You CRAP, I don’t like you at all.
@Real American Patriot:
You know something Sky, you’re always good for a good belly laugh.
I quoted your own words from one of your comments, in which you whine and cry like a six year old girl about someone engaging in personal attacks and then, two lines later, you engage in a personal attack.
Now you’ve created an entirely new comment in which you whine again about personal attacks while engaging in….personal attacks.
You have been repeatedly and relentlessly confronted by, and at times, mercilessly pummeled with the facts here at FA by me, by the other authors, and by other commenters as well.
Your remarkable inability to debate has not gone unnoticed. In fact, it has been repeatedly pointed out.
Each and every time you have attempted anything even close to a debate you have been eviscerated because you have neither mental acuity or factual accuracy on your side.
Most of the time, you don’t even bring any facts, you just blather and dribble along, slinging poo to see what will stick, and then, when confronted, you scurry away like a cockroach in the light only to return to leave a screed regarding some other topic at some other time.
You’ve been shown to be a fool over and over and over and you don’t even realize it. Pavlov’s dogs were able to learn what the bell ringing meant. Why haven’t you?
Personally, I don’t give a rat’s furry ass what you may or may not think of me because I find you to be less than irrelevant. I discovered a long while back what you’re all about. You weren’t a difficult read.
For anyone who is interested, the Internet is filled with your droppings.
Sky you are, quite frankly, the poster child for what is wrong in America and I’m glad that you’ve stuck around here as long as you have.
It’s always good to have “Exhibit A” right at my fingertips.
Beyond that, it’s fun to laugh at you.
Hard Right,
I’m glad to hear you don’t like me at all. That suits me just fine. However, saying that I don’t love this country because I disagree with you is ass-nine. However, I should know better than to expect anything better from a rightie. (who is rarely correct)
Saying Larry is delusional because he does not agree with you is so much like all of the righties on here.. When we don’t agree with your rightie thinking then those of us on the Left are delusional or we have wishful thinking. You are a sad case.
Aye,
You just continue your BS daily don’t you? You are another one that can’t seem to get a grip on reality. It’s a strange thing but continues on FA constant SPEW about the left and OBAMA. Not much in the line of truth but that’s a righties view point. My only hope for you is that one of these days you will wake up.
Just remember that everyone’s laughing at you.
@Real American Patriot:
I suggest you teach your offspring the fine art of picking up pop cans along the roadsides to supplement their income.
http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=330132594100938
@Missy: I’ve heard the 23 million figure but I don’t really understand where it comes from. The CBO report says the following:
Which to me suggests that 23 million would switch from private coverage to government (“through the new insurance exchanges”), not that they would lose coverage. Does the plan explicitly force certain people to leave their private coverage?
Also, the plan assessed by HSI to be $4 trillion is essentially one that they made up themselves (99% reduction) and with some pretty generous assumptions: “the main reason why the group’s estimate is so much higher than the CBO is that it assumes more people will buy coverage with government help“.
I’ve come to believe that the media have squarely taken on the role of Blanche Maxwell
Canadians seem to like their healthcare system. Americans seem to hate theirs
Here’s a Harris Poll comparing heathcare systems around the world and what their poeple think of them
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fharrisinteractive.com%2Fnews%2Fnewsletters%2Fhealthnews%2FHI_HealthCareNews2008Vol8_Iss6.pdf&ei=B45MSqa7LIyysgP6vsHpBQ&usg=AFQjCNGM1zYK2DPagCQo8YL3pcxQ1BqVxA&sig2=LI7fTuwMzp51R-jbby39SQ