Health Care Reform: Lies The Right Wing Told Me

As the health care reform debate continues on Capitol Hill, with some sort of government-backed plan seeming all but assured now, the right-wing misinformation machine has moved into, if not out-and-out lying mode then, at the very least, the kind of fear mongering that has become their stock in trade. It began in earnest this past weekend with the national launch of a TV spot…seen several times by these eyes on CNN… that’s based entirely upon an unsubstantiated first-person account accompanied by some highly inflammatory narrative innuendo.

Before we ‘walk back the cat’ to the origins of the TV spot, which will go a long way towards establishing its lack of veracity, one thing needs to be made abundantly clear. This blog does not hide the fact that it is fully supportive of significant health care reform in the United States…but neither does it deny that the quality of health care that’s available in this country is at least as good, if not better, than that which can be obtained anywhere else in the world. The problem, as we see it, is that so many Americans don’t have access to that health care…primarily because of money!

As for the TV spot, here’s what you need to be aware of concerning its origins…and this is information anyone with a computer can find out with about 15 minutes of on-line investigation. The focal point of the ad is purportedly a Canadian woman by the name of Shona Holmes of Waterdown. Canada’s a big place and the ad doesn’t specify where exactly Waterdown is, but our research leads us to believe it’s near Hamilton, Ontario…less than 50 miles from Toronto.

In any case, accepting that she actually is who and what the ad says she is, here’s the gist of it. Holmes apparently suffered from a brain tumor and she claims that the Canadian health care system wasn’t going to even let her see a specialist for six months. She further claims that she would have died within six months had she not come to the United States for “…world-class treatment”. She then advised Americans not to give up their rights. We’re not exactly sure what rights she meant…but we assume it was the right to choose your own health care coverage.

Meanwhile, the voice-over narration was saying things like, “…government runs health care in Canada…care is often delayed or denied…patients wait a year for vital surgeries…many drugs and treatments aren’t available because government says patients aren’t worth it…now Washington wants to bring Canadian-style healthcare to the US…government should never come between your family and your doctor…learn more at patientsunitednow.com”.

Here's the spot in question - watch it and come back to this blog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwLp2KJCLOQ

What the ad doesn’t tell you is that Patients United Now is a splinter group of an organization called Americans For Prosperity…and that that group is substantially funded by Koch Industries. What it also doesn’t tell you is that AFP is headed by Tim Phillips…the same Tim Phillips who is known to have, or to have had, close ties to, among others, Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed and Karl Rove. This guy has always kept company with the scumbag elite.

Some of AFP’s more recent initiatives include an attack ad debunking global warming (The Hot Air Tour), a group working to defeat the Clean Energy Economy legislation (No Climate Tax), another promoting increased domestic drilling (Free Our Energy), one that is attempting to stop passage of the Recovery Act (No Stimulus), and a group that actually pays Joe The Plumber to essentially spend his time smearing the Employee Free Choice Act (Save My Ballot Tour).

That brings us to Koch Industries, a huge, privately-held oil company that you’ve probably never heard of unless you happen to be a U.S. senator, a member of Congress or a lobbyist…or unless you’re an environmentalist. Over the years Koch Industries has been hit with hundreds of millions in dollars in fines for various oil spills and dumping incidents, and the discharge of 15 times the legal limit of a carcinogenic chemical from one of their refineries. Predictably, all of these fines were settled for pennies on the dollar once the Republicans were back in control of the White House and Congress…and no one served any jail time in spite of the fact that four Koch employees were facing up to 35 years each for one of the transgressions.

And so goes the thread running from the AFP/Shona Holmes TV spot back to its source, which basically leaves us back where we started…outright lies and fear mongering by the righties. They’ll literally stop at nothing to prevent meaningful health care reform in this country. And what ultimately happens is that this campaign of misinformation leads to misunderstanding and ignorance…much of it on the part of people who you would think should know better.

One acquaintance who happened to be in the business of selling health insurance actually sent out a letter on company letterhead saying actress Natasha Richardson would have survived her skiing accident had the incident occurred in the United States rather than in Canada. Another, who has never once had to pay a significant medical bill or a spiraling health insurance premium because the head of their household is retired career military, relies on second-hand anecdotes to decry the Canadian system. And so it goes.

So remember, the next time you hear someone speaking out against health care reform or criticizing, for example, the Canadian health care system, ask them for some facts to back up their positions. It says here that they won't have any, or at least none that they can corroborate. And if pressed, nine times out of ten you'll find they either have a stake in trying to ensure that the status quo in America remains, or that they have absolutely no practical, user-based knowledge of either the Canadian system or, in fact, of the American system that those of us who have to pay our own way have come to know all too well.

Steve