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Conservatives: ABC promoting Obama plan
Some conservatives are complaining that ABC News is turning its programming over to Obama to promote his health care reform. On June 24, the network is airing a primetime special called “Prescription for America,” broadcast from the White House East Room as a townhall meeting.
Ken McCay, chief of staff for the RNC, wrote a letter to ABC News complaining that it rejected an RNC request to have its views included: “In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda.”
ABC News responded to the RNC with a letter saying it prides itself on covering all sides of an issue, that it will have complete editorial control, that it will select audience members, and that more coverage is forthcoming.
back to top20 Comments to “Conservatives: ABC promoting Obama plan”
Presidents hold news conferences in the WH (some more often than others) all the time. What’s the difference between this and a press conference aside from the fact that the folks asking the questions are citizens?
You can bet a)that the questions will be screened b)that they will include most of the critical Republican talking points and c)if they don’t, the tv audience will notice.
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I had posted the story over on “Beating the health care horse” about 20 minutes ago.
Arcadia, did you go to the NEWS story ?
ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET
“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.”
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashaot.htm
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Covering all sides? I doubt it. Have you ever met a more solicitous group than than ABC people. Robin Roberts gushes over Obama.
Complete editorial control? Sure, but they’ve already decided to endorse the Obama plan so what do you think will make the cutting floor?
ABC will select the audience? Sure, but they’ve already decided to endorse the Obama plan so who do you think will be chosen to participate? People who also endorse the plan or don’t know better.
It’s sad, very sad. This is why I no longer watch ABC News. How Charlie Gibson compromised his integrity in this way only shows that Princeton will take you just so far.
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ABC News is the real “Faux News” which so many here insist on lambasting daily.
ABC News, not fair not balanced.
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ABC NEW
All
Biase
Comentary
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I hear the preemptive whine of Perpetually Aggrieved© GOPosaurs LOL!
Lloyd-
three strikes — you’re out!
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Recently I read the World Health Organization (WHO) report that ranks America 39th in the world for health care. This seemed very strange to me since most advancements in medicine originate in the US.
It turns out that the WHO is ranking countries on how socialistic national medicine is. Countries that rank the highest are those who have a single payer government system. Access to abortion and other death services also moves a country up on the scale. The WHO doesn’t rank actual quality. It ignores rationing and long wait periods. It is more concerned with what it calls health equity.
In other words, the more people have access to services such as killing children and the elderly, sex change operations, etc. the healthier a country is.
Obama’s goal and ABC’s is to move America up on the WHO scale.
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Shame on ABC. And continuing shame on all of the state run media. And the same nonsense is on all of the foreign language broadcasts in the US. Obama is Big Brother.
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Taxpayers fund Public Television and Radio which are clearly a mouthpiece of the Democratic party. Given a choice, I would prefer a non-taxpayer funded organization like ABC to be the Democratic propaganda machine. It would be even better if they stop the pretense and simply admit it.
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Xion:
Your comment errs in the following ways.
1. One need not be a socialist to believe that our country should provide basic health-care access to all citizens. Socialism implies a single-tier, single-payer system that operates as a statutory monopoly. Obama is proposing nothing of the sort.
2. Abortion is more freely available here than anywhere else in the world. If that factor were given heavy weight, then the US would probably not be 39th.
3. Rationing and waiting periods have never been features of multi-tiered systems, such as what Obama is proposing. And these days, most single-payer systems don’t have such problems.
4. You make statements about quality without giving any consistent definition of what quality is. Does it make sense to say that we have a “quality” health-care system because we have great research programs but leave 1/3 of our population with no access to basic services?
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Well done, RSD.
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Xion
WHO hasn’t ranked health care since 2000 because of the complexity of variables — America is 37th Cuba is 39th. Since Cuba is usual cited as the epitome of socialism, I doubt your criticism is valid.
Indicators of a good health care system include
1) infant mortality under two, 6.3 per 1000; US 32nd compared to Iceland #1 at 2.9
2) infant mortality under five, 7.8 per 1000 US 32nd compared to Iceland #1 at 3.9
3) life expectancy US at #38 at 78.2 compared to Japan at 82.07
Given the US consistent position in the 30s, I would suggest health care reform makes sense. Perhaps the Scandinavians have the right idea.
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RSD. You err in at least four ways.
1. The WHO ranking places countries higher based on how close it comes to a single payer system. Whether America gets there or not is secondary. Obama wants to increase our ranking. Hence the inevitable.
2. Abortion was not taxpayer funded when the WHO report was compiled. That is what increases a WHO rank. America’s low ranking on taxpayer funded infant dismemberment hurt our ranking.
3. Rationing is one of the prevalent features of single payer systems. Look at England. Look at Canada. If your illness isn’t mainstream, then your patriotic duty is to die.
4. Quality has many facets. But one facet certainly has to do with the medical care that one actually receives. In this regard, America is second to none. Availability is less than 100%. That is a legitimate point, but shouldn’t be the whole criterion. The WHO ignores one and ranks solely on the other.
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All this time everyone has been so worried about keeping separate church and state – and no one was thinking of having to keep press and state apart.
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Welcome to Big Brother Barack!
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And still we have doubters as to his socialistic/fascist leanings? Lenin and Hitler would be proud of him.
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13
Xion
explain the better results single payer systems deliver in comparison to the US.
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#17 HRW What do you mean by better results? Do you mean cheaper cost or “health equity”?
What about better care? Why does WHO not care about care?
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Xion
I’m referring to the three categories listed in post #12, the three most common indicators of successful health care; infant mortality, child mortality and life expectancy. The US places in the 30s in all three categories — this is not a indication of good care.
As for WHO — they quit evaluating health care systems (in 2000) and instead have concentrated on results so your criticisms are out of date.
As for cheaper cost — true, the American gov’t spends more per capitia than other gov’ts but the results speak for themselves. The gov’t does not provided universal coverage and the leading three indicators place their success rate slightly above Eastern Europe and Latin American but below Western Europe and Canada. Given the failure of US health care (we’re # 32 doesn’t have a good ring to it) perhaps they may want to look at best practises from the leading countries in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Japan.
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Read the rest – a statement from the Chairman of Conservatives for Patients Rights.
What is Obama afraid of?
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm
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