Day: 11/5/2013

Red State Revenge: Fox News Floats New ObamaCare Conspiracy Theory

Posted by on November 5, 2013 at 2:52 pm. 17 Comments :

As previously reported here at News Corpse, the anti-ObamaCare zealots have deployed numerous attacks on the Affordable Care Act that are based on disinformation and deceit. Their offensive is still in full force as demonstrated by Fox News today.

Fox News

The latest phony issue to emerge on Fox News is the false allegation that the Obama administration is deliberately punishing red states that didn’t vote for him with higher premiums for health insurance. The article published on the Fox News website says that higher premiums are…

“…more likely if you live in a ‘red state’ that didn’t vote for Obama, according to price data compiled by the Heritage Foundation. In red states, premiums for 27-year-olds rose an average of 78% on ObamaCare exchanges, whereas in ‘blue states’ that voted for Obama, premiums rose a smaller 50%.”

Setting aside the fact that the Heritage Foundation is a disreputable right-wing think tank run by former GOP Sen. Jim DeMint, a fiercely biased opponent of ObamaCare, the data imparted in their “study” is far from accurate. What’s more, Fox gets support for their story from Avik Roy, a senior fellow at the rightist Manhattan Institute, which is funded by the Koch brothers.

The main problem with the numbers presented by Fox is that they do not include adjustments by the subsidies that are available to most insurance consumers purchasing plans through the ACA exchange. Roy dismisses that fact by saying that the subsidies will still cost the federal government money, but that doesn’t address the question at hand. Consumers will still be paying less, and those who live in red states will not be subject to any partisan penalty.

The other area that may affect the average prices paid by residents of specific states is the availability of expanded Medicaid service for low income residents. It’s true that these citizens will either have to pay more or go without insurance, but that isn’t the result of any retribution by the President. In fact, it is quite the opposite. All states can choose to expand their Medicaid programs to cover these people and be reimbursed by the federal government for the cost. Governors in blue states are doing just that. However, the republican governors of many red states have declined to take advantage of that benefit. So it is the GOP governors and legislatures who are depriving their residents of affordable coverage and inflating their state’s average costs.

By accusing Obama of orchestrating some sort of revenge against the residents of states that didn’t vote for him, Fox News is again advancing a dishonest argument in the hopes of doing harm to the public perception of ObamaCare, and to the reputation of Obama. There is absolutely no truth to the allegation that Obama has sought to punish residents of red states, and the ACA does no such thing. The American people see right through this cynical scheme as evidenced in a recent poll that shows that more people want ObamaCare to be expanded or remain as is, than want it to be repealed and/or replaced.

All of this leads back to a simple question asked in these pages before: If ObamaCare is as bad as they say it is, why do they have to keep lying about it?

The ObamaCare Bashing Media Fails To Turn The Public Against ObamaCare

Posted by on November 5, 2013 at 11:21 am. 4 Comments :

Ever since the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges opened a month ago, the media has been relentlessly hammering on every negative story they could find. They began with the famously glitchy rollout of the website. Then they shifted to allegations of increased premiums, complete with personal horror stories that turned out to be false. From there they segued to panicky assertions of plans being terminated, even when alternative plans were available that were better and cheaper. And that doesn’t even include some of the most delusional fear mongering over mythical criticisms the right-wing could invent.

Of course, Fox News was at the forefront of this effort to propagandize the nation into believing that there were no redeeming qualities to ObamaCare, but they were by no means alone. Most of the establishment media joined in the piling on to create an impression of utter chaos and failure.

Yet through it all the American people have managed to wade through the muck and learn for themselves whether the new initiative would be of benefit to them and their families. And the result is revealed in the latest survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows unequivocally where most Americans stand on the issue.

Fox News
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After weeks of persistent disparagement, criticism, and lies, by most of the mainstream media, and their associated pundits and politicians, 47% of the country favors expanding ObamaCare or keeping it as is, compared to only 37% who want to repeal and/or replace it. And this poll was taken well after the problem-plagued launch of the website.

The partisan divide is notably evident. Nearly 8 out of 10 Democrats support the law, while about three quarters of Republicans oppose it. And you can guess where the Republicans are getting the information they use to form their opinions.

The poll also shows that opinions about the plan have hardly budged throughout this year despite the overwhelmingly negative press. Currently 38% have a favorable view, while 44% have an unfavorable view, a mere six point difference. The poll does not break out how many of those who hold an unfavorable view are actually supporters of the law but think it should have been more expansive.

The bottom line is that, even though there has been a concerted effort by the media, and particularly the rabid right-wing faction, to turn people against ObamaCare, it has not worked. The millions of dollars spent, and the hundreds of hours of airtime devoted, has failed to produce the animosity toward the plan and the President that they were aiming for.

This is another indication of just how impotent the Fox News driven conservative propaganda machine is when measured by real-world results. They may have high ratings that consist of the right-wing choir that is already in their congregation, but they have little affect on the population at large.