Opinion Forum

Health Care Deception

August 1st, 2009

There are a lot of questions that need to be answered about health care reform before members of Congress vote on it. The bill just reported out of committee in the House is the one closest to a vote, but there are also other proposals in the works. There are many legitimate concerns; what we don’t need are false claims that muddy the waters and distract attention from real problems.

Another one of those e-mails is going around that promotes a fraudulent idea, urges readers to contact their members of Congress, and virtually demands that it be forwarded to everyone they know. This one is about the House health care reform bill and uses various versions of this text to spread the deception:

On Page 425 of Obama’s health care bill, the Federal Government will require EVERYONE who is on Social Security to undergo a counseling session every 5 years with the objective being that they will explain to them just how to end their own life earlier. Yes… They are going to push SUICIDE to cut Medicare spending!!! And no, I am NOT KIDDING YOU! So those of you who voted for Obama have now put yourself and your own parents in dire straights (sic)… Congratulations!

This particular fantasy is being promoted by a woman named Betsy McCaughey, former Republican lieutenant governor of New York with a record of kookiness and loose handling of facts. She’s the source of the latest deceptive e-mail, based mostly on an interview with Fred Thompson on his radio show. One of the saddest parts of this interview is that Thompson accepts McCaughey’s fantastic claims without challenge.

Most of these deceptive viral e-mails are fairly easily debunked. On this one, you can find the truth here, here, here, and here. The internet is a wide-open world where just about anything goes — anyone can say anything about any subject, no matter how ridiculous it may be. On the other hand, finding out what’s real is very easy, too. I would encourage those who receive e-mails or read blog posts that seem a bit over the top to make a quick check. That extra few minutes might help you avoid sending nonsense to your friends.

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: deception, e-mail, health care
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (1) | Home

One Response to “Health Care Deception”

doris | August 5th, 2009 at 10:11 pm

Shades of Soylent Green? Scared me for a minute as I read the second part first, sorry, to see if it was interesting, it was. Enough lies done by politicians already, you’d think just once in a while we’d get the truth and not a bunch of bull.