Kerry's Medicare Premium scare... HOAX

[Brother John]

Someone passed this on to me, thought it was interesting enough to share...
Enjoy!
Your Brother
John

Have you seen the John Kerry commercial in which George Bush pledges to help Seniors
on Medicare and "the very next day imposes a 17% premium increase - the
biggest in history"?

That ad is a stroke of genius on Kerry's part and will surely gain him many
votes among the uninformed.

I found it so amazing that I did some homework on the issue. As it turns
out, the 17% increase was not imposed by President Bush but was mandated by
the "balanced budget agreement" signed by President Clinton, voted into law
by Senator John Kerry, and was scheduled to come into effect during the
Bush administration. President Bush had no authority to reverse what had
been voted into law by Senator Kerry during the Clinton administration.

Once again Kerry is counting on the ignorance of the American people.
Don't be duped by his mendacity.

 

[PeachMonkey]

As one might expect when an Internet chain mail is posted, without attribution, to a discussion forum, this missive is not entirely accurate. It's always preferable to have some sort of factual backing for this sort of thing.

See: http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx@DocID=257.html

In summary, Bush's Medicare bill accounts for 9.9 percentage points of the 17.4% increase in premiums, so Kerry's ad is not entirely accurate.

The spurious, inaccurate discussions of Kerry's voting record and the Balanced Budget Act in the above post are also covered in this FactCheck article.

 

[rmcrobertson]

If we're a-gonna get all het up, perhaps we should look at more of the article:
Here's its headline:

"Bush falsely claims Kerry voted repeatedly to raise premiums. Kerry's spot blaming Bush alone for the latest increase isn't much better."

In other words, a) Bush's claim is false; it's a lie; it's mendacious; b) the Kerry ad is correct about the increase, wrong to blame Bush alone.

The article goes on to say, right after the headline:

" Bush ad falsely claims that Kerry "voted five times to raise Medicare premiums." Actually, Kerry voted for maintaining the same premium formula that had been in place since well before he was elected to the Senate.

The Bush ad also falsely implies that Kerry referred to required premium increases as "a day of vindication," when Kerry actually was referring to items such as increased health coverage for children.

Bush's ad is meant to counter a Kerry TV spot that isn't much better. Kerry's ad falsely implies that Bush alone was responsible for next year's increase in Medicare premiums. Actuaries say rising costs and other factors account for nearly half of the 17.4% increase, and have nothing to do with Bush's Medicare legislation. And some of the costs imposed by Bush's legislation are aimed at providing increased benefits for seniors who choose HMO's over traditional Medicare."

But hey, don't let a little thing like reality stop anybody. After all, we sure didn't let reality get in our way about invading Iraq, did we?

 

[heretic888]

Once again Kerry is counting on the ignorance of the American people.
Don't be duped by his mendacity.

Okay, that little nugget is just plain silly.

Don't vote for Kerry because he's the one that lies, manipulates, and forges "information" to further a political agenda?? Whu??

Uhhh... can you say 'War in Iraq'?? Or, more to the point, 'weapons of mass destruction'?? 'Iraqi ties to Al Queda'?? 'War on Terror'??

Like I said, just plain silly.

 

[8253]

Bottom line here. HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF AN HONEST POLITICIAN?

 

[Flatlander]

Tommy C. Douglas.

 

[heretic888]

John McCaine.

 

[raedyn]

<off-topic>
Tommy Douglas - premier of Saskatchewan 1944-1961

- initaited program to expand sewers & electricity

- introduced 8 hour work day, and paid annual vacation

- increased paved roads in the very rural province from approx 200 miles to over 2000

- pioneered publicly funded universal medicare in North America (paving the way for the Canadian government to follow suit serveral years later).

- and did all this while paying off the provincial debt and balancing the budget

- created a bill of rights outlawing discrimination based on race or sex 18 months before even the UN did!

When asked what he would have done with a more powerful party on a national scale: "I have watched politicians for the last forty years drop their principles in order to get power only to find that those who paid and controlled the party which they joined prevented them from all the things they really believed in."
</off-topic>

 

[PeachMonkey]

John McCaine.

You mean John McCain of the Keating Five?

 

[heretic888]

*shrugs* Never heard of the Keating Five.

I'm referring to the senator that lost to W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primaries.

 

[rmcrobertson]

Barbara Jordan. Tim Wirth. Mario Cuomo. Dwight David Eisenhower. Teddy Roosevelt. Bob La Follette. Nelson Mandela.

The list's endless. It's to the advantages of capitalism, patriarchy and the Powers That Be to encourage a pseudo-cynicism.

 

[PeachMonkey]

*shrugs* Never heard of the Keating Five.

I'm referring to the senator that lost to W. Bush in the 2000 Republican primaries.

Yep, same guy.

http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special39/articles/1003mccainbook5.html

Of the five Senators that Keating used to try and save his criminal ***, McCain received the most schmooze and money, but was probably the least ethically compromised.

 

[heretic888]

Ummm..... ok. :idunno:

 

[Phoenix44]

If you're really interested in who's lying, and how they're lying, I'd suggest you read the book "All The President's Spin."

All presidential administrations have used "spin." But the Bush Administration, under the direction of Karl Rove, has elevated it to a new level, where lies permeate its public policy.

 

[TwistofFat]

James A. Traficant Jr. and Lydon LaRouche...jail time not withstanding.