Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!!

The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill."4 What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.5

Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!!

The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.6 Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.7

If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.8 But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now.

Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!!

The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.

Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.9 And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation.

Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!

The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.10 Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.11

Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!

The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy.

Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.12 The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade13—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.14 Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.15

We're closer to real health care reform than we've ever been—and the next few weeks will decide whether it happens. We need to make sure the truth about health care reform is spread far and wide to combat right wing lies.

Can you forward this email to your friends today? And remember, also post it on Facebook by clicking here: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51746. And on Twitter, by retweeting: @MoveOn Check out the Top 5 Health Care Lies—and How to Fight Back. http://bit.ly/Bncs5

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Kat, Ilya, Michael and the rest of the team

P.S. Want more? Check out this great new White House "Reality Check" website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/ or this excellent piece from Health Care for America Now on some of the most outrageous lies: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51729&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=1

Sources:

1. "More 'Town Halls Gone Wild': Angry Far Right Protesters Disrupt Events With 'Incomprehensible' Yelling," Think Progress, August 4, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51733&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=2

2. "Fight the smears," Health Care for America NOW, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51729&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=3

3. "Palin Paints Picture of 'Obama Death Panel' Giving Thumbs Down to Trig," ABC News, August 7, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51728&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=4

4. "No 'death panel' in health care bill," The Associated Press, August 10, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51747&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=5

5. "Stop Distorting the Truth about End of Life Care," The Huffington Post, July 24, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51730&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=6

6. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 11, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#i1

7. "Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan," The Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51737&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=7

8. "Obama: 'If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor,'" The Wall Street Journal, 15, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51736&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=8

9. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#r1

10. "Obama: No reduced Medicare benefits in health care reform," CNN, July 28, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51748&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=9

11. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#s1

12. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#c1

13. "Premiums Run Amok," Center for American Progress, July 24, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51667&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=10

14. "Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies," CNN, June 5, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51735&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=11

15. "Reality Check FAQs," WhiteHouse.gov, accessed August 10, 2009.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/faq#c1

Sources for the Five Lies:

#1: "A euthanasia mandate," The Washington Times, July 29, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51732&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=12

#2: "It's Not An Option," Investor's Business Daily, July 15, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51743&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=13

#3: "Rationing Health Care," The Washington Times, April 21, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51742&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=14

#4: "60 Plus Ad Is Chock Full Of Misinformation," Media Matters for America, August 8, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51734&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=15

#5: "Obama's 'Public' Health Plan Will Bankrupt the Nation," The National Review, May 13, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51744&id=16782-15159881-NvnM9ox&t=16

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Oh my god!!! My father just dropped by! God damn it!!! He ALWAYS wants to get on the subject of HIS religion. He wants so badly to save my soul. I really let him have it this time. There is no fucking way he can beat me in an argument about religion, I'm WAY more educated on the subject than him. He wants me to just rely on "faith" and blind myself to the true beauty I see just so I'll go to heaven. FUCK his GOD!!!!!

It was almost worth it just to see his face turn white as a sheet when I said "fuck you" to his god. ha ha

Somewhere in the world today there is a woman for whom the sword is forged. Somewhere there is one who has heard the trumpets of the new age, and who will respond. She will respond, this new woman, to the high clamor of those star trumpets; she will come as a perilous flame and a devious song, a voice in the judgment halls, a banner before armies. She will come girt with the sword of freedom, and before her kings and priests will tremble and cities and empires will fall, and she will be called BABALON, the scarlet woman. For she will be lustful and proud; she will be subtle and deadly, she will be forthright and invincible as a naked blade. And women will respond to her war cry, and throw off their shackles and chains, and men will respond to her challenge, forsaking the foolish ways and the little ways, and she who will shine as the ruddy evening star in the bloody sunset of Gotterdamerung, will shine again as a morning star when the night has passed, and a new dawn breaks over the garden of Pan.

To you, oh unknown woman, the sword pledged. Keep the faith!

Hail Jack Parsons!! I sure would have loved to Fuck him!

It's this time of year that I am most angry at Tim/Tina for offing his self! Thanks a lot for leaving me holding the bag dude! We got pregnant intentionally, I have every right to hold you responsible. Our two boys need a father so desperately now, especially now, they are trying to become men. Adolescence is so very hard. You should be here to help them through it! Damn you to hell!! I can say that only because I don't believe in a hell. But I do believe that you copped out, you snuck out, you left me here to finish this job that we started together. Our kids have no one to look up to on Father's Day. Fuck you Tim!

48 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

What Egyptian God/Goddess Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Hathor You are a fun person. You love music, dancing and love.Sometimes you represent a cow with special eyes that make you recognizable. Yes, you're Hathor.You can compair your beauty to Venus even.You are what everyone loves and what people love to be around. You make everyone happy, boy you sure do like this job. Ptah 93% Hathor 93% Ra 89% Nephthys 86% Isis 82% Geb 79% Thoth 71% Sobek 71% Horus 71% Anubis 71% Bes 61% Nut 61% Osiris 50% Seth 25%

One of the most profound things I can think is that, even after I die...

widows will mourn their lost husbands,
newly deflowered nubile girls will receive pretty gifts from their new lovers,
brides will glow,
ships will sail as people delight in the sea breeze on their faces,
cocks will crow as the sun rises, and deserts will sparkle as it sets,
young eyes will look to the moon & stars with wonderment,
children will learn to love... and to hate,
the human mind and heart will continue to strive for new heights of discovery and ecstasy and new depths of sadness and horror.

And I, Lacy Coutu, will have been a part of it all. I will have contributed to the unfolding drama, in at least a small way, therefore I will exist forever, I am life, I am the universe.

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizoid Personality Disorder:	Low
Schizotypal Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Antisocial Personality Disorder:	Low
Borderline Personality Disorder:	Low
Histrionic Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Narcissistic Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Avoidant Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Dependent Personality Disorder:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:	Moderate
-- Take the Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Info --

Oh my love, I've longed for you all my life.
Your abundance, your beauty, your death and renewal.

You bring tears of joy to my eyes.
You provide my sustenance.
You enshroud me with God/Goddess.

I see my future, I know my past.
I know you are a presence that will outlast,

Everything I do and all I am.

I want to be buried within you when I die.
I will remain a part of the everlasting.
I am a sequence in the infinite.

To play a part with you as my stage and backdrop is enthralling.

I hope you will accept me and my human ideas and needs.
You can provide for me.
I need you more than you need me.
But I do feel the part of you that wants to bond with me.
The part that wants to show me your secrets.
It makes us both more whole.

I will tend you and love you and enjoy our symbiosis.
I will give you my fecundity, to work your magick and provide my sustenance.
We will both thrive together.
Through all kinds of weather,
I will love you forever.

One of the many things, maybe the most important thing, that is wrong with America is the inequality. I drove down King Rd., in Roswell, today. I wish I had of taken a picture of it before, because the little house is gone now. There is a huge estate, or rather a "chateau", on that road. There used to be a 1950's style small house next door. It was such a statement of the inequality that exists. The 1950's style house was a very nice little brick house, more than adequate for a family of four, back then. The homes just keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes by. Gotta have more room to put all the "stuff" in now a days.
They tore it down. Guess the rich people didn't want it sullying the view. So they probably bought it just to tear it down. I wouldn't be surprised. We are going to have to get a grip on reality... soon. The consumption rate of US citizens is enormous. Cancer used to be called consumption - how about that. I think it fits.

This will be random but I told myself that I would write something in my LJ today, so damn it here it is. I wish I could write but actually, you can't have it all, or so I'm told. I guess I do prefer doing my arts & crafts, that is more my creative outlet. Still... I wish I could write. It would probably help me vent, which I really need.
I'm PMSing right now. Was during the weekend too, which is too bad because it was a great weekend up at Deerfields in NC for GoaGil. I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been so reclusive emotionally. I get all locked up inside myself when I'm like this. Glad it doesn't happen to me every month.

The sexiest thing I have ever seen is a beautiful man praying.

A strong man, glorified in his knowledge of himself.

Not asking for help or subjugating himself in any way,

But feeling the divine glory that is his right.

Certain in his knowledge of his power and efficacy.

Wielding his way in the world by utilizing his very majesty.

Moved to tears by the awesomeness of this world.

With this energy mountains can be moved.

( My Interests Collage! )

I love Seth. Seth is our Ball Python. He is so wonderful, just being himself. Seth is unhampered by an identity role. He is undomesticated, he can't be domesticated. Oh, he won't bite me, he does know I'm a friend. He even probably knows I'm the food giver. But he isn't constrained by any social expectations. I admire that, and I envy it.
I like feeding Seth. I don't want him to get hurt, he is still young. So I put the small white mouse into a paper bag and bonk him real hard against the wall to kill or severely stun it. Then I hang the mouse from his tail into the cage and wait for Seth to grab him. It's fun!
I am domesticated. I have this silly idea or right and wrong. I would never put a small white mouse into a paper bag and bonk him real hard just because. My domestication was a success, that would freak me out.
When I was about 11 years old I went to a sleep over at my best friends house. We had sleeping bags all over the floor and we had some very tiny baby rabbits we were playing with. I had gone out of the room and when I came back in I accidently stepped on one of the baby rabbits, it had been covered by a sleeping bag and I didn't see it. I was so very upset. I cried. It was awful. My friends father had to take the rabbit outside and finish it off, it was suffering.
That incident is a bad memory. But I love feeding Seth!

I'm off to Nippur to visit friends & chosen family for the equinox. I'll visit Theoria while I'm up there too. Theroia is what I have decided to call the 5 acres of land I am purchasing in the valley of the dragons north of Gatlinburg, TN. Someday I will retire there amongst family. For now, it's a new beginning!

I'm going to visit the loan closing lawyer. Borrowing LOTS of money to buy my dream land in TN. Community of like minded spiritual people, that's where I want to retire.

I disagree with Descartes' seperation of body and soul. I have to write a 4 page essay for my Philosophy class. I find writing papers very difficult!

Bill & Blue my downstairs companions, Alex my long distance love, and Richard the back yard friend. The people who help me to come back down to earth when I've kicked off the surface for a while. Up until this morning I was a rocket shooting higher & higher. I floated back down. I'm good.