Real Simpletons: Selling ObamaCare One Subscriber at a Time July 21, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , 3commentsby Kristina Rasmussen
“How Health Care Reform Affects You.” Chances are you’ve seen an article along these lines pop up in your magazines of choice lately. I certainly have. Chances are the articles gloss over the major problems inherent in ObamaCare — if they’re not a straight out endorsement of the takeover.
Stephen Spruiell takes the latest incarnation of this problem to task over at NRO with “Real Simpletons: A popular magazine ignores the downside to Obamacare.”
My wife subscribes to Real Simple, a women’s-interest magazine specializing in articles on how to make life more organized. I often joke that our lives would be more organized if we didn’t have eight copies of Real Simple floating around the apartment at any given time. But since they are around, I’ll flip through them occasionally to see if there’s anything worth reading. And today, in the latest issue, I saw a short feature titled “How Health-Care Reform Affects You.”
The article reads like an advertisement for Obamacare. One would be forgiven for thinking it a part of the administration’s campaign to improve the legislation’s popularity. Here is a complete list of the article’s subheads:
- More services will be paid for in full.
- Lifetime limits are history.
- Your children can remain on your policy until age 26.
- Kids with preexisting conditions cannot be denied coverage.
- Insurers have to spend more money on care.
That’s it: All good, no bad, and the only two sources quoted in the article represent non-profits who supported the legislation.
Don’t take my word for it: While the article isn’t available online, you can hear a podcast of the article (alas, the third of three recorded items) here.
Readers of Real Simple: now would be a good time to send a letter to their editor. Here’s a quick highlight of the many, many problems with ObamaCare.
White House: We didn’t pressure Sherrod to resign July 21, 2010
Posted by seeineye in : Politics , 2commentsby Allahpundit
Via Tommy Christopher of Mediaite, here’s the denial from an unnamed “official.” Whom to believe — Sherrod, who told not only Fox News but CNN and the AP that she was informed her resignation had been demanded from on high, or the same people who assured us that they never offered Joe Sestak a job, that Barack Obama never contacted Blagojevich’s office about appointing Valerie Jarrett to his Senate seat, etc etc?
Here’s Vilsack’s statement:
“Yesterday, I asked for and accepted Ms. Sherrod’s resignation for two reasons. First, for the past 18 months, we have been working to turn the page on the sordid civil rights record at USDA and this controversy could make it more difficult to move forward on correcting injustices. Second, state rural development directors make many decisions and are often called to use their discretion. The controversy surrounding her comments would create situations where her decisions, rightly or wrongly, would be called into question making it difficult for her to bring jobs to Georgia.
“Our policy is clear. There is zero tolerance for discrimination at USDA and we strongly condemn any act of discrimination against any person. We have a duty to ensure that when we provide services to the American people we do so in an equitable manner. But equally important is our duty to instill confidence in the American people that we are fair service providers.”
Contrary to what some are reporting, the White House was not involved in Sherrod’s dismissal. A White house official told Mediaite “We did not pressure her to resign. It was the Secretary’s decision.”
Sherrod claims that it was Cheryl Cook, the USDA’s deputy undersecretary for Rural Development, who called her four times(!) yesterday insisting that the White House wanted her out. The charitable interpretation: Maybe what Cook meant by “the White House” was simply that Vilsack, a cabinet member, had given the order. The uncharitable interpretation: Maybe the order really did come down from on high among The One’s political team and now they’re wetting their pants at the backlash they’re getting from the left for pushing Sherrod out before anyone’s seen the full tape of what she’s said. Exit question: Can someone please help Tom Vilsack out from under Obama’s bus?
Update: Further to the point of what might be on the full tape, read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s report on the relationship between Sherrod and Eloise Spooner, the widow wife of the white farmer she spoke about in the clip. Spooner says Sherrod is a “friend for life” who ended up working so diligently on her and her husband’s behalf that Sherrod’s husband allegedly once told her, “You’re spending more time with the Spooners than you are with me.”
Update: My mistake: I initially thought Eloise Spooner was a widow. Roger Spooner is alive and spoke to ABC this afternoon:
