Dave Mann of the Texas Observer wrote an excellent piece de-bunking the myths and lies in Rick Perry's op-ed on health care reform that is being pushed around the state.
'm starting to wonder where Texas Gov. Rick Perry is getting his facts.
Mann then breaks down Perry's various lies.
Perry contends that insurance premiums in Massachusetts are "40 percent more expensive than elsewhere in the country." (I assume by "elsewhere in the country," he means the national average.) That's a massive exaggeration.
Massachusetts does have the highest premiums in the country (the state also has a high cost of living and higher-than-average salaries). But premiums in the Bay State are just 8 percent higher than the national average. (In 2008, the average family premium in Massachusetts was $13,800, according to this Boston Globe story. The average U.S. premium for 2008 was $12,700, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.)
So Massachusetts has historically high premiums, but nowhere near Perry's 40 percent number.
Perry also claims that the mandate didn't reduce the number of uninsured: "[T]he number of uninsured people in Massachusetts is about the same as it was when the mandates were passed in 2006."
That's demonstrably false.
Prior to 2006, 10 percent of Massachusetts residents lacked health insurance. By 2009, the uninsured rate had dropped to 2.5 percent—by far the lowest in the country. (In Texas, more than 20 percent of the population lacks health insurance.)
Mann's piece is important, because it helps us remember that it's not just that Rick Perry has been a failure and a liar in the past, it's that he is still being a failure and a liar, right now, in the present tense.
That's something we should all remember and keep track in the weeks and months ahead...
The Huffinton Post reveals that Senate GOP intends to send out misleading mailers from a so-called non-partisan and vague task force called:
U.S.Senate Health Care Task Force
The mailer is actually commissioned by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and it is by no means non-partisan. The letter is signed by yours truly John Cornyn.
All of these descriptions are either intentionally misleading or deeply contested interpretations of the health care provisions put forth by Democrats. And while the name and NRSC title -- "Chairman" -- of Senator John Cornyn, (R-Texas) is listed in the header, there is no mention of the fact that he's a Republican. Only in the sixth paragraph is it revealed that "Republican leadership of the United States Senate" commissioned the survey.
This is yet another pathetic attempt for pimped out Republicans to kill health care reform.
The mailer uses the usual GOP fear mongering tactics by insisting that a lottery system will be set up that will determine who does and does not get care. The system will be based on age, race and gender.
Where: 211 West 6th Street (corner of 6th and Lavaca Streets in downtown Austin)
When: 5:30 to about 7:00 PM
Who: MoveOn members and any like-minded individuals who are tired of the same tripe from conservative talking heads and their supportive media. Kids are welcome! This is a great opportunity to show them what activism really means.
Agenda: we will be gathering near Senator Cornyn's office, using the intersection of two one-way streets and a busy sidewalk at getting-out-of-work time to educate the public on the myths being propagated by those opposed to a green energy economy. We will have several visuals to include large signs depicting 100 new coal-fired energy generation plants allowed by the recently-passed American Clean Air and Security (ACES) Act. It passed the House by a vote of 219 to 212, but was so watered down by both Democratic and Republican Congressmen, that it barely defends our environment and hardly makes a dent into the joblessness in Texas and the country.
One particularly onerous provision is that this bill allows the construction of up to 100 new coal-fired energy plants in the future. There is no such thing as "clean coal," and these plants will only contribute to the environmental mess we are presently in.
You can also help by handing out our recently-developed informational flyers to passersby and motorists. These flyers take the more in-your-face, false statements that attempt to convince people that a green energy economy is too costly and counter-productive for our country and present the truth from past studies and scientists and economists about what the real effect will be if we don't do anything.
Please join us. We are inviting the press to a release of this document and want Austin to understand the stakes in not doing anything. We can't allow Texas' and our country's economy and environmental future to be determined by Big oil, Dirty coal and the Senators and Representatives they buy with their political contributions.
I am so annoyed and horrified at Bush and his cronies. He can't even define HUMAN DIGNITY! As he stated at his press conference last week, he can't define human dignity and therefore needs to have Congress change the current interpretation of the Geneva convention, article 3, so that he can TORTURE people!
How he can argue with McCain, a man who was tortured at the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam is beyond me. Watch this old movie, Return with Honor (1998) a documentary on the Vietnam POW's, where they discuss torture, and you will see without a doubt that torture does not get credible information. The POW's outline what they did when tortured, which was making up information just to get the torture to stop.
Worse yet, McCain et al caved in today. I guess the cult of Bush wins. McCain et al, can't stand up except for a show for re-election purposes. They don't seem to have real morals, they just do the expedient thing to look good.
Have you ever looked up the definition of a cult?
Here it is:
Every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following 5 characteristics:
1. It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members. [Think terrorism and fear]
2. It forms an elitist totalitarian society [think only the rich and powerful]
3. Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma [remember Bush said that God appointed him]
4. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds recruit people {goes without saying]
5. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society [same here, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the rest are left behind]
I want my country back, the one that respected humanity, and was not scared and cowed by a president, a country that was proud to set an example of their values. Torture is not a Christian value, or a value of any other religion. And I am sick, sick of these brainwashed cult followers!
Please check out the link below that I just copied from the Huffington Post. We need to hit this guy where it can hurt him....in the wallet. He is a major homebuilder in Texas. Can we get a boycott or at least a campaign outing his company for the piece of slime it supports?
