Congratulations, House Republicans!

http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=1953

For example, when talking about how large family sizes lead to illiteracy on page 38, Sanger casually describes white people as being of “pure stock” whereas the high rate of Negro illiteracy merits an “of course” which needs no further explanation:
“Moreover, there were in the United States in 1910, 5,516,163 illiterates. Of these 1,378,884 were of pure native white stock. In some states in the South as much as 29 per cent of the population is illiterate, many of these, of course, being Negroes.”

The goal of birth control in Sanger’s view was to decrease the number of babies being born to “lower” types, while increasing the number of offspring produced by “the native white strain.” To this end, Sanger arranged to have one of her birth-control how-to manuals translated into Yiddish so that new Jewish immigrants could learn how to avoid pregnancy (and — the whole point — thereby limit Jewish population growth in the United States).

Left grossly misleads on Julie Boonstra Obamacare story

Fortunately for all of us, Dan Calabrese at the Detroit News did take the trouble to find these things out, obtaining the information from AFP, which Boonstra authorized to convey it. It turns out, as anyone with common sense would expect, that she is in limbo on several points at the moment (like many people who have signed up for insurance through the Obamacare exchange); she has had to miss procedures because of the delay and uncertainty about what’s covered; there is a prescription she’s been using that her new plan doesn’t cover; and it can already be established that she has less coverage for types of care than she had under the old plan.

Moreover, her $5,100 annual cap applies only to in-network services. Calabrese points out that if you know anything about aggressive cancers, you know that there’s a greater likelihood you’ll have to go out of network for some services. If Boonstra has to go out of network, her annual cap doubles to $10,200.

But that’s not even the whole story (speaking here in my own voice). There’s no guarantee that the out-of-network services will even be covered. And Boonstra simply doesn’t know, because she hasn’t received a contract yet from Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan (BCBSM). Any pretense on the part of third parties to know more than she does about what will be covered for her is just that: pretense.

Boonstra already does know she’s getting less for less money. What she doesn’t yet know is how much less. But she knows that she’s had to miss procedures because of the uncertainty, and that services she’s had to use over the last five years – at least one drug, and in-home care when she was bed-ridden during treatment – are not covered by her new plan.

She’s a legitimate victim of Obamacare – and her critics are a pack of baying jackals who don’t care about the truth.

The Pinocchio Test
The Fact Checker surely does not want to play down the emotional anguish that any cancer patient may face, but a fuller accounting is necessary if AFP is going to air ads like this. In order to properly compare the old plan and the new plan, there needs to be fuller disclosure of the costs and out-of-pocket maximums before claims that the new plan is “unaffordable” can be accepted at face value. Too many anecdotal stories, on both sides, have fallen apart under close scrutiny.

[Update, Feb. 24: In response to a complaint to television stations from the Peters campaign, AFP supplied more documentation for the ad (embedded below). The documentation, however, sheds no light on how the new health plan has made out-of-pockets costs for Boonstra "unaffordable." Instead, it emphasizes that these costs may be unpredictable. This does not meet the disclosure test we requested.]

Update, March 11: This ad has been downgraded to Three Pinocchios as it turns out Boonstra will save more than $1,200 a year.

That has little to do with liberal lies. And it is ludicrous to think conservatives are that cruel. You are simply a victim of propaganda.

If you bury your head in agitprop you don't need to see facts--right ColdDope?