Propaganda works! Healthcare edition.

I had an illuminating conversation with Carol yesterday about her parents. With only a couple of recent exceptions, our families back in Indiana always vote Republican. Carol’s parents are older, on Medicare, and like most people their age have some significant medical expenses. When the topic came up, I suggested to Carol that her parents should be voting for President Obama since he had probably already saved them thousands of dollars by closing the Medicare prescription “donut hole” for seniors. She agreed but said that they were worried that if Obamacare wasn’t repealed they might be turned down for cardiac procedures because they’re too old. In other words, they’re afraid of the Republican lie about death panels.

I asked her if she had told them that limiting care is not part of the Affordable Care Act. She said no she hadn’t, because she didn’t know if it was true. She said that in Canada they don’t allow you to get a heart transplant if you’re over 65. (I presume she was repeating something her parents told her.) That’s when I nearly lost it. First of all, we don’t have a system like Canada (to our detriment). Second of all, Canada does not limit coverage for life-saving procedures due to age. I did a search last night and as far as I can find, no country does that. It would, of course, be political suicide. Snopes has an entry where they discuss the same myth with regards to Britain and finds it has no basis in fact.

This whole thing just emphasizes the huge role that propaganda currently plays in America. The Democrats passed a healthcare law which, while not perfect, reduces medical costs, saves people money, reduces the deficit, and will extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, while not changing Medicare and Medicaid. The Republicans recently passed a budget (with no chance of passage in the Senate) that effectively changes Medicare into a voucher system that would raise costs considerably on everyone who uses it. The difference between the parties on these essential safety net programs could not be more clear: the Democrats are voting on legislation to save them, the Republicans are voting on legislation to end them. If you’re concerned about quality healthcare for seniors, there’s no way you should be voting for Republicans.

And people who have a huge personal interest in these programs, people who should know better, are still voting directly against their interests and voting for Republicans.

Propaganda works.

Sadly, the media plays a fatal role in all of this. Even putting aside Republican spokesorg FOX News, the other networks spend too much time repeating what both sides say without providing any actual factual analysis, i.e. being journalists. This recent article lays out CNN’s culpability precisely.

So here it is -- for the love of God, stop doing "he said, she said" crap that doesn't actually deliver the news to anyone. Democrats said this and Republicans said that -- who cares? What is the reality?! Your job is supposed to be to bring us facts, not what official spokespeople told you in their press releases and talking points. … The problem is that CNN doesn't have the courage to do this. They're afraid it might offend some folks if you tell the American people reality.