Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Did you hear about this? 200+ seniors at Barber press conference on Monday.
Well, not if you read to so-called "paper of record," the Arizona Daily Star, or even the supposedly lib weekly, the Tucson Weekly. David Safier posted about it here.
I am told that the local televison stations all declined to cover the event as well. With one exception, a brief mention on KUAT Arizona Public Media | Arizona | Social Security, Medicare Top CD8 Agenda.
Quick! Someone wake up Jesse Kelly's Grandpa Hank from his stupor and tell him that Ron Barber was endorsed at this event on Monday by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Ron Barber, Arizona Candidate Running For Giffords' Seat, Endorsed By National Social Security Advocacy Group.
Yeah, no other media villagers in Tucson reported this endorsement either.
The Daily Star did report last week — twice — about a group of Cap'n Al Melvin groupies in Saddlebrooke at a "seniors for Jesse Kelly" event. What the Star didn't tell you is that these groupies were part of a stage-managed event likely put on by the 60 Plus Association, the far right pharmaceutical company front group, 60 Plus Association – SourceWatch, which announced that it is supporting Kelly for his position on social security and Medicare.
You remember 60 Plus Association from the 2010 campaign, don't you? Here is what Michael Bryan posted here during the 2010 campaign. Lies, Damned Lies, and Anything Jesse Kelly Says:
Nationally and state-wide, 60 Plus Association, which touts itself as the conservative alternative to AARP (as if AARP isn't already pretty dang conservative) has rolled out a $5 million smear campaign against 16 Democratic incumbents, including Giffords, Kirkpatrick and Mitchell here in Arizona. Here's the Giffords Campaign's take on the attack and 60 Plus. Their ads claim that the healthcare reform bill will cut $500 billion from Medicare, cause seniors to lose their current doctors, and compromise quality of care.
Here's the hit on Giffords (the Kirkpatrick and Mitchell ads are essentially the same): [NOTE: 60 Plus Association has since pulled the video].
Well, it's a damned lie, too. Factcheck.org also examines this ad's claims and finds they are simply untrue. The main thrust of these ads is to scare seniors with the claim that Democrats have "cut" Medicaid by $500 billion. The clear, but unspoken implication is that there will be a cut to member benefits: not true.
Factcheck.org breaks it down:
"Every one of the ads notes that the law cuts Medicare by $500 billion. But that’s misleading, as we’ve pointed out time and again. The law calls for $555 billion in cuts in future growth of the program – over 10 years. The total projected cost of Medicare over that time, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is $7.1 trillion, even with the cuts. CBO predicts that federal outlays for Medicare in fiscal year 2020 will be $929 billion, compared with projected spending of $519 billion this year. So the program isn’t being cut below existing levels, or even stopped in its tracks. It will simply grow slightly less than it would have otherwise – about 7 percent less.
The savings that Republicans are calling "cuts" do not reduce benefits, they come from cost savings, mostly through new incentives in physician and hospital reimbursement programs that incentivize higher-quality care and prevention.
Does Jesse Kelly stand behind these lies?
* * *
So what do you say, Jesse? Do you stand behind these lies being told on your behalf to scare seniors and alienate veterans? If you don't repudiate these lies and request they be taken off the air, you are supporting them and no better than a liar yourself.
Well, Mike, the answer to your question is that the NRCC and Jesse Kelly have doubled-down on this oft-debunked "big lie" propaganda in 2012, and yes, Jesse kelly is a liar.
The problem is, the local Tucson media (other than the Tucson Weekly) will not do any fact checking and will not call Jesse Kelly a liar because they are rolling in all that campaign cash from the NRCC and corporate Super PACs on Kelly's behalf. There's a word for that, rhymes with "doors."
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Jesus, Dan, we give you guys credit all the time for your reporting, including in the above post for being the only news source that has fact checked Jesse Kelly and called him a liar explicitly, and you get upset because I accurately pointed out that the Monday event was not covered at TW? That’s a little over sensitive, dontcha think? Have a few micro brews and chill out.
one of my biggest concerns when i was running for cd8 in 2004-2006 and 2008 was the aarp and giffords lying to senior citizens about the future of social security and medicare and obamacare defunding medicare advantage by 500 billion to finance part of obamacare.
iam a senior citizen and have healthnet a medicare advantage program(obama just extended a waiver for another year) that will be destroyed if medicare advantage programs are defunded.
in my case healthnet is the only hmo that covers the university of arizona cancer center. i was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2008,that is why i suspended my campaign for cd8.
if the giffords and aarp and obama are able to kill my hmo they also sign my death certificate!
this is why ron barber has back pedeled on this issue!
if the supreme court finds this obama health nightmare violated the consitution and takes away our individual rights of freedom of choice -a basic right given to every citizen by the founding fathers-barber saw his campaign going up in flames!
Excellent take on corporate media bias! Not only do candidates accept bribes from special interests and their PACs in the guise of direct, or in-kind contributions for advertising, but the bribes are passed through to the corporate media outlets that carry the ads. Corporate candidates and media line up for the gravy train like hookers on the strip, eager to perform favors for their corporate sponsors. No wonder they are reluctant to bite the hand that feeds them by doing any actual reporting or fact-checking. Don’t expect real journalism, and please don’t call them the “Mainstream Media.” There is nothing mainstream about corporate propaganda.
Don’t get sore, Dan. We still love your liberal guts…
“the supposedly lib weekly”? Really? Nintzel was at the seniors event, so you’d have to ask him why he didn’t write it up, but we also don’t cover every single political event, instead trying to get a bigger picture view of things (which I think Nintzel does quite well). Regardless, maybe that doesn’t fit your narrative. I dunno.