So I tuned into NPR while driving to work this morning. And Mara Liasson's breathless reporting on the "political damage control" by the Obama administration over the mammogram recommendation made me remember why tuning in on my morning commute has become a less and less frequent occurence.
This'll be a quick diary as I'm at work but I thought it'd be worth posting as NPR has really ticked me off recently. She began by speaking of how this could be a major setback for the Democrats as they still didn't have enough votes "in Congress" to pass HCR. (Apparently she doesn't understand the distinction between "the Senate" and "Congress"). She then goes on to the point that this could make the Republican's point regarding the nightmare scenario of "rationing of healthcare."
So then what do we get? A laughable snippet from GOP Rep. David Camp (MI). He says that the talk of death panels over the summer was "not helpful" but that now we are seeing that "[this recommendation] represents REAL LIFE DEATH PANELS. "This is what you get when you have government bureaucrats deciding who gets what treatment." Then we get GOP all-star Jean Schmidt (yes, that Jean Schmidt) talking about how she currently gets one mammogram a year under her plan, how effective that is, and how resistant to change she would be. Gee, Jean, I wonder WHO EXACTLY IS INSURING YOU AND PAYING FOR THOSE MAMMOGRAMS? I was shocked, shocked I tell you, that Liasson didn't point out the utter hypocrisy.
So then they decide to include a Democratic voice, HHS Secretary (and my former guv) Kathleen Sebelius. She states, unequivocally, that Medicare and Medicaid will continue to cover annual mammograms. She states, unequivocally, that if and when HCR passes it will be the purview of the HHS Secretary, not a panel like that which made the mammogram recommendation, on decisions of coverage of procedures in a public option, and that she would KEEP THE YEARLY MAMMOGRAM COVERAGE. Liasson concluded on a pessimistic tone about the pitfalls of any HCR and how tough it was going to be.
So basically, NPR just had a four minute story about the dangers of government bureaucrats deciding who lives and who dies, with three minutes devoted to baseless Republican fear mongering and about 30 seconds of talk straight from the horses mouth that negated literally everything the GOPers said. But hey, who needs facts when you've got fear and anxiety to sell, especially about an issue as personal as mammograms? And how professional of Liasson to neglect mentioning anything about private insurers, and the countless cases of denial of coverage for treatment of breast cancer or any other disease because of an appendectomy thirty five years ago or the insurance industry's current bureaucracy that decides who lives and who dies.
Again, this kind of rightward slanted reporting has become all too common on NPR. Sort of sad to see them take this tack as they struggle continuously with money issues. All I can say is good luck surviving on the donations of your legions of conservative listeners, as we all know right-wingers just love them some NPR.