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Medicare Scare-Mongering
Published by Tom Foreman on Oct 01, 2009
Closed on Sep 05, 2010
Closed on Sep 05, 2010
Result:
It has been a whole year now since the publication of the highly biased NY Times editorial that prompted this petition. It has therefore become irrelevant to a news media that has grown increasingly preoccupied with the present. That is why this petition has been closed to additional signatures effective today, 5 September, 2010.
I appreciate the support of the few who joined me in endorsing this effort at holding our mainstream news media accountable for their reporting and editorializing. Getting them to maintain objectivity, especially in light of the ever more partisan political atmosphere in our nation's capital, appears to be a losing battle. That should not deter us from taking similar actions in the future, however, even if for no other reason than the satisfaction that comes from knowing that we had the courage to publicly take a stand.
Respectfully,
Petition Author
I appreciate the support of the few who joined me in endorsing this effort at holding our mainstream news media accountable for their reporting and editorializing. Getting them to maintain objectivity, especially in light of the ever more partisan political atmosphere in our nation's capital, appears to be a losing battle. That should not deter us from taking similar actions in the future, however, even if for no other reason than the satisfaction that comes from knowing that we had the courage to publicly take a stand.
Respectfully,
Petition Author
To: The New York Times
As with many of the other NY Times editorials on Health Care this year, "Medicare Scare-Mongering" on September 27 appeared to be heavily biased against Republicans. Not only did it accuse them of "cynicism and hypocrisy," but it ended by concluding that:
"... Republicans have done far too good a job at obscuring and twisting the facts and spreading unwarranted fear. It is time to call them to account. President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have to make the case forcefully that health care reform will overwhelmingly benefit Americans -- including the millions of older Americans who participate in Medicare."
While we fully agree that anyone "obscuring and twisting the facts and spreading unwarranted fear" should be called to account, we believe it is irresponsible for a major news organization such as yours to single out Republicans -- especially when there are recent examples of "scare-mongering" by Democrats, including President Obama:
1. A Democratic National Committee advertisement accused Republicans of voting "to abolish Medicare." This was determined to be "NOT TRUE" by FactCheck.org, which published its full analysis on September 8 under the heading of "Senior Scare, Yet Again."
2. During his remarks to a Joint Session of Congress on September 9, President Obama stated that, "One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment and he died because of it." This was determined to be FALSE by the St. Petersburg Times' PolitiFact web site, which received a Pulitzer prize earlier this year for (among other accomplishments) "separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters."
In the future, we hope that you will make a special effort to be less biased in both your editorializing and reporting.
As with many of the other NY Times editorials on Health Care this year, "Medicare Scare-Mongering" on September 27 appeared to be heavily biased against Republicans. Not only did it accuse them of "cynicism and hypocrisy," but it ended by concluding that:
"... Republicans have done far too good a job at obscuring and twisting the facts and spreading unwarranted fear. It is time to call them to account. President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have to make the case forcefully that health care reform will overwhelmingly benefit Americans -- including the millions of older Americans who participate in Medicare."
While we fully agree that anyone "obscuring and twisting the facts and spreading unwarranted fear" should be called to account, we believe it is irresponsible for a major news organization such as yours to single out Republicans -- especially when there are recent examples of "scare-mongering" by Democrats, including President Obama:
1. A Democratic National Committee advertisement accused Republicans of voting "to abolish Medicare." This was determined to be "NOT TRUE" by FactCheck.org, which published its full analysis on September 8 under the heading of "Senior Scare, Yet Again."
2. During his remarks to a Joint Session of Congress on September 9, President Obama stated that, "One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment and he died because of it." This was determined to be FALSE by the St. Petersburg Times' PolitiFact web site, which received a Pulitzer prize earlier this year for (among other accomplishments) "separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters."
In the future, we hope that you will make a special effort to be less biased in both your editorializing and reporting.
This petition is now closed.
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