Desperate Republican claims about the Affordable Care Act, including in the ongoing Senate primary, continue to be called out as lies.
In three separate yet related news reports, Scott Walker and two of the Republican U.S. Senate candidates have been called out for misleading the public about the act — known to most as Obamacare — which was recently upheld as constitutional by the United States Supreme Court.
Like a parrot that doesn’t know any better, it was U.S. candidate Jeff Fitzgerald who first began spitting out the untruths about Obamacare, repeating what he’d heard from loudmouth, right wing extremist talker Rush Limbaugh, stating the new law is “the largest middle-class tax increase in history!” Nice try, Jeff. After scrutinizing his methodology for making the claim as “deeply flawed,” the report goes on to dispel the statement and its “painfully thin evidence.” [1]
Next up with a failed attempt to wash away the facts is U.S. Senate candidate Mark Neumann, who erroneously stated Obamacare is “the biggest tax increase in American history.” Not the case, Mark. In the report explaining why and how Neumann got this wrong, it states “even the article he uses as evidence states flatly that the health care reform law is not the biggest.” [2]
Not wanting to be left out, Scott Walker got caught up in the lies and offered his own, stating Obamacare would “devastate” Wisconsin. Sorry, Scott, that just won’t happen. Pulling his information from a recent study, reporters went to the author of the study he cited for an explanation of how wrong Walker was, deciding the governor “cherry-picks data, leaves out critical facts and mischaracterizes some of the numbers, creating a highly misleading impression.” [3]
In addition to these three Pinocchios, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also has problems with the truth when discussing the Affordable Care Act. More than a half dozen times this year alone, Romney’s attempts to misconstrue and out-right lie about the act have been highlighted by media reports as false, misleading and factually untrue. Most recently, three reports of Romney’s comments about Obamacare at a press conference were found to be deceptive, saying, “he’s wrong,” “we find no factual basis for Romney’s claim” and “offered no evidence to back up this claim.” [4]
“Republicans continue to regurgitate the same lies about the Affordable Care Act but the facts are clear: this law will improve the lives of Wisconsinites and Americans on a number of levels,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate. “Obamacare will increase the number of Americans with health care insurance, which will improve their health overall, and will decrease the incredible financial burden of the uninsured. From Mitt Romney on down, the GOP has nothing to offer middle class, working Wisconsin families that will improve their economic security – so all they do is distort, distract, and outright lie about the President and his record of accomplishment.”
[1] – Politifact: Says “Obamacare” is “the Largest Middle-Class Tax Increase in History” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 23, 2012)
[2] – PolitiFact: “Obamacare” is “the Biggest Tax Increase in American History” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 25, 2012)
[3] – PolitiFact: Scott Walker Says a Study Shows the Federal Health Care Law Will “Devastate” Wisconsin (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 29, 2012)
[4] – PolitiFact: Mitt Romney Says “Obamacare” Means Up to 20 million Americans Will Lose Insurance They Like and Want, PolitiFact: Health Law Puts Government in Between Patients and Doctors, Mitt Romney Says and PolitiFact: Mitt Romney Says ‘Obamacare’ Adds Trillions to the Deficit (Tampa Bay News, June, 28, 29 and July 9, 2012)
