So, Chimpy is doing a "live news event" in Collinsville, Illinois today, giving a speech on medical liability reform. And of course CNN is carrying it live. It's basically a campaign speech two months after the fact. But I was struck by how the words at the bottom of the screen did in no way match the words from Bush's mouth.
As Bush was speaking on the need for medical liability reform, four factoids flashed across the bottom of the screen. They were as follows:
"Medical malpractice payments have dropped 11% in the last 9 years."
"Medical malpractice insurance is less than 1% of overall medical costs."
"Between 44,000-49,000 Americans die every year from preventable medical errors."
"Preventable medical errors cost Americans $17-29 billion dollars every year."
I had the feeling I was watching the sign-language lady during the Ukraine election who signed "Don't trust this report, the government is lying to you." And they came along in such a rapid-fire way, it seemed deliberate.
Two things:
- Bush is going to try to gather support for his horrible ideas by running it like he did the campaign. He'll be giving a round of speeches to "reglar folks" that will be sure to get nightly coverage.
- There is an easy way to knock down these lies, with cold, hard facts. The guy writing in 4 factoids on CNN just smacked down the President so hard it was almost embarrassing.
I don't know how these facts got through. Now the facts on the side of the screen are being spun THE EXACT OPPOSITE WAY (talk of rises in malpractice costs, jury awards, etc.). I almost feel like somebody tunneled in to Atlanta and printed the truth for a few seconds, only to be overwhlemed by information overload and meaningless rhetoric.
Did anyone else see this, or am I nuts? Either way, we need to speak these facts loudly, over the top of the standard anti-lawyer rhetoric coming from the White House. It'll work. It would've worked for anyone watching CNN at 11:20.
Update [2005-1-5 14:54:42 by dday]: Another frame nicely provided by the chyron operator on CNN: "legal experts believe patients wouldn't be able to sue for complications from Vioxx and Celebrex."
My grandmother was in a hospital for 7 months in 2004, likely (although it conveniently cannot be proven) over a muscle disease that was able to infiltrate her system through usage of Lipitor. This is serious shit. Regulatory reform, not tort reform, is what's needed. We've been handed this on a silver platter over the last month. Get former industry lobbyists off of the regulatory boards for the same industries!
Update [2005-1-5 15:1:43 by dday]: This guy Mark Green that CNN got to give the rebuttal to Bush's speech is FUCKING AWESOME! I'm convinced he's the one that wrote the factoids, or at least handed them to the CNN segment producer. Among his choicest quotes were: "He lied about WMD in Iraq, and he's lying about the medical malpractice problem." "He wants to cut court costs for his donors." Oh, give me more.
This guy should be on every major news network EVERY DAY. He's the head of something called "The Democracy Project." I don't think it's the same Mark Green that ran for mayor of NYC... update, according to a commenter, it IS the same guy. I'm surprised that, for someone who reportedly ran such an awful campaign in losing to Bloomberg, he's so on point.
Update [2005-1-5 16:26:38 by dday]:Inside Politics also ran a segment on the tort reform issue. I think this is a bigtime loser for the Republicans based on that story. Our frames (less than 1%, the problem is insurance companies, etc.) were prominently displayed. So was a quote by Ted Kennedy, referring to the fact that this legislation has already died twice in the Senate, saying "The President, after talking about uniting the country, immediately sends up legislation that is divisive." Let's be vigilant, but this is a very winnable fight.