Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 1842 } Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posted: Wed 05 Aug 2009 20:26 Post subject: Email White House to report "fishy" information
Quote:
Republican leader attacks 'fishy' White House request
Aug 5 03:10 PM US/Eastern
Obama to Citizens on Health Care: Send In All Fishy Emails
A leading Republican US Senator on Wednesday sharply assailed a White House request for supporters to help track "fishy" claims about President Barack Obama's plans to overhaul US health care.
"I am not aware of any precedent for a president asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ?fishy? or otherwise inimical to the White House?s political interests," John Cornyn of Texas wrote US President Barack Obama.
"As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights," he wrote.
Cornyn was responding to a message on Tuesday from Obama's director of new media, Macon Phillips, who asked on an official White House blog for members of the public to forward questionable claims to the administration.
"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation," said Phillips.
"Since we can?t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we?re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov," said Philips.
Cornyn, who also leads the Republican effort to expand its 40-seat minority in the Senate, asked how the White House would use the information collected, what actions if any the White House would take against citizens linked to "fishy" claims, and whether they would be told about being flagged.
"I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward emails critical of his policies to the White House," Cornyn wrote, referring to former president George W. Bush.
"I suspect that you would have been leading the charge in condemning such a program -- and I would have been at your side denouncing such heavy-handed government action," he wrote.
This is what happened in the Soviet Union, people were encouraged to turn in the neighbors, chlidren to turn in their parents, in regards of having views contrary to the State.
Does not this administration undertsand the Constitution and First Amendment??? This is astounding.
Quote:
"As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights," he wrote.
This is exactly what the free speech clause of the First Amendment protects against. What will the Obamamites do with this information???
I bet you will not read this in the NYT or see it on MSNBC!!!
Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 1842 } Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posted: Thu 06 Aug 2009 14:43 Post subject:
Quote:
Cornyn accuses White House of compiling 'enemies list'
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, August 6, 2009
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, accusing the White House of compiling an "enemies list," has asked President Barack Obama to stop an effort to collect "fishy" information Americans see about a health care overhaul.
Cornyn, who leads the Republicans' Senate campaign effort, said Wednesday in a letter to Obama that he's concerned that citizen engagement on the issue could be "chilled." He also expressed alarm that the White House could end up collecting electronic information on its critics.
"I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward e-mails critical of his policies to the White House," Cornyn wrote.
Cornyn was responding to a post on the White House's blog Wednesday in which users are asked to help stop the spread of disinformation about legislation to overhaul health insurance. The post offers an e-mail address, flag@whitehouse.gov, for users to forward anything "on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy."
The White House said the post was merely designed to fight "intentionally misleading" information in the health care debate.
"We want to be sure people have the facts about health insurance reform that will lower costs, protect consumers from insurance regulations that deny them coverage and assure quality and affordable health care for all Americans," said Adam Abrams, a White House spokesman. He said no lists or sources of the information would be compiled.
In his letter, Cornyn asked that the effort cease immediately and that the administration inform Congress what it's doing to ensure that names and electronic information about citizens weighing in on health care are not collected.
Kevin McLaughlin, a spokesman for the senator, said that the office had received no response from the administration.
He said Cornyn had not yet considered whether he would push for legislation to address the matter if necessary.
Where the HELL is the ACLU on this matter????? If Bush did this, the ACLU and the left wing media would be all over it, but I have heard not a thing from those operatives....SURPRISED..... ........NOT!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4TH, 2009 AT 6:55 AM
Facts Are Stubborn Things
Posted by Macon Phillips
Opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, "facts are stubborn things."
Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example, to "uncover" the truth about the President’s health insurance reform positions.
In this video, Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, addresses one example that makes it look like the President intends to "eliminate" private coverage, when the reality couldn’t be further from the truth.
Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.
For the record, the President has consistently said that if you like your insurance plan, your doctor, or both, you will be able to keep them. He has even proposed eight consumer protections relating specifically to the health insurance industry.
There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.
Here are the complete videos that Linda refers to. First from the AARP:
Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.
And then from the President's news conference:
Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.
Keith Olbermann (on MSNBC) reported on this story. I'm sure that others will continue to report on it, should there be merit to claims of implementing a Stalinist regime. Of course, since we are already living with the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretaps, I'm not sure that sending the email address of the originator of any Birther/Teabagging email messages is going to make an incremental difference.
The Obama administration is naive to believe that it can simply correct facts at this point. This country will get the health care "reform" it apparently deserves.
Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 1842 } Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posted: Fri 07 Aug 2009 15:36 Post subject:
sagascend wrote:
Keith Olbermann (on MSNBC) reported on this story. I'm sure that others will continue to report on it, should there be merit to claims of implementing a Stalinist regime. Of course, since we are already living with the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretaps, I'm not sure that sending the email address of the originator of any Birther/Teabagging email messages is going to make an incremental difference.
Like I said, if the Bush administration did this, the NYT, ACLU and other left wing operatives would be on it like white on rice!!!! That includes he Obama worshipping Olbermann and his Obama worshipping colleagues at MSNBC, sans Pat Buchanan. I don't know why he's still there.
In an effort to push back against criticism of its health care reform plans, the Obama administration is sending one of the many former journalists in its employ onto the digital airwaves of Youtube to attack Matt Drudge and other critics for spreading "disinformation" and "lies." Since "we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House," health reform Communications Director Linda Douglass says, "we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."
Reason.tv's Dan Hayes is nothing if not patriotic, and with a good nose for fish, so he took his camera in the dead of night and went hunting for perpetrators. The results, as shown in this two-and-a-half-minute video, should scare every American who cares about truth and health care.
Joined: 03 Jan 2006 {Posts: 9 } Location: West Coast
Posted: Sat 08 Aug 2009 20:25 Post subject:
On "good" insurance: nearly 40 years ago my daughter, about 17 mos. was in the hospital in Chicago. Our insurance was Blue Cross Blue Shield through Illinois Bell Telephone. This was supposed to be top of the line. Being the mother that I was, I was there from early morning 'til late night for the week she was in for severe bronchitis. My choice to be there, I took time off from my job.
As for what care it got, the Children's ward RN was absolutely foul and bloody minded that some mothers actually had to schedule time with their child around work hours, and could not be there all the time to care for their child. I am sure, had I not been able to get the time off, I would have been included in that, even though "insurance" was paying for nursing care!
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