ABC News = Government Agency

Tommie

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

The Director of Communications at the White House Office of Health Reform is Linda Douglass, who worked as a reporter for ABC News from 1998-2006.

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:

Dear Mr. Westin:

As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda

.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.
Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.
In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.
Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff

MORE

ABCNEWS Senior Vice President Kerry Smith on Tuesday responded to the RNC complaint, saying it contained 'false premises':

"ABCNEWS prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers -- of all political persuasions -- even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABCNEWS is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue.

"ABCNEWS alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience."

Developing...
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http://www.drudgereport.com/flashaot.htm

James

Not only is this not shocking, its only the beginning. I said when he was first elected that he would literally own all these networks by the time he runs for reelection. Media has always been in the back pocket of the government to a certain extent, but get ready for it to be taken to the extreme.

Everyone wanted the Soviet Bear, so embrace it and give it a bear hug.

Gunslinger

I hope all the "time for change" people will open their eyes. Yes, we DID need a change but not just ANY change...a good one. I WANTED to like Obama because he IS our president but the passed few months have really shown what a horrible decision we made electing this guy.

We can argue all day about the pros and cons about closing the Bay, or about "The One's" wonderful tax break (how'd that work out for you? I lost 600.00 bucks and the 15 bucks extra a week actually worked out to about 10 buck LESS on my paycheck instead of more) but his views on wanting to basically monitor and censor "anti-government" speech on the airwaves and now this little media deal is nothing less than frightful.

This health care reform idea is HORRIBLE. Sure it would be great if everyone had healthcare but the fact is...this is not PLAUSABLE and still have the best health care in the world. It would also be great to feed the starving children in Africa as well but taxing the hell out of the taxpayers and then shipping out a few cans of Spaghetti-Os will hardly fix the problem. Sure that's an exaggerated comparison but both are equally absurd when it comes down to the reality of it.

This is very scary, very scary indeed. Keep in mind that this is happening at about the same time that FOREIGN OWNED radio stations are DECIDING what can and cannot be played on a large portion of our radio stations.

Of course myself, James and others have been saying for quite awhile that the media is calling the shots and strongly influencing public opinion and by doing this helping "decide" the course of things. Of course many people would rather continue to believe this idea is nothing more than paranoia...I'm sure what is happening with this ABC-Obama pairing will be dismissed as well.

PaSnow

Admittedly I'm not a big fan of this decision, as I don't like the path it sets for going forward, but Guns I think you overreacting. A horrible mistake for voting him in?! Our economy was in chaos in September as companies were falling apart left & right, no banks were able to make any loans, not just to home buyers, but tio businesses as well, there was no money. Again, there was no money. Sure you can complain about what he did to rescue it, but what were the alternatives. Would letting them all fail be an option. Would 15% unemployment be an option? Would a Dow at 3,000 be an option?

Sure you might be against government getting into our healthcare business. Gitmo is just a new partisan crock of shit like flag burning & abortion. The tax break worked great for me, not sure how much you make to have had a $10 increase but I got my $15 break. That's why I voted for him. Also made quite a few thousand back in my 401k too. A win-win scenario in a way. So yeah, I'm content, and feel he's doing an alright job. Do I agree wholeheartedly with this? Probably not. ABC will likely take some heat for it & their credibility may suffer a bit too. I can't imagine it's related, but it's funny, the ABC channel here has struggled a bit because alot of viewers cannot get that channel over the air ever since the DTV conversion. So they're probably not winning over alot of peoples hearts right here anyway.

Anyway, how about this for an idea, we watch the segment (or wait for it to air) to see exactly what it is first. After all, it's possible it's just a town hall. I do wish it was made available to all networks, and I feel it should have been. THAT is my problem with it. It's possible the Republican Ken McKay is just grandstanding and shooting first, asking questions later. After all, it seems even he doesn't even know what it will be

"I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda."

Communist China

I still think people are overreacting to these moves. They are temporary, and I firmly believe liberty has been extended by this president and not shrunk. There are things I'd change - removing the buy-American clause of stimulus money enough to buy Canadian, his Health care plan costing too much while providing for only a few million more than the private sector is providing - but I think in the big picture he's doing the right things overall. Better than Bush. Bush would have us in a war with Iran by now, Obama seems to have far greater diplomatic skills and his economic recovery package has not failed. The economy seems to be on the road to improvement.

I would worry if this sort of government control is still in place in 2011 or 2012, and if it is, then I'll just vote for the other candidate. The power still rests with the people.

The Troglodites may have thrown away their hard-fought liberty for the ease and security of a king, but I don't think the Americans are there yet. Not even close.

Axl S

Can I just ask since it's been mention and is kinda relevant, why so many of you are against a Universal Healthcare system by the government. A lot of democratic developed countries have it and statistaclly their healthcare is far better than the US.

Communist China

I'm not against it. I just don't like this plan. I think there is a place for the private sector in health care (although not such a dominant one as they have now) and the current government agenda leads to the complete removal of business from health care. They say you can choose but either but employers will provide the cheapest available government care and individuals will still be too poor to afford anything better, effectively forcing government care on not only the poor but the middle class as well.

Also, while costing about a trillion dollars in debt this plan only provides for about 10 million more Americans than the private sector is currently covering. This part I may be wrong about, I don't have stats to post with it, but Obama's health care plan is not Universal by any standard.

PaSnow

A few reasons, if it's not broke, don't fix it. People are fairly satisified with our current healthcare, so why change it. And the gov't hiring way too many employees to do nothing, like City Hall. One fear I'd have is privatized/better healthcare would go the way of the pension, ie non-existant. As small to medium sized companies would no longer offer healthcare benefits, opting to sway it's employees onto the gov't run system. Then later, large companies as well. And lastly, abusing the system. Like welfare, we'd have the poor abusing it, going 7-8 times a year for a checkup, doctors billing the gov't $500 for a checkup on welfare people who don't even work to contribute. I used to work in cutomer service for the electric company here, & I saw the amount used by those people who didn't pay. A/C must have run non-stop. Heat on high all day in the winter. How's that fair when I keep my bills low, try not to use A/C, keep my heat on at 65-67.. ?

If they do it, they need to be strict. Sadly, that's where government lacks. No free rides. One checkup a year, and emergency room coverage and surgery. No Ambien prescriptions, no going to the doctor because you have a bad cold. No oxycontin or Vicoden prescriptions for years on end (sorry James) No abusing the system. You want that stuff, pay for it out of pocket.

Anyway, those are basically my thoughts to answer your question. Not saying their right or wrong, I'm sure that falls somewhere in the middle. On the other hand, it would be a secondary/backup option for alot of us to not be slaves to our jobs. That's a huge factor for me in staying at certain places (here). I'd love to try to branch out on my own, try to work for myself, possibly take a few weeks/months off, but benefits is a huge loss, esp for those with a family.

Axl S

Are people really satisfied? From what I've read you end up with people not being able to afford the healthcare because they don't have the money to pay for it. Over here we have the NHS (National Health Service) and you can always get the treatment you need no matter the cost as it's covered by everyones National Health Insurance. Yeah we get taxed for it but at least if we end up with a broken arm, severed leg or something like cancer we are able to get the treatment when we need it. The best thing the US could do healthcare wise is look at the countries where Universal Healthcare works i.e. Canada, UK, France and try their best to replicate them.

PaSnow

Axl S wrote:

Are people really satisfied? From what I've read you end up with people not being able to afford the healthcare because they don't have the money to pay for it.

I guess satisfied wasn't the right word. "Content" is more like it.

Yes, healthcare is extremely expensive, however the majority of us get it thru work. A good amount of companies offer it. However, if your a small business owner, that can be a huge cost to offer it to your 3-5 employees. Probably @ $3,000/employee per year, and if they have a family much more. But if they don't offer it, those are also the jobs that are usually making $20,000-$50,000 a year, where its tough to pay for healthcare out of pocket, considering taxes takes about 30% of that already.

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

Re: ABC News = Government Agency

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