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March 19, 2014 10:12 AM UTC

AFP's Obamacare Ad Shredded By 9NEWS Truth Test

  • 44 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

9NEWS' Brandon Rittiman fact-checks the new Americans for Prosperity TV spot saturating media markets throughout the state, in an able Truth Test that would make his predecessor Adam Schrager proud:

If you've watched any TV recently, you've probably seen a conservative group's million-dollar ad buy that started this week, aimed at stirring up anger over Obamacare…

The same actress saying this line appeared in nearly identical ads last fall, targeting several other members of Congress.

Rittiman shows viewers, as the Denver Post's Lynn Bartels first reported this week, how the ad is a near-duplicate of AFP ads running in other states. This has the effect of rendering the actress' statement that "people don't like political ads, and I don't either" into more of a punchline. Rittiman then debunks in detail the claims made in this ad–claims that in turn underpin much of the GOP's message against the Affordable Care Act. For example, there is the claim that "millions of people have lost their health insurance."

It's true that millions of people with individual coverage got cancellation notices because their old plans didn't meet the standards of Obamacare…but getting one of these notices is not the same thing as losing insurance. [Pols emphasis]

By federal law, when they cancel a plan, insurance companies have to offer you an alternate plan if they want to stay in business…this ad is trying to make you believe that all those people just became uninsured, which is just not the case. [Pols emphasis]

It's a point we've made over and over in this space, and we're happy to see it being called out by the media as deceptive. In fact, over 90% of policyholders who received "cancellation notices" in Colorado also got notice that they could renew their policies. Many others have signed up via the insurance exchange. It's just not true that these hundreds of thousands of people were left without insurance by the Affordable Care Act. And then there's the vague but alarming charge from AFP's actress, "millions are paying more and getting less."

VERDICT: Misleading

As a case against the healthcare law, this is misleading for a few reasons.

First of all, people are by and large getting more in their plans, not less… [Pols emphasis]

With an emotional case against "Obamacare" playing a central role in Republican message strategy this year, including in the high-profile U.S. Senate race here in Colorado, debunking these frequently-heard claims is a major win for Democrats. If Democrats are smart–and not just in Colorado–Brandon Rittiman's fact check of AFP's cookie-cutter ad, or at least the bits that matter, will be seen by lots of voters.

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44 thoughts on “AFP’s Obamacare Ad Shredded By 9NEWS Truth Test”

  1. At what point do TV stations stop running stuff from an organization that is proven to lie over and over again? If GM ran an ad saying the Cobalt could get 100 MPG, the ad wouldn't run.

  3. Arthur Kane Strikes Again!

    Albeit it was yesterday, but he got another front page, above the fold headline trashing Obamacare in the Denver Post.  This time it was the "shocking" claim that the state health exchange employees are paid more than those in three other states.  OMG!

    Another trash article from this "Special to the Denver Post" author, not reporter.  The money quote was from Linda Gorman of the Independence (not Independent) Institute who said, "This is a bunch of people really responsible for nothing other than getting government grants."  What a bunch of crap.

    It's going to take a ton of media attention like the Channel 9 report to even begin to counter the lies and hyperbole spread about the ACA.

     

    1. They may be better compensated than their corrolaries in other states or government agencies, but the bias in the story was revealed by the first quotation in the article coming not from anyone in the agency to defend the salaries, but from the II's hatcheteer.

  4. "But-but-but…librul media! Benghazi! Udallcare! Keep your old plan! Crimea! IRS! Soros! Solyndra!"

    There, rightie bagger trolls. Thought I'd save you the trouble of "defending" the indefensible.

  5. The TRUTH does NOT matter.
    “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

    PERCEPTION matters. The scumballs are winning because the proponents of Obamacare are not fighting back.

    1. Exactly!

      Four years ago, look at all the ads labeled as misleading put out by Bennet. There were lots of them.  He won.

      If this goes on for 2-3 months unopposed Udall can have all the ads labeled misleading he wants.  He will lose.

      This is how the game is played.

      1. Pointing out Ken Bucks position on abortion was "misleading".  If that is the case look for a lot of "misleading" ads on Cory Garder's record.

        Too early to play the victim card ?

          1. Oh my God. Are you really trying to pass off the "Greeley Gazette," a total horseshit right wing blog with no readers, as a news source?

            You're even harder up than I thought.

        2. Hidden in plain view within trollboy's chickenshit diversionary response is a profound admission that, yes, he and his ilk have been lying their conscienceless asses off about everything included in this dirty Koch-money garbage ad, and by extension, all the other filth they've been spewing, here and elsewhere.

          But to them, it's OK because "this is how the game is played."

          Everyone, please take note of this fundamental admission of ingrained, structural right-wing dishonesty.

          1. DP, The reference was to Dave Barnes assertion that,THE TRUTH DOES NOT MATTER, PERCEPTION MATTERS.  If the Dems do not counter the Udallcare ads, game over in a few months.  They will have ceeded the field, so to speak.  The Dems in senate races are getting outspent about 2-1 now and if they continue to hold their fire the damage will be done.  Just my opinion.

          2. At least AC is admitting that his side just presents fictions well. He is right that Dems have to be way more aggressive about calling out slickly packaged lies.

      2. What you've done, you dolt, is admit the ad is bullshit. You're in affect saying that you actually don't care that you're lying about the ACA, that you're just another redleg troll with zero credibility. 

        Read your post, you idiot, that's what you've done to yourself. 

        And WTF, the "greeley gazette"!!!!!!!! Are you fucking kidding me?

      3. Interesting on how wannabe rich boy skates around the lying ads by doing the ole false equivalency over 2010 ads.

        Hey Mr. Carneige if you are so righteous and holy how come you advocate  "Bearing False Witness" with phony actors spouting lies.  I didn't think that pure people like you were so enthusiastic about breaking one of the Ten Commandments.  Oh that's right.  You aren't a real spiritual person.  You're just another Phairisee standing on the street corner proclaiming your moral superiority at the top of your lungs.  Being an advocate for The Truth?  Not so much you phony fraud.

    1. Just as with all bullies, men and women of goodwill will have to rise up and smash them to stop them. It's coming; sooner or later, as with all of history's bullies and tyrants, the final comeuppance inevitably comes…

      1. Again, the "Greeley Gazette" is not even remotely close to a credible news source. It's a cheesy blog run by a right wing lunatic.

        Read the article. The claims the ad is "misleading" are horseshit. Buck tried to Buckpedal his prior call to eliminate the Department of Education. Lots of you righties want to do that, so don't bullshit me.

  7. To the argument that people are getting more from their new plan:

    I'm sure all those single college age males and same-sex male couples are LOVING the mandatory maternity coverage!  After all – its MORE! Yay!

    /sarcasm

      1. Being a lawyer isn't all that much different from being a shill (ala AC), they're both pretty much paid to believe what they're told/sold . . . 

        1. And don't forget…the truth is held in high esteem (generally) by neither politicians or lawyers. You could almost say that most politicians are lawyers and all lawyers are politicians.

        2. Must respectfully object to the blanket lawyer bashing. There are lawyers dedicated to defending our rights, helping immigrants, clearing the innocent with new DNA evidence and other good stuff. I personally know some lawyers who are really good people doing really really good things. That Fladen is such an unimpressive, often really silly sounding, example doesn't negate the good that many lawyers do. Just sayin'.

          1. But..but…C'mon BC ..Lawyer bashing is fun!

            Seriously. There are a number of lawyers I know (and I know lots of them) who are, as you say, forthright and honest people trying to do good work. Some, like the "Tres Miguelitos", who continually beat up on the oil and gas lobby, are heroes of mine. I have a number of attorneys who are good friends and have even considered going back to school to get a law degree myself….And then there are the Rick Wagners of the world.

            Question…Do you know what you call it when a bus full of lawyers goes over a cliff?  ….a good start.

            Second Question…Do you know what you call it when a bus full of lawyers goes over a cliff, with one seat empty?   …a damned shame.

             

    2. I'm a 60-year-old woman with normal blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol.  Why should I have to pay for maternity benefits, prostate exams, penis pumps, other people's statin drugs, Tay Sachs disease, sickle cell anemia, circumcisionns, and other medical procedures I (think) I will never need?  Maybe because IT'S FUCKING INSURANCE, and I'm not mad about it because I UNDERSTAND THE WAY INSURANCE WORKS, for God's sake.

  8. This story is preaching to the choir. Unless Democrats hit back with truth to counter the lies and then hit back again with more truth about how uninformed votes are bought the Koch's money, then they might just win. Wake Up Democrats and fight back!

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