Lie of the Year?
It’s “government takeover of health care,” according to Politifact — run by the St. Petersburg Times and marketed to other news organizations as impartial analysis. Let’s see, on Jan. 1, 2014, the federal government will tell essentially every nonelderly American what health insurance he must have, where he must get it and what he must pay, and will threaten fines and penalties against you and your employer if you dare not comply. What shall we call that? Nudge of the year?
Group gives a bad name to impartiality.
I had a reporter ask me the same question about whether the Affordable Care Act was a “government takeover.” I explained the term may be rhetorical; but the effect was largely the same. Government already pays for about half of all health care. The government is increasing regulations on the remainder. This does amount to more government control of the health care marketplace.
If government did to newspapers what it did to health care, would the St. Petersburg Times call it a takeover?
This “impartial group” sound more like an advocacy group.