Fox skews health care reform discussion away from deficit reduction

From Media Matters Research:

Fox News immediately responded to cost estimates of health care reform legislation by devoting far more attention to the estimate that the legislation would increase spending by $940 billion over 10 years than it did to the estimate that, including cost savings and revenue increases, the bill would actually reduce the deficit by $130 billion over the same period. On-screen graphics throughout Fox News' initial coverage referred to the cost estimate, while no graphics mentioned deficit reduction.

Fox focuses on cost estimate

Fox shows nearly 10 minutes of on-screen graphic spelling out $940 billion cost estimate, none on deficit reduction. During the 9 a.m. ET hour -- when reports of the Congressional Budget Office's preliminary cost analysis of health care reform legislation first leaked -- Fox News repeatedly aired an on-screen graphic stating, "CBO: Health Care Will Cost $940 Billion Over 10 Yrs," showing the graphic for a total of 9 minutes, 44 seconds. At no time during the 9 a.m. hour did Fox News show a graphic referring to the $130 billion deficit-reduction estimate.

Cost estimate mentioned three times as often as deficit-reduction estimate. During the 9 a.m. hour, the $940 billion cost estimate was mentioned 12 times -- by co-hosts Bill Hemmer (three times) and Martha MacCallum (twice), Fox News contributors Karl Rove (twice) and Juan Williams, guests Joe Trippi and Kevin Madden, and by Rep. John Boehner (twice) during Fox coverage of the GOP press conference in response to the CBO estimate. By contrast, CBO's estimate that the bill would reduce the deficit was mentioned only four times -- by Hemmer, Williams, and Rove, and by Rep. James Clyburn during Fox coverage of the Democratic press conference in response to the CBO estimate.

M.C.L comment: If people want to know what's wrong with America, all you have to do is watch a hour of Fox News. Fox News is a 24 hour GOP talking point spewing right wing shit factory from Fox and Friends in the morning, the various news shows during the day, to their big three of professional conservative liars of Beck, O'Reilly and Hannity and even Fox News' supposedly lone liberal Greta Van Susteren has no problems allowing GOP spin on her show.

There was a poll few years back that proves the more Fox News you watch the less you're informed, think about it a majority of Fox News viewers believed Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9.11 and W.M.D was found in Iraq. Every lie about the current health care bill that comes from the GOP is reported by Fox News as facts.

And how real media plays cover for them pisses me off, according to Fox News every media outlet from CBS, ABC, NBC to the AP wire services are either run by officials from the DNC or the media is run by members from MoveON.org or better yet the media is owned by the right wing arch nemesis George Soros. It's one thing if the right wing slant only comes from the big three of liars but it's everyone on that crap ass network.

Fox News Distorts CBO Report: Health Care Reform ‘Likely Won’t Bring Private Premiums Down’

By Igor Volsky

This morning, Fox News ran a chyron alleging that the new Congressional Budget Office report on premiums concluded that the Senate health care bill won’t lower health care premiums:

The report actually concluded the opposite — that, on average, premiums would substantially decrease for the majority of Americans purchasing coverage in the individual market and maintain or lower premiums in the small and large employer markets. In fact, almost all of the leads in today’s newspapers get it right:

– “As the Senate opened debate Monday on a landmark plan to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, congressional budget analysts said the measure would leave premiums unchanged or slightly lower for the vast majority of Americans, contradicting assertions by the insurance industry that the average family’s coverage would rise by thousands of dollars if the proposal became law.” [WP, 11/30/2009]

– “The Congressional Budget Office said Monday that the Senate health bill could significantly reduce costs for many people who buy health insurance on their own…” [NYT, 11/30/2009]

– “On average, 134 million Americans insured through large employers will see no rise in premiums and may pay 3 percent less than they would if Congress failed to pass a health-care overhaul plan, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said yesterday. Subsidies also will lower costs as much as 59 percent for 18 million people buying their own insurance.” [Bloomberg, 12/1/2009]

Of course, the unchanged or slightly-reduced premiums come “in addition to the higher quality benefits that those in the exchange will receive.”