Candidates Claims Under The Magnifying Glass

Yesterday, we looked at what the American people seem to think of the candidates and their approaches to health care reform. Today, we will be looking at both the things that have been distorted by each side and what the experts have to say about the effectiveness of both proposals.

Unlike prior generations, we are inundated with media at every turn: radio, TV, Internet and, with increasing frequency, mobile devices. This not only allows extensive opportunity to be exposed to each side's position but also allows access to numerous non-partisan groups that exist solely in order to get to the substance beneath the glitz. One of my own personal favorites is the Annenberg Political Fact Check.

On the October 14, the Anenberg crew produced their own analysis of the candidates' plans, the mis-statements used to sell them, and the input of a variety of health care experts concerning the contents of said plans. I highly advise checking out the detailed analysis, but for the general edification I will include their summary statement here:

McCain and Obama have sharply different health care plans, and each has made sharply worded attacks that are either false or misleading. McCain proposes a market-based system that relies on tax incentives, which one Obama ad falsely characterizes as the "largest middle-class tax increase in history." Obama proposes new subsidies to expand private insurance coverage and some expansion of government insurance, which McCain falsely claims "will rob 50 million employees of their health coverage."

Neither candidate has offered enough specifics about his plan to allow experts to assess the cost or impact without making various assumptions. Studies agree generally, however, that Obama’s plan would cover more of the uninsured than McCain’s would.

The original piece includes archives of pertinent campaign advertisements, point by point breakdowns of what the candidates have said on the subject, and the results of numerous fact finding polls and studies. As always there is a full bibliography of sources and all claims are hyper-linked to the supporting documentation.

Happy Reading!

SOURCE: "Health Care Spin - McCain and Obama each make false claims about the other's health care plan. We sort through the misinformation." 10/14/08
photo courtesy of Okko Pyykko, used under its Creative Commons license