November 24, 2009
The B.S.-o-meter
At N.C. Policy Watch, we pride ourselves on trying not to follow the lead of some of the right-wing blogs by descending into the name-calling game. We may have fallen off the wagon a few times, but generally, we’ve managed to avoid calling the politicians with whom we disagree nasty names like “Nazi” or “racist.” Not so, of course, with the right-wingers who can barely mention President Obama’s name without calling him a “socialist” or “fascist” or “dictator.”
One minor quasi-exception, however, must be made in the case of Senator Richard Burr. No one’s questioning the man’s patriotism, of course, (a lesson the right would do well to learn) but dadgummit, lately his pronouncements on health care reform have been utter and unmitigated bull.
This is from the Senator’s latest online fundraising appeal (he’s already cranking up the nonsense machine as he endeavors to outdo his already formidable record in attracting corporate PAC money):
Dear Friend,
Last Saturday I participated in a rare weekend session of the U. S. Senate where Harry Reid and his cohorts pushed through a motion to proceed to debate on his version of a healthcare reform bill. As you know by now, Senator Reid was able to corral all 60 Democrats into voting to move forward even though at least 3 of them say they oppose important elements of the bill….
Here are some important facts you need to know. The bill is over 2000 pages long and weighs in at 20 pounds. That is more than the average size Thanksgiving turkey – and that’s just about what most Americans think of this bill. This week’s Rasmussen national poll shows just 38% of Americans support this legislation! Yet, Harry Reid pulled strings, made promises, and twisted arms to get the exact number of votes he needed to overcome Republicans’ objections.
This bill will cost trillions of dollars, drive America further into debt, cut funding from Medicare and ultimately put the federal government in charge of your health care….
While I am in Washington the rest of this year fighting this bill, my opponents will be raising money to run against me. I will not be able to spend time in North Carolina holding fundraisers so long as the Senate is in session and continues this debate. At the same time, I cannot afford to fall behind in what I must raise this year. If you feel the same way I do about this healthcare debate, will you please send a contribution to help my campaign stay on sound footing?”
There are so many distortions and outright lies in this letter that it’s got to set some kind of new record.
So, in honor of Burr’s shameful money plea, we hereby adopt a new Progressive Pulse rating system for assessing the prevarications of pandering politicians: the B.S. (for “Burr Speaks”)-o-meter.
Periodically, we will rate the claims and performances of less-than-totally-candid public figures on the B.S.-o-meter. A score of zero Burrs means that the claim is truthful. A score five Burrs means the claim rivals Burr’s dishonest fundraising letter.
We look forward to your participation.
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4 Comments Add yours »
Five Burrs! A new standard for political sleaze and opportunistic bullshit.
Poor Dick, can’t come back to NC because he has to stay in Washington so he can vote no on every piece of legislation that comes through the Senate. What an @$$hole.
This letter is dishonest? Name one thing in this letter that you can prove is false…
[...] at Progressive Pulse we are rating the claims of public figures on a scale of 0 to 5 Burrs — named after the propensity of our [...]
Well, just for starters, let’s look at the statement:
“This bill will cost trillions of dollars, drive America further into debt,”
The non-partisan Congressional budget Office puts the 10 year cost at $848 Billion, not even a single trillion. CBO also states that the impact on the federal deficit is to reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years.
We could go on, but the Senate Republicans are all about politics and have no interest whatsoever if trying to fix the health care system problems – too deeply imbedded with the insurance companies.