This is an update of an earlier post. It includes the refutations.

Last summer when viral emails ran rampant with misinformation about Obama's policy positions, some of us, rather than sending them to the trash heap, refuted the lies and sent them back to the original sender, and whenever possible, everyone on their distribution list. It appeared our efforts caught at least some of the senders off guard and made them more cautious about to whom they sent their propaganda. (Better they keep it among themselves!)

When my parents and sister received these emails from other family members, we put away our flame throwers and offered helpful, kindly corrections (in red).

Yesterday, my mom forwarded me a viral email from a (racist) cousin about health (insurance/care) reform legislation. I've gone through it line by line and added refutations from factcheck.org in red. She sent the revise to my cousin today.

If you're discouraged right now, this might be a way to reclaim some of the "Yes We Can" verve: Respond to viral emails. It helped last summer and fall. It can help again. Let no lie go un-dispelled.

Here's the original email with line by line refutations. Feel free to use it for reference or cut and paste to save time.

One thing needs to be said. These cretins used the tragic passing of Natasha Richardson as part of their propaganda. I was uncomfortable refuting that misinformation, but it's the hand they dealt. Some may want to omit the reference. Anyway, I apologize if it is offensive or insensitive.

Here it is: (I lost all my formatting, so the refutations are in bold italics. They were in red in the email -sigh.)

This is interesting:

The Obama administration has already admitted regarding budget and expenditures they believe the elderly are worth more to the government dead, than alive. Saves money if we are gone. Chills your heart, doesn't it?   We need to stay in prayer constantly  for our nation and the so-called leaders.

 
Now, let's have a look at the facts:
The actress Natasha Richardson died after falling skiing in Canada . It took eight hours to drive her to a hospital. She fell at approximately 12:45 P.M. and the first ambulance arrived at 1:00 P.M.  She told them she was "fine" and they left. At 3:00 P.M. she said she wasn't feeling well and another ambulance was summoned. Paramedics tended to her and took her to the hospital 38 minutes away, arriving at 4:20 P.M.

If Canada had our healthcare she might be alive today.  That's a broad assumption. Remember, sadly, she declined care when the accident first occurred.

We now have helicopters that would have gotten her to the hospital in 30 minutes. The accident occurred in Quebec province which is the only Canadian province that does not have a network of helicopter air ambulances in place.

Obama wants to have our healthcare like Canada 's and England 's. President Obama has not said he wants a single payer system like England and Canada. He has said the United States should build on the system it has now.  He said, "We want to build on what works about the system and fix what's broken in the system."

Here's what's broken:  Insurance companies routinely engage in patient dumping, denying claims, and denying coverage (read rationing) which is how they earn their profits -- by NOT treating the sick.

In England anyone over 59 cannot receive heart repairs or stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too expensive and not needed. According to the United Kingdom's (England's) Department of Health, this is not true. The U.K's public health care service has a constitution which prohibits discrimination based on "gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, or belief."

I got this today and am sending it on. Of course you mean this one, the one with the facts!

If Obama's plans in other areas don't scare you, this should.  Looks like Obama is sure keeping his word ****CHANGES. We better have our funerals paid up, may be needing it sooner rather than later with no Dr's on our side to keep us healthy. Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, which means they have to be on the side of their patients, regardless of their patients' health insurance plans, private or public.

What will this world be like in another 20 YEARS WHEN OUR KIDS ARE READY FOR RETIREMENT?   SAD!!! Much better, once the emphasis is placed on prevention, quality of care -- not quantity, healthy lifestyles, and safe food supply!

Please do not let Obama sign senior death warrants. Don't worry! He can't. It's illegal.

Everybody that is on this mailing list is either a senior citizen, is getting close or knows somebody that is. Most of you know by now that the Senate version (at least) of the "stimulus" bill includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens...  As we talked above, insurance companies already ration to make profits. What it really says is, "None of the reports submitted under this section or recommendations made by the Council shall be construed as mandates or clinical guidelines for payment, coverage, or treatment."

The author of this part of the bill, former senator and tax evader, Tom Daschle was credited today by Bloomberg with the following statement. Bloomberg: Daschle says "health-care reform will not be pain free. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." Betsy McCaughy, who wrote the opinion piece for Bloomberg News, passes her paraphrases off as fact. What Daschle said was, "More and more of what were once seen as social, behavioral, or normative aspects of everyday life, or as normal processes of aging, are now framed in a medical context... Whether wrinkles, breasts, or buttocks, impotence or social anxieties, or inattention in school, they all have become grist for the medical mill." This might understandably rankle some: No botox, liposuction, or face lift unless you pay for it yourself!

If this does not sufficiently raise your ire, just remember that Senators and Congressmen have their own healthcare plan that is first dollar or very low co-pay which they are guaranteed the remainder of their lives and are not subject to this new law if it passes. In truth, they propose taxing a percentage of "Cadillac" health insurance plans like that of the Goldman Sachs CEOs $40k per year plan. The way it is now, taxpayers (that means you) subsidize his plan to the tune of $14,000 per year because his premium is paid before taxes!

Please use the power of the internet to get this message out.  Along with the facts! Talk it up at the grassroots level.... Remember those facts!

We have an election coming up in one year and nine months. We have the ability to address and reverse the dangerous direction the Obama administration and it allies have begun (They have been engaged in disaster management since taking office -- remember those pesky wars, rampant unemployment, and the recession they inherited?) and in the interim, we can make their lives miserable (come on, you're not that mean).  Lets do it! And let's not forget the facts this time!

If you disagree, continue not to do anything... NOT!!!