People are confused about health care reform:
Two in three Americans call the health care reforms being debated by lawmakers confusing; only 31 percent said they have a clear understanding of the proposed changes. Sixty-seven percent of those questioned said the reform ideas were confusing.
Wonder if that has anything to do with this:
The Post publishes health-care reform stories almost every day as it tracks the twists and turns of the epic debate. So it’s surprising to hear from so many readers who ask: Why hasn’t The Post explained what this is all about?
“Your paper’s coverage continues in the ‘horse race’ mode,” complained Bill Byrd of Falls Church. “Who’s up, who’s down . . . political spin, personal political attacks.
***In my examination of roughly 80 A-section stories on health-care reform since July 1, all but about a dozen focused on political maneuvering or protests. The Pew Foundation’s Project for Excellence in Journalism had a similar finding. Its recent month-long review of Post front pages found 72 percent of health-care stories were about politics, process or protests.
***Last Sunday’s Outlook section carried a piece by former Post reporter T.R. Reid titled “Myths About Health Care Around the World.” The writing was terse and anecdotal, without health-care gobbledygook. No he-said-she-said.
On the Post’s Web site, it was among the most viewed articles on Sunday and Monday. It was one of the week’s most e-mailed stories.
There’s a reason.
Or maybe it has something to do with this:
At one point, Bartiromo was critical of the government-managed health care system in the United Kingdom. “How do I know the quality [of health care in the United States] is not going to suffer” with a public option? she asked.
Rep. Weiner reminded her that there already is government-managed health care in the United States — namely, Medicare, the system created for Americans 65 years and older — and that patients with Medicare report very high satisfaction rates.
Bartiromo’s response to this argument was a true head-scratcher. In a mocking tone, she pressed the congressman: “How come you don’t use it [Medicare]? You don’t have it. How come you don’t have it?”
Rep. Weiner, who turns 45 this week, tried to walk Bartiromo through it. “Because I’m not 65.” But she was insistent. “Yeah… c’mon!” she exclaimed, laughing incredulously.
Meanwhile, serial liar Betsy McCaughey was on CNBC spreading more falsehoods.
None of this gets Team Obama or the Democrats off the hook for doing such a terrible job with this debate so far, but at the same time, I’m not sure you get anything done when one side is just intent on blowing things up, and the media in this country has really turned into a failed experiment. No matter what channel you turn to, you are exposed to outright liars, political hacks, or in the case of Bartiromo and others, just complete fools who are in so far over their head that they don’t even have any idea how much they don’t know.