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February 4, 2004
Son of a Bitch!

Hey, remember how CBS doesn't air advocacy ads? You know, they have a policy...

The policy is decades old. It is designed to prevent those with means to produce and purchase network advertising from having undue influence on "controversial issues of public importance." From the Network's perspective, we believe our viewers are better served by the balance and perspective such issues can be afforded within our news programming.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040128/nyw155_1.html

Well it seems that they are going to air this ad (see part of it here), which promotes the president's new medicare bullshit. Not only is CBS going to air the ad, but the ad, and the accompanying print and radio campaign, is being paid for with $9.5 million of taxpayer money.

I could have sworn he said something recently about requiring Congress to be wise with the taxpayer's money. I guess by wise he means using it to fund what is blatantly a Republican political ad.

An excerpt from the commercial: Man: "So my Medicare isn't different, it's just more." Voiceover: "Right."

The Center for American Progress explains the ads distortions:

The new Medicare ads urge citizens to call 1-800-MEDICARE to hear more about the new law. And in "Big Brother" style, when you call that number you have to actually say out loud "Medicare improvement" in order to get information. The information you then receive is filled with distortions. The hotline claims the new Medicare "is the same Medicare you have always counted on" ? failing to disclose that the law includes provisions which try to force more seniors into private HMOs. The hotline claims that seniors will be able to find "immediate savings between 10% to 15% from a new drug discount card program." But the cards, which were written into the bill by one of President Bush's closest business associates, actually do not guarantee any savings at all. The hotline also says the new prescription drug program under Medicare "will provide significant savings for seniors." But as the Center for Economic and Policy Research notes, "seniors in the middle income quintile will pay an average of $1,650 a year in out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs in 2006 - a figure nearly 60% more than they paid in 2000."

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=6228

Excuse me while I go throw up.

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