ABC News broke out its thesaurus today in an attempt to say something other than President Obama lied. It appears that after much debate, they decided on the word “mischaracterization.”
“President Obama’s kicking off his health care reform today in the worst possible way: with a mischaracterization of data.”
“’The cost of health care now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds,’ Obama said at the opening of his White House forum on health care reform. The problem: that claim, based on a 2001 survey, is simply unsupportable.”
According to ABC, Obama’s statistic is the result of an incorrect extrapolation made from a 2005 study. They said the original study called out medical expenses as “a” reason for bankruptcy, not “the” reason. ABC also noted that the study used an extremely broad definition of “medical expenses,” including gambling problems and death of a family member.
Thanks, President Obama. Based on your theory, we’re thinking of introducing a new health plan for all the employees here at IHateTheMedia.com. Benefits will include Jack in the Box tacos and beer and Thursday night poker.
Link: ABC News
