Tag Archives: Fact Check

State of the Union: Truth or Dare?

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

In the 1981 classic movie, Absence of Malice, lead character Michael Gallagher tells reporter Meghan Carter that everything she wrote about him was accurate, but none of it was true.

I thought of that line as I watched the State of the Union speech January 24.  Everything the President said that night was accurate, but much of it wasn’t true.

That conundrum is among the principle reasons why governing has become so difficult and why Washington is so dysfunctional.

In order for opposing sides to negotiate their way to consensus, they must first agree on their facts.  They can have differing opinions on the meaning and import of those facts, but they have to get their facts straight first. Every parent knows you can’t resolve a dispute between two children until you know how it started and who id what to whom. You’ve heard it many times at the outset of political deliberation:  Let’s first determine on what we can agree before addressing that on which we differ. Continue reading →

Andy Griffith a Government Huckster?

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

I just heard for the first time the government-sponsored  commercial for Medicare starring Andy Griffith.  Remember him? Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor?

In the ad, Ole Andy harkens back 1965, when, he says, a lot of good things happened – like Medicare.   That’s not how I remember 1965, but I digress. 

Andy’s sitting in an easy chair petting a dog.  He says:  “This year, like always, we will have our guaranteed benefits and with the new law, more good things are coming, like free check ups, lower prescription costs and more ways to protect us and Medicare from fraud.”  That’s about it.  That’s the ad.

            Initial cost for this vignette: 700,000 of your tax dollars. 

Not only is the ad an egregious misuse of tax dollars, it is an injustice to and deception of American seniors, most of whom, according to the polls, don’t like Obamacare. 

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