On Thursday, April 11, Stuart Varney, the host of Fox’s Varney & Co, agreed with Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, that the three major TV networks were withholding information from the American public that revealed the detrimental effects of ObamaCare. Bozell hurled the charge that the networks are “deliberately censoring news and information from the American people,” then backed it up with substantial evidence. The evidence include the following stories, none of which got even one mention on the networks:
March 22: 33 Senate Democrats bolted from the ranks to join 45 Republicans to vote against the 2.3 percent sales tax on medical devices such as pacemakers and MRI machines. Shockingly, the measure was co-sponsored by liberal Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who said that she would “continue to work to get rid of this harmful tax.” No coverage by the networks.
March 26: The Society of Actuaries released a study asserting that determined health claims will increase by an average of 32 percent across the nation, and in some states will rise as much as 80 percent. The actuaries said that states will have to spend twice as much money to cover the millions of people who lacked coverage before. No coverage by the networks.
March 26: Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said ObamaCare’s requirements will trigger higher premiums for people buying new insurance policies in the coming fall, because of ObamaCare requirements. Coverage? Zilch.
April 3: Fox News reported that the Obama administration admitted that it will take another year for a system of exchanges that ease the way for small businesses to provide health insurance. As Jim Capretta of the Ethics and Public Policy Center noted, “Lots of small businesses struggle with providing insurance for their workers so this was supposed to facilitate it and make it easier for small business to do this … It was a huge portion of the sale job. When they passed the law in 2010 there were many senators and members of Congress who were saying, “I am doing this because it’s going to help small businesses.” Coverage? Nahhh.
April 4: A poll was released that said that two out of three Democrats believe that ObamaCare will hurt them or not help them. Even more stinging, 78 percent of all American people agree. Nope, not a single word on the big three networks.
Varney had heard enough. He responded, “No question, Brent. You’ve laid out the case and I’m buying it. There is deliberate censorship of information about ObamaCare.”
Yet the networks found time for these stories:
April 4: Good Morning America: one full segment to discussing Michelle Obama’s hairstyle
April 3: CBS’s This Morning, Jan Crawford bloviates about Joe Biden’s 2016 presidential prospects, saying how voters find Biden’s gaffes “almost endearing.”
April 2: NBC’s Today show: Al Roker singing “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” with Michelle Obama and celebrity chef Anne Burrell at the White House Easter Egg Roll.