Tag Archives: Obamacare

Republicans Living Down to Expectations

09 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in Aging, Business, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, History, Honor, Human Resources, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Respect, Taxes, US History, Women

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GOP’s big loser takes from the elderly and poor to give to the rich

They did exactly what was expected and then went further. Republicans put together a plan to shred our healthcare, and then added more tax breaks for the wealthiest. Ryancare could best be described as the bomb dropped on the United States to distract us from noticing how deep Vladimir Putin is in Trump’s pants.

‘Repeal and Replace’ is, as expected, ‘Flush and Make the Wealthiest, Wealthier.’ By bullet point, this is what the Republicans shot down.

  • Mandatory coverage, gone. A return to pre-Obamacare
  • Subsidies, still there, but smaller
  • Medicare money raided to give the wealthy a big tax cut
  • Elderly and people with pre-existing conditions will pay up to five times more for insurance

Many believe that Ryancare will undergo significant changes; however, none of the discussed changes will improve the existing law. Republicans are committed to carnage and destruction. Business as usual.

Time to Repeal Republicans

07 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Branding, Business, Communication, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Health, History, Opinion, Politics, Public Image, Religion, Respect, Taxes, US History, Women

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The Republican party can’t help themselves. They are born to do the wrong thing.

Paul Ryan – Leader of the Stupid (Image credit: Wall Street Journal
Cliven Bundy – Created in Ronald Reagan’s Image (photo credit cnn.com)
Edgar Votes GOP (Image credit: Columbia Pictures

The United States of America was established on the principle that everyone is equal. Yes, there were some many of our founders who didn’t see African Americans as equals, nor were women seen as equals, but they probably also didn’t believe that the Earth orbited the Sun.

Over time we learned that all humans are truly equal. Over time we adopted a system of government that was committed to protecting the rights of ALL people. Over time we became the greatest country in the history of the world not only because of the principles that were the framework of our country, but because we took that framework and made it greater than the people who wrote it.

But there are always those who want to tear it all down under the belief that it is not ‘our’ country, but ‘my’ country. Those people who are too stupid to be let out in public, but want a gun in their purse when they our out among our citizens just in case they see someone they want to kill.

Conservatives have a history of tearing down great things. Guided by the concept that “we can’t,” conservatives have constantly battled for less for everyone else and more for them.

After fifty attempts the Cliven Bundy’s of Congress have finally passed a repeal of Obamacare. Nope, they don’t have a plan ‘B’, except they want American healthcare run by the greedy, not by compassionate. Republicans have proven again why they are the party of anti-Americans. They hate equality. They hate being told to be ethical. They hate paying for the privilege of being citizen of the United States of America.

It’s time we repeal Republicans and put our country back into the hands of the intelligent, the compassionate, and the true patriots.

Reno NBC News Station Runs Another Conservative-Laced Story

07 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in About Reno, Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Information Technology, Management Practices, Opinion, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Technology, Traditional Media

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Image b Paul Kiser

Is KRNV a Fox or NBC affiliate?

On April 1, Reno’s NBC affiliate, KRNV, has ran another biased ‘A’ Block (headline news) story attacking the Affordable Care Act (ACA) featuring a reporter from the Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI) network. This is at least the third incident of Fox News-type reporting on KRNV in less than a week. This report suggested that the most of the seven million people who signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act already had insurance.  

As in the other biased news stories on KRNV, a non-local reporter presents an anti-government tirade. Chris Vanocur of the ABC affiliate, WSYX in Columbus, Ohio, one of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s 167 stations, starts out by saying:

“Seven million Obamacare new enrollees sounds like a lot, but…”

Image by Paul Kiser taken from video of KRNV newscast 1 April 2014

Grace-Marie Turner, crusader against healthcare reform

Vanocur then introduces Grace-Marie Turner, who has only one mission: oppose any change to healthcare’s broken free-market system. She founded the Galen Institute in 1995 to combat healthcare reform. According to her website, one of the key goals is to:

“Educate policymakers about the dangers that government control over the health sector pose to our economy and our society”

Turner clearly is dedicated to maligning anything regarding the Affordable Care Act. Despite her anti-ACA crusade, Vanocur refers to her as an ‘expert.’ Turner doesn’t hesitate to bear witness against the seven million new enrollees in Obamacare:

“Many of these, if fact, the great majority, are not newly insured people..”

Vanocur continues to say:

“Turner says only one-quarter to one-third of those who signed up didn’t have health insurance before.”

Turner claims to know that 25% to 33% of the seven million had insurance before and switched to Obamacare. She cites no study, nor does Vanocur offer any evidence of the source and/or reliability of the data. Rather, Vanocur offers another ‘expert’:

“…and she’s not the only one questioning the seven million number” 

Vanocur is referring to Joe Antos, his next ‘expert,’ of the conservative think tank, American Enterprise Institute For Public Policy Research (AEI.) Antos also claims to have reliable data on the new enrollees:

“It’s very likely that it’s no more than 1.5 million people who are actually new customers who were not already insured.”

Antos testifies that only 21% of the total enrollees had no insurance. Again, no source is presented for the ever dwindling number of previously uninsured. The only thing that kept this new story from becoming a Jon Lovitz sketch was Antos saying, “Yeah, yeah, 21%, That’s the ticket!”

Like other Sinclair generated anti-government ‘news’ stories (See articles on KRNV news stories of March 26 and March 28,) only one-side of the topic is presented and no data supports the claims made by the reporter, nor his sources. The irony is that on the same day, KRNV’s sister NBC affiliate in Las Vegas, KSNV, ran a locally produced news story on the ACA enrollment that discussed sign up issues, but kept a more balanced perspective.

NEXT:  How Sinclair Broadcast Group is using a FCC loophole to control multiple stations in one market. (Read article) 

Has Reno NBC Station Gone Fox News?

28 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by in About Reno, Branding, Business, Communication, Ethics, Government, Honor, Management Practices, Opinion, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Taxes, Traditional Media

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Image by Paul Kiser

Reno NBC affiliate becoming a Fox News clone?

The lead news story for Wednesday night on Reno’s NBC affiliate, KRNV was anti-government attack on the Affordable Care Act. The story was attempting to stir up outrage on the advertising budget to promote the new program that will impact millions of uninsured Americans.

The only opinions offered were in opposition to money being spent for advertising without any attempt to find an authoritative source to offer an explanation for why the public needed awareness of the new program. In fact, the only independent source on the story, David Williams, CEO of the anti-government organization, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, suggested that taxpayer money should not be used to educate or promote the Affordable Care Act. He stated:

“This isn’t Coca Cola or Pepsi, this is healthcare, they shouldn’t be advertising…”

The $17 million per month spent to educate American citizens on a program to directly benefit them was about $2 million less per month than the coal, oil, and gas industry spent during the first eight months of 2012 to promote drilling and/or oppose clean energy.

Kristine Frazao

Kristine Frazao – Corporate News Correspondent

Reporter From Russian Television
As confusing as the Fox News-type slant of the lead story, was the person reporting it. The reporter was not an employee of the local KRNV station, nor was the story generated by the parent NBC News organization. The reporter was Kristine Frazao, the National Correspondent for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which consists of 167 television stations, of which approximately half (88) are Fox, CW, or MyTV affiliated stations.

According to a November 2013 article in Broadcast & Cable (B&C,) Sinclair does not own KRNV, but did purchase three other stations of the Intermountain West group excluding KRNV and the Las Vegas affiliate, KSNV. Sinclair has, according to the story, agreed to operate and provide services for the Reno NBC affiliate.

However, Frazao is new to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Prior to this year, Frazao spent three years with Russian Television (RT.) Russian Television began broadcasting in the United States in 2005, and its website states that RT:

“…acquaints international audience with the Russian viewpoint.”

Frazao is known for her anti-government reporting and as a reporter in San Diego was criticized for asking a Comic Con attendee why she and the other attendees weren’t protesting in Washington, D.C. against the government rather than coming to the southern California for the science fiction convention.

Image by Paul Kiser

Taking Sides in Reno

KRNV On The Conservative Side?
Frazao’s anti-Obamacare report was likely well received by conservatives in Northern Nevada and perhaps that is why Reno’s local NBC affiliate has taken on a Fox News attitude in reporting. Recently, KRNV changed its tag line from “Where News Comes First” to “On Your Side.” That explains many things about Wednesday’s lead news story.

Will The Supreme Court Hand The Election To Obama?

30 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Politics, Public Relations, Women

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This week the Supreme Court became Hand of God regarding the fate the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Conservative Justices seemed to indicate that they were heading to a decision that would at the very least gut the heart of the law and void mandated health coverage for all Americans. This legislation has been one of the few new laws that Conservatives have allowed to pass during the Obama administration and they are panting over the possibility that they may be able to thwart it before it fully takes effect.

Equal Justice?

The irony is that if the Supreme Court rules against the law, they will likely be handing the 2012 election to President Obama. The ramifications of their ruling might even end Republican domination of Congress.

Why?

Conservatives desperately need an issue to unite the Republican party and bring moderates to their side; however, the key issues that they hope will sway the majority of voters are wearing thin:

  • Illegal Immigration is going to be a hard sell in an election year where racism has become a central issue in the country. Recent state laws regarding illegal immigration have been proposed and voted into law almost exclusively by Conservative, white males. The issue is becoming more about the motivations of the white politicians and less about the non-existent threat they have tried to create.
  • Abortion and contraception has become an issue that is so toxic to Conservatives that women are rallying together to take on the Taliban-like Church stance on the issues. Even Christians are beginning to question the extremism of the issue.
  • The cry to kill government is getting old and some people are beginning to link government with jobs and economic prosperity, especially since every effort to reduce government has consistently resulted in higher unemployment and major economic recessions.
  • The flat tax concept inherently raises taxes on everyone but the rich and the more people discuss it, the more people see the stupidity of it.
  • The rich, oil companies, big banks, etc. are our saviors. Is anyone but Conservatives really buying it?
  • Gay marriage is an issue that has turned on Conservatives and bitten them right in their own family. The whole ‘save marriage’ campaign has run its course and is now looking as stupid whoever it was that came up with the idea in the first place.
  • It’s hard to justify changing Presidents when the economy is growing, and even harder to argue that considering the economic disaster of 2007-09 was caused by Conservatives, that they should be the ones to make it better. Sure oil prices are outrageously high and the economy might suffer, but since Conservatives run the oil companies and the speculation market, how is that President Obama’s fault?
  • The National Debt is certainly an issue that Conservatives would like to use, but the reality is that America’s debt is not at 100% of our Gross National Product (GDP,) which is where Franklin D. Roosevelt had to take it (actually he exceeded 100% of GDP) to get America out of the Great Depression. We recovered from that and enjoyed some of the most prosperous years in our history.

So what is left?

The Affordable Care Act. By labeling it, “Obamacare” and seeding the media with wild statements of doom if it is allowed to be fully enacted, it has become the only issue in which almost all Conservatives can come together; however, if the Supreme Court takes that issue away by gutting the law then there is no rallying point for Conservatives.

Yet, for Americans in general, the blatant use of political power by the Conservative Justices on the Supreme Court to take away affordable healthcare may serve as a banner for the opposition. Republicans already have a reputation for acting with America’s worst interest at heart (unregulated banks, unbridled greed, laws targeting Hispanics, and obstruction of legislation and federal appointments) and the death of the Affordable Care Act may breathe life into America’s growing dislike for Conservative destructive meddling. In a year when Republican Presidential candidates are not exciting anyone in large numbers, the Supreme Court could eviscerate any hope that Romney might have of winning the White House.