GOP/Right wing attack child over health care?
darkcrow
Posts: 1,102
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/10/dems-poster-chi.html
Dems' Poster Child Faces a Firestorm
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Share October 08, 2007 3:05 PM
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: With debate raging in Washington over children's health insurance, congressional Democrats found a new way to make their case for an expansion last weekend: Rather than have a senator or a congressman respond to President Bush's weekly radio address, they decided to have a child who was helped by the program speak directly to the public.
But the 12-year-old boy whom Democrats chose as their poster child is now at the center of a firestorm in Washington and beyond. Conservative bloggers who uncovered some details of the family's finances are blasting the family, calling the fact that they rely on federal insurance an example of how the State Children's Health Insurance Program has expanded beyond its original intent.
According to Senate Democratic aides, some bloggers have made repeated phone calls to the home of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, demanding information about his family's private life. On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused GOP leadership aides of "pushing falsehood" in an effort to distract from the political battle over S-CHIP.
"This is a perverse distraction from the issue at hand," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, D-Nev. "Instead of debating the merits of providing health care to children, some in GOP leadership and their right-wing friends would rather attack a 12-year-old boy and his sister who were in a horrific car accident."
Manley cited an e-mail sent to reporters by a Senate Republican leadership aide, summing up recent blog traffic about the boy's family. A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to comment on Manley's charge that GOP aides were complicit in spreading disparaging information about Frosts.
In making the case for a proposed expansion of the S-CHIP program, Democrats found a boy who seemed like an ideal poster child in Graeme Frost, a Baltimore native whose family does not have private health insurance.
When Graeme and his sister were seriously injured in a 2004 car crash, their parents relied on S-CHIP coverage to help them recover. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office became aware of the Frosts through a healthcare interest group, FamiliesUSA, Democratic leaders turned to Graeme to deliver the party's weekly radio address Sept. 29.
"If it weren't for CHIP, I might not be here today," Frost said in the address, which was written by Senate Democratic aides. "We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the CHIP program. But there are millions of kids out there who don't have CHIP, and they wouldn't get the care that my sister and I did if they got hurt."
But after a largely positive story about Frost appeared in the Baltimore Sun, conservative-leaning bloggers began focusing on details of Frost's family situation. They suggested the family makes the conservative argument -- that the children's health insurance program has strayed from its original purpose by subsidizing healthcare for middle-class families, not just poor children.
A blogger on FreeRepublic.com discovered that Frost and his sister, Gemma, attend a private school where tuition costs $20,000 a year. Their father, Halsey, is a self-employed woodworker, meaning that if his family doesn’t have health insurance, it’s because Halsey Frost -- as his own boss -- chooses not to purchase it for himself.
"One has to wonder that if time and money can be found to remodel a home, send kids to exclusive private schools, purchase commercial property and run your own business . . . maybe money can be found for other things," a blogger with the handle "icwhatudo" wrote on FreeRepublic.
That posting was widely circulated in the blogosphere, making great fodder for conservatives who argue that President Bush was right to veto the Democrats’ bill expanding S-CHIP.
"People make choices and it's clear the Frosts have made choice to invest in property and a business, but not in private health insurance," Mark Tapscott, editorial page editor of The Washington Examiner, wrote on his blog.
But Manley say conservative bloggers didn't dig deep enough. It turns out that the Frost children attend Baltimore’s Park School on near-full scholarships; they pay roughly $500 per child per year in tuition, he said.
Like many small-business owners, Halsey Frost can't even afford to provide health insurance to himself, Manley said.
"Last year, the Frost's made $45,000 combined," Manley said. "Over the past few years they have made no more than $50,000 combined depending on Halsey's ability to find work."
The Frost family did not immediately return calls seeking comment
Dems' Poster Child Faces a Firestorm
Share October 08, 2007 3:05 PM
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: With debate raging in Washington over children's health insurance, congressional Democrats found a new way to make their case for an expansion last weekend: Rather than have a senator or a congressman respond to President Bush's weekly radio address, they decided to have a child who was helped by the program speak directly to the public.
But the 12-year-old boy whom Democrats chose as their poster child is now at the center of a firestorm in Washington and beyond. Conservative bloggers who uncovered some details of the family's finances are blasting the family, calling the fact that they rely on federal insurance an example of how the State Children's Health Insurance Program has expanded beyond its original intent.
According to Senate Democratic aides, some bloggers have made repeated phone calls to the home of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, demanding information about his family's private life. On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused GOP leadership aides of "pushing falsehood" in an effort to distract from the political battle over S-CHIP.
"This is a perverse distraction from the issue at hand," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, D-Nev. "Instead of debating the merits of providing health care to children, some in GOP leadership and their right-wing friends would rather attack a 12-year-old boy and his sister who were in a horrific car accident."
Manley cited an e-mail sent to reporters by a Senate Republican leadership aide, summing up recent blog traffic about the boy's family. A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to comment on Manley's charge that GOP aides were complicit in spreading disparaging information about Frosts.
In making the case for a proposed expansion of the S-CHIP program, Democrats found a boy who seemed like an ideal poster child in Graeme Frost, a Baltimore native whose family does not have private health insurance.
When Graeme and his sister were seriously injured in a 2004 car crash, their parents relied on S-CHIP coverage to help them recover. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office became aware of the Frosts through a healthcare interest group, FamiliesUSA, Democratic leaders turned to Graeme to deliver the party's weekly radio address Sept. 29.
"If it weren't for CHIP, I might not be here today," Frost said in the address, which was written by Senate Democratic aides. "We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the CHIP program. But there are millions of kids out there who don't have CHIP, and they wouldn't get the care that my sister and I did if they got hurt."
But after a largely positive story about Frost appeared in the Baltimore Sun, conservative-leaning bloggers began focusing on details of Frost's family situation. They suggested the family makes the conservative argument -- that the children's health insurance program has strayed from its original purpose by subsidizing healthcare for middle-class families, not just poor children.
A blogger on FreeRepublic.com discovered that Frost and his sister, Gemma, attend a private school where tuition costs $20,000 a year. Their father, Halsey, is a self-employed woodworker, meaning that if his family doesn’t have health insurance, it’s because Halsey Frost -- as his own boss -- chooses not to purchase it for himself.
"One has to wonder that if time and money can be found to remodel a home, send kids to exclusive private schools, purchase commercial property and run your own business . . . maybe money can be found for other things," a blogger with the handle "icwhatudo" wrote on FreeRepublic.
That posting was widely circulated in the blogosphere, making great fodder for conservatives who argue that President Bush was right to veto the Democrats’ bill expanding S-CHIP.
"People make choices and it's clear the Frosts have made choice to invest in property and a business, but not in private health insurance," Mark Tapscott, editorial page editor of The Washington Examiner, wrote on his blog.
But Manley say conservative bloggers didn't dig deep enough. It turns out that the Frost children attend Baltimore’s Park School on near-full scholarships; they pay roughly $500 per child per year in tuition, he said.
Like many small-business owners, Halsey Frost can't even afford to provide health insurance to himself, Manley said.
"Last year, the Frost's made $45,000 combined," Manley said. "Over the past few years they have made no more than $50,000 combined depending on Halsey's ability to find work."
The Frost family did not immediately return calls seeking comment
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why would they want their tax $ to go towards health care for children in need in the US when those tax $ should be used for bombs to kill those dirty a-rab children in Iraq? :rolleyes:
angels share laughter
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The beauty of our cutthroat political system and blogging political hacks... go of writing away with lies and partial truths, and it gets picked up and ran with as fact... disgusting...
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
What are tax dollars for anyway. In fact what are governments for? Why don't they at least try and introduce some kind of basic health service for all under 16s in general, free at the point of delivery, even if adults have to pay. They got enough money for bombs, I'm sure they'll have enough spare change for that.
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Questioning a poorly executed policy can't be equated to attacking a child. This is typical political BS - twisting something into something it's not.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
>According to Senate Democratic aides, some bloggers have made repeated phone calls to the home of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, demanding information about his family's private life.<
it's one thing to question policy, it's an entirely different thing when they go after a child and his family personally. if people are calling the home of a 12 year-old child demanding information about his family's private life, how is that not seen as a type of attack? would you be just fine with it if some people were to do that to you?
angels share laughter
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haha they're not calling the 12 year old, they're calling the PARENTS. I would think that would be the top of the list of first places to go to get some of the facts.
Language can be such a funny thing. Do you think it's possible they were asking for or inquiring about the background, yet the author chose to use the word "demanding"?
Also, were these officials of the government, or just some random people who have right-wing tendencies?
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
how are you certain who's answering the phone? or who's hearing the messages left on the answering machine or voicemail? it doesn't even matter if they're not talking to the child directly, they've no right to call the parents either, as it's still a disruption of this family's home. since they twisted things into lies they're certainly not interested in gathering "facts."
angels share laughter
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yeah i caught that too. Sounds like they call and berate whoever picks up the phone or threaten personal injury if they don't answer.
yeah i'm sure thats how it went.
They have no RIGHT to call the parents? I wasn't aware that rights extended to people we can or cannot call.
Must be a liberal thing....
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
who knows? however you'd think that the GOP would at least deny that their aides had anything to do with spreading lies about this family if they weren't in fact spreading them
>According to Senate Democratic aides, some bloggers have made repeated phone calls to the home of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, demanding information about his family's private life. On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused GOP leadership aides of "pushing falsehood" in an effort to distract from the political battle over S-CHIP.
"This is a perverse distraction from the issue at hand," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, D-Nev. "Instead of debating the merits of providing health care to children, some in GOP leadership and their right-wing friends would rather attack a 12-year-old boy and his sister who were in a horrific car accident."
Manley cited an e-mail sent to reporters by a Senate Republican leadership aide, summing up recent blog traffic about the boy's family. A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined to comment on Manley's charge that GOP aides were complicit in spreading disparaging information about Frosts.<
angels share laughter
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invading a family's privacy must be a conservative thing
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Well calling a phone call "invading a family's privacy" is definitely a liberal thing.
By the way, how is calling someone's home "attacking a 12-year-old boy"?
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
>some bloggers have made repeated phone calls to the home of 12-year-old Graeme Frost, demanding information about his family's private life.<
it wasn't "a phone call." when it gets to "repeated phone calls" that it becomes invading their privacy.
it's not just the phone calls to the home, they attacked this kid and his family by spreading misinformation and lies about them. when you were a 12 year-old kid wouldn't you have felt under attack if numerous people kept phoning your house and took upon themselves to spread lies about you and your family?
angels share laughter
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What were the lies exactly? I read that original post again, and I do not see the lies.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
"One has to wonder that if time and money can be found to remodel a home, send kids to exclusive private schools, purchase commercial property and run your own business . . . maybe money can be found for other things," a blogger with the handle "icwhatudo" wrote on FreeRepublic."
And "People make choices and it's clear the Frosts have made choice to invest in property and a business, but not in private health insurance,"
When the reality is....It turns out that the Frost children attend Baltimore’s Park School on near-full scholarships; they pay roughly $500 per child per year in tuition, he said.
Like many small-business owners, Halsey Frost can't even afford to provide health insurance to himself, Manley said.
"Last year, the Frost's made $45,000 combined," Manley said. "Over the past few years they have made no more than $50,000 combined depending on Halsey's ability to find work."
Are they lies, exactly? Maybe not, but they're certainly dishonest.
So this plan covers people for insurance who are making $45K a year?
A close friend of mine makes less than $30K and she purchases her own health insurance.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
Or is she just buying for herself?
Rather than looking at the merits of the program, they attack a working, middle-class family who accessed a program they helped pay for via their taxes...
and who cares if this program subsidizes "middle-class" families...correct me if I'm wrong, but the middle class is pretty much paying for the program...so what's the big deal if they participate in this program...
the crap about them paying for the kids to attend an exclusive private school where the tuition is $20,000 a year....neglecting to mention that they don't pay that because the kids are on nearly full scholarships. they don't mention that the parents combined salary is about 45,000 a year...which isn't nearly enough to pay for health insurance for a family of four.
who the fuck knows what the extend of the house remodeling is? for all anyone knows that could mean that they replaced a piece of drywall in one room. how would the father giving up his small business(his source of income) make them more able to afford health insurance?
it's misinformation and lies that the only purpose it serves is a political one to distract from Bush being an non-empathic ass for denying this source of health care for more kids
angels share laughter
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Except that they didn't say they paid for it. They said they "attended". Sure, it's misleading, but it's not a lie. That's why you have to read things carefully and that it's sometimes more important what's NOT being said than what is.
The bottom line is if the guy makes $45k per year, he shouldn't be getting government funded healthcare.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
She is just paying for herself, but then again she's making a lot less as well.
Not sure why that matters to this.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
I'm curious, are payments to health insurance tax deductible?
I was talking about health benefits with my HR Manager as my wife and I are trying to figure out what to do with benefits and everything when our son is born in January, and between the employer and employee premiums, our health plan is $1100 a month. That's $13,200 a year, and I honestly don't know if we could afford that if we both suddenly lost the option to do it through work. That is a big chunk of change for a family to have to come up with, when money is already tight with housing costs and everything else.
I can't imagine making $45,000 a year trying to support a family while paying something like 1/3 of that gross income going to health care.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
My brother makes about $45K and has two kids to support who have insurance. He's not getting assistance.
Health Insurance is such a scam. I know it will never happen, but people need to take their focus off of the government providing it and take a look at the INSURANCE industry because they are the core of the problem.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
do have the remotest clue how much health insurance cost for a family of four per month? then you have to factor in the terrible injuries that these kids received in the car crash which much more than likely makes the kids uninsurable.
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Except that's not the bottom line. It's two people making a combined $45,000 average to pay for four people, two of which suffered serious injuries due to an automobile accident.
then your brother is missing out by not accessing a program that may help him and his family...that's on him and really has no bearing on this conversation...
Sounds to me like they need to increase their income. They're making $22K each. That's not bad if you're in high school or college, but not so much if you're a parent.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
Yes - health insurance is a complete rip off. We need to get rid of it completely except for catastrophic situations.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.