AP attacks Obama's 30 minute ad in their "fact check"

[Meshuga]

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.

Obama's assertion that "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond" the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by "eliminating programs that don't work" masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are — beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

A sampling of what voters heard in the ad, and what he didn't tell them:

THE SPIN: "That's why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year."

THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it's not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081030/ap_on_el_ge/fact_check_obama_ad

[dennis4868]

1. AP making their master Old Man McCain...

happy today....I hate AP....they should go to hell!

I don't believe AP for one second...they have an agenda....

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. The spin. AP is a news organization. The fact: They are a right wing puppet.

[Richardo]

3. The RW radio morons were having a field day with this during the commute this morning

I think we've learned that you have to fact check the fact checkers - particularly from AP>

[Occam Bandage]

4. The spin: AP is an unbiased news wire. The facts: AP is selling its century of credibility

for short-term sales success.

[O.M.B.inOhio]

5. Hmm. "His vow... masks his failure throughout the campaign..." That's not fact checking.

[Alter Ego]

6. Ah, the AP is lovingly sucking off their master Emperor McPalpatine.

[Sukie]

7. I looked up Calvin Woodward earlier

and it seems most of his work seems to lean right.

[high density]

8. CBS "News" published one too

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/29/eveningnews/realitycheck/main4557520.shtml

This one doesn't even bother to tell us the "spin." The author is just telling the reader that Obama is wrong, wrong, wrong, and there's no money to do anything.

[Overseas]

9. Sorry to see that I cannot rate the story down. //nt