[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 132 (Thursday, September 17, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            NETWORKS PROMOTE PRESIDENT'S HEALTH CARE AGENDA

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                            HON. LAMAR SMITH

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 2009

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, National news programs have 
boosted the Administration's health care agenda and ignored the high 
costs of a government takeover of health care, according to a study by 
the Business and Media Institute (BMI).
  BMI examined 224 health care stories on ABC, CBS, and NBC from over a 
five-month period.
  The survey found that these stories favored proponents of the 
Administration's health care plan over critics of the plan by a margin 
of more than 2-to-1.
  Yet the American people are split evenly for and against it, with the 
trend against it.
  Only nine percent of stories mentioned the high cost of the 
Administration's plan.
  And the networks frequently repeated the Administration's incorrect 
claim that there are 47 million uninsured people in America--a claim 
the President backed down from during his recent health care speech
  The national media should report the facts on health care, not tell 
Americans what to think.

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