White House Hits Back at Drudge in Video

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Health Care

The White House has released a video featuring former ABC News correspondent Linda Douglass responding to a headline on the conservative Drudge Report Web site claiming that an "Uncovered Video" shows President Obama explaining "How His Health Care Plan Will 'Eliminate' Private Insurance."

In the video, which you can watch at left, Douglass, who is now the communications director for the White House Office of Health Reform, says "one of my jobs is to keep track of all the disinformation that's out there about health insurance reform."

"And there are a lot of very deceiving headlines out there right now, such as this one — take a look at this one," she says, putting on her glasses as she turns to her computer screen. The Drudge headline is then shown. (Here's the video that Drudge linked to. In it, the president is shown advocating a single-payer health care plan and suggesting that employer coverage could be eliminated in 15 or 20 years.)

"Well, nothing can be farther from the truth," Douglass says of the headline. "You know the people who always try to scare people whenever you try to bring them health insurance reform are at it again. And they're taking sentences and phrases out of context, and cobbling them together to leave a very false impression. The truth is that the president has been talking to the American people a lot about health-insurance reform and what is at stake for them."

Douglass goes on to say that "people out there with a computer and a lot of free time" take the president's statements out of context to "make it sound like he's saying something that he didn't really say."

She then shows video of President Obama saying "if you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance."

Mr. Obama is then shown saying "the public plan, I think, is a important tool to discipline insurance companies."

White House deputy communications director Dan Pfeiffer told Politico that the White House plans "to use a lot of the grassroots viral Internet techniques from the campaign to beat back the campaign of misstatements and outright falsehoods about the president's efforts to reform health insurance."

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by kansas1946 August 5, 2009 12:31 AM EDT

I am so sick of these right-wing nuts attacking every idea that anyone comes up with. There are millions of Americans desparate and terrified because of the cost of medicine, the cost of insurance, and all the related issues. Something needs to be done and has needed to be done for years. Everyone just stuck their head in the sand and now we have a disaster. I have a friend who lost his job at the railroad who called almost in tears because he couldn't afford to buy insurance for his family. He was barely able to hold onto his home, let alone afford a thousand dollars a month for insurance. There are real people that are in pain and suffering because of this issue but all the Republicans can do is scream socialism and put down any idea anyone has to help the situation, while all of those spit-slinging Republican politicians have the best health care and insurance there is compliments of the tax payers. They need to get on board and help craft a program that will help people. They make me sick. Thank God I have insurance.

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by pattycifra August 5, 2009 1:26 AM EDT: Thank you for your post. I'm with you. Such mean-spirited posts, it's shameful. So many Americans with tragic stories because of the high cost of healthcare. Lives ruined. Pain and suffering. For what? So hospitals, insurance and drug companies can make profit off of illness. It's criminal. My husband has Multiple Sclerosis and is in a wheelchair. Thank goodness he has Medicare. We often joke about how grateful we are for "socialized medicine". Medicare has saved his life (and our life savings) several times. I support President Obama's healthcare reform bill and agree with you that it's long overdue.


by billpl-2009 August 5, 2009 12:22 AM EDT: I'll said it once...I'll say it a THOUSAND times

Insurance is NOT the problem and is NOT the cure

My Mom is 83 years old
She had heart stints put in 3 years ago (why I still don't know)
Every time she goes to the doctor with a cough or runny nose?

They order 5-8 RIDICULOUSLY overpriced tests
They write her 1-2-3 RIDICULOUSLY overpriced prescriptions
They insist she stay overnight in a RIDICULOUSLY overpriced hospital room

All she wanted was to make sure she was all right
and now YOU have to pay her bill; Reply to this comment

by rhs648 August 5, 2009 12:05 AM EDT

The status quo works well for millions of Americans. Why throw out the baby with the dirty bath water? Tweaking the system to improve it is one thing. Overthrowing the system for an unknown, an experiment, is foolhardy. Intelligent Americans with good coverage don't want to settle for a costly program that offers less than they already have. Cut our premiums in half with the same coverage we already have and we would jump to enroll. This will not be the case. Instead we can expect rationing, long waits for treatment, and government bureaucrats deciding what treatments will be available to us. Peddle this garbage somewhere else. With some exceptions, the American people do not want government control of our health care.

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by pattycifra August 5, 2009 1:19 AM EDT: The status quo works well for millions of Americans? Says who? Not anyone I know.
Everyone I know can't afford to get sick. Insurance companies, hospital and drug companies charge outrageous insanely high prices. They are reaping huge profits. THEY are the profiteers who are making off with taxpayer money, folks. Don't you get it? THEY send inflated bills to Medicare and Medicaid, which the government has to pay with your taxpayer money. They are making profits off of sick people. THAT IS UNETHICAL! THAT'S CRIMINAL! There should be a law against it. We have a corrupt healthcare system in this country. It's shameful. Hey, rhs648 - the status quo stinks. Millions of Americans are sick and suffering because of it. Healthcare reform is long overdue. I support President Obama's health reform bill.

by zonkzilla August 4, 2009 10:52 PM EDT

Google "Drudge" "Limbaugh" "Hannity" and the word gay and see what comes up.
I am not saying all those articles and reports are true, I am just saying it is interesting.
But hey if they are all gay I don't care because that is their business.

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by cs4466 August 4, 2009 11:04 PM EDT: No reason to insult gay people by associating them with Cholesterol Limbaugh and Hick Hannity.


by reveal5 August 4, 2009 10:25 PM EDT: Wow, some of the posters here are just ridiculous. Someone believes that healthcare reform actually means you will have to join a union or will not be allowed health insurance? Okeydokey...That comment has absolutely no basis in reality, but at least one person believes it. This is the thing about this blog. The things people type in are overwhelmingly just absolute nonsense. Overwhelmingly.; Reply to this comment


by jschmidt27 August 4, 2009 9:42 PM EDT: Ok let's say we get the public option and a year or 2 down the road someone complains to a Senator/Congressman that it is too expensive and it is near election time. So the logical thing is to say add money to the program to bring the cost down so the representative can win votes. So now the public option is lower than the private insurance because it is subsidized. So the people jump to the public option and put the insurers out of business. Then we have a 1 payer system subsidized by the govt. Guarantee it will not happen. Obama and Frank said that is the goal. The first poster is correct that if an individual wants insurance the must use the public option. Flex SPending accounts are out resulting in a tax increase because those funds are tax exempt. Every economists out there says the over 250k pqay people don't make enough to pay for this in taxes. So the middle class will get hit. And of course the only way to reduce costs is to ration care of limit drug profits which will impact research. Will the public option be subject to state regulations? Why doesn't the govt setup a standard claims protocol that all insurers will use to cut costs. How about helping insurer,hospitals, doctors computerize data records. How about streamlining Fed /state regs so all insurers can reduce the amount of specialization for each insurance product for each state. And what about lawsuit legislation? Oh yes the tort lawyers are a strong lobbying block. The govt can't even run the Clunkers program smoothly how will they handle an insurance option. No public option is necessary. And all this is being decided by the ethically investigated Democrats Rangel, Dodd, Frank, Waters, Dodd.A Really squeaky clean Congress!; Reply to this comment


by iam4honesty August 4, 2009 9:31 PM EDT: LISTEN UP PEOPLE...

INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE THE DEVIL!!

(well, them and cheney); Reply to this comment

by reveal5 August 4, 2009 7:49 PM EDT

In my opinion, It must be understood that many, if not most, of the commentors here represent an extreme fringe political group. These people do not represent, in any way, the views of the average American. The average American does not spend their days in a state of overwrought anger. The average American does not find hostility to be preferable to a calm demeanor. The average American does not find disrespect preferable to respectful dialogue. The average American does not seek to harass his fellow American. Anyone can be involved in a feisty give and take, now and again...but, the overwrought, angry, disrespectful, self congratulating, and grandiose nature of so many of the posters here does not represent the usual standards of American citizens. These overwrought and angry types are in their own category of behavioral demeanor. A category we are now learning much more about. These people seek to disturb others. These folks seek to harass and degrade others. This is not normal behavior. Normal dialogue and discussion is meaningless to such folks. As contained in the video preceeding this blog...The goal of the fringe is to intentionally deceive and misinform Americans. The goal is also, as in healthcare reform townhalls, to harass, intimidate, and bully average Americans and their representatives. This effort to destroy the American ideal of freedom of speech is a planned effort by fringe groups. They believe Americans will be bullied into compliance. They believe they can abuse and harass Americans into doing what the fringe wants. This will, surely, backfire. This effort will serve to further alienate the fringe. Americans will not be bullied into compliance. Americans will not be harassed into conformity with the fringe. Americans will not give in to abuse from a very small percentage of the electorate.

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by reveal5 August 4, 2009 9:44 PM EDT: alanrobisch...Wow, good job....7 words, all correctly spelled. ...Usually folks will begin a sentence with a capital letter and end a sentence with a period, however. Just to let you know.


by cs4466 August 4, 2009 11:05 PM EDT: Actually, poor bitter neocon Alan did not spell "yourself" correctly.

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by erichsh August 4, 2009 7:47 PM EDT: Linda Douglass is just doing the same thing now as she did before - spewing biased, one-sided BS. The only difference is now she's getting her paycheck from the taxpayers instead of ABC, and no longer has to pretend she's nothing more than an Obama mouthpiece.; Reply to this comment


by dancingmoon August 4, 2009 7:43 PM EDT: Whether you use, need, or WANT health care coverage you are MANDATED to have it, which is a total infringement OF YOUR CIVIL LIBERTIES! by SouthwestisBest August 4, 2009 3:29 PM EDT

Mandated much like seat belt laws, helmet laws, auto insurance requirement laws etc.

Maybe another option could be considered. You could choose not to have any coverage whatsoever and in the event a medical situation arises, then you would also be denied any and all medical care. Seems only fair since you would have chosen this situation yourself.

Collectively billions are spent on administrative costs by insurance companies who each reinvent their own wheel to administer their plan.

Billions that under a more centralized system with reduced administrative costs could actually be used to provide health care.; Reply to this comment