Inquiring minds don’t want to know: Bill Burton just isn’t real honest.
Burton is the head of the pro-Obama PAC which is running the ad about Joe Soptic’s wife, who died of cancer in 2006. On Wednesday evening, Burton appeared with Anderson Cooper.
He told Coop up was down:
COOPER (8/8/12): Bill Burton is a senior strategist for Priorities USA Action. He joins us now.Did we note that Burton just isn’t real honest? He kept insisting that his ad isn’t meant to suggest that Romney and Bain were somehow to blame for that death.
So, Bill, let's talk about this. The Washington Post says about your ad, quote, "On just every level this ad stretches the bounds of common sense and decency." Independent fact-checkers have echoed that sentiment, saying, it's inaccurate. How can you imply that Mitt Romney and Bain are somehow to blame for that poor woman dying of cancer?
BURTON: My goodness, we don't and we would not. I mean those fact checks presuppose that that's exactly what we're trying to do. And that's not the point of the ad. The point of the ad is to tell the story of the impact that Mitt Romney had on the lives of thousands of people. When he came to town, they lost their jobs, they lost their health care, they lost their pension benefits. And that impact is felt still today in those communities.
Obviously, that’s the gist of the ad. By the way, did Bain cause that premature death?
In a world where health care follows employment, any time you lay someone off, your action can lead to a premature death. This is why the American press corps should have made some attempt by now to investigate the way Romney and Bain Capital went about their business procedures—for example, with respect to the company at which Joe Soptic worked.
As we all know, sometimes companies have to close. There is no way to avoid that. But because health care tends to follow employment, that is a serious business.
How did Bain Capital handle that part of its business?
In early January, Reuters did a long, detailed report about Bain’s conduct with respect to the company where Soptic worked. Reuters said Bain “underfunded the pensions” and walked out on obligations regarding health care, after taking large sums out of the company.
That was more than seven months ago. To this day, the New York Times and the Washington Post haven’t reported this topic.
What are the ethical, moral, legal implications of Bain’s conduct at that company? To this day, we can’t tell you. Your major news orgs are taking a dive on this topic—as is the career liberal world, which is too dumb and dishonest to hector, hound and harass these major newspapers, making them do their job.
Career liberals want jobs at these major newspapers. Little else needs to be said.
How did Bain Capital handle its obligations at Joe Soptic’s company? Health care and pensions are serious business. Sometimes companies do have to close. But mishandling pensions and health care can cause premature death—if not the death of Soptic’s wife, then perhaps of somebody else.
How did Bain handle its obligations? Inquiring minds don’t want to know.
"To this day, the New York Times and the Washington Post haven’t reported this topic."
ReplyDeleteOkay, fine.
But what's MUCH worse -- like, awful -- is the way The Daily Howler yesterday referred to this ad with the shorthand "Obama's ad."
Anyone could have inferred that Somerby meant that the White House designed, produced and ran the ad!!
Really, anyone as freethinking as I am would have had to conclude Somerby was yesterday accusing the President of false advertising!
Scurrilous Somerby we should call him!
And anyway, PAC ads supporting a candidate don't reflect in any way on his campaign.
For example, if a Romney-supporting PAC talks trash, I'd be the last to imply that Romney should answer for it, or disown it.
Yeah, sure I wouldn't.
The Anonymous Idiot
Oh, I get it! "Obama's ad" doesn't really MEAN "Obama's ad." It means something else entirely.
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange language these Bobinistas speak!
Hehehe!!! I pretend I don't know what an "accusation" is! I'm that dumb.
DeleteWell, when the other guy is down to nitpicking words, like his hero, he really has nothing to say.
DeleteTime for me to declare victory over this brain-dead carcass and move on.
We'll be happy for you to declare anything you like, as long as you do indeed move on. But you've promised that before...
DeleteOh, and by the way, in Wednesday's post, Somerby's first reference to the ad was to call it, and I quote, "a new ad by Obama."
ReplyDeleteSince I'm not fluid in Bobinista, I'm likely to take that to mean that the "new ad" was "by Obama."
Now obviously "new ad by Obama" can't possibly mean it was a "new ad by Obama" since it clearly wasn't, as Bob finally gets around to mentioning two days later, a "new ad by Obama."
Because if "new ad by Obama" really meant "new ad by Obama" that would mean that Somerby got a rather important detail wrong.
But we know that Bob never gets anything wrong, so please interpret for me the meaning of "a new ad by Obama" and why Bob today calls it something else.
Dude, whether it's an important detail depends on what you're talking about.
DeleteIf you're talking about "should liberals criticise liberal-supporting ads" then it's irrelevant.
Obvious, to anyone who isn't a willful idiot (which leaves you out).
I fully agree with Bob that:
ReplyDeleteHealth care and pensions are serious business. Sometimes companies do have to close. But mishandling pensions and health care can cause premature death.
This principle doesn't just apply to businesses. It also applies to Medicare, which everyone acknowledges is financially unsustainable. How many premature deaths will be caused by Medicare's failure to fulfill its obligations?
"everyone acknowledges is financially unsustainable"
DeleteGee.
We should look into WHY Medicare would be unsustainable.
Oh, that's already been done?
Well, why is it?
Because the US for-profit healthcare system is unsustainable?
OH!!
So it's not Medicare, per se that's the problem. It's our whole heathcare system!
Now I get it.
DavidinCal, probably not so much.
While the vast amount of media atention to Romney's recent trip in Great Britain, Israel and Poland focused on Romney's gaffes and alleged gaffes (insulted Britain's preparedness for the Games, insulted Palestinian culture, insulted his wife about her horse hobby) there was onet hing he said that got only minor coverage (and surprisingly not even mentioned by TDH): his remark about the superiority of the Israeli health care system, in particular it's being way less expensive than that of the US. If the US health system was arranged so that health care costs what it does in virtually all other developed countries (where also coverage is universal and life expectancies mostly exceed US) all our economic concerns about Medicare and Medicaid would vanish.
DeleteAC Sharon MA
With Romney's choice of VP, perhaps we will see more discussion of the issues, certainly the health care issue, since Ryan has a plan that uses competitive bidding as an arguable means of controlling costs.
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ReplyDelete