Obama mis-statement

In two TV ads and in speeches, Team Obama made false claims aimed at frightening seniors into fleeing from McCain's camp, to wit: McCain proposes to cut $882 billion out of Medicare benefits and eligibility to help pay for his health care plan. This turkey draws in part from a newspaper story saying McCain would pay for the health plan with "major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid." The story said nothing about cutting benefits or eligibility, though, nor does it say the McCain camp has given a target number. One ad says benefits would be cut 22 percent, and there would be "higher premiums and co-pays."

These claims have a de minimis relationship with reality, if that. The Obama camp borrowed calculations from a Democratic think tank that had piled detailed assumptions and calculations on top of a flat misrepresentation of what McCain's economic adviser had said in the newspaper article. He was quoted as saying Medicare benefits would not be reduced, and reductions would come through "efficiencies."