Sean Hannity Gets Fact-Checked Hard On Obamacare Claims

Anonymous

Guest
"Stern accused the Fox News host of using "fake evidence" to "exploit people’s ignorance and falsely point to imaginary boogeymen," deeming it all a part of the "Fox News lie machine."

Paul Cox and his wife Michelle, for example, appeared on the show claiming that their construction business has been hit hard because of Obamacare, giving them no choice but to significantly cut employee hours. Stern noted that Obamacare has no effect on any business with less than 50 employees.

"In our brief conversation on the phone, Paul revealed that he has only four employees. Why the cutback on his workforce? “Well,” he said, “I haven’t been forced to do so, it’s just that I’ve chosen to do so. I have to deal with increased costs.” What costs? And how, I asked him, is any of it due to Obamacare? There was a long pause, after which he said he’d call me back. He never did."
The two other couples interviewed by Stern both claimed that the new policies offered by Obamacare would cost them considerably more than their previous insurance rates. After doing his own search on the Obamacare exchange website based on the couples' circumstances, Stern found that this was just not true.

"I don’t doubt that these six individuals believe that Obamacare is a disaster; but none of them had even visited the insurance exchange," Stern wrote. "Hannity is not entitled to point to Paul’s behavior as an “Obamacare train wreck story” and maintain any credibility that he might have as a journalist."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/sean-hannity-fact-checked-obamacare_n_4124699.html
 






"Stern accused the Fox News host of using "fake evidence" to "exploit people’s ignorance and falsely point to imaginary boogeymen," deeming it all a part of the "Fox News lie machine."

Paul Cox and his wife Michelle, for example, appeared on the show claiming that their construction business has been hit hard because of Obamacare, giving them no choice but to significantly cut employee hours. Stern noted that Obamacare has no effect on any business with less than 50 employees.

"In our brief conversation on the phone, Paul revealed that he has only four employees. Why the cutback on his workforce? “Well,” he said, “I haven’t been forced to do so, it’s just that I’ve chosen to do so. I have to deal with increased costs.” What costs? And how, I asked him, is any of it due to Obamacare? There was a long pause, after which he said he’d call me back. He never did."
The two other couples interviewed by Stern both claimed that the new policies offered by Obamacare would cost them considerably more than their previous insurance rates. After doing his own search on the Obamacare exchange website based on the couples' circumstances, Stern found that this was just not true.

"I don’t doubt that these six individuals believe that Obamacare is a disaster; but none of them had even visited the insurance exchange," Stern wrote. "Hannity is not entitled to point to Paul’s behavior as an “Obamacare train wreck story” and maintain any credibility that he might have as a journalist."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/sean-hannity-fact-checked-obamacare_n_4124699.html

Again, another example of having your face rubbed in the fact that your sources are wrong. Must be really galling!

"Lies, Damned Lies, and Fox News

The other day Sean Hannity featured some Real Americans telling tales of how they have been hurt by Obamacare. So Eric Stern, who used to work for Brian Schweitzer, had a bright idea: he actually called Hannity’s guests, to get the details.

Sure enough, the businessman who claimed that Obamacare was driving up his costs, forcing him to lay off workers, only has four employees — meaning that Obamacare has no effect whatsoever on his business. The two families complaining about soaring premiums haven’t actually checked out what’s on offer, and Stern estimates that they would in fact see major savings.

You have to wonder about the mindset of people who go on national TV to complain about how they’re suffering from a program based on nothing but what they think they heard somewhere. You might also wonder about what kind of alleged news show features such people without any check on their bona fides. But then again, consider the network."

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/19/lies-damned-lies-and-fox-news/?_r=0