Lying With Impunity

Two things are true about the health care debate thus far. One is that conservatives are vehement in their opposition to the creation of a public insurance option. Another is that relatively high Congressional Budget Office cost estimates for some of the health legislation mooted in congress is a challenge for those proposals. What’s not true is that the high CBO cost scores demonstrate the unaffordability of a public option. The CBO has not yet scored a public plan proposal at all, and the creation of a public option would save money.

But as Igor Volsky observes this hasn’t prevented Republican politicians and clueless reporters from claiming the reverse. He’s even got a neat compilation video:

This kind of thing is just an open invitation for opponents of health care reform to lie like crazy. The reason a politician might not lie, is that he might not want to develop a reputation as a liar. But that can’t happen if the press doesn’t call him on his lies. And what’s happening here is the reverse, reporters are buying into the lies and repeating them themselves.