Wednesday, November 27, 2013

More Lies and Propaganda: ‘Non-partisan’ group paid $1 million to produce positive Obamacare stories

With the roll out of Obamacare being as disastrous as possible for the Obama administration, one group was given a $1 million grant to help lead a rebranding effort with hopes of salvaging the law in the eyes of the American people.

Families USA (FUSA) — an organization that describes itself as a “national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans” — was given a $1.1 million grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on October 4, 2013, to gather “success stories” of Americans dealing with Obamacare and distribute them to the media who often refer to them as an “independent” group. This is part of a greater upcoming effort to bolster the perception of the lowly health care law....

However, the organization is a far cry from “non-partisan” and is extremely close to the Obama Administration and Enroll America – the group leading the efforts to sign people up for Obamacare.

Philippe Villers, the president of Families USA, serves as the Secretary and Treasurer of Board of a little-known group called the Herndon Alliance. The Herndon Alliance originated in Herndon, VA in 2005 and produced research the left used to sell the overhaul of the United States health care system and counteract opposition as the president was making a push for Obamacare. As Lachlan Markay of the Washington Free Beacon noted, they are credited with crafting President Obama’s, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it” message, and are even backed with money from George Soros’ Open Society Institute.

In fact, the grants given by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation show Families USA and Enroll America are in the exact same office building, in the exact same suite....

Throughout 2011, the group was cited numerous times by mainstream news outlets as an unbiased source in showing immediate “positive signs’ emerging from the law without reference to their liberal bend.

For example, a report from CBS News hyped Medicaid and Medicare sob stories, while calling them “an advocacy group for health care consumers.” They were used again by CBS to play up Obamacare’s “early success” while referring to Ron Pollack as a “patients rights advocate” with no mention of his liberal agenda.


Now, they will try once again to do damage control for the White House and Democrats.