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Title: The Genesis of the Smears (JOHN COLE ASKS ABOUT FREEPER ICUWHATUDO)
Source:
John Cole's Balloon Juice
URL Source: http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8849
Published: Oct 11, 2007
Author: John Cole
Post Date: 2007-10-11 14:47:37 by aristeides
Keywords: None
Views: 2983
Comments: 176
The Genesis of the Smears By: John Cole October 11, 2007 at 12:53 pm Appears to have been an aide to Mitch McConnell, according to the Communists at ThinkProgress: On Monday morning, Don Stewart sent an email with the following text to reporters: Seen the latest blogswarm? Apparently, there’s more to the story on the kid (Graeme Frost) that did the Dems’ radio response on SCHIP. Bloggers have done a little digging and turned up that the Dad owns his own business (and the building it’s in), seems to have some commercial rental income and Graeme and a sister go to a private school that, according to its website, costs about $20k a year ‹for each kid‹ despite the news profiles reporting a family income of only $45k for the Frosts. Could the Dems really have done that bad of a job vetting this family? In the email, Stewart attacks Democrats for allegedly doing a bad job “vetting this family.” That effort to blame Democrats for the smear campaign seems to have swayed some reporters, as CNN this morning claimed that the real story is that “the Democrats didn’t do as much of a vetting as they could have done.” What is so surprising about all of this is not that all of the stuff in the leaked email has turned out to be completely false- that is just amusing. What is surprising is THE SPEED with which the “citizen journalists” ran with this, and echoed everything the leaked email did- just like good little soldiers. It was viral in no time. I would not be surprised if Malkin, Limbaugh, and some folks at the NRO were not in the coterie of ‘reporters’ this was emailed to, nor would I be surprised if they got it from a friend of a friend (despite pretending to be different from the beltway crowd, all of the above are insiders to the Washington game, despite their protests otherwise). I’d like to know a little more about the freeper who ran with this in the first place, giving Michelle and others their “in” to run with the story without having to be the ones to take the blame for doing it. Who is icuwhatudo? What is her/his real identity? How is this person connected to the McConnell aide or the reporters who received this list. Or was it just a coincidence? If I prided myself in being a citizen journalist, those are the questions I would be asking. And does anyone have any pictures of his living room?
ThinkProgress has obtained an email that congressional sources tell us was sent to reporters by Sen. McConnell’s communications director Don Stewart.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 55.
#2. To: All (#0)
from USAToday From Daily Kos: They web published the home address of SCHIP family - what you can do
So let me get this straight: a. Are the Frosts not owners of a greatly appreciated home ( let's set aside Bonnie's desire to have more renovations done and the fact that she has concrete counters that are as expensive as granite) on which they could have taken out a second mortgage for $20,0000 to fund a tax deductible Health Savings Account and to buy a high deductible health insurance policy for the past 4 years? b. Are the Frosts not owners of commercial property worth $160,000 which brings in rental income, which also has enough cash equity in it to allow the Frosts to sell and make a profit to supplement their "meager" middle class life style? c. If the Frosts had lived in a state that has a means test for folks that qualify for tapping SCHIP funds, do you believe the Frosts would have passed? d. If you were running a private school in Baltimore with its well documented poverty and crime and visible minority children living in dire circumstances, would you give the Frosts' not 1 but 2 children access to the small number of free ride scholarships at your school? Are the Frosts' children living in "special challenging" circumstances that they are needy for a "leg up?" e. Did Mr. and Mrs. Frost decide to thrust themselves and theiir family into the public stage or did the big bad reich wing evil bloggers seek the anonymous Frosts family and drag them out to front and center stage?
The maximum contribution to a HSA per year for a family is $5,650. Additionally, health insurance, especially high deductable health insurance, doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, at least not for the first year.
There was no pre-existing condition for the Frost Family in 2003 before the auto accident that I've read of. And having $5,000 in an HSA would have taken care of health maintenance issues like physicals vaccinations ear infections that a high deductible plan would not cover. But having a high deductible catastrophic health insurance plan in place would have provided the necessary health care that came about due to the auto accident. And once enrolled in such a plan the insurer can't kick you out just because you cost them money. The pre-existing brain damage as a result of the auto accident would be a moot point. Furthermore, a high deductible insurance plan would have been significantly less costly in monthly premiums than what Mrs. Frost quoted to the media - I think she threw out a figure of $1200 per month of plans she looked into. I would suggest that she made superficial enquiries at best. Anyone who has car insurance, home insurance, health insurance knows that the first obvious cost saving measure you can do as a consumer is to have a high deductible in place. It isn't rocket science. What's your point exactly?
{...} Furthermore, a high deductible insurance plan would have been significantly less costly in monthly premiums than what Mrs. Frost quoted to the media - I think she threw out a figure of $1200 per month of plans she looked into. {...} What's your point exactly? The bill authorizing HSA's was first ENACTED in 2003, thus most people wouldn't had been ready to sign up for one until 2004. The accident occured in 2004, thus it would have occured right about the time the Frosts had their first real opportunity to open an HSA. Even so, there would not have been any money in their HSA, and the high deductable insurance that is required usually requires the entire HSA contribution for that year as a deductable. For lower deductable HSA qualified insurance policies, the premium could well be $1200 or so a month. In other words, MAYBE they could have done what you suggest, but they would have struggled to come up with the money at minimum, and there is a distinct possibility that the accident occured BEFORE their first window of opportunity to purchase high deductable insurance and open a HSA. Hell, they could have just sold everything and gone on welfare if they wanted to soak money from the system, as you imply. I'd rather see a working family get the help they need during a difficult period than see a bunch of leaches live off the system on a permanent basis. I'd also rather see American families in need get help from the government than to see that money stuffed into the pockets of Mexican officials, or squandered in a war of adventure to the tune of 100's of billions of dollars per year.
b. I'd also rather see American families in need get help from the government c. than to see that money stuffed into the pockets of Mexican officials, or squandered in a war of adventure to the tune of 100's of billions of dollars per year. Uh huh, uh huh... a. Here's the month and year of the accident the Frosts had(per Aristeides article in msg #29) "Bonnie Frost was driving children Zeke, Graeme and Gemma in Baltimore County in December 2004 when the family SUV hit a patch of black ice and slammed into a tree. Graeme sustained a brain stem injury; Gemma suffered a cranial fracture" Because the accident occurred in December, 2004 there were 11 months for Mr. and Mrs. Frost to set up a modest Health Savings Account ( up to $5000) to cover incidental doctor's office visits and to secure a high deductible catastrophic medical insurance plan. Count them 11 months before the accident occurred. There is no excuse for their negligence/risk taking. They owned 2 properties. I don't care whether they had concrete or granite counters or whether they were self installed or installed by another contractor - that's minutiae - the point is that the Frosts owned a nice looking residential home that had appreciated in value considerably and in light of their other property ownership, they would have qualified for a real sweet interest rate if they needed a $5000 line of credit in 2004. They probably had 2 vehicles one of which was an SUV, which is not an exactly cheap vehicle to buy or own. So give me a friggin' break about grabbing at straws trying find excuses for them for not getting a proper health insurance policy for their dependent children. The Frosts had the time and the assets to do the right thing by their family members and they chose not to. End of story. b. as for money well spent on American families' health care needs - well how "Noblesse Olige" of you FormerLurker. You may get your wish in the Millions big fellah - because there's lots more middle class families waiting in the wings who will want to take you up on your taxpayer generosity if Nancy and Harry have their way with the expansion of SCHIP - there's lotsa middle class well heeled votes to buy out there in a run up to an election year, doncha know? Fyi, did you know that the fastest growing segment of uninsured in America are the MIDDLE CLASS ( they must have "other priorities" like eating out and Christmas shopping...) "The coverage gap is widening fastest at upper incomes. Almost the entire increase in people without health insurance from 2005 to 2006 took place in families with incomes above $50,000 (median family income is $48,200). The number of uninsured people in families whose incomes were below $25,000 actually declined by about 4%. Families with incomes above $50,000 a year account for an improbable 93% of the 2.1 million increase in the uninsured, and now represent 38% of the total uninsured in the United States. Two-thirds of the 2005-2006 increase was actually in families with incomes above $75,000! How far up into the middle class these incomes put someone obviously depends on where they live. In Manhattan, $75,000 a year is not a lot of money (consider that just parking your car, if you are foolish enough to own one, can cost $500 a month). In Topeka, Kansas, however, it’s upper middle class. The average US household presently spends about 6% of its disposable household income on healthcare; the above average income household spends much less. In 2005, Americans spent about $250 billion out of pocket on health services and had another $190 billion taken out of their paychecks for health insurance premiums. In 2005, we spent a comparable amount, about $440 billion, on Christmas presents and about $470 billion on restaurants and fast food. How important is health coverage for middle and upper middle class households in their mix of spending priorities?... c. As for your remark about wasting money on useless foreign wars - I agree with your 100%. But unfortunately both the GOP and Dem politicians love their wars. Nancy and Harry have not shut down the Iraq War as they had promised. In fact the Dems are itching to attack Iran probably using a draft to do it in 2009 - heck why not? fighting wars on the cheap through conscription is second nature to Dem Presidents - WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam As for Mexican politicians grabbing our money, you forgot the 20 Million Mexican illegals themselves using our taxpayer provided perks - robin says she believes that illegals should get universal health care access too because it's good for our society if everyone here is healthy and having pre-natal checks and stuff - even if they are not legal residents/citizens and not paying their income tax freight charges. You see where this insane "Noblesse Olige" bleeding heart mindset leads us - universal health care for all, legal or illegal - we all should get government dispensed health care - aristeides, robin, and Mekons4 are promoting VA Health Care for you and me and ghost and christine and Pedro and Pedro's extended family
Ive not been following this thread but did see this.. I know many people who dont have health insurance..middle class and it's not cause they're out spending money on nonsense.. their employers dont offer it.. cause they're 'contractors'.. a way for employers to avoid the expense... and the cost of purchasing health insurance would cause them to not be able to pay for necessities such as rent, car payment, gasoline, food.. it would cut very deep into their pockets.. unfortunately they have to gamble that they wont get ill.. these are people in their late 20s and 30s. We can thank outsourcing for this..
Did they find money to spend on Christmas shopping and eating out? I ask that because in a previous msg. I linked to a Health blog that went through statistical data and demonstarted that the greatest growing numbers of the uninsured were middle class who had the means to afford health insurance. But though these middle class individuals went without health care, Christmas expenditures and restaurant dining expenditures did not suffer in that same time frame. Here's some stats you may find interesting from another blog - I'm notgoing to bother trying to find the url's again - ari says they're boring anyways - so trust me on these cut and paste quickie facts: Almost the entire increase in people without health insurance from 2005 to 2006 took place in families with incomes above $50,000. And most of these families are way over that modest benchmark: Two-thirds of the 2005-2006 increase was actually in families with incomes above $75,000. The number of uninsured people in families whose incomes were below $25,000 actually declined by about 4%. Most of the fabled uninsured fall into two categories: people who can afford coverage but choose not to buy it and people who are eligible for government aid but choose not to apply for it. So what are we to do with these folks who choose not to either use Medicaid/SCHIP or to buy a no frills high deductible health care policy? Are we supposed to hog tie them and drag them along with us into the black hole of mediocrity also known as universal health care system so we can all be forced to use VA Hospital style gubment dispensed health care services??? Is that a logical solution ? Just turn our health care system upside down for folks who don't set health services as a priority in their lives?
The families Im referring to make less than 50k per year.. Our health care system is part of what has and is going wrong with this country.. corporatism.. it's skewed in favor of corporations ..
Republicans hate cripples, I've seen it up close! :)
#58. To: Zipporah (#55)
I tried that and they charged me $250 for the wheelchair which I never saw.
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#9. To: robin (#2)
#17. To: scrapper2 (#9)
Are the Frosts not owners of a greatly appreciated home ( let's set aside Bonnie's desire to have more renovations done and the fact that she has concrete counters that are as expensive as granite) on which they could have taken out a second mortgage for $20,0000 to fund a tax deductible Health Savings Account and to buy a high deductible health insurance policy for the past 4 years?
#19. To: FormerLurker (#17)
The maximum contribution to a HSA per year for a family is $5,650. Additionally, health insurance, especially high deductable health insurance, doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, at least not for the first year.
#35. To: scrapper2 (#19)
There was no pre-existing condition for the Frost Family in 2003 before the auto accident that I've read of.
#46. To: FormerLurker, ghostdogtxn, christine, aristeides, robin (#35)
(Edited)
a. The bill authorizing HSA's was first ENACTED in 2003, thus most people wouldn't had been ready to sign up for one until 2004. The accident occured in 2004, thus it would have occured right about the time the Frosts had their first real opportunity to open an HSA...In other words, MAYBE they could have done what you suggest, but they would have struggled to come up with the money at minimum, and there is a distinct possibility that the accident occured BEFORE their first window of opportunity to purchase high deductable insurance and open a HSA.
#47. To: scrapper2 (#46)
Fyi, did you know that the fastest growing segment of uninsured in America are the MIDDLE CLASS ( they must have "other priorities" like eating out and Christmas shopping...)
#51. To: Zipporah (#47)
know many people who dont have health insurance..middle class and it's not cause they're out spending money on nonsense.. their employers dont offer it.. cause they're 'contractors'.. a way for employers to avoid the expense... and the cost of purchasing health insurance would cause them to not be able to pay for necessities such as rent, car payment, gasoline, food.. it would cut very deep into their pockets.. unfortunately they have to gamble that they wont get ill.. these are people in their late 20s and 30s. We can thank outsourcing for this..
#52. To: scrapper2 (#51)
#53. To: Zipporah (#52)
#55. To: Dakmar (#53)
Replies to Comment # 55.
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