Stuart Varney Plays Health Care Hack at Fox Propaganda Network
On Fox & Friends, Fox business contributor Stuart Varney claimed President Obama is "wrong" to believe health care reform legislation will reduce the deficit and added, "You're going to have 10 years of taxes, and you're only going to have six years of benefits in that first 10 years. You're rigging the numbers to make it look like it's going to be financially beneficial." However, the most recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyses of the health care reform bills estimate that the legislation will not only reduce deficits through 2019, but will continue to reduce deficits in the subsequent decade.Progressives (and Obama) are Doing Better Than We Think -- and We Won't Know What We've Got 'Til It's Gone
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Three major health bills (SCHIP, tobacco regulation, and stimulus funds for Medicaid, COBRA subsidies, health information technology and the National Institutes of Health) enacted even before comprehensive reform
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Stimulus contained myriad other individual policy victories, not only preventing a far worse depression but also:
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Delivered key new funds for education
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Expanded state energy conservation programs and new transit programs
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Added new smart grid investments
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Funded high-speed Internet broadband programs
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Extended unemployment insurance for up to 99 weeks for the unemployed and modernizing state UI programs to cover more of the unemployed
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Made large new investments in the safety net, from food stamps (SNAP) to affordable housing to child care
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Clean cars victory to take gas mileage requirements to 35mpg
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Protection of 2 million acres of land against oil and gas drilling and other development
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Executive orders protecting labor rights, from project labor agreements to protecting rights of contractor employees on federal jobs
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Stopping pay discrimination through Lilly Ledbetter and Equal Pay laws
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Making it easier for airline and railway workers to unionize, while appointing NLRB and other labor officials who will strengthen freedom to form unions
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Reversing Bush ban on funding overseas family planning clinics
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Passing hate crimes protections for gays and lesbians
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Protecting stem cell research research
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Strengthening state authority and restricting federal preemption to protect state consumer, environmental and labor laws
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Financial reforms to protect homeowners and credit card holders
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Bailing out the auto industry and protecting unionized retirees and workers
