PolitiFact: Biggest Lie of 2011 "Republicans Voted to End Medicare"

Brian Koenig ^ | 12/20/11 | Brian Koenig

[Freemarkets101]

The Pulitzer Prize-winning factcheck website PolitiFact has voted on the biggest lie of 2011, and the winner is - "Republicans voted to end Medicare."

Specifically honing in on House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, Democrats and liberal media types spewed erroneous claims over House Republicans' budget plan, which essentially resulted in wacky leftist claims like, "Republicans want to leave frail old 90-year-old grandma to die on her kitchen floor."

In reality, Ryan's plan would purportedly deflate the tumultuous debt mountain - that is, the feds' spendthrift hell hole - by dispersing government subsidies for, and privatizing, Medicare for those under 55.

But of course, after Democrats shot down the budget, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee unveiled a web ad that said seniors will have to pay $12,500 more for healthcare "because Republicans voted to end Medicare." However, PolitiFact writes:

After two years of being pounded by Republicans with often false charges about the 2010 health care law, the Democrats were turning the tables.

PolitiFact debunked the Medicare charge in nine separate fact-checks rated False or Pants on Fire, most often in attacks leveled against Republican House members.

Now, PolitiFact has chosen the Democrats’ claim as the 2011 Lie of the Year.

Now, PolitiFact is anything but a conservative think tank. In fact, the website has, up until now, virtually shown a giant goose egg in terms of Republican favoritism. In 2009 the "Lie of the Year" plaque went to the Democrats, as it "debunked" the myth of healthcare "death panels." In 2010, it also lambasted Republicans, again on healthcare.

Of course now the Democratic bureaucrats and liberal pundits (ahem, Paul Krugman), have demonized PolitiFact as a partisan, right-wing mouthpiece. Interesting how that works.

[Old Sarge]

Interesting how that works.

We are at war with Eastasia. We have always been at war with Eastasia.

[SunkenCiv]

Politifake.

Thanks Freemarkets101.