Florida Democratic Party Call Blasting RNC Chair Michael Steele for His "Seniors Bill of Lies" Resonates Across the State

Below please find news coverage from the Florida Democratic Party's conference call yesterday with Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Edward Coyle, AFSCME Director of Retiree Programs Steve Regenstreif blasting Republicans for their lies about seniors and health insurance reform-including the misleading RNC ad on their "Seniors Bill of Lies."

Miami Herald (Beth Reinhard) - "Healthcare battle brews in Florida": Putting Florida at the forefront of the fight over healthcare reform, the national Republican Party on Tuesday dispatched two top senators to blast President Barack Obama's agenda at a Hialeah hospital and launched a television ad promising to ``protect seniors.'' Former presidential nominee John McCain of Arizona and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined Florida Sen. Mel Martinez at a polite, closed-door forum with staff at Palmetto General Hospital. Following stops in Missouri and North Carolina, it was the third joint appearance by McCain and McConnell on a road trip aimed at presenting the party's closing arguments before Congress takes up sweeping healthcare legislation next week... Outside the meeting, about 20 AFL-CIO workers rallied in favor of reform and carried signs that said, ``Healthcare can't wait.'' Florida Democratic leaders also organized a phone call with reporters to denounce the GOP ad, which is airing on national cable stations and in the northern Florida district represented by a moderate Democrat, Allen Boyd of Monticello.``They're trying to put fear in seniors' hearts and scare them into believing they will lose benefits they have now, and nothing could be farther from the truth,'' said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, who said the legislation would expand coverage for prescription drugs and lower insurance costs... http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1213427.html

West Orlando News - "Dems Respond to GOP's 'Seniors Bill of Lies'": U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Edward Coyle, AFSCME Director of Retiree Programs Steve Regenstreif and the Florida Democratic Party today responded to the lies and misinformation the GOP is spreading about seniors and health insurance reform-including RNC's lies, which today announced a misleading ad on their "Seniors Bill of Lies." Since the health insurance reform debate began, the GOP has attempted to spread lies and misinformation about how health insurance reform will affect seniors. But the truth is, President Obama's reforms will lower costs, protect choice and provide more options. Seniors in particular will benefit from health insurance reform as it will eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare, will end wasteful subsidies to the insurance companies and close the Medicare Part D prescription drug "donut hole." For seniors age 50 to 64 who are not yet eligible for Medicare, the reforms proposed by President Obama will ensure that seniors who are between jobs or have a pre-existing condition cannot be denied coverage by the insurance industry. http://westorlandonews.com/2009/09/01/dems-respond-to-gops-seniors-bill-of-lies/



Sun Sentinel (William Gibson) - "Wasserman Schultz: Republicans lie about health reform": While trying to rally senior citizens behind health-care reform, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz today accused Republican leaders of misleading the American people with "scare tactics built on a foundation of lies." "Republicans don't care about reform," Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Weston, said in a conference call with reporters. "They just care about politics." "It's our job to call out Republicans for their lies," she said.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/dcblog/2009/09/wasserman_schultz_republicans_1.html

The Swamp (Mark Silva) - "Obama's health-care Rx: coming soon": "Some of Obama's allies say the "tide" already has turned. "I think the tide has turned, I really do,'' says Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) one of the Democratic leadership's chief vote-counters in the House. "A lot of those antics at these town halls... have been manufactured... created by the Republican Party..... to get themselves on YouTube and spread fear.'' http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/09/obamas_healthcare_rx_coming_so.html

USA Today - "GOP urges Obama to 'protect senior citizens'": ... Reality Check: The ad has prompted a strong pushback from Democrats. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., called it "lies" in a telephone conference Tuesday. The non-partisan FactCheck.org says the Republicans' latest attack on the Obama health care plan is largely based on previously debunked claims, such as the charges about rationing care and a government role in end-of-life decisions."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-09-01-ad-watch-gop_N.htm

USA Today (Kathy Kiely) - "Health care air wars resume": Republicans are concentrating on seniors. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and John McCain, R-Ariz., will be headlining a town hall meeting on health care in Miami today, and a new Republican National Committee ad, which you can watch below, argues that the president's plan will hurt Medicare recipients....The GOP ad is prompting a furious pushback by Democrats. They've sent out a four-page, single-spaced rebuttal. In addition, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose Gold Coast Florida district includes a heavy concentration of politically active seniors, is holding a conference call this afternoon to answer the ad's charges. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/09/68498218/1