Ya gotta do your research.
That’s a basic lesson in the business world, but one that some seem to forget. The latest example – actually there are two – comes courtesy of Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute. Ms Turner sent me an email, copied below.
Dear Mr. Paduda,
Every day, another politician promises to “fix” health care.
With that in mind, the Galen Institute recently launched a YouTube video contest asking average Americans to create persuasive, 90-second videos bringing attention to the dangers of government health care and the benefits of free market reforms. The contest was inspired by the “First Do No Harm” principle. Doctors follow it — shouldn’t politicians?
Today, we’re announcing the winners of our contest. You can view the entries, along with the winning videos, here:http://www.youtube.com/groups_videos?name=firstdonoharm.
If you’re interested in doing a post on our contest, please feel free to contact me via telephone or e-mail or use the press release below.
All best,
Grace-Marie Turner
President, Galen Institute
Alexandria, VA
Here’s my response:
Ms Galen:
Thanks for your email.
I disagree with the premise and the purpose of your “campaign”. You are erecting a strawman based on a distortion of the plans currently under serious consideration and in so doing not contributing to the dialogue but rather distorting it.
It is unfortunate that you are not able or willing to engage on the merits of the current proposals but instead have resorted to fearmongering and obfuscation. There should be an open and honest debate; this effort damages your organization’s credibility and does not contribute to meaningful discussion.
Sincerely,
Joseph Paduda
Principal
Health Strategy Associates, LLC
The two research blunders committed by Ms Turner are:
a) sending me this press release. Obviously the good folk at Galen have not read this blog or any of my other articles on health care/reform/insurance/policy.
b) deciding this would be an effective way to engage in, and perhaps change the course of, the health care debate. Galen and the right-wing think tanks are rapidly slipping into irrelevance, and with this nonsensical PR effort Turner is accelerating the process. Instead of engaging in a thoughtful, intelligent, fact-based debate, Galen has resorted to the shopworn tactic of trying to scare the pants off common folks.
There are solid, reasonable arguments against a public plan option, single payer, connectors and other aspects of health reform proposals currently under consideration. That’s not to say I agree with some or all of them, but I do believe they are helpful.
It is indeed unfortunate that Ms Turner’s contribution is nothing more than a reminder of why McCarthyism was so destructive.
Jun
2
Joe,
Thanks so much for calling Ms. Turner out on this. To paraphrase a line from the movie, American President – We have a serious problem to solve and we need serious people to solve it. Ms. Turner is not the least bit interested in solving it. She’s interested in two things and two things only: Making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it.
Thanks again Joe. This is hard enough when people tell the truth.
But…this has always been their way. For many years, it has worked for them. The scare technique was their “ace-in-the-hole.” There are good points on single pay as well as private. I am willing to listen to both.
Accusing the other side of scare tactics while raising the specter of McCarthyism is a bit disingenuous, is it not? What’s next? References to the Holocaust?
Once again we see that when an opportunity for the everyday healthcare professional to speak up about healthcare reform is offered it must be beaten down quickly. The typical ploy of calling names, stating that they are associated with a “right wing think tank” or dismissing them as utterly “irrelevant” being the typical tactics employed. Joe, once again you show this blog to be no more than a tool of the left, not a forum for intellectual discussion of the issues and ideas. Consequently, you truly have demonstrated the heart of “McCarthyism”.
Donald Palmisano, former AMA President is an articulate fear monger as well:
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/2009/06/health-care-reform-old-school.html
Cheers,
Scott – no, calling out Galen on their behavior is appropriate. They have lost the intellectual argument and therefore have resorted to scare tactics. If you recall, confronting McCarthy was not popular at the time, yet it was undoubtedly the right thing – the American thing – to do.
Dorrence – two options. one, don’t read this blog. Please. But if you must, think before you type. Turner and Galen are a right wing think tank. that’s a fact. They are slipping into irrelevancy – have you seen the polls lately? And you fail to deal with the core issue of my post, which is her arguments are intellectually dishonest and based on false premises.
As is your rant.
Paduda
…don’t forget The Fraser Institute, and frankly Cato and AEI. Dishonest “research” from all of them.
Joe, my comment neither defended nor refuted the tactics of the Galen Institute. However, McCarthyism represents a most unfortunate episode in American history that went well beyond the use of scare tactics to push for a policy position. The use of that terminology is shrill, and while your assertion that it was “the American thing to do” to oppose McCarthy is undoubtedly true, I find the implication of your resort to that argument to be bizarre, at best.
Scott – Thanks for the response. I’d note that I didn’t characterize your statements re Galen.
I do not agree that comparing Galen’s tactics to McCarthyism is ‘bizarre’.
Galen and their ilk are distorting the true picture in an effort to scare Americans into rejecting reform. The parallels with McCarthy are eerie; a strategy based on the ‘big lie’, in this case that American health care is somehow superior, a refusal to engage on the core issues – the free market does not work in health care, fearmongering and accusing opponents of being socialists/communists/unAmerican.
Galen et al have used these tactics – after all they are ‘more American’ than their opponents – to push unjustified wars, detention without trial, and abrogation of civil rights.
We absolutely need to stand up and call them on their behavior, and I strongly believe they use McCarthy’s tactics – and have his morals as well.
And no, I don’t anticipate comparing the health care battle to the Holocaust.
Will Galen et al?
Go to Galen’s website and you will find headlines that refer to the current administration’s efforts as “Obama-Care.” When I see such as that, I don’t take them seriously. Galen contributes nothing of value to the debate.