Prometheus 6

I intend to follow the links they claim prove their case. I suggest you do the same.

President Bush yesterday held an event at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to tout his Administration's record on small business and health care issues. But AP reports, having no proposal to address the uninsured, the President "did not mention the estimated 43 million Americans who have no health coverage." Additionally, not only did he obscure his record, he also managed to once again mix a taxpayer-funded event with election-year politics, opting to put one of his campaign donors on stage and promoting the agenda of one of his party's major financial backers. Here is a rundown of the event:

HEALTH-CARE CLAIMS VS. FACTS: With health insurance premiums skyrocketing, the President touted his so-called "Association Health Plan" proposal that he said would save small businesses money and improve health coverage by allowing small businesses to band together across state lines and "share risk." But a study by Mercer, Inc. shows that the White House plan would actually result in increased administrative costs and higher premiums for 80% of small businesses. Additionally, the  Congressional Budget Office and Urban Institute estimate that AHPs and similar proposals would result in thousands of people who previously had coverage becoming uninsured. Finally, as Consumers Union notes, the proposal could reduce overall health benefits by allowing health plans to "escape state benefit mandates such as mammography screening, well-child care, cervical cancer screening, drug abuse treatment, mental health benefits, and bone marrow transplants" while "cherry-picking" only the healthiest populations for coverage. The President refused to address these problems, and instead chastised opponents of his plan as "special interests." Of course, one of the groups opposing the plans is the Republican Governors Association — an organization of which he used to be a member. See a state-by-state chart of how the proposal could affect you.

TAX CUT CLAIMS VS. FACTS: The President touted his $1 trillion plan to make his tax cuts permanent, saying the previous "tax cuts pertained directly to small business owners." He said, "when you hear people say we cut individual income taxes, or tax on the rich, really what you ought to put in your mind is these were taxes to help the entrepreneurial class of America. Small businesses benefit." But the facts tell a different story. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, only 3.7% of small businesses are subject to the top tax-rate cuts that made up the bulk of the President's 2001 tax cut. All told, small business owners "would be far more likely to receive no tax reduction whatsoever from the Administration's tax package than to benefit" in any way. In his 2003 tax cut, the President promised that small business owners would receive an average tax cut of $2,042. But that average purposely included a "small number of wealthy individuals who have some small business income" — and in reality 79% of small business owners received less than what the President promised.

MIXING OFFICIAL EVENTS WITH CAMPAIGN EVENTS: While the event yesterday was an official taxpayer-sponsored White House event, that did not stop the Administration from using it as a platform to mix in a little campaign activity. Specifically, the President had Bill Fairchild of the Associated Builders and Contractors on stage with him. Fairchild is not only a campaign contributor to the President's re-election campaign, but the group he represented is a major financial backer of the President and the President's party. The group, which has pushed for the President's health plan in Congress, has given more than $2.7 million in hard money and more than $89,000 in soft money to Republican candidates (including the President) since 2000.