In its lead front page article, the Washington Post described the protest outside the town hall meeting in New Hampshire where President Obama spoke yesterday: "people screamed into bullhorns to protest a bigger government role in health care." It continues: "a young girl held up a sign that said: 'Obama Lies, Grandma Dies.'" Currently the vast majority of the elderly get their health care through Medicare, the government run program. If this protester was concerned that Obama's policies would cause her grandmother to die, then presumably she fears that President Obama would reduce the quality of care provided by Medicare and that some procedures that are currently covered by the program will not be covered under President Obama's plan. This means that she is protesting a smaller role for government in health care, not a bigger one as the Post asserted. The Post badly misinformed its readers in this important article on the health care debate.
--Dean Baker
