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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Health Care Battle, Infomercial-Style

The group Conservatives for Patients’ Rights has produced a 30-minute documentary-style commercial, which aired May 31 on NBC after “Meet the Press.” Hosted by former CNN anchor Gene Randall, the program, labeled “paid programming” throughout, was a very lengthy version of ads the group has run criticizing government-run health care systems in Britain and Canada.
We called one of the group’s ads “misleading,” saying that it “falsely suggests Congress wants a British-style system here in the U.S.”

June 1, 2009

Koalas are only found on mainland Australia.
Source: Phillip Island Nature Park, Australia

Supremely Civil Ads … So Far

Both the Coalition for Constitutional Values, a liberal group supporting Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court, and the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative organization that opposes President Obama’s choice, have ads up attempting to enhance or undermine her confirmation prospects. The ads are accurate and civil. JCN’s spot, which …

Sotomayor and Handguns

Q: Has Sotomayor written that states have the power to ban handguns?
A: A three-judge panel that included Sotomayor issued an unsigned decision saying that the Second Amendment does not apply to states, therefore states can regulate and ban weapons.

May 31, 2009

The Montreal Canadiens have won the most Stanley Cup championships in the National Hockey League with 23 wins.
Source: National Hockey League

May 30, 2009

The National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup championship trophy is named for Frederick Arthur Stanley, who was the sixth governor-general of Canada, appointed by England’s Queen Victoria in 1888.
Source: National Hockey League

Linking Dems to Pelosi

On May 28, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced a new ad campaign attacking Democratic House members by attempting to tie them to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s winding story of what the CIA did or did not tell her about U.S. interrogation techniques. The NRCC says it plans to target 20 Democrats with mailers, robocalls, TV and radio ads; it announced that robocalls and radio spots will run in 17 districts. So far we have seen one television ad,

May 29, 2009

Koalas spend about 20 hours each day sleeping or resting.
Source: Phillip Island Nature Park, Australia

Sotomayor Overturned?

Q: What percentage of Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions have been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court?
A: Of the majority opinions that Judge Sonia Sotomayor has authored since becoming an appellate judge in 1998, three of them have been overturned by the Supreme Court.

Cap-and-Trade Cost Inflation

Leading Republicans are claiming that President Obama’s proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions would cost households as much as $3,100 per year. The Republican National Committee calls it a “massive national energy tax.” But the $3,100 figure is a misrepresentation of both Obama’s proposal and the study from which the …