HELP! with info on the Graeme Frost Smear

[FARAFIELD]

I read a cacamamie editorial in my local paper this morning by some wingnut repeating the smears on the Frost Family
I called the Editorial Page editor, and he told me that the column was submitted to him last thursday for publishing Today.
So obviously the Columnist (John Hood) was just repeating the right wing meme. Since the the lies and cunnards are so obvious he told me I should write in. But I need a few of the basics if you all can help. I googled and watched the Frosts on KO last night, but would like a few more bits. 1) I know they bought the home for 55K and fixed it up, what is it worth now (the number that the wingnuts are using to say its "EXSPENSIVE"). I have the info on the cost of the school and the scholarship amount. Also, what exactly happened with the leaked memo from McConnels office that the wingnuts used to smear the kids? Also I read a comment on someone in McConnels office saying (paraphrasing) "thank god we didnt release that". Can anyone help with a good link or all inclusive sight. I dont write many LTTE, but damn i hate people that are fast and loose with the facts, and I have this guy with the goods but need to have all my facts right. THANKS in advance

[unpossibles]

1. It doesn't necessarily matter what the home is worth now

unless they are planning on moving and selling it.

On the other hand, I suppose the Republicans would love to see more Americans take out second mortgages to pay for medical expenses.

[zbdent]

10. actually, the "worth" of the home does matter

since they have to pay taxes on the "worth", not the buying price ... it ain't in California ...

[unpossibles]

13. true

I meant only as in counting toward their income/assets. It definitely matters in their taxes, and it could be an asset if they sell it or take out a mortgage or something, but otherwise not.

Sorry - I should have been more clear.

[zbdent]

16. yet another expense that, if it were about schools, the Repukes would be

screaming about how the family (had they not spoken out) would not be able to afford ...

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Why should these people have to sell their home

to pay for health care?

I see no reason to violate their privacy and try to refute the rw smears against this family. The issue is HEALTH CARE and not this one particular family.

I don't want to live in a country where we argue about whether or not children (or anyone for that matter) DESERVE to have health care while we spend $720 million a day in Iraq. Health care should be a right and anyone who disagrees with that is not anyone I even care to have a discussion with.

[Cogito ergo doleo]

12. Thank you! The right throws the bait, the real issue lost time after

time. Dems must wake up to this ploy. It works every time, in spite of the fact that the stories are always logically and factually twisted, and ultimately proven as lies. Repukes do this on purpose and in such a way that elicits a visceral response so that we lose sight of the issue they don't want to, or can't confront.

Look where we are now with this story. It's come down to the argument that a man should sell his house? What's next? Will it be suggested that they should give the children to people who *can* take care of them? And after that, being such worthless human beings, perhaps they should do the country a favor and vacation on a melting iceberg?

There is never a level of rational discourse in these stories; what should be passed off as utter garbage is endlessly defended, spiraling deeper and deeper into the cesspool of irrationality. It is ruinous to a culture to constantly be questioning its paradigms. It shifts the ground under our feet.

A few years ago I heard a host on Crossfire catch a repuke in a lie. The host asked him why they made up these lies, knowing they would be proven otherwise. The repuke was refreshingly honest, saying it really didn't matter if they were caught, because the damage done by telling the lie was worth it.

That's what we're dealing with, and knowing this, the only way to battle the lies and end this tactic is to make them ineffective by not responding to them, but to the real issue at hand.

[FARAFIELD]

14. on the issue

But I believe Im clever enough to write a letter that can point out a columnist LIE AND frame the issue. I think the problem is we dont try that enough. At least thats my goal.

[0007]

3. Here's a start

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/opinion/12krugman.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/10/13450/817

Here's one from the right. A voice from FAUX News

http://www.creators.com/opinion/michelle-malkin/the-democrats-unhealthy-poster-child-abuse.html

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Here's a good source...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/washington/10memo.html?em&ex=1192161600&en=434864696362576b&ei=5087%0A

The family’s home, in the modest Butchers Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, was bought for $55,000 in 1990 and is now worth about $260,000, according to public records. And, for the record, the Frosts say, their kitchen counters are concrete.

[FARAFIELD]

8. Thanks

I needed the current "value" of the home because to an average reader if you read that they live in an house of that value most would assume it was "bought" for that price. But buying a hunk of junk and turning it into a home of value is different than saying you bought it for 240K

[northzax]

5. Don't get into a numbers war

Just point out that the Frosts, under Maryland and Federal law, qualified for the program. Because of that program, the family was able to invest in a small business, buy a modest home and invest small amounts of money in their children's education. Isn't that the American dream? Without CHIP, the children would have either been uninsured, ruining the family forever and passing much of the cost onto either charities, the hospital or taxpayers. the Frosts are an example of a family that did everything right, played by all the rules, and still got terribly unlucky do we not have an obligation, as Americans, as citizens, as human beings, to at the very least do our best to portect children from the vagaries of circumstance they cannot control? Let's say that CHIP cost the taxpayers, in thr Frost's case, $10,000 a year for a couple of years. With the insurance, the accident would have cost several hundred thousand dollars, lifetime care for his sister another million perhaps, not a bad investment, right?

[Demit]

7. Except the numbers do show how the right exaggerates for effect, when they're

not outright claiming falsehoods as fact. When, for example, Malkin writes things like "I've heard guesstimates of $400K" it shows that that has no basis in FACT. If it's not corrected (to the house's actual worth of $260K) it's Malkin's number that will stick.

[northzax]

11. To me, this is not a debate about facts

Even $260k seems like a lot of money in some places, so you can't win. This is a debate about morality, it's about saying that no child should want for such basics as decent medical care because of their parents. Make them say that children should be on the dole and bankrupt because of an accident. Make them say that parents should have to choose between shelter for thier children and medical care for them. Make them say that a family should be ruined because of a drunk driver. It's not about money, it's about caring for the children who bear no responsibility for what happens to them. We may not win that fight, but it's one i would look forward to.

[Demit]

15. Fine. But you still need facts. Expose the lies and you expose the liars. Nobody likes liars.

[FARAFIELD]

9. I dont planon it

Im not looking for a number war, just the way the columnist used the perception of numbers.

[bluedog]

6. McConnell's communications director, Don Stewart,

McConnell's communications director, Don Stewart, said in an interview Monday with The Courier-Journal that he had told McConnell about the Oct. 8 e-mails sometime around Thursday, the day before the interview with Hebert.

Stewart also said, however, that he had told the senator he had sent follow-up e-mails within a matter of hours warning reporters off of the story because "the family is legit."

McConnell declined to comment on the matter last night.

Stewart's comments to The C-J on Monday were the first detailed explanation of how McConnell's office was involved in the controversy. It came after nearly a week of speculation and claims by some groups that the office had been involved.

The initial e-mails sent by Stewart were aimed at alerting reporters that bloggers were raising questions about the boy, Graeme Frost of Baltimore, and his family's financial circumstances. He backed off that claim in his subsequent e-mails, he said, based on a report from a blogger whom he respected.

lots more info about staffer and mcconnell


http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710170858