“One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country.” This written statement by Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina on the health care bill was identical to one by Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer and used language suggested by lobbyists. (Luke Sharrett/The New York Times)

by Robert Pear
November 14, 2009

WASHINGTON — In the official record of the historic House debate on overhauling health care, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities. Often, that was no accident.

Statements by more than a dozen lawmakers were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies.

E-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that the lobbyists drafted one statement for Democrats and another for Republicans. Read the full story

While $1 trillion is being spent on war, unemployment continues to rise and people continue to lose their health care. (Photo: Troy Page / t r u t h o u t)

by Tom H. Hastings
September 16, 2009

We see the spectacle of the US Congress unable to manage decent health care reform that will actually enable the American citizenry to join the rest of the industrialized world in having health care for all. The problems, it is clear, come from those who are lying.

Death panels? That’s true – we already have them. Insurance companies deny care to Americans, who then die as a result. It happens every day, Sarah Palin – but ascribing that to the Obama plan is untrue. In fact, those corporate death panels would be outlawed. Read the full story