December 22, 2011
Politifact told its readers about the “Echo Chamber Nation” in its follow up to its “Lie of the Year” story, but not quite in the way they intended. To remind readers, the Politifact Lie of the Year was the Democrats’ claim that the Ryan plan approved by the Republican House would end Medicare. The Ryan plan would in fact replace the fee for service Medicare that has been in place since the program was created in 1966 with a system of “premium supports,” which most people would call vouchers.
This is comparable to replacing a traditional defined benefit pension with a 401(k). Most people would probably say that if a company had done this that they had ended their pension. However, if anyone said this, Politifact would call them a “liar” and possibly even the “liar of the year.”
Yes, calling such a person a liar may make sense in some circles. This passes for wisdom in that narrow group of Washington elites who think that they are balanced because they can criticize both Democrats and Republicans without paying any attention to the evidence. Within this Echo Chamber, saying the Republicans voted to end Medicare could be the Lie of the Year, but not in reality land.
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