Democrat poster-child abuse, the nutroots’ pushback, and the continued campaign to silence the Right
Update 1:40pm Eastern. Bruce Kesler discovers that, despite living in one of the highest cost areas of the U.S., San Diego, owning a modest house in a middle-class neighborhood, with substantial equity, he qualifies for S-CHIP. He says no thanks:
What could we do with an extra $10,000 a year, if we didn’t have to pay insurance premiums, and instead SCHIP and taxpayers picked up the tab? Fix-up the 24-year old house; Buy a new or recent car; Hire baby sitters and get some additional sanity from entertainment; Eat better than at Jack or the Clown; Put steaks on the table; Have a cellphone, at least for emergencies, and faster downloads; and so on.
We make choices, in favor of frugality and self-responsibility, and can thus afford to continue to pay insurance premiums.
Sure, it’s not easy being a parent, or living in a high-cost area. Sure, it would be nice to live easier. But, is that fair to other struggling taxpayers?
SCHIP should include reasonable asset tests. In all but three states, it doesn’t have any.
More: Need vs. want.
Update 1:10pm Eastern 10/10. Snort-worthy conspiracy theory of the day…The tinfoil hatters at ThinkProgress actually believes conservative bloggers were in cahoots with Mitch McConnell, whom I lambasted below. The unreality-based community really does live in a different galaxy.
Mark Steyn, presumably taking his marching orders from Mitch McConnell (snort-snort), hits the nail on the head once again:
Mr Frost works “intermittently”. The unemployment rate in the Baltimore metropolitan area is four-percent. Perhaps he chooses to work “intermittently,” just as he chooses to send his children to private school, and chooses to live in a 3,000-square-foot home. That’s what free-born citizens in democratic societies do: choose. Sometimes those choices work out, and sometimes they don’t. And, when they don’t and catastrophe ensues, it’s appropriate that the state should provide a safety net. But it should be a safety net of last resort, and it’s far from clear that it is in this case.
FastFact: The ‘C’ in SCHIP Is for Children, Except When It’s Not…
According to the states’ budget projections, 13 will spend more than 44 percent of their SCHIP funds in 2008 on people who are neither children nor pregnant women.
Michigan tops the list with 71.6 percent of its SCHIP money earmarked for adults who have no kids. In New Mexico, 52.3 percent of the state’s SCHIP dollars will be spent on childless adults.
Source: Department of Health and Human Services/CMS Data
Update 11:50am Eastern 10/10. Here’s the Baltimore Sun’s nutroots-approved follow-up piece on the Frost family, using a single, rotten comment by a stupid RedState commenter to tar all conservative bloggers as hatemongers. Interestingly, the Sun asked the Frost parents to verify their claimed income and the couple declined. Also, the Sun reported that all four of the children attend private schools, not just two. The paper is silent on when the family started receiving claimed tuition breaks and how much the family spent on private-school tuition each year prior to the accident–i.e., at a time when they chose not to buy private health insurance. The Frosts tell the Sun they put their children in the public arena to support S-CHIP. But Harry Reid didn’t exploit the children and the family merely to argue for supporting the existing federal program. Their agenda is massive, middle-class entitlement expansion under the guise of helping working poor children. Keep your eyes on the Democrat ball.
Reader Rob asks: “Why is it when the Baltimore Sun takes photos of the house they are reporters, but when you simply drive by you are a stalker? Why is it when the New York Times calls the home, it’s “for an interview” but when a blog does it for the same reason, it’s harassment?”
Answer: It’s ferocious turf protection, plain and simple.
Video bonus: Don’t miss the flashback clip of John Kerry’s health-care poster child abuse.
***
I received an e-mail from a NYTimes reporter this afternoon:
Writing about blog coverage of the SCHIP debate, including scrutiny of Graeme Frost and plan to include references to your posts. Would like comment if you’re willing. Republicans on Capitol Hill are now saying they think the Frost children are legitimate recipients of CHIP coverage.
Thanks and regards,
David M. Herszenhorn
The New York Times
Congressional Correspondent
I gave him these comments:
The bottom line here is that this family has considerable assets. Maryland’ s S-CHIP program does not means-test (correction: I meant to say assets-test>. The refusal to do assets tests on federal health insurance programs is why federal entitlements are exploding and government keeps expanding. If Republicans don’t have the guts to hold the line, they deserve to lose their seats.
I also told him this:
As for accusations about “smearing” and “Swiftboating,” I’ll repeat what I said on my blog: “When a family and Democrat political leaders drag a child down to Washington at 6 in the morning to read a script written by Senate Democrat staffers on a crusade to overturn a presidential veto, someone might have questions about the family’s claims. The newspapers don’t want to do their jobs. The vacuum is being filled. If you don’t want questions, don’t foist these children onto the public stage. Fight your battles like adults and stop hiding behind youngsters dragging around red wagons filled with your talking points.”
Here’s the NYTimes story, which actually turned out much fairer and more balanced than I expected. An excerpt:
…what on the surface appears to be yet another partisan feud, all the nastier because a child is at the center of it, actually cuts to the most substantive debate around S-chip. Democrats say it is crucially needed to help the working poor — Medicaid already helps the impoverished — but many Republicans say it now helps too many people with the means to help themselves.
The feud also illustrates what can happen when politicians showcase real people to make a point, a popular but often perilous technique.
Some Republicans are too weak in the knees to engage:
Republicans on Capitol Hill, who were gearing up to use Graeme as evidence that Democrats have overexpanded the health program to include families wealthy enough to afford private insurance, have backed off, glad to let bloggers take the heat for attacking a family with injured children.
An aide to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, expressed relief that his office had not issued a press release criticizing the Frosts.
Oh, swell. So he feels “relief” because he doesn’t have to ask the hard questions about the continued entitlement creep approved by both big government parties? Well, wipe your brow and pat yourself on the back! Crikey.
Meantime, Nancy Pelosi seems confident that those weak-kneed Republicans will roll over:
“Democrats, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, have risen to the Frosts’ defense, saying they earn about $45,000 a year and are precisely the type of working-poor Americans that the program was intended to help.“
That’s what should concern every fiscal conservative left in Congress. And it is exactly why the Frosts’ financial situation is so germane–i.e., because Democrats are holding them out as “precisely the type of working-poor Americans that the program was intended to help.”
Dan Riehl has some questions the NYTimes didn’t get around to asking.
Now, before I get into the latest, left-wing attacks on those of us who dare to question the Democrats’ sacred political narratives, here’s my new syndicated column on Dirty Harry Reid’s poster child abuse:
A few weeks ago, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid lured two young children to the public spotlight to help him pass a massive expansion of government health insurance. Gemma and Graeme Frost, 9 and 12 years old respectively, were severely injured in a car accident three years ago. Their parents obtained government health care through the non-
meansassets-tested Children’s Health Insurance Program in Maryland. President Bush’s veto doesn’t change that. And there’s the rub.Because liberal lawmakers cannot honestly defend their expansion plans as bona fide aid to the needy, they have surrounded themselves with the Frosts and other kiddie human shields to deflect any tough scrutiny. As they push for an override of the president’s veto, scheduled for Oct. 18, the desperate Dems will shamelessly invoke the Absolute Moral Authority kiddie card to attack their critics for “attacking the children.”
After 12-year-old Graeme Frost delivered the Democrat radio address last week, which was penned for him by Senate staffers, conservatives on the FreeRepublic.com forum and across the Internet asked the questions the mainstream media wouldn’t ask about the family’s financial situation. The couple claims an annual combined annual income of about $45,000. Neither the Democrats nor the Baltimore Sun indicate how they verified that assertion before circulating it.
What is verifiable: The Frosts own a home in Baltimore purchased for $55,000 sixteen years ago–and now worth an estimated $300,000. That’s a lot of equity. In addition, the children’s father, Halsey Frost, owns commercial real estate and his own small business, but chose not to buy health insurance for himself and his wife, whom he hired as an employee. She now apparently works freelance at a medical publishing firm, which also reportedly doesn’t offer insurance. Gemma and Graeme both attend expensive private schools; the Frosts have two other school-age children. Reid’s staff says Gemma and Graeme receive tuition breaks. But it’s not clear when those scholarships were instituted and/or whether the other two receive tuition aid as well. Moreover, Frost’s family comes from considerable means. The children’s maternal grandfather was an engineering executive. Their paternal grandparents hail from affluent Bronxville, New York, where the grandfather is a prominent facilities management consultant and chairman of the municipal planning board.
In other words: The public trough is not Halsey Frost’s last and only resort.
The accident was horrible. The children deserve much sympathy and compassion. But this family made choices. Choices have consequences. Taxpayers of lesser means should not be forced to subsidize them.
The Frosts claim it would cost them more per month than their mortgage, reportedly $1,200 a month, to buy private insurance. But insurance bloggers quickly found available plans for a family of six with premiums as low as $452/month.
“That’s almost a third of the price quoted in the [Baltimore Sun] article,” wrote Bob Vineyard at InsureBlog. “Doesn’t anyone bother to check the facts?”
When in comes to Democrat health care poster children, the answer is “No, they don’t.” Graeme and Gemma Frost are not the first political symbols to be exploited by the socialized health care pushers of the Left:
In 1996, Hillary Clinton propped up young Jennifer Bush, a seven-year-old with mystery ailments whose mother coached her to lobby for universal health care Jennifer was trotted out to present the Clintons a lucky silver dollar “to bring you good luck so everyone can have good insurance.” Jennifer’s mother was later convicted of aggravated child abuse and welfare fraud for misrepresenting $60,000 in assets on Medicaid forms.
In 2000, Al Gore propped up elderly widow Winifred Skinner to lambaste high drug prices. Gore repeated her claim that she had to pick up cans on the side of the road to pay for medicine. Dan Rather bemoaned: “She’s no child, but she belongs on a poster about high drug costs.” One problem: Winifred’s own well-to-do son, businessman Earl King, debunked those claims.
In 2004, John Kerry propped up Mary Ann Knowles, a breast cancer patient who he claimed “had to keep working day after day right through her chemotherapy, no matter how sick she felt, because she was terrified of losing her family’s health insurance?” The conservative Manchester Union Leader editorial page reported: “Knowles chose to work through most, but not all, of her chemotherapy because her husband was out of a job…She and husband John did not want to take the pay cut that would have come with disability leave, so Mary Ann kept working.”
The Democrats sorely resent that they can no longer peddle their Big Nanny propaganda unchallenged. Harry Reid is already throwing tantrums and attacking the messengers who expose their health-care poster child abuse.
Here’s a free prescription for our stunted politicians: Grow up.
The Free Republic member who first scrutinized the Frost case has a follow-up here. He concludes: “This is not a family of renters, they own not only a 3,040 SF home but a commercial property as well. I’m not faulting them for it, I’m not trying to say they are rich, I’m trying to make people aware of what types of families are CURRENTLY covered by S-CHIP so we can honestly debate if the income ceiling should be raised. Hmmmm, I really could use that new bass boat motor and the kids really would like a Nintendo Wii … maybe I’ll change my position.”
And now to the nutroots’ pushback. It’s not just Media Matters and MoveOn.org who lie through their teeth and attempt to intimidate critics through mass thuggishness. It’s militant leftist bloggers who wouldn’t know a good-faith argument if it bit them in the lip.
On Monday, I did something that has everyone from King Kos on down to the dregs (a short traveling distance, to be sure) screaming “Stalker!” What did I do? I went up to Baltimore and interviewed a tenant at health-care poster parent Halsey Frost’s place of business and drove past the Frost home. That’s not “stalking.” That’s not “harassing.” It’s reporting.
Why did I take the time to go to Baltimore? Because bloggers raised questions about the Frosts’ financial situation and made specific reference to these pieces of real estate. I did not “harass” the Frosts. I simply reported what the tenant told me and described what I saw after driving by their home. My basic reporting rebutted some impressions left by other bloggers on the right who haven’t been to these sites and assumed they were high-end luxury properties. They’re not. Moreover, I corrected the mistake that some of these bloggers made in overvaluing the house at $400,000-plus. It’s closer to $300,000.
The bottom line remains:
This family made choices. Choices have consequences. Taxpayers of lesser means should not be forced to subsidize them.
The Left is so accustomed to the stenographic servitude of the MSM, it goes bananas when we fill the vacuum. Moonbat bloggers have taken to posting my personal home information again in “retaliation.”
Why? Because they want to make an example: Challenge their narratives and you will pay.
If they can redefine simple reporting as “stalking,” they’ll have their desired chilling effect.
You can’t win with the unhinged mob. If you blog from home and don’t get your ass out of your chair, you’re a navel-gazing pontificator in pajamas who’s a wannabe journalist. If you get off your ass and get out on the street to compare what’s been written with the reality on the ground, you’ll be mauled as a “stalker” and “slimer” and “wingnut Nazi whore.” Never mind the truly unhinged and destructive tactics that the anti-war, anti-Bush Left itself has embraced and perfected.
Context, people, context: This is the inevitable M.O. every time bloggers and commentators on the right have challenged the Absolute Moral Authority of the Democrat poster child du jour. It happened with Cindy Sheehan. And the military recruiter-bashing thugs at Santa Cruz. And MoveOn.org. And the phony soldier saga. Crush Rush is just the tip of the iceberg. Just ask the mom-and-pop Cafe Press owners who got those cease-and-desist letters from MoveOn.org’s lawyers for daring to defend Gen. David Petraeus.
When they cry “intimidation,” they are engaging in classic projection.
This is not about The Children. It’s about the purported adults in the Democrat party leadership, the left-wing blogosphere, and the sycophantic media who can’t debate policy without flinging their peas when challenged.
Financial assets are at the very core of this debate. Schip was supposed to be a bridge to help insure children in poor families who barely missed out on qualifying for Medicaid. The Democrats are pushing the Schip eligibility level to 200, 300, 400 percent of the federal poverty line. The kids’ program is no longer just for kids and may well cover illegal aliens to boot.
Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Republicans need to force the Left out of its ideological infancy and stop this disastrous entitlement juggernaut.
I repeat what I told the Times reporter:
If Republicans don’t have the guts to hold the line, they deserve to lose their seats.
***
Reminder: The veto override vote is scheduled for Oct. 18. The stakes are high…
Sensing their best opportunity yet to overrule a White House that has stymied them on stem cell research and Iraq, congressional Democrats and their supporters have launched a campaign to override President Bush’s veto of plans to expand the popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
With polls showing broad support even among Republican voters to expand coverage to 4 million more children nationwide, congressional Democrats are rallying their allies publicly while speaking to their GOP colleagues privately. Supporters both on and off Capitol Hill are sinking millions of dollars into advertisements and automated “robo-calls” in the home districts of targeted Republicans, urging constituents to add to the pressure.
The veto override campaign pits a congressional majority - eager for victory on a program popular among both liberals and moderates - against conservative Republicans whose base sees the expansion as a step toward a national health plan. With the vote scheduled for Oct. 18, Democrats have given themselves two weeks to build support for a vote with reverberations likely to be felt next fall…
…The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raises money for the House races, is targeting eight Republicans with radio and television ads. Democrats were joined yesterday by a coalition including MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change and several labor unions, which announced spots that officials said would have an impact on more than 30 Republicans.
Make sure House Minority Leader John Boehner hears from you:
Washington Office:
1011 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3508
Phone: (202) 225-6205
Fax: (202) 225-0704
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Trackbacks
- Riehl World View
- Bill's Bites
- Liberty Just In Case - A Dialogue for the September 12th World » Poster Children: Harry’s Kids, not Jerry’s Kids
- Where is this magical 500$ insurance? « Cowardly political musings…
- Common Sense Political Thought » Archives » What Is Wrong with Them?
- Nuke’s News & Views » Blog Archive » Facts are our friends
- Dean's World
- The American Street » Blog Archive » From Phony Soldiers to Phony Needy Families
- Right Wing News
- The wealthy poor Pt. 2 at Hoystory
- The American Street » Blog Archive » The quest for Affordable National Health Care requires problem solvers not game players
- Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog » Blog Archive » Comments on Attempts to Overturn the SCHIP Veto
- JABbering Stooge :: M’F-er, I want more boycotts! :: October :: 2007
- I Know I'm Hard-Hearted [Dan Collins]
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » S-CHIP of fools
- The Strata-Sphere » Blog Archive » Conservatives Implode On Their S-CHIP Smear
- Limbaugh And The Phony Soldiers « PA Pundits . . . “the relentless pursuit of common sense”
- Pirate’s Cove » >>Americans Never Quit » Aside: Nutroots Dictionary Equates Debate With Smear
- Limbaugh And The Phony Soldiers : “7.62mm Justice” ™
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » UPDATED & BumpedTo Add Michelle And The NYT’s…The “Not So Poor” 12 Year Old Voice of SCHIP
- Sister Toldjah » On the expansion of SCHIP, weak-kneed Republicans, and far lefties who’d like to shut down the debate via intimidation
- RealClearPolitics - Blog Coverage
- Balloon Juice
- JABbering Stooge :: With Apologies to Everlast :: October :: 2007
- Think Progress » Ezra Klein challenges Malkin to an SCHIP debate.
- The Mahablog » Scum on Toast
- Texas Rainmaker » Democrats and their Phoney Victims
- Cold Fury » Child abuse
- Political Animal
- Where’s The Line? » Comments from Left Field
- Wake up America-Even crazier than Malkin-Thanks
- Coming Up: A Debate Between Klein and Malkin « The Van Der Galiën Gazette
- Don Singleton
- SCHIP: Who Put A 12 Yr Old In The Line Of Fire? at Conservative Times--Republican GOP news source.
- Balloon Juice
- Radio Left
- Right Wing Nut House » A DEBATE THAT NEVER WAS BUT NEEDS TO HAPPEN
- Ire Misplaced : The Sundries Shack
- Holy Buck, Fatman! | Now it’s personal.
- SCHIP Debate Being Derailed » Constitutionally Right
- JABbering Stooge :: Call the WHAAAAAAAAMbulence!!! :: October :: 2007
- Michelle Malkin Under Attack For Exposing Frost Family : Ian Schwartz
- When Right-wing Attacks Backfire: - Trackpads Community
- BizzyBlog » SCHIP Income Bidding Raised: $100K, $120K ….. Hey, Looks Like the Sky’s the Limit!
- Man Bites Blog » Blog Archive » Why the GOP is cracking up…
- Michelle Malkin » My reply to Respectable Liberal Blogger Ezra Klein and his fellow travelers
- Fear And Smear » Hypocrisy Will Get You Everywhere
- Hillarycare Preview: Democrats Push For Failed Policy « American Elephants
- Smart Remarks » Blog Archive » Choices, choices
- Ants and Grasshoppers « Bookworm Room
- Think Progress » EXCLUSIVE: E-mail Reveals That McConnell Staffer Propagated Smear Campaign Against Graeme Frost
- Matt Ortega » McConnell Staffer E-Mail Pushed Frost Smear Campaign
- Radio Left
- Webloggin - Blog Archive » Ants and Grasshoppers
- Democrat poster-child abuse, the nutroots’ pushback, and the continued campaign to silence the Right
- Democrat poster-child abuse, the nutroots’ pushback, and the continued campaign to silence the Right
- Michelle Malkin » Question for grown-ups: Who deserves government-subsidized health insurance?
- Arena of Ideas » Blog Archive » Weekend thoughts.
- based business cruise home travel
- Michelle Malkin » Questions about the journalists on Mitt Romney’s lawn
When it comes to scrutinizing and criticizing the family involved, I’m on the fence. Yes, they put themselves out there and should expect it. But even business owners who own their own home and business property can fall on hard times. It doesn’t excuse the fact that he chose not to purchase health insurance. It’s my belief that most people who claim they can’t afford it actually could if they stop abusing their credit cards on frivolous items they don’t need and simply live within their means. But the small business owner need not be lumped in with the larger businesses or the corporations. Owning a home worth whatever dollar amount it is now verses what it was at purchase won’t help much if you need to sell in a market such as California.
That’s the rub, isn’t it?
I heard from dozens of readers and commenters who fell on times as hard if not harder than the Frost family, but did not seek or feel entitled to handouts from the government.
now if any of the GOPer’s running for prez would show even half the
tennisballs you have, Ms. Malkin, then I would vote for that person..I do agree. As I said before, we pay over $24,000 a year between us and the in-laws for health insurance. It’s part of our small business expenses and comes first before luxuries. Too many people don’t consider health insurance a necessary expense (before that car they want or that flat screen tv that even I can’t afford) and look for others to pay.
As a business owner who does pay their own way, I am against employer paid insurance.
Responsibility needs to be put on the individual and this habit the dems have of finding who should pay needs to end.
But we could just as easily hit a difficult spot which is why I’d prefer the “help”, should it come to that, not be so watered down and spread out to those who don’t really need it.
(husband just informed me our combined health insurance cost, including dental, come to closer to $27,000)
This story is a story of why it was already working, and proof there is no need to expand it.
Amazing, I had no idea this was even available.
My wife and I raised 5 kids on less than $45,000.00 a year and always managed doctor/dentist visits and emergencies without government assistance.
It wasn’t easy sometimes but it had to be done.
I’m all for helping those who truly need it, but all this is is a back door into universal health care.
Hopefully the idiot Republicans learned their lesson.
1) Socialism is bad.
2) Good intentions don’t mean jack.
I doubt they’ll ever learn that though.
Michelle, please look into the other recent “common folk” Democratic radio spokespeople, especially those on August 4 and 18.
The unfortunate woman who spoke on August 4 never addressed why several existing government programs that seem to apply didn’t help her and her ailing husband - disability, workers’ compensation, or even COBRA provisions.
On August 18 Raleigh “fast-food waitress” Fawn Townsend spoke. She may indeed earn minimum wage, which was her subject, but in North Carolina the federal increase has not benefited her one cent, and if she receives even halfway decent tips, it could mean she lost $1400 (”tip credit” is the keyword here, what employers can count in addition to the base they pay toward reaching minimum wage; it went down in NC when the federal minimum wage went up).
All the same I think that the 12-year-olds speech was based on such an egregious premise — that without the $35 billion private-sector insurance killing expansion, SCHIP would go away entirely — that focusing on the family’s dubious circumstances was a distraction.
Great post Michelle.
Not a distraction. Re-read the Pelosi quote. Think about how Harry Reid is using this family to achieve his ends. It’s not a distraction. It’s the focal point. Even the NYTimes got it:
I hope this kerfuffle leads to asking and answering the root questions that have come up.
If I had little ones buying insurance for them would be the top priority. In fact, next time I get a pet, the critter will be covered. Trips to the vet can can be mighty pricey so it’s worth the cost.
Great post! I am sure this family has had a tough time but is this the best example that the Dems could put forth? Why was this particular family chosen? I am all for coverage of children at 200 percent of the poverty line, but what scares me is the fact that this could become a creeping universal health care for all.
The Dems want to use children to get their bills passed, but they don’t want anyone to “look into” their lives. You can’t have it both ways.
Take this family out of the equation and we are back to the essential question. At what level of income and assets do we want to pay for children’s health care. I have stated my preference, what is yours?
I’m betting the linguini-spined Republicans will lose more seats. The despicable bunch of girlie man are more afraid of Dingy Harry, Bela Pelosi and the Drive By Media than their own constituents.
Well said, Michelle!
And when you step back and take a look at this, what it is in reality is the first step toward socialized health care in the US. The proposed program would make over half the population eligible for this coverage. It is the wolf in the sheeps clothing of “it’s for the children”.
It is purely and simply to buy votes.
How many of the estimated 30 million or so uninsured children are here illegally? And are they counting medicaid recipients or medicaid eligible children in that number?
Yes, it is about choices. But it is also a much larger issue; an issue of responsibility. Hedging your bets. Planning for the rainy day. Taking personal responsibility for your life.
Responsibility is not a concept favorved by the left. No one is responsible for their own life, and that is where the government comes into play. Let the government provide the financial opiate to ease the pain of responsibility. And let the funds come from the people who work harder and plan for their future.
That is socialism. Not democracy.
Sadly, a culture of entitlement will ultimately lose everything.
Who will the libs cry to then?
I bet our friends in Europe will bail us out….
Good on the NYT’s and good on you.
I’ve personally been appalled that leaders in congress would green light staffer written scripts being shoved in a child’s face to say “read this” and “say this”
(sorry, but the parents have some accountability here, I can’t imagine ever asking my children to do/say/appear at something I should do for them)
For years, we’ve all heard the argument that the Left advocates on behalf of the underdog, and the Right is the mouthpiece of the overprivileged.
The Left aren’t the underdogs anymore, assuming they ever were.
It’s tough to be champions of the underdog, when you’ve got Pelosi and friends lining their pockets, greased palms etc…
The howling for increased taxes etc…not a dime of the money that she’s calling for will go towards abused children.
Limousine Liberals !
That’s a new one.
Wow!!!! This is why I tune in. This part sums it up for me.
At the end of the day, it was good reporting. Anybody can sitback and type what they hear. It takes gum balls to fact check the fact checkers.
Ya know, I would probably qualify for government assistance for healthcare right now. I went back to school about 2 years ago, and in order to student teach last fall, I quit the part-time (30 hr/wk) job I had. Last year, I got ALL my withheld income taxes back, and then some. I am underemployed. However, when I had an ear ache several weeks ago, I went to a walk-in clinic and paid for the visit (and the prescription) myself. I’d had student health insurance while a student, but after graduating last December, was ineligible to renew when it expired in August. It never crossed my mind to weasel out of paying my medical bills and let the taxpayers cover it. That’s not how my parents raised me. I’m sure I’m technically below the poverty line right now. Thankfully, I’ve got help - I live with family, so no rent, utilities, etc., but I’ve still got car payments, car insurance and other bills that need paying. But I refuse to run to the government to bail me out of my current financial hard times. I know it’s temporary, and I want to do it as much on my own as I can. Hopefully, I won’t be underemployed for too much longer…
Yes it does, I assume the NYT’s saw they danger of the stalker/reporter nonsense left bloggers were desperately trying to redefine this.
Michelle made a great point. Left blogger’s have redefined Left blogging as simple mindless punditry,
Way to go fat asses!
They see MM as a real threat. They’re all about freedom of speech, until it disagrees with their liberal agenda. Who’s doing the REAL stalking?
Yes it does, I assume the NYT’s saw the danger of the stalker/reporter nonsense left bloggers were desperately trying to redefine this as.
Michelle made a great point. Left blogger’s have redefined Left blogging as simple mindless punditry,
Way to go fat asses!
If they have a 1200 mortgage on the house and they both only work part time , clearly someone is not applying themselves.
They admit rental income from the property.
But whoever approved the refinance (assumed) loan on the house for two part timers had to be really weak on loan standards. It is unclear if that payment included escrow for insurance and property taxes.
I refuse to believe there is not a woodworking craft shop in the Baltimore area that does not have a job full time available.
It seems that this family is choosing to stay below the income limitations of their ship program to maintain the gravy train.
I would almost bet if the financial ceilings are lifted for access to the program, someone in the family will suddenly find a better paying job.
Another red herring here is on both the house and commercial property they seem to be quoting the value as assessed tax value.
I would bet a fair market value assessment would push the market value much higher.
Well said MM. I am very proud of you on this issue. And I can not believe the heat you are taking for gathering facts about this anecdote that the DEMOCRATS brought into the public.
This is just like the Nazi’s tactic. They would commit atrocities and accuse the enemy of doing it. The left exploited this kid for political gain, and they exploited the kid whose mom was deported for political gain. It is shameful and despicable. If their arguments had merit they would not have to hide behind children like Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
I agree with you about the Republicans. There is no conservative party anymore. The Republicans are now just Liberal Lite. It really is getting time for a new party that stands up for conservative values.
These people think that the government means that they have a blank check to do whatever they want. It truly will be the end of the Republic if GOVERNMENT SPENDING is not checked.
Thank you Michelle. I am sorry that you have to put up with such awful attacks. You did good on this Michelle, real good.
Also from the NYT story the business was dissolved in 1999 which was the same year they purchased the commercial property per the deed record.
Paying 160k on 1/28/1999.
Obviously this would have to be a cash transaction due to their income levels of by their statements of never of 50k a year they would have never qualified for a second mortgage on the property.
When are you people going to wake up and realize that if this current crop of Congressional Democrats is willing to run a commercial wherein they essentially compel a 12 year old child to LIE in order to try overturing a veto,they will not hesitate to further their agenda “by any means necessary”…we would ALL do well to remember those 4 salient words
I’d support an expansion of government provided health insurance if Democrats were willing to apply that $.61 increase in the cigarette tax to lattes. Just think how many children could be covered if Starbucks started sending two quarters, a dime and a penny for every beverage sold. Somehow I doubt that the Dems would be willing to finance their program that way.
If this passes, my brand of choice will hit $70/carton in WA. I spend more on tobacco taxes in a month than I do on gas by a big margin. I might consider purchasing health insurance for myself if I was not expecting to have to spend $90/month in cigarette taxes. The $6k in dental that I have billed this year isn’t helping either. Hey, Nancy, can you pay down my visas? It’s only half of my dental work, I already paid off the other half myself without demanding government benefits.
Magnificent work Michelle, you are truly walking point on this and a number of other issues. Back in the day when I was living through the consequences of some poor decisions, I found I was eligible for food stamps, and briefly considered taking them. It was then that the voices of my grandfathers rang in my ears and I came to my senses, thankfully.
M - right on!
It’s incredibly invigorating to see so much common sense poured out in one episode. If this keeps up and inoculates the foolish, we’ll have a surprising number of adults in America.
Good job fighting Entitlement Nation, Michelle. I’ll call my Senators and the Minority Leader tomorrow, and my House rep. Thanks to you, I may still get the retirement benefits for which I have paid a great deal into the system.
You have done a great thing here, Michelle. You have struck a nerve that is very sensitive with the libs. I know this because here they come again after you, your family and your home. All the slurs and insults, yet no rebuttal to your facts. Facts are irrelevant to these people. They operate on the phrase perception is reality.
I find it amusing that these so-called “feminists” are so fired up about destroying a woman who has strong views about important issues, and is not afraid of taking on the opposition. To quote Elizabeth Edwards, “Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be fighting for?”
There is more to this, I think.
This American Thinker piece is very interesting, about the Clinton-Soros Axis, and what they are up to.
The article focuses on the Rush flap, but it lays out a larger picture. There is a hit list, and Rush is at the top. Waxman just added Hannity and Levin. I have a strong feeling that after your high profile summer on FNC, you are on that list too, and moving up.
If you are conservative and effective, you are now a target. This is an orchestrated propaganda campaign to “prepare the battlefield” for The Coronation.
If you decide to make yourself an obstacle to The Coronation, you must be defamed, discredited, destroyed in any way possible. Nothing is too low, if it just might work, even a little.
The use of families and children seems to be this very thing to “jujitsu” the family values platform. If I were you, Michelle, I would look out for strange cars sitting on your block. They will investigate you, and see what they can find to make you an example of hypocrisy and diminish your impact on their plans. Listening in on cordless telephones, going through your garbage, all that sleazy P.I. stuff the Clintons have been famous for.
Don’t misunderestimate the measures that could be taken against you by these modern-day Stazi wannabes.
I guess you could tell by these cryptic comments that I’m worried about how successful the next assault might be, and who the targets are.
If I were a James Carville or Dick Morris type(eeewwwww), and I had a list, you would certainly be on it.
Right now it’s the idiot lefty bloggers, but who knows if somebody with a big bag of Soros money and their socialist marching orders might pick this thing up and run with it. After all, we’ve learned these things don’t have to have any basis in reality, as long as a perception can be created and maintained long enough to suit their purposes.
To end on a less gloomy note, you’re doing something right, because few can rile the libosphere like you do!
Keep up the great work, Michelle.
We got your back!
The facts are not all out on the table:
The NY Times reports:
However, there are still Yellow Pages listings for his businesses, Frostworks and Diversified Industrial Design Center LLC.
http://yellowpages.washingtonpost.com/21213/Cabinets.zq-10.html
Mr. and Mrs. Frost allowed their son be the poster boy for the working poor who cannot afford medical insurance for their family.
There are many unanswered questions in this story.
The central unanswered question is whether Mr. and Mrs. Frost were truly unable to afford medical insurance or whether they chose S-CHIP instead of buying the medical insurance as a business expense for Frostworks or Diversified Industrial Design Center LLC
What irks me most about this whole matter is that nobody in the big media seems willing to look into this kind of fraudulent misrepresentation. That is left up to courageous people like Michelle Malkin who then has to bear the brunt of the abuse from the left wing attack squads.
What can I say but “thank you” Michelle Malkin. And make the calls and write the letters to Congress.
Woooo Hooooo! Bravo, Michelle!
Couple questions:
Does $1200/mo.seem kind of high for a $55,000. mortgage,taken out 16 yrs. ago?
If these childrens’ injuries were caused in an auto accident,isn’t that what auto insurance is for?
I wouldn’t deny the children health care under any circumstances,but still there are a lot of questions that need to be answered about this case.Then again,maybe the Dems want to distract everyone away from the real issue–Socialised Medicine.If they were really interested in helping the “less fortunate” it shouldn’t be hard to find a better representative example.
Just checked out firedoglake–I didn’t realize those people really are insane.
I love in that second link they say the left has “ethical boundaries.” Apparently, abortion, lying, getting away with crimes, and they myriad other things are “ethical boundaries”. I thought the left was champion of moral relativity - that we couldn’t just, and so long as you FELT GOOD doing something, you had every right to do it.
Call into question the fact that families making 3-4x the poverty level receive government, taxpayer funded healthcare, and suddenly the morals that were once so relative are very clear.
The left is insane. Period.
THEY are the ones who will use any means to bully people into embracing their socialistic, America-hating, Christian-bashing ideologies.
This is just another example of treating the symptom instead of the disease. The disease being out of control health care costs.
As to the “working poor”, how about budgeting some money for a good health insurance plan. Forget the big screens, ipods, gaming toys, laptops and new cars. How about some priorities here. Don’t overspend and then rob me to pay for your health care!
MM = fastest typist in the universe who can still make sense.
I personally believe that the masses of people listening to the Democrat drivel don’t have a conception of what ‘anecdotal’ means. Yes, the Frosts may be having hard times, even with the house and the commercial property, but what of the other thousands of families in the same income bracket who made better decisions?
Will Republicans lose some seats over this? Of course they will; too many of them won’t even fight an increase in spending of any kind. Looks like Hillary’s the man.
jbirish:You are exactly right,the disease is out of control health care costs.Somehow I doubt that throwing more taxpayer money at the problem of out of control costs is going to bring costs down.A much better idea would be torte reform,and insurance reform.But of course our friends the trial lawyers nad insurance co. lobbyists won’t let that happen.
Great post Michelle.
I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that the democraps have in the past vilified small business owners when their purpose is to raise taxes referring to those who have assets of $300,000 or $400,000 as the rich. Now they want to refer to this same group of people as the working poor??? I’m confused, which is it Dingy Hairy? Rich or poor?
Keep up the fight Michelle. Interesting stuff.
Ahhh, the sound of compassionate conservatism! Seriously, what WOULD Jesus do? I thought as Christians we should help our fellow man?
Obviously it doesn’t apply when on the issue of health care…
I think people here do not even realize the price YOU and your family pay for the work you do so that we all can enjoy getting the news not fit to print by the MSM.
I love ya and pary for you!
Thanks for having that kind of courage. Some of us remember the price you pay.
So, snausage, you think it is compassionate to force taxpayers of lesser means to foot the bill for more affluent families?
Ahhhh, the sound of liberal socialism.
That could be a reorganized business under a new owner, slp.
(But still worth checking out.)
Good question. I would expect that Jesus would help his fellow man and he would encourage other individuals to do the same. He wouldn’t ask the government to do the task. No where in the New Testament have I read where governments are to “help” the poor.
The Democrats are a compassionate political party. They are always willing to help those in need — as long as it’s someone else’s money.
Also, people should note that many “small” businesses hide their personal income within the business and pay themselves the bare minimum for tax purposes. While on personal tax filings they appear to be low income, if you added the revenues of that business which they have access to, their total would be substantially more.
As others have said, it comes down to a question of choice (big word for the Democrats when it comes to abortion). Let’s see, luxury item for the family or insurance premium. Not a hard choice if one of them is taken care of for you.
Michelle Malkin. Doing the job reporters won’t do!
Well, you’ll have to forgive me for not jumping on board with SCHIP…can you say, welfare. I have seen the abuses of welfare by the recipients and SCHIP is no different.
“Operation get behind the children” is blowing up in the liberals faces. Dems are going after what they want and I hope we are there every step of the way, keeping the pressure on.
As they say, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
On October 10th, 2007 at 6:31 am, blues said:
Couple questions:
Does $1200/mo.seem kind of high for a $55,000. mortgage,taken out 16 yrs. ago?
sausage, if you do not possess even the most rudimentary understanding of Christianity, do not spout of such ignorant, misinformed tripe.
Jesus told us to love our fellow man, but He did not advocate in any way, being irresponsible.
In fact - the liberals who love to quote “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” line while conveniently ignoring Jesus’ command to the woman He saved. Namely, he told her to “Go and sin no more. He didn’t say “Go, and do what you want so long as it hurts no one else” or “Go and do what makes you happy”. He said “SIN NO MORE.
In as much as helping our neighbor, allowing our neighbors to indulge in greed and laziness (via dependency on government programs and handouts) is 1) of no help to them and 2) sinful, because we are allowing sin to perpetuate.
Rather, helping our neighbor involves giving them the tools to help themselves, so they can be independent of government programs.
But liberals don’t see it that way. How funny the same people who freak out if God is mentioned in a public school, or even the slightest Christian imagery is in public spaces, have no problem incorrectly invoking the name of Jesus, or quotes from the Bible, when it suits their argument.
Yeah the tactics of using children/sick folks to further a political parties’ agenda makes me sick. I would be just as sick if the right used the same tactics as the left, propping up people who the left thinks nobody should be able to scrutinize, criticize, call into question their motives, and/or double check the facts about the claims of such witnesses. How dare Michelle try to find out the facts! How dare Michelle do the reporting that most reporters won’t do! Keep it up Michelle. God Bless!
I think the point of this discussion is that this family is not in need of help. Compassion is for the truely needy. What we are trying to do is prevent yet another expansion of the welare state to those that can and should be pulling their own weight.
But we have separation of church and state - so that doesn’t really matter if it’s in the Bible or not when it comes to government.
Point is, government IS needed in conjunction with business when it comes to health care as it’s just too expensive otherwise.
As a Christian, can you not see that help is needed for countless people who have health insurance, but are still stuck with bills so high they will never get out of debt? There are countless families breaking up under the stress because of this. And yes, because sometimes they made stupid mistakes in life. Oh to be human!
Forget the black-and-white party politics and think about it.
Because Bush’s government has been the party of low spend? Come on now! He’s been spending money like there is no tomorrow!
Not always a choice when it comes to it - do I go into debt to keep myself healthy or get sick/die and be debt free.
Sausage, here’s a Chinese proverb for you…
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for life”
Giving is only a temporary fix…if you truly want to help someone you would show them how to overcome whatever obstacles they face. Throwing money at the problem does not necessarily fix it…case in point - Welfare.
Michelle,
Your quote says it all: “The newspapers don’t want to do their jobs. The vacuum is being filled. If you don’t want questions, don’t foist these children onto the public stage. Fight your battles like adults and stop hiding behind youngsters dragging around red wagons filled with your talking points.”
The problem is, democrats can’t fight their own battles, so they use children as props.
I see the need - but not for two parent, two income families that own a large house, have a nice car, go on vacations, and seem to have money to spend on other luxuries and CHOOSE that rather than providing insurance for their families.
I have never - and so far only one poster here has - advocated for a complete shutdown of SCHIP. I understand that there are some people who truly need it.
So why were the Democrats unable to find someone whose finances were not questionable, who truly needs this insurance because they have no other option and do not indulge themselves with luxury items.
If the Democrats are going to try and hoodwink us or guilt-trip us into being bleeding hearts, we have every right to consume what they throw at us with a critical eye.
I love my fellow man enough that I would rathel help him get back on his feet than say, “You don’t have to do anything, the government will take care of you.”
How does that help anyone execpt by perpetuating a cycle of dependency and abuse of government programs?
My 23-year-old son works at UPS on an early morning shift loading packages onto trucks. He works with people who are small business owners who can’t afford health insurance, so they do this part-time work before their regular work day begins in order to get benefits (not to mention a little extra cash). It’s physical demanding work, but evidently they feel it’s well worth it, not to mention far preferable to going on the dole.
By the way, I popped over to the site that posted your info (which as you know has since been removed) and left a comment wondering why he was so angry that a columnist would actually verify information she’s writing about. Not surprisingly, Chuck moderates his comments, so I don’t expect mine to see the light of day. As of right now, no other comments have appeared either. Evidently he can dish it out, but he can’t take it.
Once again, they prove Ann Coulter’s point with the “Jersey Girls” statement: They always send out someone with Absolute Moral Authority, and anyone who questions the accuracy of the claims, let alone possible motivation for making them, is labels as “Attacking” and “Smearing” the good, poor, suffering people.
That got him off of the JESUS thing because you hit him to hard - rightly so.
That did not keep him from showing his lack of understanding about what a government is for. The government is not for:
Just showing more lack of understanding of government. Also, had to get the BDS going.
Shows one more thing:
Can’t stay on topic.
This is simply more of the same from the fringe. Anyone remember seeing the jewlery, tats, cellphones and other signs of “me first” in the superdome after katrina? Were they the “poor?” All those who decide to purchase everything but healthcare are poor according to the fringe. I love Pelosi’s $45,000 “woodworker”, actually it is a hobby not a job, working poor..It’s crazy.
sausage,I have to disagree.Government is not needed in conjuction with business in a free market economy.So many people believe that Capitalism is the problem when it comes to subjects like health care.Capitalism isn’t the problem,the abuse of the Capitalist system is the problem.The reason people don’t have health care is that it is very expensive,to corrct the problem you attack the cause of the expense,don’t just shift that burden onto someone else.Doing that does nothing to lessen the expense,it just creates an atmosphere where further abuse is more easily facilitated.
Sausage, the problem is not that health insurance costs so much. The PROBLEM (as has been stated on this thread) is the COST OF HEALTH CARE. Having the government throw taxpayer money (NOT THEIR MONEY) at the INSURANCE system will not reduce the cost of health care. If the COST of health care does not go down, the COST of health insurance will continue to rise - whether or not the ‘government’ (actually American citizens) pay for it.
Of course, the liberals have an ambulance chaser who has aided the COST of health care by suing doctors for as much as he could get (Edwards). So it is not likely that the left is interested in TORT reform.
It is fair enough that you could argue that the insurance lobby is too involved in Washington on the Republican side too as evidenced by the ridiculous Medicare Drug plan. But to have the government throw more money at the system will MAKE THE PROBLEM WORSE FOR EVERYONE! It won’t help anyone.
I understand with sick children promoting the idea it is tough for you to recognize that. But the problem is the COST of HEALTH CARE. Expensive Insurance premiums is just a symptom. Having government pay for more people to have health insurance is like bleeding a patient to heal them, or drilling a hole in the head to aleviate a headache.
It is bad policy, it is a bad idea, it doesn’t help anybody, and it is in VERY poor taste to hide behind children to promote your bad idea.
If the gospels are any clue, Jesus would encourage people to do what they can for themselves and also to help others. Nowhere does he promote expecting others to foot the bill for your own choices. This family isn’t faced with a decision between health insurance and food (or heat or clothes). Those parents have the ability to obtain health insurance for their family even if they don’t want to, say, sell their house and move into something more modest: one of them can get a job for an employer that offers benefits. Why is that so difficult?
Absolutely.
Great job, as always. And it sucks that every time you do this, it puts you at (a possible) risk, because of their reaction.
These people really are disgusting.
Michelle, how do you come up with the $300,000 value for their home? I used to live in that very neighborhood, right around the corner from that family, and that house is easily worth $400,000, probably more. Also, I wish someone would ask them how they could possibly be paying $1200 a month on a $55,000 mortgage taken out 16 years ago!!
Now that’s good journalism! You have all of the facts. You even bothered to investigate the claims, something the MSM won’t do.
You are exactly right about the Dems using children as props. I hope the GOP in Congress doesn’t roll over on this one. (I’m afraid they will. They don’t like looking like meanies.) That’d just help Hillary.
The use and abuse of children to advance political agendas that might not otherwise pass public muster is common to all shades of the political spectrum. Bill O’Reilly does it all the time. Michelle captured my offense at this tactic. A pox on all these child abusers.
Wow Michelle, excellent post.
I really think someone should make a documentary about all the fascist shout down tactics and lies that the left wing uses to discredit and silence conservative voices.
The Frost family is the perfect example of what the POTUS referred when he vetoed the bill.
Wednesday Morning Greetings Mrs. Malkin and loyal community. On occasion, I am given to remember the professional background of this or that prominent commentator. Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams are economists, Ann Coulter went to law school, and Michelle Malkin is a journalist. The thorough work Mrs. Malkin has done in connection to the proposed S-CHIP expansion (a stalking horse for HillaryCare?) seems as a reminder written in stainless-steel of what journalism should be. Certainly she addresses a great vacuum in her profession. Best wishes that her health, hearth, and home continue to sustain her in her valiant work.
MM was clearly reporting, not stalking. The problem with “reporting” is, frankly, MM is not a reporter. She’s a successful writer, columnist, pundit, talking head, author, blogger, but not a journalist. I know the lines tend to blur with this new-fangled Internet. And I know sometimes journalists can be lazy and/or can do a bad job covering the facts. But checking out the Frost’s property was a risky gamble and, frankly, I