Obamacare: Change "Gov't Run" to "Public Option"

My my my. The word games these people are playing with the English language. In their latest marketing strategy of Obamacare, the Franking Commission, a bipartisan committee that oversees messages from lawmakers, has asked that the phrase "government run" be replaced with "public option". The change was made public by Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) last week.

The Franking Commission, which is authorized by law to oversee mail and other communications between members of Congress and their constituents that is paid for with federal funds, sent an e-mail to Carter's staff requesting that the wording in the message be changed.

“I received the script back from the majority, and there are a couple of changes that need to be made to make it compliant,” the Franking Commission e-mail said. “In the first paragraph (answering machine message, automatic connection) change ‘House Democrats unveiled a government run health care plan’ to either ‘the house majority (sic) unveiled a public option health care plan’ or ‘Just this past week the House majority (sic) unveiled a health care plan which I believe will cost taxpayers ….’”

“Change this on both scripts and send it back to me,” the e-mail concluded.

The email was unveiled during the same conference that Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) showed his healthcare chart to the public.

“Now, why can’t I say what I feel about a plan that I’m being asked to vote upon, that has been debated on the floor of the House on multiple occasions, where multiple numbers of people have used the term ‘government run health care plan?’” Carter asked at the press conference last week.

“In fact, I would submit to you, when you look at this chart, how could you not say it’s a government-run health care plan?" he said.

“Why does the Franking Commission have the right to prevent me from freely speaking what I think my folks back home ought to hear and instead tell me I have to speak what the president said last night?” Carter said, referring to President Barack Obama’s televised press conference at the White House last Wednesday.

“I think that is an abridgement of free speech,” he said.

“Why are they so afraid of this chart?” Carter said. “Why are they so afraid of a simple phrase that one member of Congress might say on a telephone town hall? Could it be that they know what this health care plan is?”

John Stone, communications director for Carter, has vowed to fight what he is calling censorship by the Franking Commission.

“We plan to take it to the [House] floor on Monday night,” Stone said. “There is going to be a massive protest.”

“And if they try to stop it with a motion to adjourn, we’re going to go outside and hold our speeches,” Stone said. “We will not be silenced.”

I may just tune in to C-Span to see how this is going to go. I pray that every American follows suit.