Lies, And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them

Foreign Policy has an extensive list of lies that have been told in the health care debate. Journalists are usually pretty hesitant to call people "liars"; there's always a chance it was a misunderstanding, or that the journalist's own fact-checking is wrong. They usually prefer terms like "misinformation" or "confusion," partly because "lie" and "liar" assign intent, when it could be the product of bad research, naive use of someone else's talking points, or just a mistake. But Foreign Policy's Annie Lowrey and Michael Wilkerson don't hold back, and, under their critical gaze, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Patients United Now, Howard Dean, the Club for Growth, the RNC, and "a slew of U.S. presidents, politicians, journalists, and everyday citizens" (when it comes to the claim that the U.S. has the best health care in the world) are not spared that harshest of truth-related labels.