Page 2 The Skanner January 18, 2017
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
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Opinion
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Get Ready to Fight for Healthcare Justice
T
he inauguration of a new
president should be a
celebration of American
democracy.
An inauguration tells us
that no matter what our party
or politics, we can be thank-
ful to live in a country where
power is transferred peace-
fully and the will of the peo-
ple decides who our leaders
will be.
This inauguration, however,
brings more fear than hope.
The disenfranchisement of
thousands of largely poor and
minority citizens in states
“
Bernie
Foster
Publisher
has promised us “something
great.”
But the Republicans are re-
fusing to say what a replace-
ment would look like, possi-
bly because they do not have
a real alternative plan. And if
Obamacare is repealed with-
If Obamacare is repealed without a
new plan, 18-20 million Americans
will lose their healthcare
that ultimately handed their
votes to President-elect Don-
ald Trump is just one of many
shadows that hang over his
election victory.
What will this new presi-
dent do?
At the top of President
Trump’s agenda is the repeal
of “Obamacare,” the Afford-
able Healthcare Act.
In destroying this law, he
has willing accomplices in the
Republicans who now control
Congress, and have fought
tooth and nail against the idea
that the richest country in the
world can ensure all its citi-
zens have affordable health-
care.
Repeal and replace, they say.
And President-elect Trump
out a new plan, 18-20 million
Americans will lose their
healthcare.
That puts American lives at
risk. And it’s just the begin-
“
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take his federal subsidy.
But Sen. Ted Cruz who is at
the forefront of the repeal ef-
fort, did not need to. He gets
his healthcare through his
wife’s employer — Goldman
Sachs.
So it’s not enough to say,
‘We’ll be happy to take what-
ever Congress gives itself.”
Because our millionaire and
billionaire leaders have all
kinds of money to take care of
their own health needs.
Nevertheless, the outcry
against the repeal is growing,
as people across the country
realize how much damage
it will cause. Lawmakers al-
ready are hearing healthcare
appeals that would break the
heart of any feeling person.
As we move into this un-
charted territory, Oregon
lawmakers nationally and
with state leadership from
Gov. Kate Brown are at the
forefront of the fight to keep
healthcare for all Americans.
They can’t do it
without our sup-
port.
2017 is not a
year to slink
away and lick
our wounds. It
is time to make
our voices heard.
This year, more
than ever, we need to rally,
march, speak out and build
bridges with red state allies
who can hold our political
leaders to account. Wake up
Americans. It’s time to take
the fight to Washington.
It’s not enough to say, ‘We’ll be happy to
take whatever Congress gives itself.” Be-
cause our millionaire and billionaire lead-
ers have all kinds of money to take care of
their own health needs
ning.
Republican leaders have
also pledged to remove the
expansion of Medicaid and
insurance subsidies, which
will send the number of unin-
sured Americans soaring to
Congress and their families
could sign up with the Health
exchanges like everyone else,
with a federal subsidy.
Sen Jeff Merkley, for exam-
ple, signed up for the Oregon
Health Plan and refused to
Why Some People Will Always Believe ‘Fake News’
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27 million, and then to 32 mil-
lion by 2026. That’s according
to the Congressional Budget
Office.
It gets worse. In a vote last
week Senate Republicans
made it clear they will not
save the healthcare act’s most
important measures.
Under Obamacare, you
could not be refused coverage
for a so-called “pre-existing
condition.”
Senate Republicans used
their majority to vote against
saving that provision. They
also voted against saving
guaranteed coverage for chil-
dren and for contraceptives.
The Affordable Care Act is
not perfect. Many of us hoped
for a single payer system, as
is the case in most advanced
countries. But we will set-
tle for any fair plan that en-
sures every American can get
healthcare when they need it.
Under
the
Affordable
Healthcare Act, members of
have been thinking about
the controversy surround-
ing so-called fake news,
much of which has been
discussed in connection with
the November 2016 elections.
It is important to understand
that “fake news” is a form of
propaganda called “black pro-
paganda.” Black propaganda
refers to information that is
manufactured to appear as if
it is coming from one source
when it is, in reality, coming
from somewhere else.
In the early 1970s, during
the height of the Black Pan-
ther Party, a children’s color-
ing book surfaced that was
inspired by the Black Panther
Party. It was targeted at chil-
dren and was available in of-
fices of the Black Panther Par-
ty. I remember looking at it
once and noticing that one of
the “stories” in it had children
shooting police. I thought
that was a bit intense, but it
was only years later that I
discovered that the coloring
book had not been created by
the Panthers at all. It was a
creature of the COINTELPRO
Bill
Fletcher Jr.
The Global
African
operation of the FBI, which
utilized such techniques in
order to discredit and destroy
the Panthers. This was an ex-
ample of “black propaganda.”
In 2016, it became clear
“
Someone who believed this
story went so far as to show
up with a rifle to “investigate”
the allegation.
Fake news is not new. What
we should have learned over
the years is that the best de-
fense against so-called fake
news is to question what you
read. The fact that something
appears on the Internet, even
from what appear to be reli-
able sources, does not mean
that it is true or accurate. Fur-
ther, even very sincere people
remains the same. In the face
of any information you must
identify and validate the
source; one should check to
see whether there is indepen-
dent corroboration; and then
determine whether you be-
lieve that it is consistent with
other information that you
know to be accurate.
In all cases, there will be de-
bates around how to interpret
any information or data. But
interpretation is completely
different from agreeing on
the facts themselves.
The suggestion, for
example, that there
were masses of Mus-
lims in New Jersey
cheering the 9/11
terrorist attacks was
backed up by NO
facts. Nevertheless,
it was spread around the In-
ternet, because of the person
who claimed to have seen it.
Fake news, indeed.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a talk show
host, writer and activist. Follow
him on Twitter @BillFletcher-
Jr, Facebook and at www.billf-
letcherjr.com.
Fake news is not new. What we should
have learned over the years is that the
best defense against so-called fake news
is to question what you read
that there have been Inter-
net sites that have circulated
an immense amount of false
information. These are not
from official news agencies. A
dramatic example of this was
the false allegation that the
Clinton campaign had a pedo-
phile ring in Washington, D.C.
can fall prey to a hoax, as I am
sure most of us will admit.
I was doing a training re-
cently and the matter of ac-
curate information came up.
The basic question facing the
class was how can one know
what is true? That is not a
new question but the answer