On his Monday show, MSNBC's Ed Schultz ripped the "mainstream media" for – wait for it – not being fair enough to ObamaCare. Of course, the only examples of "media bias" that Schultz displayed were from conservative guests and pundits.
Apparently, the press has discounted all the positives of ObamaCare. "If you had been in a time capsule for the last five years and just happened to wake up yesterday morning, you would have thought that health care in America had failed," Schultz insisted. [Video below the break. Audio here [1].]
"What number would the mainstream media be happy with to think that we're definitely headed in the right direction when it comes to health care reform in America?" he continued. His "mainstream media" soundbites were all spoken by conservatives. Schultz pulled from Fox News's Liz Cheney and Brit Hume, former GOP Senator John E. Sununu, columnist Kathleen Parker, and radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity.
Schultz pointed to the number of uninsured persons and credited ObamaCare for lowering it. "The number of Americans in this country who are uninsured is now down to 15.6 percent," he said. "It's the lowest number since 2008. What's this mean? Well, I'm going to come to the conclusion that ObamaCare is working and these numbers are just part of the puzzle to prove it."
And he even thought the number of ObamaCare enrollees was above the White House's claim. "Bottom line is we still don't know the number, but we're all pretty confident it's north of 7.1 million."
As to Schultz's claim of a media "bias" against ObamaCare, the MRC has documented the media's soft treatment of ObamaCare, even boosting the law at times. When President Obama recently took his "victory lap" for the enrollment numbers in the Rose Garden, the networks ignored [2] any GOP response. Just before the enrollment deadline, the network evening news casts ran soundbites [3] of Obama and Biden but showed nothing from Republicans.
Once the White House released the numbers, ABC's Matthew Dowd lectured [4] Republicans to give up their efforts to repeal the law. CBS featured [5] a "young invincible" who enrolled at the last minute and who touted his own "peace of mind" at having insurance.
Below is a transcript of the segment:
MSNBC
THE ED SHOW
4/7/14
[5:01 p.m. EDT]
ED SCHULTZ: If you had been in a time capsule for the last five years and just happened to wake up yesterday morning, you would have thought that health care in America had failed. Give me a number. What would it take? What number would the mainstream media be happy with to think that we're definitely headed in the right direction when it comes to health care reform in America? We're affecting people's lives. You can't get somebody to just come out and get after it on any of the mainstream shows on Sunday. This is working. They just can't bring themselves to saying it.
Give me a number. What number are they looking for? What is the magical number? Well, it's just a situation where they're looking for the black cloud in the silver lining. That how they view it. So I thought we'd start the show tonight with a brand new chart. What the heck. This is the rate of Americans who are insured, uninsured in America. The number of Americans in this country who are uninsured is now down to 15.6 percent. It's the lowest number since 2008. Wasn't that hard for me to say that. Kind of easy. It's a number, it's verifiable, and there it is. Uninsured Americans. That number has dropped. It's the lowest number since 2008. What's this mean? Well, I'm going to come to the conclusion that ObamaCare is working and these numbers are just part of the puzzle to prove it.
(...)
SCHULTZ: First of all, conservatives will never give up on trying to spin the numbers into nothing. Actually, it's zero. Now, this number is legitimate. It's legitimate for a number of reasons. And I believe it's here to stay and it's only get bigger. Remember, private insurance companies are reporting these numbers. Private companies are reporting up to 90 percent of the people have paid. Since when do the Republicans have a war against the private sector? I thought they loved the private sector. But conservatives are making the case that, no, this is a failure. They just can't admit defeat. Once again, I ask them to surrender. It's here to stay.
(...)
SCHULTZ: Bottom line is we still don't know the number, but we're all pretty confident it's north of 7.1 million.
(...)
SCHULTZ: You can't disprove that. Call up the insurance companies who are publicly held. See if the CEO wants to lie about how many people have signed up. This is easily verifiable. We've had a week of critics, including the Sunday shows questioning whether there's 7.1 million, questioning whether it's successful or not, but nobody wants to throw any resources in finding out whether it's the truth or not. Gosh, come on. Give us a little Benghazi work, will you? Get your cell phones out. Want to know what you think. Tonight's question, is the mainstream media being fair to ObamaCare?
— Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Matt Hadro on Twitter. [6]