o'censor - ABC & NBC knuckle under on "health care" but support o'nocchio state

In a pathetic display of partisan bias in the news, ABC and NBC have refused to air a 33 second ad that questions Obamacare. The refusal of ABC and NBC to run a national ad critical of President Obama's healthcare reform plan is raising questions from the group behind the spot —particularly in light of ABC's healthcare special aired in prime time last June hosted at the White House. A doctor in the League of American Voters ad asks: "How can Obama's plan cover 50 million new patients without any new doctors? It can't."

"It's a powerful ad," said Bob Adams, executive director of the League of American Voters, a national nonprofit group with 15,000 members who advocate individual liberty and government accountability. "It tells the truth and it really highlights one of the biggest vulnerabilities and problems with this proposed legislation, which is it rations health care and disproportionately will decimate the quality of health care for seniors."

ABC Responds:

"The ABC Television Network has a long-standing policy that we do not sell time for advertising that presents a partisan position on a controversial public issue," spokeswoman Susan Sewell said in a written statement. "Just to be clear, this is a policy for the entire network, not just ABC News."

Dick Morris, a onetime adviser to former President Bill Clinton, said he was particularly troubled by ABC's decision not to air the spot.

"It's the ultimate act of chutzpah because ABC is the network that turned itself over completely to Obama for a daylong propaganda fest about healthcare reform," he said. "For them to be pious and say they will not accept advertising on healthcare shuts their viewers out from any possible understanding of both sides of this issue."

---