Activists, Celebrities Encourage Voters to "Stop the Lies" From U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Industry Front Groups

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Health insurance industry front groups and their allies are flooding the airwaves with political ads presenting false information about health reform and its supporters, so Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is using laughter to fight back. HCAN, the coalition that led the successful fight for health reform, collaborated with celebrated actors Jack Black and America Ferrera to create a hilarious video lampooning corporate liars for hire—front groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Crossroads and 60 Plus Association. These kinds of groups are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on political propaganda to mislead voters in advance of the November election. On the most important questions facing the country's future—the economy, energy, financial reform and health care—the anti-progressive myth-making machine is going at full tilt, fueled by mountains of campaign cash from unidentified sources.

Black and Ferrera donated their comedic talents to help HCAN and its partners fight the lies and spread the truth. The result is The Mis-Informant, a multi-part video about Nathan Spewman, a propagandist who stops at nothing—including going to a school to recruit young children to join his campaign of deception—to spread ridiculous lies for corporate clients who line his pockets with cash. HCAN will use the video to expose the unfounded attacks on the Affordable Care Act.

"While this video is brilliant comedy, it is also part of a serious public education effort," said HCAN Executive Director Ethan Rome. "The new health care law puts an end to the worst insurance company abuses, ends out-of-pocket costs for preventive care and helps seniors maintain their independence. Opponents of the law are spending millions to spread outright lies about the law and its supporters."  

The Chamber of Commerce and other front groups have pledged to spend upwards of $400 million—mostly from undisclosed sources—to spread lies about the new health care law and other progressive issues. A multimillion-dollar ad campaign by 60 Plus, designed to sow fear about Medicare, was so egregious that HCAN was forced to ask 83 TV stations to pull the false attack ads.

"Thanks to recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, anyone—big corporations, billionaires, foreign powers, even terrorist groups—is free to secretly donate to front groups that unleash lies on the public," Rome said. "America has been put up for sale to the highest bidder, and the mystery funders are putting excessive profits ahead of the needs of working families."

Viewers of The Mis-Informant will be directed to the Spewman Hotline (206-438-3964) to sign up for text updates and to a web page where visitors will be urged to vote and encouraged to take concrete actions that motivate friends and families to stop the lies and participate in the political process.

Health Care for America Now is a national grassroots coalition of more than 1,000 organizations in 46 states representing 30 million people. HCAN led the fight over the past two years to win passage of health reform and to keep Congress from being steamrolled by corporate special interests

SOURCE Health Care for America Now