When you need to use lies and deception to make a point (regardless of how “noble” that point is) that means you are either dishonest or your argument is not strong enough.

Every single time Michael Moore releases one of his “documentaries” the story is the same: manipulated data, grossly edited content, out of context quotes.

Check these out:

- Moore tells viewers there are about 50 million people in the U.S. without health insurance. Just this past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there are about 43.6 million uninsured people in the country. In March, the Census Bureau put the number at 44.8 million.- He visited a crowded emergency room in Canada and asked patients how long they had to wait. One said 20 minutes; a second said 45 minutes. “I got help right away,” a third said. Yet a recent report from the Commonwealth Fund indicates that wait times in the U.S. are clearly shorter than they are in Canada. In all areas measured, the U.S. fared better than Canada. For example, 24 percent of Canadians waited four hours or longer to be seen in the emergency room versus 12 percent in the U.S. The difference was more acute when it came time to see a specialist. Fifty-seven percent of Canadians waited four weeks or longer to see a specialist versus 23 percent in the U.S. The Commonwealth Fund also monitored wait times in Britain, which has universal health care. The wait times for emergency room care were comparable to those in the U.S.. There was a big difference when it came time to see a specialist _ 60 percent in Britain waited four weeks or longer.

- Moore says “Of course it was really a bill to hand over $800 billion of our tax dollars to the drug and health insurance industry,”. Moore is citing the projected cost for the Medicare drug benefit’s first 10 years. Last year, however, Medicare officials told The Associated Press that the projected cost of the benefit through 2015 stood at about $729 billion, a substantial drop compared with original estimates. Moore also noted the some of the elderly in the drug program could end up paying more for their prescriptions than they did before. That is true. But the vast majority do save because of the tens of billions of dollars in annual government subsidies to help cover the cost of their medicine. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says people save about $1,200 a year on average by participating in the program, called Medicare Part D.

- At one point, Moore notes where the U.S. ranks in terms of health care around the world. “The United States slipped to No. 37 in health care around the world, just slightly ahead of Slovenia,” he said. That ranking is based on a 2000 report from the World Health Organization that some health analysts viewed as misleading. Moore does not say that one of the countries he highlighted, Cuba, is ranked 39th, below the U.S. Among the others, France is ranked No. 1, the United Kingdom ranked 18th and Canada ranked 30th. He does not give those rankings, either. The report, based on 1997 data, measured not just the quality of care provided, but how well the countries prevented illness and how fairly the poor, minorities and other special populations are treated.

- In the film, an insurance company call center employee says her company has a list of pre-existing conditions that would “wrap around this house.” The conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer, make applicants ineligible for coverage. Numerous disorders then scrolls up a black screen in yellow letters _ think of the “Star Wars” movie introductions. Karen Ignagni, president and chief executive of the trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans, said Moore does not identify the plan involved but that it is not a typical one. She said about 17 million people in the U.S. are insured under individual plans and an additional 200 million under group plans. “If that list were true, none of those people would be getting health insurance,” Ignagni said.

You can be sure more will come out as time goes by.

My question is why? Why people put up with this? Of course access to health care is important but are we supposed to give him a free pass for lying and deceiving because of that?

Moore embodies the crazy lefty perception that you need to shock no matter what. He believes that we should destroy our health care system not because it can be improved but because money is inherently bad and should not determine who gets care and who doesn’t.

He ignores the simple fact that health care is a scarce resource just like many others. It can be rationed either by availability (long lists and inflexible calendars) or by price.

I’d rather have the chance to come up with the money somehow.

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