October 20, 2013 by David K. Sutton

Colorado Hotel Employees Receive ‘Affordable Care Act’ Letter Brimming With Right-Wing Propaganda

If you had not already read the article headline, you might think the following was said by a Fox News pundit or conservative talk radio host:

“In the late 1930′s the German people got sold a bill of goods by the slick tongue of Adolph Hitler and the world was embroiled in a war that cost millions of lives. Now the American people have bought the snake oil sold by the ones in Washington who wanted and gained control. Maybe the next election you’ll consider who you vote for and not so gullibly buy the snake oil.”

Full text of the letter appears at the end of this article. Reprinted from Liberals Unite.

But the above words were not said by a conservative TV or radio personality. The above words were penned by real estate developer Susan Pratt of “Pratt Management” in a letter to employees of the Plaza Hotel Corporation in Longmont, Colorado. You might think a letter like this would start off reasonable enough to try to win over some people who are on the fence, but Pratt would have none of that. The letter beings with Pratt saying, “It’s with much regret that we deliver the federal government mandated notice about a health care system that will destroy our great American medical care.” So, definitely not holding back on the hyperbole. “They are forcing American businesses to do their advertising for this abomination. This bill was poured down the throats of the citizens without knowing what was in it.” It’s nice to see the right-wing talking points making their presence known only three sentences in.

Folks, this is what happens when ideology gets in the way of reason. This is not a letter from someone who used logic and careful consideration of the facts. This is a letter written by someone who, no matter how successful in business, has yielded good judgement to uninformed group-think. This letter is not written by someone who believes in a pragmatic approach to solving the nation’s problems.

“Americans are pragmatists. Pragmatists believe that whatever works is right,” said Bill Schneider, Resident Scholar, Third Way, on the Melissa Harris-Perry show. “Ideologues believe if something is wrong, it can’t work, even if it does work.” That last part succinctly defines Affordable Care Act opposition by right-wing fanatics. Anti-Obamacare ideologues are unconcerned with facts. They have opposed the health care reform law from the beginning, even before it was a law.

During the 2009 town hall health care “debates,” we saw all the right-wing talking points take shape. And most of their ad nauseam critiques of health care reform revolved around government takeover, socialism, and the like. But these same criticisms could be heard in the 1960s before Medicare passed and in the 1930s before Social Security passed. Whenever government tries to solve a big problem, you can rely on conservatives to break out the cedar chest of lies, misinformation and ideological propaganda. Susan Pratt’s letter to her employees is just the latest in a long history of nonsense produced by people who strongly oppose change of any kind. They are more concerned with having to adapt to change, no matter how small, than solving problems that will benefit millions of Americans. That is the legacy of conservative America, passed down from generation to generation.

Photo and full text of the letter (Reprinted from Liberals Unite):

Plaza Hotel Corporation
dba Best Western Plus Plaza Hotel Longmont,
Plaza Convention Center, Harolds Restaurant & Lounge

1900 Ken Pratt Blvd.
Longmont, CO 80501
303-776-2000

September 30, 2013

To All Team Members:

It’s with much regret that we deliver the federal government mandated notice about a health care system that will destroy our great American medical care. They are forcing American businesses to do their advertising for this abomination. This bill was poured down the throats of the citizens without knowing what was in it. And now, it is forced on all hardworking Americans without telling you what it will cost you. Because the facts are YOU will have to pay for it. There is no doubt to obtain the same kind of coverage as offered on the company insurance program; you will pay much more with this government plan. This is not the government doing something for you. Government can do nothing unless working Americans and business send them the money to pay for it. And once government is the administrator of any program it costs twice what it would have without their involvement.

This also forces businesses to end company medical care. Many of you have not participated and now you think the government is going to provide it for you. The truth is we, business, did not force you to buy medical care – but the government will. You will have no choice. You will pay whatever the premium is and have absolutely no choice about it. You have lost another of your freedom.

And now your medical treatment will be in the hands of a bureaucrat in Washington, not your doctor. Whether or not you get the treatment you need is not your doctor’s decision, or yours, but some faceless person at a desk who is only concerned about statistics, NOT YOU OR YOUR FAMILY.

This is not something business, or republicans, or someone else has done to you. The responsibility rests clearly on the shoulders of those in control in Washington. The politicians told you this was to bring insurance to approximately forty million Americans who didn’t have any. It is only covering ONE million of them. The real intent was to take over the medical care of our nation and regulate it on the backs of working Americans. You hear the phrase over and over again, “the rich will pay for it”. Now you face the truth – if you have a job YOU ARE THE RICH.

If this insurance is so ‘great’, as they keep touting, then why doesn’t Obama, Reed [SIC] and Pelosi participate? None of them are required to help fund it either. In the late 1930′s the German people got sold a bill of goods by the slick tongue of Adolph Hitler and the world was embroiled in a war that cost millions of lives. Now the American people have bought the snake oil sold by the ones in Washington who wanted and gained control. Maybe the next election you’ll consider who you vote for and not so gullibly buy the snake oil.

Susan Pratt

PRATT MANAGEMENT

105 S. Sunset
Longmont, CO

303.776.4496