Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009
The Greatest Generation
The 60 Plus Association, a group that bills itself as the conservative alternative to the AARP, ran a $1.5 million campaign based around this spot, which evokes the heroism of World War II. The ad, paid for by undisclosed donors, also claims that these same seniors stand to lose their doctors under health reform and that "the government, not doctors, will decide if older patients are worth the cost," a misleading description of current proposals. In the ad, each claim is sourced to a news publication, but the President of 60 Plus, Jim Martin, declined to provide the actual articles when asked by TIME, making it impossible to know whether the articles were quoted in context.