FACTCHECK.ORG

McCain's Viagra Moment

There's more urban legend than fact in a Planned Parenthood ad attacking McCain.

By Jess Henig | factcheck.org
Jul 24, 2008 | Updated: 2:05  p.m. ET Jul 24, 2008

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  • Posted By: djhouston @ 10/08/2008 1:05:38 PM

    Comment: I have just now read of this story about McCain and Viagra, and it came as a shock and surprise to me.

    My insurance company has no limit on coverage of contraceptives, but only allows 8 Viagra tablets of 100mg per month. Imagine an insurance company telling you (and your doctor) that you could only have sex twice a week (some kind of national average?). Actually, my doctor prescribed Viagra for me in low doses before and after radical surgery for prostate cancer, with the thought that it would help with recovery of the nerves down there that were injured in the surgery.

    So, Viagra is not only a "recreational" drug, but, for me and many other prostate cancer surgery patients, rehabilitative therapy. I complained of discrimination (Viagra vs. contraceptives) to the insurance company and my company's human resource dept., but they said they were just following "industry standards" for amount covered. I also let this drug company's representative that I wanted to complain about Viagra's TV campaign, Viva Viagra, because I think this contributed to the drug's recreational image which may have made it look bad to the insurance companies (they cover daily doses of lots more expensive drugs when they think that people are really sick), But I see why Pfizer did it. If insurance companies were going to discriminate against men regarding this drug, then they would hope to get guys to pay out of pocket to get it. And I understand why businesses'HR departments would pay for contraceptives and not Viagra: birth control pills are cheaper than having to both pay and replace a productive employee out on maternity leave, and who cares what men do or can't do after business hours.

  • Posted By: cani77 @ 10/04/2008 5:13:19 PM

    Comment: Comment: The Bush Depression

    In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
    I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
    Also, he perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
    is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
    The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide the largest morgage bank in the world,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top 5 wall street firms. Also, Fanny and Freddy Mae which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
    The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash and we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before.

    McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
    That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand exactly what is broken.
    It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use complex mathematical models very few people understand.
    Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.

    Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
    Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
    No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He either didn't care or didn't realize that anything was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime.
    It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
    even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a surplus like Bush did but a tanking economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit.Bush created a national debt larger then the first 42 presidents combined
    If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
    When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
    So why are the polls even close then ?
    The chairman of McCains campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues they vote on a personality composite. Which means he is trying to sell you personality instead of results.
    Let's teach him we are smarter than that .

    31 states are voting now, dont wait
    Elect Obama Biden 2008




    Check out this video of sarah palins interview before you vote


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4i

  • Posted By: delfairchild @ 07/28/2008 10:34:31 PM

    Comment: A small study has shown Viagra to help women in menopause and taking depressants have an orgasim.
    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,388382,00.html

  • Posted By: rpearlston @ 07/27/2008 11:17:23 PM

    Comment: AKA, the question is still a valid one. Unless and until ALL insurers in ALL states cover ALL methods of birth control in addition to ED meds, the question is a valid one.

    That Sen. McCain couldn't answer the question when it was put to him.,despite the fact that he had voted a few years ago to allow just this type of gender-based discrimination, speaks volumes about his views of women and of women's rights, including their reproductive ones. Kinder, kuchen, kirch, right, Senator?

  • Posted By: LuLuBelle @ 07/27/2008 11:44:00 AM

    Comment: I don't know of any insurance plan that doesn't cover birth control. This is a stupid thing for reporters to even be asking John McCain about. And please, are we really supposed to vote for president based on whether or not insurance companies provide birth control? Get a grip!

  • Posted By: a brighter America 08 @ 07/27/2008 6:09:16 AM

    Comment: I believe the criticism was that McCain VOTED FOR insurance coverage for men and VOTED AGAINST birth control insurance coverage for women. I don't think the question was whether or not the insurance companies made this determination. It had everything to do with how McCain voted on these two issues. Which brings me to the fact Senator McCain VOTED AGAINST Equal Pay for Women doing the same exact jobs as their male coworkers. Putting both of these issues together, I get the sense McCain care little, if at all, about women and their issues. WHY doesn't McCain want women to get Equal Pay? I think he has some explaining to do. The same goes for his voting against Birth Control.

  • Posted By: Press Release @ 07/27/2008 2:11:47 AM

    Comment: McCain is so lame, so pitifull. Such a CRY BABY and a LIAR. He is everything that he claim Obama to be. I think McCain is a waste of skin. You know? McCain makes me sick with his crap.

  • Posted By: Press Release @ 07/27/2008 2:08:22 AM

    Comment: McCain is so lame. It's bad enough that he is a cry baby and a lier. He is everything he claims Obama to be. What a waste of skin McCain is.

  • Posted By: stormbrew2 @ 07/26/2008 8:06:58 PM

    Comment: This article is skating past the real issue by burying the DETAILS on the 2nd page when they should be the title to the article. The point the reporter was making was, that while his campaign was feigning support for the support of contraceptive coverage, (an issue his campaign raised through surrogates), he had in fact voted multiple times against mandates for the very same coverage. Flip flopping was the issue, not the state of coverage which as is written herein is still at the mercy of employers who self cover. This is just sloppy reporting that muddies the truth around this issue. You can't cover for McCains flubs and flips forever, there are just too many now, Just report the simple facts as they are and let the voter decide. Quit trying to GUIDE the discussion.

  • Posted By: stormbrew2 @ 07/26/2008 8:03:55 PM

    Comment: This article is skating past the real issue by burying the DETAILS on the 2nd page when they should be the title to the article. The point the reporter was making was, that while his campaign was feigning support for the support of contraceptive coverage, (an issue his campaign raised through surrogates), he had in fact voted multiple times against mandates for the very same coverage. Flip flopping was the issue, not the state of coverage which as is written herein is still at the mercy of employers who self cover. This is just sloppy reporting that muddies the truth around this issue. You can't cover for McCains flubs and flips forever, there are just too many now, Just report the simple facts as they are and let the voter decide. Quit trying to GUIDE the discussion.

  • Posted By: bataar_21 @ 07/26/2008 8:03:22 PM

    Comment: I live in Japan where national health insuarance is compulsory and controlled by the government. It covers everyone, except illegal aliens. Even these illegals can receive free treatment for minor ailments and surgeries. I pay $99 out of my $2700/mth salarly for my premium. Last year when I lost my job, my insurance premium was reduced to $11 per month. Japan's heath care system is not the best in the world but ,at least, no family goes bankrupt because of medical bills. Meanwhile, I live in a government's 3 bedroom semi-cozy apartment and pay only $98 per month. And I'm not even a citizen. Why the USA , the
    richest country in the world, cannot provide healty care for her citizens marvels me.

  • Posted By: MFK6 @ 07/26/2008 7:04:48 PM

    Comment: Almost every other civilized country has health care for every citizen. Germany and Belgium are some of the best....I believe Frontline on PBS had a show on about different countries' health care. When asked the question, "does anyone go bankrupt in this country because of medical bills?", the answer was always no accompanied by a look of astonishment. Only in this country, where this administration has made bankruptcy almost impossible for the average American, do people loose everything when a family member becomes ill.

  • Posted By: kittyN @ 07/26/2008 4:58:13 PM

    Comment: One thing I know for certain is that my insurance company pays for Viagra, but not for fertility medications for women. Having spoken to people with other insurance policies, it seems I am not alone. This is a distinct discrepancy between the way men and women are treated in the insurance industry.

  • Posted By: tmccullough @ 07/26/2008 4:57:24 PM

    Comment: I would love to know what insurance company cover birth control. I have been an employee (not self employed) for 30 years under different employers but most of the time, the insurance was with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. For 12 years, my husband & I even were double covered because he worked those years for a company that covered us also. I have been fortunate enough to have WONDERFUL insurance coverage. I have NEVER had birth control covered. Maybe, it is the state I live in. I don't know. All I DO know is that I thought that was a VERY APPROPRIATE question for Senator McCain. Maybe, fact checker need to hire NEW fact checkers. Just let me know how many insurance companies cover birth control, their names, and what states they are in. I am an officer at my company. Maybe, I can talk to the upper management about hooking up with these insurance companies since 95% of our company (a bank) are female.

  • Posted By: karela @ 07/26/2008 4:25:13 PM

    Comment: As fact check says, their data is six years old. They assume that insurance covering contraceptives has become more common and not less. However, since Bush took office seven years ago many changes that negatively impact women's access to contraceptives have taken place. Highschools no longer teach how to use condoms or even that their use might help the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. This month the Bush administration has instructed Health and Human Services to begin a new directive that says any agency that receives federal money now has to classify all forms of birth control as abortion including birth control pills, IUDs and the morning after pill commonly used in rape and incest cases. The neocons have made war on women by making it much harder for poor women to avoid unwanted pregnancy while at the same time making it harder to get abortions. They are also not in favor of feeding the resultant children who are born into poverty. They cut funding to children and give billions of dollars of tax breaks to the 1% of wealthiest Americans. These people who claim to be so moral are the most immoral people imaginable.

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/26/2008 4:40:01 PM

      Comment: Both Parties claim to have a patent on morality and both parties are equally corrupt. Look at Spitzer, Kennedy, now Edwards.....they all, both Dems and GOP, have skeletons in their closest.
      You need to look past your arrogant Partisanship and see both parties for what they are, a band of lairs and egomaniacs.
      McCain and Obama have lied, shifted, and pandered. One has the gift of gab and one doesn't. One has a a breadth of experience to draw from, and one doesn't.

  • Posted By: reformthesystem&deceptivecampaigning @ 07/26/2008 2:48:44 PM

    Comment: If the planned parenthood ad is in fact untrue, as reported, a crime (false advertising, use of the mail to defraud etc.) has been committed and those responsible should be prosecuted. Any one who acted in reliance on it would have a claim against them for damages caused by the reliance, plus punitive damages.

  • Posted By: reformthesystem&deceptivecampaigning @ 07/26/2008 2:45:43 PM

    Comment: Since the ad implies there is a significant disparity between the number of insurance plans that cover Viagra and those that cover birth control, which is not in fact true as to 86% of plans that were typically written in 2004, the ad must be deceptive and fraudulent. Anyone, including a voter, acting in reliance on the ad would be defrauded. The media that ran the ad and its sponsors would have to pay anyone acting in reliance on it money damages, and the responsible persons would be criminally prosecuted for attendant violations, including mail fraud. The reporter and all those participating in the deception should have criminal records.

    • Posted By: olderwiser @ 07/26/2008 3:25:17 PM

      Comment: Good deal, reformthesystem&deceptive campaigning, I think that I'll sue the Bush Campaign for however much they have left in their coffers under your theory of fraud and deception. They promised Compassionate Conservatism, and only delivered Dispassionate Deprivation to millions of Americans who have lost jobs, hospital coverage and God knows what else to the Bush vetoes alone, not to mention unprovoked war causing widows and fatherless children to be left in the lurch. Under your theory, Senator Mc Clelan probably has a tremendous suit against Karl Rove, too, for defamation, libel and slander. None of these incompetent mistakes is Compassionate, and probably true conservatives are aghast, as well, at the political atrocities beyond reason. It's not enough to just throw these bastards out. They need to pay damages. Thanks for the legal theory.

  • Posted By: JTatEHT @ 07/26/2008 10:51:54 AM

    Comment: This article misses the key point. Carly Fiorino, the former president of HP and a top McCain advisor, made this point in front of McCain earlier in the day, trying to make McCain appear friendly to women???s issues. The reporter???s question was wholly appropriate, and McCain???s inability to answer the question shows that he was either inattentive to what Fiorino had been saying earlier or had a senior moment in trying to answer the question.

    • Posted By: tmccullough @ 07/26/2008 5:06:01 PM

      Comment: Amen!

  • Posted By: Fernadez @ 07/26/2008 10:31:08 AM

    Comment: John McCain doesn???t know Shiites and Sunnis are Bitter enemy since Saddam days, Also this spring, McCain twice appeared to mistake again twice between Sunnis and Shiites, two branches of Islam that split violently

    John McCain doesn???t know where is Pakistan? , McCain responded I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border. The ABC posting added: Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border.

    Somalia for Sudan: As recounted in a reporters pool report from McCain Straight Talk Express bus on June 30, the senator said while discussing Darfur, a region of Sudan: How can we bring pressure on the government of Somalia?
    Senior adviser Mark Salter corrected him Sudan

    Germany for Russia memorializes McCain referring to President Vladimir Putin of Russia following a trip to Germany as President Putin of Germany by the way Germany Never have a President only Chancellor.

    This spring, McCain said troops in Iraq were down to pre-surge levels when in fact there were 20,000 more troops than when the surge policy began.

    In perhaps the most curious incident, McCain said earlier this month that as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he had tried to confuse his captors by giving the names of Pittsburgh Steelers starting players when asked to identify his squadron mates. McCain has told the story many times over the years but always correctly referred to the names he gave as members of the Green Bay Packers

    In Phoenix earlier this month, McCain referred to Czechoslovakia, which has been divided since Jan. 1, 1993, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He also referred again to Czechoslovakia during a debate in November and a radio show in April.

    ""WAKAKAKAKA "" This Guy deserves to Be the President of United Fools ..........I laugh my Ass off.

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/26/2008 4:42:35 PM

      Comment: Obama thinks that there are 57 states in the Union.
      Obama doesn't know what the 22nd Amendment is.
      Obama can't seem to remember what he said about Iran in the Democratic debates
      Obama can't seem to get his excuse straight on why he didn't visit wounded soldiers in Germany...

      Wakakaka

      • Posted By: a brighter America 08 @ 07/27/2008 6:36:55 AM

        Comment: Zombiehero

        Senator Obama made a minor error which does not affect policy
        Senator Obama taught Constitutional Law; he KNOWS the contents and contexts of our Constitution.
        Really? He said he WOULD BE WILLING to talk with the Iranian leaderswithout conditions. He is still willing to talk to Iran unconditionally, however with preparation. What is wrong with that??
        Had Senator Obama visited our troops while using his campaign funds, McCain and people like you would be all over him for "using our troops for political purposes" and YOU KNOW that!! McCain and people like you are jumping all over him for not visiting the troops. In short, McCain and his supporters continuiously damn Senator Obama NO MATTER what he says and does. Damned if he does and Damned if he doesn't!

        All of the discrepancies by McCain listed by Fernandez are important issues and could very well affect foreign policies. If McCain decides to "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran", is he going to order Pakistan be bombed instead? Because he does not know just where Iran and Pakistan are?? McCains errors are extremely serious and should not be taken lightly, nor should the media, (like NBC tried to do) try to cover these things up!! Yes, we know, McCain is an elderly person and people tend to "cottle" people in this age group; however the guy is running for president of our great country and not for calling out the bingo numbers!!

  • Posted By: susie99 @ 07/25/2008 10:07:39 PM

    Comment: The point is that people are worried about the issue- it doesn't matter if insurance companies "currently" usually cover both, if McCain doesn't support that then they may not in the future- so he needs to let people know where he stands on the issue so we can make an informed decision in voting.

  • Posted By: krg875 @ 07/25/2008 9:53:59 PM

    Comment: Maybe Debbie in PHX shud lern to spel befour she jumps inta the frae.

  • Posted By: Debbie in PHX @ 07/25/2008 9:20:12 PM

    Comment: Actually, NONE of this is right. If you would just take the time to watch that day's news coverage you would see that the report was REPEATING a talking point from one of McCains OWN surragates and asking McCain if he agreed with the position that his surrogate had taken. When the reporter did not get an answer she then rephrased and just asked the question outright, "do you think it's fair..." If Newsweek is going to run a Jess Hennig article maybe it would be, oh I don't know, responsible journalism to actually fact check the thing thoroughly to make sure it has, lemme see, a factually relevant premise, wherein a reasonable person could surmise he had actually done justice to the piece... speaking in half truths is still lying... or at least it was last time I check... Maybe Jess went in and change the story there too!

  • Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 07/25/2008 6:48:40 PM

    Comment: Well,apart from the fact that PP is a pack of damned liars,they must have missed a report by The American Journal of Medicine this week that showed that VIAGRA can assist women as well,especially in the area of sexual dysfunction while the woman is on anti-depressents. Thus women will get a break too.

  • Posted By: pearsoncrz @ 07/25/2008 6:37:21 PM

    Comment: TemujinP, it was a sucker question set up for Obama's campaign. McCain didn't make the comparison, the reporter did.

    I would much rather have a president who is honest when he doesn't know than someone who is glib but never actually takes a position, and prefers instead to remain vague and ambiguous because he can't affortd to say anything specific one way or another.

    Here's a quote from Obama that typifies his approach to tough subjects.

    "The nature of politics is that you want to have everybody like you and project the best possible traits onto you," he says. "Oftentimes, that???s by being as vague as possible, or appealing to the lowest common denominators. The more specific and detailed you are on issues as personal and fundamental as your faith, the more potentially dangerous it is."

    • Posted By: stormbrew2 @ 07/26/2008 8:21:51 PM

      Comment: Regarding pearsoncrz's post... First of all, McCains people DID MAKE the compaarison, in fact they brought the entire subject up using a female surrogate to lend impact to the supposition that McCain somehow supported insurance companies coverage of contraceptive needs when in fact he had voted against it. Now I'm sorry, but it is just apparent I would think, to women, that McCain showed where he stands on women's reproductive rights, and there is no hiding from his agonized answer. Speaking of which, he told the reporter he would get back to her with an answer, Where is that answer? Its in his voting record and he doesn't dare show that.

  • Posted By: TemujinP @ 07/25/2008 6:12:07 PM

    Comment: Maybe McCain has PTSD or maybe he has Alzheimers, or a little of both.

  • Posted By: TemujinP @ 07/25/2008 6:09:36 PM

    Comment: Viagra type drugs should not even be showing similar numbers to what birth control is posting by the insurance companies. One is necessary, the other is not!

  • Posted By: TemujinP @ 07/25/2008 6:07:28 PM

    Comment: There should be NO comparison of Viagra type drugs versus birth control. One is necessary, the other isn't!
    T. Powell

  • Posted By: Iamnotamused @ 07/25/2008 4:05:28 PM

    Comment: The question was a legitimate one. I read someone say that Vigra is covered because it helps with a disease and birth control was a choice. That's not true. While Viagra may help a man with ED, birth control pills also help with other medical conditions in women and not just to prevent birth. For example, because they keep a woman from ovulating, if she has cysts it eases the pain (because most women don't have pain until they ovulate) and may even help prevent them.
    So don't give me that cr@p that the Planned Parenthood ad is incorrect because it's not. I know there are some insurance companies that do cover the pill but there are plenty out there that don't.

    McCain's voting record on the issue sucked and that's the bottom line. He "couldn't remember" how he voted, my eye...

    • Posted By: tmccullough @ 07/26/2008 5:11:40 PM

      Comment: You are so right! Tell "em like it is. I should know. Had problems like you mentioned, my girls had the same problems, had great insurance coverage but NO, IT NEVER PAID FOR THE BIRTH CONTROL!!! We paid out the nose for the birth control.

  • Posted By: serious discussion @ 07/25/2008 2:36:14 PM

    Comment: Let's state the facts. McCain "forgets" 3 times that the Czech Republic exists, puts Iraq on the Pakistan border, accuses Obama of causing the gas prices to rise, accuses Obama of sedition, and in general is having more senior moments than my Dad does at 83 years old. He appears now to be an old grumpy forgetful guy and do you want him leading us in ANYTHING? Let's contrast. Obama's positions on Iraq and Iran was just proved correct. McCain has now been forced to accept Obama's position on Afganistan. Our European allies are greeting Obama very well as well as the masses of Europeans are welcoming the thought of a thoughtful American who loves his country. Obama understands that the USA cannot survive in the isolation of the last 8 years. This isolationism and flawed strategy has cost us serverly in young military lives and BILLIONS of dollars better used at home. Can anyone find a reason to vote for McBush? Newsweek, try this contrast for a change and get rid of the bias toward teflon John. Obama 08!

  • Posted By: serious discussion @ 07/25/2008 2:16:39 PM

    Comment: The actual point was that McCain voted against a bill that forced Insurance companies to cover birth control for women. A larger point is that McCain's voting record on women's issues is 0% and Obama's is 100%. If you're going to fact-check--do it right. As a 64 year old white working woman that was active in the women's movement of the 60's it is unreal to me that anyone would consider voting for McCain at all and that includes both genders! Obama 08!

  • Posted By: FoonTheElder @ 07/25/2008 2:06:09 PM

    Comment: This writer doesn't have a clue. Most health plans cover Viagra because it is supposedly there to cure a medical problem. Many health plans don't cover contraceptives because they are not taken to cure an injury or disease. Most companies of over 200 employees are self-funded and they can cover whatever they want, as state coverage requirements don't apply to them.

  • Posted By: Jerome B @ 07/25/2008 1:24:42 PM

    Comment: wow this was apoorly written article. i hope you did not pay this person for this.

  • Posted By: kirt @ 07/25/2008 1:00:01 PM

    Comment: Somehow there is hummor in this sad fact. Old farts like myself are now at risk in making kids at retiment age while younger people who are having kids out of wedlock can't get help for not having kids. Then the age of children having sex has become younger, just say no ant working! The train of common sense have left the station.

  • Posted By: OldUncleTom @ 07/25/2008 11:52:09 AM

    Comment: "There is no cure for AD, but there are drugs to treat some of the symptoms. The Food and Drug Administration has approved four prescription drugs for people with mild-to-moderate AD: Cognex (tacrine), Aricept (donepezil), Exelon (rivastigmine), and Reminyl (galantamine)."------


    I don't worry about Old John and Viagra... if he needs it, fine, and good for Cindy (I hope). There are other prescriptions (possibly already in the McCain medicine chest) that concern me more, with regard to his fitness to serve a full term as a member of a sentient species.

  • Posted By: OldUncleTom @ 07/25/2008 11:36:46 AM

    Comment: Planned Parenthood needs to focus more on accuracy; they have always sucked at politics, as ideologues so often do.
    The best way to beat John McCain is to let him speak in public, then quote him word-for-word. He is usually his own worst enemy. Very simple research after a John McCain announcement readily displays either his lack of content/commitment, or the utter falsity of his contentions. No exagerration required.

  • Posted By: maxlogan @ 07/25/2008 11:07:51 AM

    Comment:
















    direct party affiliation it certainly has placed itself on the pro-choice side of abortion. All of you can research this for yourselves. I am pro-choice myself so I don???t care about the institute???s position. I am interested why the author would state that The Guttmacher Group is nonpartisan. Perhaps she thinks readers of Newsweek are dumb and would assume nonpartisan meant unbiased.









    The Guttmacher Group, which wrote the report that is referred to by the author, is named after a former president of Planned Parenthood, Alan Guttmacher (hmmm, more irony). When the Guttmacher Group was formed in 1968 it was a division of The Planned Parenthood Federation of America. It became independent in 1977. The author states that the Guttmacher Institute is nonpartisan. While the institute may not have claimed any direct party affiliation it certainly has placed itself on the pro-choice side of abortion. All of you can research this for yourselves. I am pro-choice myself so I don???t care about the institute???s position. I am interested why the author would state that The Guttmacher Group is nonpartisan. Perhaps she thinks readers of Newsweek are dumb and would assume nonpartisan meant unbiased.

    Another reader commented that it was odd the author would wait until the second page of the article to mention that the reporter was basically following up on a statement made by another person. I feel the same way. I am interested why the author would wait until the second page to disclose pertinent information. I wonder how many people on the net don???t go further than the first page of an article.

    Finally, the same author wrote another article recently titled ???Obama Polishes His Resume??? (www.newsweek.com/id/142884). In it the author states, ???We don't find this ad egregiously misleading, but it paints a picture of Obama's accomplishments that could leave viewers with a misimpression or two.??? I don???t find this story egregiously misleading, but it paints a picture that could leave readers with a misimpression or two or three.




  • Posted By: Ellen J. @ 07/25/2008 9:57:13 AM

    Comment: As someone who worked for a company that covered Viagra but not any sort of contrceptive, I can assure you this is a real issue -- it may be one that is less and less common, but an issue none the less. Paying over $50 a month out of pocket for a medically neccessary drug (due to multiple issues) is an issue that affected me and many other women. Viagra isn't the only issue-- insurance companies will pay for pre-natal care, a birth, cover a child for 18+ years, and the drugs for either a male or female who deal with fertility issues, but do not provide coverage for people who either want or need to prevent a pregnancy for happening in the first place.

  • Posted By: redawn @ 07/25/2008 9:47:02 AM

    Comment: This article is also not fully informed - there is a bit of "playing with statistics" going on here. Yes, most insurance companies will cover the birth control of their choice. But many of the options currently available to women worldwide are NOT covered. I think it is hard to deny that if men were the primary users of birth control, these constraints would not exist.

  • Posted By: ndrock @ 07/25/2008 9:37:58 AM

    Comment: So he took time to answer. That's a question that should have never been asked. Newsweek is trying to turn this into a issue to make McCain look stupid and somehow, I know this so called news magazine will make Obama come out in this subject as the Golden Boy Newsweek claims he is.

    One can always count on this Hollywood rag to print half truths and innuendo.

  • Posted By: twhit @ 07/25/2008 9:23:10 AM

    Comment: If there is no issue here, McCain shouldn't have Carly Fiorina pushing it in a phony effort to help the McCain campaign connect to women. McCain was only asked about this issue because Fiorina brought it up talking to the media the day before McCain was asked.

  • Posted By: jayhawker @ 07/25/2008 9:22:23 AM

    Comment: Wasn't the issue first mentioned by a McCain advisor? It seems that it was. And if so, the long pause and McCain's obvious discomfort is a testimony to how ill informed he is, even by his own advisors.

  • Posted By: Deminmd @ 07/25/2008 9:18:56 AM

    Comment: Most political ads are b.s. If Newsweek is going to dissect this one, then explain McCain's one that blames Obama for gas prices. Some ads out there show Obama as a Muslum, not true. Most intelligent people know that these ads are opinionaded, not neccessary always fact based by either candidate.

    • Posted By: EveryoneHasBias @ 07/25/2008 12:56:06 PM

      Comment: Newsweek didn't dissect anything; they just reprinted a factcheck.org article. Here are links to the articles you suggest should be written instead. I find that the site in general does a pretty good job of pointing out bogus claims from both sides when they see them, even to the point of being nitpicky sometimes.

      http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/a_full_tank_of_nonsense.html
      http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html

  • Posted By: MG of IL @ 07/25/2008 9:16:45 AM

    Comment: McCain's Viagra Moment - I don't know about other areas of the country but our healthcare system (originally company owned medical facility and pharmacy) now under a major healthcare company, has never covered birth control or Viagra type drugs. Whether a company/pharmacy, whatever, covers the drugs or not didn't upset me as much as the fact John McCain could not or would not answer the question. An honest answer - an opinion would have been better than nothing. John McCain failed to answer questions regarding Veteran's rights and doesn't seem to remember his voting records, either. The man is too old and out of touch to be elected.

  • Posted By: Cloudosmoke @ 07/25/2008 9:04:19 AM

    Comment: This is during the Bush Admin!!!!!!!! There are nuclear weapons being flown across the nation by these people. The reason our soldiers are falling asleep (with launch codes) is because our troops are spread too thin. They are having to work triple shifts because there are not enough staff to fill in.

    The war was unnecessary and now we are in threat from this Administration's incompetence by soldiers falling asleep with tactical information and nuclear launch codes, Nuclear missiles being flown across the country (Lord knows what would happen if one of them were "accidentally" dropped).

    And then there is McCain, Bush's BFF, trying to take over the reigns. There is no national security!!!!!! The main thing we have to fear is McCain since he believes in Bush policy. He has stood behind Bush from the beginning and will continue his Gestapo style policing of the American people. I can't believe there are people willing to vote for this type of governance.

  • Posted By: David J. Garcia @ 07/25/2008 7:26:34 AM

    Comment: Fact Check- The reporter was following up on a statement made by McCain surrogate Carla Fiorina. It was Fiorina who, by making the comparison, opened up the issue not Planned Parenthood, nor the Obama campaign and not "a reporter.
    Fact Check- The issue, for many people, is McCain's inability to explain HIS voting record. Did no one in the McCain camp thing the question wouldn't come up? (see above)
    Fact Check- The bill would have required ALL private insurance companies to fund contraceptives IF the funded prescriptions for Viagra type medications, that there are still companies that have this double standard is ridiculous
    Conclusion-While the Planned Parenthood data is out of date, the point of the ad is ACCURATE. The question of why McCain was unable to respond (he is "Mr Straight Talk") in any way remains. This is not the first time he has been challenged regarding his voting record and been unable to respond OR has been less than truthful (see recent Webb Veterans Education Bill)

  • Posted By: Eugene23 @ 07/25/2008 7:15:57 AM

    Comment: An Obama supporter, I have to admit that McCain got a cheap, baiting question. He answered it well, realizing the question didn't even quite make sense. But, both McCain and Obama will get these sort of questions... it politics.

  • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/25/2008 7:05:17 AM

    Comment: Imagine that....Dems attacking McCain...who would of thought.

  • Posted By: clarkdent @ 07/25/2008 6:36:30 AM

    Comment: Viagra is a medication for a medical condition. Birth Control is not for treatment of a condition it is no different than condoms, there to prevent unwanted births.

    • Posted By: Ellen J. @ 07/25/2008 10:03:54 AM

      Comment: Contraceptives are often perscribed for solely medical conditions such as endometriosis, ovarian cysts, and others -- they are not solely for the purpose of preventing pregnancy.

      • Posted By: gingerbroad @ 07/25/2008 11:40:37 PM

        Comment: Ellen, Clark will never know, because I assume that he is a man, the terrible cramps, heavy bleeding, and earth shattering micranes some women go through during their period. When I was a teenager, I remember throwing up 24 hours, having horrible back and stomach cramps for 24 hours, lying in a fetal position on the bathroom floor, and smelling of tylenol pills I've been popping every 4 hours through my pores. When I started taking birth control my 2nd semester in college it was the greatest relief. No more cramps, no more throwing up, no more heavy bleeding. I regained my life. No more staying home from school because i was sick, no more hostile temperament because of PMS. I dreaded those 28 days. It felt like 28 minutes. So I can see why a man would make that statement.

      • Posted By: gingerbroad @ 07/25/2008 11:33:38 PM

        Comment: Ellen, since Clark I presume is a male, he has never experienced terrible cramps which lasts for 24 hours. He has never layed in a fetal position on the bathroom floor wondering when the pain will end. He has never thrown up everything he has eaten for 24 hours. He has never smelled of Tylenol pills he had to keep popping every 4 hours to numb the pain. When I was put on birth control I regain my life back. i had to stay home from school whn I was on my period. I don't think I could have made it through college. On birth control, I don't have cramps, bloating, heavy bleeding, or migrane headaches, While I do still have symptoms, they don't compare to what I use to experience as a teenager.

  • Posted By: funkdome @ 07/25/2008 6:31:07 AM

    Comment: Hey who cares about facts when you can just throw liberal slime?

  • Posted By: madcasey @ 07/25/2008 6:28:29 AM

    Comment: For a piece from Factcheck.org, this article seems incredibly biased toward defending John McCain. The reporter did not ask this question on her own. She was asking him directly about Carly Fiorina's claim from that exact day, looking for a clarification. The article leaves this out, until an afterthought in the last paragraph, instead choosing to attack both Planned Parenthood and the reporter as manipulative and ill-informed.

    I find that shameful.

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/25/2008 7:06:40 AM

      Comment: Typical Obama supporter comment....so when Factcheck is attacking McCain, then its fair and balanced?

  • Posted By: madcasey @ 07/25/2008 6:27:58 AM

    Comment: For a piece from Factcheck.org, this article seems incredibly biased toward defending John McCain. The reporter did not ask this question on her own. She was asking him directly about Carly Fiorina's claim from that exact day, looking for a clarification. The article leaves this out, until an afterthought in the last paragraph, instead choosing to attack both Planned Parenthood and the reporter as manipulative and ill-informed.

    I find that shameful.

  • Posted By: sharenews @ 07/25/2008 4:25:35 AM

    Comment: Actually, jlmealer, Viagra is a drug available to address a medical problem associated with some men who experience a medical dysfunctional problem that can be addressed through medical means (prescribed drugs). Thus Viagra is usually covered.

    Prevention of not becoming pregnant is a life choice by a woman in which they choose their preference to take to prevent a pregnacy which does not have to involve the need for a medical drug as there are obvious alternatives they can take if they do not want a pregnancy to occur. The whole thinking behind all this makes sense to me.

    • Posted By: a brighter America 08 @ 07/27/2008 7:03:52 AM

      Comment: Shareenews, I find it somewhat comicial how you and others stating "Viagra is a drug available to address a medical problem with some men who experience a medical dysfunctional problem..." While Viagra is sometimes prescribed due to medical conditions, Viagra is mostly prescribed for a PHYSICAL dysfunction related to age. Haven't you seen how happy Bob Dole looks in his Viagra commercials?? LOL

    • Posted By: sharenews @ 07/25/2008 4:45:21 AM

      Comment: Meaning in second paragraph there is something a womans partner can do, also, that is not warranting a medical involvement (unless, if he wants to do a vascectomy? I dont know what the deal about that is if they are covered or not). I will leave that up to an debators to bring up.

  • Posted By: jlmealer @ 07/24/2008 11:26:03 PM

    Comment: Actually.. when reality sinks in, you will change your mind.
    Viagra takes care of a medical problem.
    Birth Control prevents a medical situation called pregnancy.
    McCain did not write the laws...

  • Posted By: jlmealer @ 07/24/2008 11:24:08 PM

    Comment: IF Obama is elected he would crush this nation by doing the following:
    Obama's World Poverty Bill (google it) would be passed and take ALL of the US Gross Domestic Profit earnings to give to the UN for distribution to African nations (seriously, GOOGLE IT) (All 7%. Which is the US profit margin).
    Guns would be also gathered up according to Obama's Global Poverty Bill plan (Did you Google it yet?)
    Obama plans to heavily tax the investor class and no new small businesses would come into being (esp with the bank failures going on at the moment and no new loans being issued).
    America would stagnate and begin to fall apart without small business growth.
    Obama's tax on the investor class also takes away incentives for lower classes to strive to become wealthier people.
    Did you hope to begin your own business someday?
    Obama says NO!
    Obama must keep us in our place, after-all.
    Obama would immediately tax the large corporations which are already just barely balanced between the democrat instituted American Workers Union ridiculous demands and simply closing up and moving overseas or to Mexico.
    The USA corporate infrastructure would be destroyed within a year.
    Obama would force the remaining small businesses to pay totally unaffordable health care for employees and they too, would close up and go out of business even before finding health care, IF it were available.
    This will really hurt the women business owners who employ mostly younger women in retail, who have higher health care coverage.
    THEN Obama comes up with some LIE that he wants to give small business $5K per covered worker. Do you realize how many workers there are in small businesses throughout America? How would he pay for those TRILLIONS?!! Talk about not even thinking about how grand of a lie he tries to weave.
    Obama will over tax and over extend this country so quickly and at the worst time that we will DIE as a nation.
    If you want the USA to watch America die, then you surely want Obama to become president and vice versa.
    Note to Obama:
    Terrorists do not eat crumpettes, they send their brainwashed neighbors into tea N crumpette shops with bombs strapped to their bodies.
    They do not negotiate!
    This is not some game where we can push reset and this certainly is not a basketball game or charisma pagaent.
    This is the cold hard reality of Obama that people play deaf and dumb to.
    This is real life.
    McCain 3R Plan is a start, but Obama's view is obviously the end of the USA.

    • Posted By: GoHomeFascist @ 07/25/2008 2:05:56 PM

      Comment: You have got to be kidding me. How could ANYONE be a worse President than Dubya has been? You could literally pull a stranger off the street and put him in the White House, and they would do a better job. You are one lost fascist, living in fear and letting fear control your judgment. The end of the USA? Oh that's right, Obama is a Muslim Manchurian Candidate and does not wear a flag pin.

    • Posted By: Eugene23 @ 07/25/2008 7:27:59 AM

      Comment: You rant and rave. When I read this sort of thing, I make sure to point out that the commentator is playing to the emotions of voters, trying to get his/her way. Playing to the intelligence of voters, of course, takes intelligent commentary.
      That would call for a depth of knowledge about the issues that is greatly lacking in these brainless remarks.

  • Posted By: jlmealer @ 07/24/2008 11:23:38 PM

    Comment: Viagra is fun!
    JOHN McCAIN???S 3R ECONOMIC PLAN 2008
    Abbreviated version

    Progressive thinking Republican Candidate John McCain comes through for America with his 3R economic plan. In the persona of Theodore Roosevelt, McCain???s plan just makes sense.

    FIRST , keep in mind that to drop the fuel tax, the local gov???ts would crash. We must use the 3R to replace taxes lost from replaced fuel through green energy (Yes, we have it ready to go!)
    www.betterconstructed.com

    1. RETHINK: America must see globally on what America is capable of in our current state of technology, engineering and meet the demands that face the world.
    Private Sector framework is in place and current laws allow the 3R to happen. The Progressive attitude of John McCain to get things done by crossing party lines will resurrect America.

    2. REFORM: The American people must demand higher quality products and less restricted trade routes for Made in USA components. We will lead the way of MFG again!

    The USA will reform its dead manufacturing base

    3. REINVENT: America and Americans must reinvent themselves to reach and maintain these standards and by sheer American ingenuity, control the world???s marketplace in the competitive manner, as the USA has always been proud to be #1.
    NUTS AND BOLTS of the plan are simple.

    Billions of savings equates to millions of lost tax revenue from energy companies. The US needs a separate tax revenue source before we can move away from fossil fuels.

    McCain 3R solution.
    McCain???s 3R is about technical, closely monitored and rapid hands on training from pros to create new pros. Thousands of currently-job-displaced ???once leaders in the manufacturing arena??? will be asked to train and play instructor rolls in the 3R plan. Paid, of course, as these new leaders will help create a whole new style of prosperous America. A massive restructure providing thousands New American MFG means millions of new jobs for infrastructure alone.

    We have the buildings, needs and infrastructure to do this!
    New jobs is the mainstay for Creating a new guard for Social Security.

    This is the new place for financial speculators to invest!

    McCain???s Progressive nature embodies Theodore Roosevelt more than any US presidential candidate in history since the original Rough Rider blazed the greatest era of growth in America.
    We need John McCain to lead our nation with the same type of change.
    www.betterconstructed.com


    THIS 3R DRAFT COURTESY OF:
    John Lewis Mealer, Founding President of Mealer Companies

  • Posted By: Flash Drive @ 07/24/2008 10:37:59 PM

    Comment: McCain needs viagra to get his sagging campaign erect. He cannot win ths election by having town hall meetings alone whiles Obama is getting 'rock star" reception where ever he goes.
    It seems to me the GOP has already given up the fight even before it starts.

    • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/25/2008 7:08:38 AM

      Comment: Such blatant stereotypes from Obama supporters.....who would have thought?

    • Posted By: sharenews @ 07/25/2008 4:38:08 AM

      Comment: I dont understand your argument, Flash Drive. McCain has made some formal speeches as well as town hall meetings, but in his case he excels in one on one interaction with town meeting questions from the audiences that gather (which is an admirable approach cuz it tells me he is more comfortable in his skin to know his stuff ; that he has substance and confidence, to be able to handle any question that comes randomly his way. Not being able to talk in as much as an oratic fashion like Obama does is in no way a concern to me about McCain. Cuz the town hall meeting format to me is the most honest and direct manner to address US voters and the questions they (still) have about the candidates in stead of being talked AT. And what I believe as being a true Americana format would be the Town Hall Meeting in which all US Citizens, with both candidates on stage, can respond, side by side as to how they would address the questions they are asked side by side to help the comfort us citizens will experience on our own to evaluate and determine whom is the best candidate. Obama Dem or McCain Repub. What is Obama afraid of . . . .

  • Posted By: C. MacLean @ 07/24/2008 8:41:33 PM

    Comment: FactCheck, you are missing the point. This was not an ad about gender disparities in pharmacy benefits, this was an ad that shows McCain as not understanding the issue of, or not giving a damn about, women's access to contraception.

    The statement by Planned Parenthood is still valid - if even one insurance company covers Viagra but not oral birth control, that is unfair - Planned Parenthood wasn't saying it was the norm, they were asking McCain to comment on the issue of access.

    And he couldn't, because it isn't important to him.

    Rest assured, however, that it is important to most American women - and their male partners.

  • Posted By: MartinCarmel @ 07/24/2008 6:07:08 PM

    Comment: Obama supporters = Kerry supporters = Gore Supporters = Dukakis supporters. Hmmmm. Kerry and Gore and Dukakis led the polls in July by 6+ points. Don't look now....but Obama's HUGE lead is now down to 3 points (see Gallop). Translation? This is the same nation that re-elected an unpopular George Bush in an unpopular war just 3 1/2 years ago. - McCain will win in November

  • Posted By: mj it @ 07/24/2008 4:35:21 PM

    Comment: The point is McCain is unaware...of everything.

    • Posted By: jh35180 @ 07/24/2008 5:42:51 PM

      Comment: And Obama's head is so far in the clouds he says one stupid thing after another.

      MERCI

      • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 07/25/2008 7:11:05 AM

        Comment: No Obama only says things that he thinks will make him sound better. He is driven by Ego.

      • Posted By: notroubleatall1963 @ 07/24/2008 5:49:00 PM

        Comment: What "stupid" thing has Obama said? I can't recall... he sounds refreshingly intelligent to most of the rest of the world. What planet are you from?

        • Posted By: serious discussion @ 07/25/2008 2:31:32 PM

          Comment: Let's state the facts. McCain "forgets" 3 times that the Czech Republic exists, puts Iraq on the Pakistan border, accuses Obama of causing the gas prices to rise, accuses Obama of sedition, and in general is having more senior moments than my Dad does at 83 years old. He appears now to be an old grumpy forgetful guy and do you want him leading us in ANYTHING? Let's contrast. Obama's positions on Iraq and Iran was just proved correct. McCain has now been forced to accept Obama's position on Afganistan. Our European allies are greeting Obama very well as well as the masses of Europeans are welcoming the thought of a thoughtful American who loves his country and understands that the USA cannot survive in the isolation of the last 8 years which have cost us serverly in military lives and BILLIONS of dollars better used at home. Can anyone find a reason to vote for McBush? Newsweek, try this contrast for a change and get rid of the bias toward teflon John. Obama 08!

        • Posted By: djheru @ 07/24/2008 6:48:14 PM

          Comment: As you can see, the slime machine cant provide any examples of Obama's supposed stupidity. It cracks me up to no end to hear this attack from the supporters of the barely coherent GWB.

        • Posted By: jh35180 @ 07/24/2008 6:08:09 PM

          Comment: I am from the planet earth. I live in reality. Obama lives in a fantasy world.

 
 
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