On Sept. 22, President Bush used his weekly radio address to lambaste Congress for its efforts to increase five-year funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In the address, Bush threatened to veto the bill, which he eventually did on Oct. 3. A week later, in an effort to change Bush's mind, the Democratic Radio Address featured a 12-year old boy named Graeme Frost, who had received life-saving care through Maryland's CHIP program after his family was in a car accident. "I don't know why President Bush wants to stop kids who really need help from getting CHIP," said Frost in the address. "All I know is I have some really good doctors...and I'm glad I could see them because of the Children's Health Program." Conservatives, like House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), were quick to complain about Frost's impassioned plea for presidential compassion. "To use an innocent young child as a human shield...is, frankly, beyond the pale," said a spokesman for Boehner. The Weekly Standard's William Kristol called Frost's address "pathetic." Boehner and Kristol's disparaging complaints were mild, however, compared to the attacks on Frost and his family that soon developed on conservative blogs and talk radio over the past week.
THE ANATOMY OF A SMEAR: On Saturday, Oct. 6, a poster at Free Republic propagated information alleging that Frost was actually a rich kid being pampered by the government.
http://capweb.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=VJj3rtF52TucYq1KaLbsnjfHMAFDgfmpAmong other bits of information, the post by the Freeper "icwhatudo" asserted that Graeme and his sister Gemma attend wealthy schools that cost "nearly $40,000 per year for tuition" and live in a well-off home. The Freeper smear, which distorted the facts with innuendo, was soon picked up across the conservative blogosphere. The National Review, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, Powerline, the Weekly Standard blog and others all used the Freeper's claims to launch assaults on the Frost family. "The boy is fair game," said National Review's Mark Steyn. One blogger at RedState suggested that "a team of PIs" should be hired to investigate the Frost family's finances in order to "destroy their lives with that info." Instead of hiring a team, Malkin investigated the Frosts herself, visiting Mr. Frost's business and driving to the family's home. On Monday, right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh picked up the story, claiming that Democrats "filled
head with lies just as they have some of these soldiers." Though congressional conservatives are staying officially silent on the smear campaign, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) office is intently tracking the story while one Senate GOP aide told the Politico, "We're going to ride this story."
MYTH -- THE FROSTS ARE RICH: As The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn, a health care reporter, notes, the Freeper's charges amount to little more than the fact that the Frosts "have jobs, make a decent living, and own their home." "One house in the Graeme's neighborhood has recently sold for half a million dollars, they reported," writes Cohn. "Graeme's father, Halsey, owned his own business and had his own commercial property. Graeme and his sister went to an elite private school where tuition was some $20,000 a year." While these assertions by the Freeper are correct, they omit crucial context that directly undermines the conclusions fueling the conservative histrionics. Together, the Frosts "earn between $45,000 and $50,000 a year," which makes them "eligible for Maryland's Children's Health Program." Though Graeme does attend the private school, the Frosts only pay $500 a year due to a scholarship. Because of injuries sustained in her accident, his sister Gemma attends another private school that costs $23,000 a year, but the state pays the entire cost. As for their "lavish home," the Frosts bought it in 1990 for $55,000, at a time when the neighborhood was less safe. Including Halsey's workplace, the family "is still paying off the mortgages on both properties" they own. In her investigation of the family, Malkin spoke to a friend of Halsey's, who said the family is "struggling," but she refused to believe it.
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