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Hey, I thought MSM columnists weren’t allowed to use the word “lie”?  Either (a) Steven Pearlstein didn’t get the memo, (b) the rules are different for Pulitzer Prize winners, or (c) Republican lies about healthcare reform have caused his brain to explode:

There is no credible way to look at what has been proposed by the president or any congressional committee and conclude that these will result in a government takeover of the health-care system. That is a flat-out lie

….Health reform will cost taxpayers at least a trillion dollars. Another lie.

….The Republican lies about the economics of health reform are also heavily laced with hypocrisy. While holding themselves out as paragons of fiscal rectitude, Republicans grandstand against just about every idea to reduce the amount of health care people consume or the prices paid to health-care providers.

And he didn’t even get around to mentioning the “Democrats want to kill granny” meme or the “Obama wants you to snitch on your neighbor” meme or the “liberals want to provide spa vacations to illegal immigrants” meme.  I guess his column wasn’t long enough.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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