Is the right-wing conservative obsession with health care reform myths yet another example of conservatism as mental illness -
* Jungle gyms! Jason Mattera, a 26-year-old who was just named editor of the hard-right magazine Human Events, video-ambushed Al Franken on March 10 with the question, "Which portions of the health care bill will lower costs? Is it the provision giving $7 billion to fund jungle gyms or the provision mandating that employers provide time off for breast-feeding?" Franken asked Mattera to show him where in the bill he found jungle gyms. "Jungle gyms," Mattera said, "is on 1,184."
Need I mention that jungle gym is yet another phrase that appears nowhere in the bills (searchable text here, here, here, and here)? The page Mattera referred to concerned federal "Community Transformation Grants" to state and local governments and to private nonprofit organizations to promote preventive health. Grants would require approval from the Centers For Disease Control and "may focus on (but not be limited to)" seven specified goals, one of which is "creating healthier school environments, including increasing healthy food options, physical activity opportunities, promotion of healthy lifestyle, emotional wellness, and prevention curricula, and activities to prevent chronic diseases." The project may entail "a variety of programs, policies, and infrastructure improvements," which suggests it might possibly involve building something (though given the liability issues, I wouldn't bet that the result would be a jungle gym). Where Mattera got his $7 billion figure is anybody's guess. The health care bill authorizes "such sums as may be necessary," and the Congressional Budget Office estimated the Community Transformation Grants' cost at zero, which probably means it had no idea how much Congress would eventually choose to appropriate for the program. If the figure did happen to be $7 billion, that would pay for all the Community Transformation Grants, not just grants to schools. **
Mattera and Human Events are proof that we do need to spend some money promoting "emtional wellness".
