Taxpayers foot the bill in propaganda ads for Obamacare starring Andy Griffith

It is a fine line when the government uses taxpayer money instead of PAC donations, or 3rd party organizations to promote legislation or an agenda.  Yet, that line has been crossed when the Federal government was shown to have used taxpayer money as a means of propaganda to tout their passing of national health care.

Many of you have seen the ads with actor and senior citizen Andy Griffith attempt to calm fears and tout the benefits of Obamacare.  What most do not realize is that this promo was not paid for by AARP, a medicare-based insurance company, or any other non-government organization.  No, the funding for these ads came directly from the federal coffers.

In a story yesterday from The Blaze, details of the ads and where the money came from are directly from documents received from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Documents obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services reveal that the Obama administration spent $3,184,000 in taxpayer funds to produce and air national television ads promoting Democrats’ health care overhaul plan.

The ads, starring television icon Andy Griffith, were meant to educate “Medicare beneficiaries, caregivers and family members about forthcoming changes to Medicare as a result of the Affordable Care Act.” However, multiple media outlets, including the nonpartisan FactCheck.org, called the ads misleading.

“Would the sheriff of Mayberry mislead you about Medicare? Alas, yes. In a new TV spot from the Obama administration, actor Andy Griffith, famous for his 1960s portrayal of the top law enforcement official in the fictional town of Mayberry, N.C., touts benefits of the new health care law. Griffith tells his fellow senior citizens, ‘like always, we’ll have our guaranteed [Medicare] benefits.’ But the truth is that the new [Obamacare] law is guaranteed to result in benefit cuts for one class of Medicare beneficiaries — those in private Medicare Advantage plans.”

Welcome to George Orwell's 1984, where the Ministry of Truth is used as a government propaganda tool to push government agenda.

Americans rely on sources, both in the mainstream media, and from alternative media to gather facts about our government, and legislation.  This crossing of the line by the government to mislead people using famous celebrities and taxpayer money to promote their agendas, strikes at the very core of open government.