Tom Hanks really needs to do a better job in picking what movies he gets involved with. Sure, he’s been in some classics: Forrest Gump, The Da Vinci Code, Toy Story, Catch Me If You Can. All are really good films. But, some of his recent choices don’t seem to be quite as good. Larry Crowne, for example, didn’t get a lot of great reviews. But his worst choice, by far, is his decision to narrate The Road We’ve Travelled, the Barack Obama propaganda film that came out a few weeks ago. How bad was that film? Glenn, Pat, and Stu tore it apart on radio this morning using FactCheck.org and gave Hanks some career advice when picking his next film.
What did FactCheck.org have to say about the Obama propaganda film? Well, to start…
- The film says “17 million kids could no longer be denied for preexisting conditions,” implying all of them were being denied care before the federal health care law was passed. But that’s the total number of kids who could potentially be denied coverage or charged higher premiums ifthey sought coverage on the individual market.
- It also implies that Obama has reined in the costs of health care premiums — which “had been rising three times the rate of inflation,” as the film says. But the law hasn’t reined in premiums, which still rose three times more than inflation last year. In fact, experts say some of the recent growth was caused by the law, which requires more generous coverage.
- The film suggests that Obama refused to compromise on health care. Obama did hold out for a comprehensive bill, but there was compromise along the way, including the decision to drop the “public option” that he once championed. Later, he called the law “nine-tenths of a loaf.”
- On the auto bailout, the video says automakers have “repaid their loans.” But taxpayers are still on the hook for half of the $80 billion in federal aid. It also suggests that Bush gave away $13 billion to auto companies without demanding action on their part, when, in fact, Bush required them to come up with the so-called economic viability plans by March 31, 2009. Obama then used the plans to force the companies into bankruptcy and force the restructuring of the companies.
Ok, clearly not the most accurate film ever.
The conversation then turned to narrator Tom Hanks.
“Tom Hanks, may you go the way of Oprah,” Glenn said. Glenn reminded audiences that career did not benefit once she got political and endorsed Barack Obama in 2008.
“I will say the Tom Hanks phenomena has, I would say, gone the way of Oprah before Oprah went the way of Oprah,” Stu said.
“It's too bad, because I like Tom Hanks,” Glenn said.
“He's gone from TV comedian to comedic actor, you know, really respected comedic actor to really respected film artist to, you know, this piece,” Glenn added.
Glenn did, however, say that people should to stop looking to artists to give them political advice. He said that they are usually ones to lead people down the path to socialism and communism, only to be the ones who first fall victim to the machine once it is in place.
