Tuesday, July 19, 2011

O'Keefe Does Ohio

Conservative muckraker James O’Keefe’s team at Project Veritas released their latest video on Sunday, and whatever you think of O’Keefe, it’s worth watching. Why? Because Ohio’s Medicaid bureaucracy was targeted, and the results are not pretty.

Imagine two guys walk into a county office inquiring about Medicaid coverage. Now imagine they explain to staff their concerns over getting government handouts while dealing drugs, driving an $800,000 car, and whoring out their underage sister. It's a little painful to watch, but makes an incredibly powerful point when peppered with out-of-control Medicaid spending figures from the Dispatch.

As Hot Air and The Blaze have noted, O’Keefe’s tactics remain somewhat creepy. His emulation of leftists’ personal attacks causes very real grief for the individuals caught on tape – not to mention obvious questions about editing. That said, if your response to a drug dealer looking for public funds isn’t to laugh in their face and call a supervisor, you’re doing something wrong.

I’ve contacted county officials in Columbus, Marion, and London for their responses. If the video’s targets promptly reported the Veritas guys to their supervisors and/or local police, good news: sometimes, government works! If not, this is another arrow to the heart of Progressive arguments that can be boiled down to “MORE.”

The video follows, with uncut footage of the Columbus sting at the end of the 10-minute piece.



As for the entirely predictable response from Media Matters, Talking Points Memo, et al, of course O’Keefe is going to exaggerate the importance of his footage. That hardly invalidates his criticism, if the Franklin County, Marion County, and Madison County Departments of Job and Family Services advised the Project Veritas scammers and did nothing to prevent them from acquiring Medicaid funds. Of course, leftist outlets will shriek desperately about O’Keefe’s political agenda if doing so serves their own!

Follow me on Twitter: @jasonahart

Cross-posted at that hero and Columbus Tea Party.

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