Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

$

PolitiFact Natonal’s Lie of the Year: Government ‘takeover of health care’

By Angie Drobnic Holan
December 17, 2010
By Bill Adair
December 17, 2010

In the spring of 2009, a Republican strategist settled on a brilliant and powerful attack line for President Barack Obama’s ambitious plan to overhaul America’s health insurance system. Frank Luntz, a consultant famous for his phraseology, urged GOP leaders to call it a “government takeover.”

“Takeovers are like coups,” Luntz wrote in a 28-page memo. “They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom.”

Less than two years later, PolitiFact National has chosen “government takeover of health care” as the 2010 Lie of the Year.

Read the detailed write-up by clicking here.

Our Sources

Past PolitiFact articles.

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Bill Adair
John Kitzhaber
stated on July 18, 2014 in a campaign debate:
Oregon “is the most trade-dependent state in the nation”
False
Donald Rumsfeld
stated on February 17, 2013 in an op-ed in the "Washington Post":
Says wrestling was a favorite sport of Abraham Lincoln.
True
Rick Perry
stated on January 8, 2012 in a Republican debate in New Hampshire.:
Says President Barack Obama “is a socialist.”
Pants on Fire!
C.W. Bill Young
stated on February 20, 2010 in a speech to Pinellas County Republicans.:
The Democratic health care plan is a “government takeover of our health programs.”
Pants on Fire!
Dick Cheney
stated on December 30, 2009 in a statement to Politico.:
President Obama “doesn’t … want to admit we’re at war.”
Pants on Fire!
Barack Obama
stated on September 20, 2009 in an interview on Meet the Press:
“Mathematically, the White Sox can still get in the playoffs.”
True

PolitiFact Natonal’s Lie of the Year: Government ‘takeover of health care’


Mike Collins
stated on October 13, 2026 in in a debate:




Mariannette Miller-Meeks
stated on October 2, 2026 in a Facebook post:







Phil Berger
stated on October 7, 2026 in comments:

Zach Nunn
stated on September 8, 2026 in a social media post: