GOP plans day of programming to counter Obama ABC special

Republicans are organizing a day of counter-programming in response to the planned ABC special on healthcare to be broadcast from the White House.

House and Senate GOP staffers were hand-delivered a memo Wednesday letting them know the Republican National Committee (RNC) would make its studios available to lawmakers free of cost next Wednesday — the day of the ABC primetime special, “Prescription for America.”

RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay sparred with ABC News officials yesterday over the special, which McKay asserted would become a “glorified infomercial” for the Obama healthcare reform plan.

The back-and-forth was prominently highlighted on the Drudge Report.

The RNC offered up its own TV studio and agreed to absorb the cost of satellite time for the interviews with local affiliates — including 211 ABC stations nationwide.

The committee also offered lawmakers assistance in arranging the interviews, and suggested the members take the opportunity to push back against the Obama administration’s healthcare bill.