Obama's Lying Earns Four Pinocchios

Glenn Kessler, the fact checker for the Washington Post, gave Obama four Pinocchios for misleading the American public.  Obama’s pledge that ‘no one will take away’ your health plan. Below is a short excerpt from Glenn's article. Please read the full article.

"The president’s pledge that “if you like your insurance, you will keep it” is one of the most memorable of his presidency. It was also an extraordinarily bold — and possibly foolish — pledge, unless he thought he simply could dictate exactly how the insurance industry must work. ...

One might excuse the president for making an aspirational pledge as the health-care bill was being drafted, but it turns out he kept saying it after the bill was signed into law. By that point, there should have been no question about the potential impact of the law on insurance plans, especially in the individual market. ...

The administration is defending this pledge with a rather slim reed — that there is nothing in the law that makes insurance companies force people out of plans they were enrolled in before the law passed. That explanation conveniently ignores the regulations written by the administration to implement the law. Moreover, it also ignores the fact that the purpose of the law was to bolster coverage and mandate a robust set of benefits, whether someone wanted to pay for it or not.

The president’s statements were sweeping and unequivocal — and made both before and after the bill became law. The White House now cites technicalities to avoid admitting that he went too far in his repeated pledge, which, after all, is one of the most famous statements of his presidency.

The president’s promise apparently came with a very large caveat: “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan — if we deem it to be adequate.”

I would encourage you to read the full article. Glenn, for example, did make what I believe to be a dubious assertion.  Glenn wrote: "Moreover, it’s certainly incorrect to claim, as some Republicans have, that people are losing insurance coverage. Instead, in virtually all cases, it’s being replaced with probably better (and possibly more expensive) insurance." Getting "cancelled" and being forced into a "replacement" plan (that may be more expensive, even if better) is not keeping "your health plan".

Obama Adminstration Finally Admits it Lied That Everyone Would be Able to Keep Their Health Plan

Finally, after years of stonewalling, Carney admitted that not everyone would be able to keep their health-care plans despite the faux Obama assurances that they would. To bad this deception didn't reach the public consciousness during the November 2012 Presidential election or in October 2013 during the Obama induced government shutdown fiasco.  Click on the link below to read the Washington Times article.

Everyone won’t keep health care plan under Obamacare, White House admits

"The White House acknowledged for the first time Monday that President Obama's oft-repeated promise that everyone can keep their health-insurance plans under Obamcare just isn’t true.

For more than three years as he worked to pass the Affordable Care Act and encouraged people to enroll, Mr. Obama routinely pledged that people could keep their doctor and their plan if they liked them.

“If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period,” Mr. Obama said in June 2009. Later that year he proclaimed, “Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.”"

Unbelievably, even NBC News, which tends to blindly endorse Obama, reported: "Obama admin. knew millions could not keep their health insurance".

"President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years."

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While on the topic of purposeful misleading rhetoric to blatantly solicit votes, the Washington Times also re-published Obama's infamous "deficits are a failure of leadership" speech.

EDITORIAL: ‘Raising debt limit is a sign of failure’

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government’s reckless fiscal policies. Over the past five years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is ‘trillion’ with a ‘T.’ That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And over the next five years, between now and 2011, the president’s budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion."

The national debt, in October 2013, just passed 17 Trillion dollars.  Since being elected Obama changed his tune and now refuses to address deficit spending and even dissed various proposals to reduce deficit spending. By the time Obama leaves office in 2016, the National debt is projected to exceed 20 Trillion dollars.

Seems that the American public has been bamboozled by Obama's false assertions of "transparency" and being above petty partisan "above politics".

Obama - The Government Shutdown and the Affordable Care Act

The roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has proven to be less than stellar. Clearly, the ACA was not ready for prime-time. This opinion piece is not about the numerous flaws of the ACA or the growing failure of the roll-out, but a reflection on the detestable partisan political games being played by the Democrats.

In October, the deadlines on the government spending authorizations and the National debt ceiling were under heated debate. The pending failure of the ACA was just begging to simmer. Within context of the debate, one of the topics under consideration was the funding and/or delaying implementation of the individual mandate of the ACA. The Obama administration said NO to negotiations and shutdown the government. The Democrats, like sheep, simply went along with the Obama mantra. The Republicans unfortunately caved. The Democrats then asserted how the American people won because the Republicans were duly trounced.

Unbelievably, now that the Democrats have knee-capped the Republicans, some Democrats in the name of protecting the American people want to delay implementing the ACA!!!!!!  I assume that the Democrats will now assert that delaying implementing the ACA was really their genius inspiration to improve the ACA. Washington Post (October 25, 2013) article by Aaron Blake:"10 Senate Democrats sign Shaheen letter pushing for open enrollment extension".

Where were these Democrats when the spending/debt issues were being vigorously discussed?  Essentially, the Democrats (hypothetically) participated in letting an "innocent" person get ostracized and vilified. Now that the innocent person (beaten, bruised, and in torn rags) is writhing in the gutter, the Democrats come forward with great faux solemnity advocating that the ACA enrollment period needs to be extended for the benefit of the American people. Hypocrites. Below are some reader comments that were made on Mr. Blake's article.

n_slash_a commented: "Seriously!? Just just a week ago these same Democrats were saying that Republicans were "destroying America" for suggesting delaying Obamacare! Two-faced traitorous hypocrites!!"

DrEvil007 commented: "I guess this means these 10 tolerant, open minded, intelligent Democrats have been transformed into intoloerant, ignorant racists since anyone who has demonstrated any resistance to assimilation into the Obamacare collective was labeled as such. It would have been nice if they went along with the Republicans lead and the government slowdown could have been avoided. How bad is this that theses 10 Democratic Senators are trying to delay it?"

bhughes3, concerning motivation of the Senators who signed, commented: "That's right, so their constituency won't hang them or burn them at the stakes. Which will happen anyway."

Obama himself has demonstrated duplicity.  On one had he asserted that the ACA was not on the negotiating table. Consequently Obama refused to discuses anything concerning the ACA with the Republicans.  Yet Obama has made and continues to make unilateral decisions, without consulting Congress, on delaying, modifying, waiving portions of the ACA as he sees fit. Now that the Republicans have caved, Obama has extended the enrollment period. Washington Post article: "Americans will have an extra six weeks to buy health coverage before facing penalty". Obama could have negotiated such an agreement with the Republican to avoid the government shutdown.  While extending this deadline, may be well within Obama's executive authority, it nevertheless is another demonstration of Obama's "kingship".

Republicans Cave

An unfortunate decision on the part of the Republicans.  Whether it was the "correct" decision, I won't speculate.  The Republicans evidently had an alternative strategy which made much sense. To give Obama his clean spending resolution which would have allowed the increasing negative publicity surrounding the "Affordable Care Act" take center stage and make the headlines.  Instead, Republican intransigence became the headline thereby minimizing the the public's awareness of the negative publicity surrounding the apparent  implementation failure of the "Affordable Care Act".

Nevertheless, the Republicans went ahead, with much internal divisiveness, suggesting only partial government funding.  The Obama administration, through the Senate, just sat back, watched these wild machinations with a smile and loudly proclaimed with faux moral outrage NO to any negotiations. The Republicans, at the last minute, self-imploded. Too bad.

The Republicans, should have simply refused to negotiate too, even if it prolonged the government shut-down and even if the debt limit was reached.  It was Obama's decision to shut-down the government and reject the House's continuing spending resolutions. By caving, the Republicans have essentially abrogated the Constitutional premise that it is the House that originates spending and grants the President a spending "allowance".  Now Obama will simply view the House as a rubber stamp to approve, without question, his unilateral spending/revenue demands.

Obama Shuts Down the US Government

Tease, actually the US Senate was responsible since they refused to adopt the spending bill forwarded to them by the US House of Representatives. Nevertheless, the responsibility for the shutdown of the US government ultimately still rests with Obama since the Democrats are acting as his proxies. Obama, himself, set the stage by stating that he will not negotiate with the Republicans, which tends to be an impediment to compromise. 

Obama has also gone on to say that after he gets what he wants from Congress in the way of a budget, that he would then be willing to have a "conversion" concerning the future of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  Well that's an absurdity. Why would Obama all of a sudden negotiate after he received everything he demanded?  Not only that, but Obama already had 365 days (one budget cycle) to have that "conversation" with the Republicans, and he avoided making that a reality.

Furthermore, Obama has unilaterally made revisions to the Affordable Care Act, without the consent of the Congress. Obama has, on his own volition, changed the law, granted waivers, and delayed implementation of the Affordable Care Act.  An abuse of Executive Authority since the President is limited to implementing the law as passed by Congress, not changing it. Yet Obama refuses to negotiate with the US House of Representatives, which is a law making body. Again, if Obama refuses to work with the US House of Representatives to legally fix what is broken with the Affordable Care Act, it is Obama who is shutting down the US government.