Comments on: President Obama Tells Bald-Faced Lie About Health Care Reform Cost Control

By: cmhmd

cmhmd — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:34:55 +0000

From the NY Times today:

The House bill does a good job of creating affordable insurance plans for the uninsured but does little to attack fee-for-service medicine. As a result, medical costs are likely to stay high for everyone.

The Senate bill, by contrast, has the “essential elements of a successful, fiscally responsible reform strategy,” according to a recent letter from 26 economists, including four Nobel Prize winners and two former directors of the Congressional Budget Office. But the Senate plan is too rough on the newly insured. It would force many of them to pay thousands of dollars a year out of pocket, on top of their premiums, for care.

“Take the Senate on cost control and the House on affordability,” Jonathan Gruber of M.I.T. argues, “and you’ve the best possible bill.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/economy/16leonhardt.html?_r=1&nl=us&emc=politicsemailema1

By: spanishinquisition

spanishinquisition — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:34:43 +0000

Obama is continually using fear-mongering and extortion – it’s like he can’t make a speech without it. I think Democrats have been kinda blinded, but are now seeing the light as this fear-mongering extortion from his last speech wasn’t the first time he’s done it by a long shot.

By: piniella

piniella — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:06:40 +0000

Good catch, Jon, thanx!

By: zeroguardian03

zeroguardian03 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:07:24 +0000

You were right, and I think our hint was that he had spent so little time in office, and it’s easy to project your best hopes onto someone when you really have no evidence how they actually govern. It’s the same mistake the GOP might make with Palin (“she’s AWESOME! Because she hasn’t done anything, and I can project what I think she’ll do in the absence of evidence!”) It’s the new fad of the political clean slate that says the right things but is untested in the messy world of politics, and there is no way of knowing if they can withstand all of it.

By: elpolacko

elpolacko — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:46:45 +0000

have to admit to enjoying a little schadenfreude reading these comments.
anyone remember.. WAY back like last year.. when there were those of us who tried to tell you starry-eyed barackies that the man was a total fraud?
let’s see..i believe we were dismissed as ‘racists’ at the time..so what does that make you now that the light is no longer shining in your eyes and you can see the man as he truly is?

By: sporkovat

sporkovat — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:38:43 +0000

great comment, I agree. but here is an easy test for the depth of ‘progressive’ outrage – look at your calendar and divide the year by 2. if it will not divide evenly by 2, you can have vast outpourings of cathartic outrage against the ‘spineless’ Democrats, and bold ones will step forward and even say, “never again!”

but, if you can divide the year evenly by 2, then it is get out the vote time, and turnout suppressing discouragement is treated rather differently.

despite this predictable oscillation, more and more folks are profoundly dissatisfied with voting against their own interests for the least worst all the time, and cannot be guilt tripped back, and contrarians are gifted with mountains of evidence daily that (D) governance differs very little from (R) governance, except maybe stylistically.

so thats encouraging.

By: zeroguardian03

zeroguardian03 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:04:05 +0000

This is unfortunately something I suspected in the campaign- I heard him say beautiful things, but I was perpetually wondering if he really believed them. The Afghanistan speech was utterly baffling- I don’t think he believed a single thing he said. It is almost as if he wants to be vague and “nice” sounding enough so that everyone can project their best hopes onto his message. That only works in a campaign- sooner or later you have to start governing, and then what you really believe comes out.

I really hope the Dems get stomped in 2010. It’s pretty much the only way to make him give up this game.

By: larryv

larryv — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:54:35 +0000

Obama is getting as good as Karl Rove at lying.

By: newtonusr

newtonusr — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:52:06 +0000

I am not saying I agree, but bringing the Fargo Ref – beauty.

By: fredcdobbs

fredcdobbs — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:46:48 +0000

So now Obama, the multi-dimensional chess master, is reduced to emulating Jerry Lundegaard forcing rust protection on unwilling car buyers who know better? I’d love to hear the Obama-bot explanation for this (I’m sure there is one).