July 25, 2009

Barack Obama makes Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton look honest
by Bill Levinson

We previously cited a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that openly, albeit politely, contends with evidence that Barack Obama is lying about his health care reform proposal. We have since then seen three additional opinion pieces, all in the prestigious Wall Street Journal, that use language like “obfuscate” and “simply not credible” to describe the President’s statements. We meanwhile reported in 2008 that Barack Obama lied to his own church, the United Church of Christ, when he promised that he would not misuse the church’s tax exempt resources to promote his campaign.

We have heard various talk radio show hosts attack Obama’s health care plan with cries of “Socialism,” but talk radio is a lot like professional wrestling; you have to know what parts are real (the acrobatics and stunt fighting) and what parts are not (the proposition that the wrestling is actually a contest in which the winner is not known ahead of time). Talk radio is similarly a combination of actual news and bombastic entertainment. The Wall Street Journal is not talk radio, and its readers do not pay $250 or more a year to read the kind of hyperbole and exaggeration they can get from talk radio or the headlines of various tabloids. When the WSJ’s distinguished writers and contributors use language like “obfuscate” and “simply not credible,” they are openly calling the President of the United States a liar; a position with which we agree.

To recap, this is from “Repealing ERISA” in the July 21 Wall Street Journal.

One by one, President Obama’s health-care promises are being exposed by the details of the actual legislation: Costs will explode, not fall; taxes will have to soar to pay for it; and now we are learning that you won’t be able to “keep your health-care plan” either…. So when Mr. Obama says that “If you like your health-care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what,” he’s wrong. Period. What he’s not telling the American people is that the government will so dramatically change the rules of the insurance market that employers will find it impossible to maintain their current coverage…

In somewhat cruder but more to the point language, Barack Obama lied to the people who elected him when he said they could keep their current health care plans if they did not want to go with the government plans. John Fund’s “Health Reform’s Hidden Victims” (July 24, page A15) adds,

President Barack Obama’s health-care sales pitch depends on his ability to obfuscate who is likely to get hurt by reform. At Wednesday’s news conference, for example, he was asked “specifically what kind of pain and sacrifice” he would ask of patients in order to achieve the cost savings he promises.

He insisted he “won’t reduce Medicare benefits” but instead would “make delivery more efficient.” The most Mr. Obama would concede is that some people will have to “give up paying for things that don’t make you healthier.” That is simply not credible.

Native Americans might phrase this far more simply as, “Obama speaks with forked tongue.” Peggy Noonan’s “Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare” (July 25, page A13) adds,

His news conference the other night was bad. He was filibustery and spinny and gave long and largely unfollowable answers that seemed aimed at limiting the number of questions asked and running out the clock. You don’t do that when you’re fully confident. Far more seriously, he didn’t seem to be telling the truth. We need to create a new national health-care program in order to cut down on government spending? Who would believe that? Would anybody?

“Government Care’s Assault on Seniors” (July 24) adds that the Obama health care agenda is actually an attack on the country’s senior citizens:

By Betsy McCaughey

Since Medicare was established in 1965, access to care has enabled older Americans to avoid becoming disabled and to travel and live independently instead of languishing in nursing homes. But legislation now being rushed through Congress—H.R. 3200 and the Senate Health Committee Bill—will reduce access to care, pressure the elderly to end their lives prematurely, and doom baby boomers to painful later years.

The Congressional majority wants to pay for its $1 trillion to $1.6 trillion health bills with new taxes and a $500 billion cut to Medicare. This cut will come just as baby boomers turn 65 and increase Medicare enrollment by 30%. Less money and more patients will necessitate rationing. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 1% of Medicare cuts will come from eliminating fraud, waste and abuse.

“He didn’t seem to be telling the truth.” “Who would believe that?” “His ability to obfuscate.” “This is simply not credible.” “What he’s not telling the American people…” All these statements go far beyond a mere difference opinion over Obama’s health care plan and its likely effectiveness. They state in no uncertain terms that Barack Obama is lying to the United States, the Congress of the United States, and even the Democratic Party to push his agenda. We must therefore wonder what else he has lied about both before and after his election to the Presidency (e.g. the Clean Energy and Security Act). The bottom line is that the country simply cannot trust this individual and, until we fix our collective mistake in November 2012, must find ways to work around him to improve health care, the economy, and the security of the United States.