Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 8:05 am on August 31, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Today’s entry comes from Naked Emperor News, via Yid with Lid, focusing on an inconsistency in Barack Obama’s arguments for the public option in ObamaCare. Obama has a tough enough time remaining consistent within the same event in his arguments, but NEN makes it impossible by finding a clip from 2006, when Obama criticized Medicare Part D. Obama didn’t like the idea of mixing public and private efforts within the framework of a government entitlement program at that time:
2006: “And I think a good example is health care. The President allowed drug companies and insurance companies to help write the prescription drug bill. We now have the worst of both worlds. We have the price gouging of the private sector and the bureaucracy of the public sector.”
2009: “The only thing that I have said is that having a public option in that menu would provide competition for insurance companies to keep them honest.”
Actually, there’s another hypocrisy as well. Isn’t Obama the guy who cut the deal with the pharmaceutical manufacturers to get their support — and to win their advertising dollars? Isn’t that kind of like saying that doctors want to get rich off of tonsillectomies and amputations, but his plan leaves them in charge of our medical care?
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!
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What a liar! He simply wants all power in his hands. No thanks, Caligula!
Ignorant Mensan on August 31, 2009 at 8:09 AM
Does Obama even know what he’s talking about, at all, on the issue of healthcare?
bridgetown on August 31, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Demanding consistency from Dear Leader is racist!
The “public option” is just a waystation on the journey to single payer, i.e. government health care.
rbj on August 31, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Me thinks, Obama said a lot of words,and
I bet he didn`t think those up by him
self,he must of got them at ‘Words R us’!!
(Sarc).
Oh ya,Hopey has a consistent pattern!!
canopfor on August 31, 2009 at 8:17 AM
He’s in overexposed drone mode. Let him go and let America see him for the fraud he is.
Fletch54 on August 31, 2009 at 8:18 AM
No surprise. Possibly the biggest prevaricator ever in The White House.
kingsjester on August 31, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Under ObamaCare, the only way anyone will be able to work in the health care field is to swear to Barry’s code of medical ethics:
Above all, do tell lies.
— Obama’s Hypocritical Oath
Loxodonta on August 31, 2009 at 8:19 AM
He wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him. He is dishonest and crooked.
TXMomof3 on August 31, 2009 at 8:20 AM
Drudge: Rasmussen obama approval at 46 %
one of the great r-leaning poll sites out there, http://www.hedgehogreport.com , had said that there was an outlier of strong support for obama by men in some of rasmussen’s ‘rolling averages’ (i think their poll isnt just one day’s result of calls).
clearly, that ‘we love nobama’ vote by men fell off today.
Expect 45% by mid-week!
NOW the question is…. the abc/nbc polls have kept fudging their numbers by ‘sampling’ screws…. ie making 2/3 of your respondents “obama voters”. it used to work because indies love obama, but NOW BOTH gop and indies hate the man.
how long will they prop him up? george steffie can’t do it forever. they will look ridiculous, the only way to get a poll with 58% approval is to poll san francisco and DC only.
their biggest problem is that gallup, pew, etc. are showing right at 49, 50, and 51. they can’t write off rasmussen…
battleoflepanto1571 on August 31, 2009 at 8:22 AM
Finally! An explanation of all the vacations. You have to argue a lot more to be on two sides of everything.
IlikedAUH2O on August 31, 2009 at 8:23 AM
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers.” – John Admas
publiuspen on August 31, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Ochimpy is the brother of see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil. He is the lost “admit no evil” brother.
csdeven on August 31, 2009 at 8:25 AM
And The Won proclaimed, “You ain’t seen nothin’ YET!”
I wonder what “nothin’” he’s referring to. Maybe Rasmussen should put a “Nothin’” category in his survey just so we could start seeing it.
ted c on August 31, 2009 at 8:26 AM
Lies are hard to keep track of….let’s hope voters remember the President’s two faces.
yoda on August 31, 2009 at 8:26 AM
How do you keep up with these?
If you tell enough lies, people will get tired of you pointing them out and just start saying “all you do is pick on him”.
Kind of like Biden, his mistakes are just taken for granted “Oh, that is just Joe”…
right2bright on August 31, 2009 at 8:27 AM
The State Run Media will continue to prop up appearances for Dear Leader. It’s not in their interest to do otherwise.I take all polls now as if they’re from Pravda.
Jeff from WI on August 31, 2009 at 8:29 AM
How do you keep up with these?
So, do you think we should stop pointing out his blatant lies and inconsistencies? He has to be called on each and every lie. With every one he loses credibility with people who actually believed in him at one time.
TXMomof3 on August 31, 2009 at 8:29 AM
So apparently, if the facts, as you saw them in 2006, do not conform to your 2009 theory, they must be disposed of?
anniekc on August 31, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Biden is treated like the kindly, amusing old uncle that’s escaped from the NUT HOUSE
Jeff from WI on August 31, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Jeff from WI on August 31, 2009 at 8:31 AM
You mean, escaped from the VP Bunker where they have him tied to a chair with duct tape on his mouth.
kingsjester on August 31, 2009 at 8:34 AM
LOL..I wish he disposed of himself like another famous bunker dweller.
Jeff from WI on August 31, 2009 at 8:35 AM
All this guy does is get on TV and lie.
LibTired on August 31, 2009 at 8:39 AM
Is The One going off teleprompter again?
Yakko77 on August 31, 2009 at 8:39 AM
Explicitly negative? If the AARP and Obama’s Democrats are concerned about bringing down health care cost, why not remove all exclusive rights? This “tangled web” continues here with this assertion from a pharmaceutical industry lobbyist:
Oh what a tangled webs we weave, When first we practise to deceive!…….
Rovin on August 31, 2009 at 8:39 AM
The Orrogance of this man is simply astounding.
ladyingray on August 31, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Making the deal with the pharmaceutical industry leaves THEM in charge of our medical care, not doctors.
maverick muse on August 31, 2009 at 8:40 AM
I’m not certain Obama is lying. I think he may be so utterly clueless that he is just stringing together random pieces of BS. All he knows is that he wants the government to run things, but he has no idea what the healthcare or insurance industry really are or how they do what they do.
jwolf on August 31, 2009 at 8:42 AM
One man’s Janus is another’s pragmatist.
I rather prefer the pragmatist’s view.
Geezer on August 31, 2009 at 8:42 AM
In the statue, what part of his head is he covering . . . or does he just have his head up his rear?
AZCoyote on August 31, 2009 at 8:47 AM
We always knew he is fond of waffles.
Beaglemom on August 31, 2009 at 8:50 AM
You know, sometimes I try to cut the man some slack. Not that I’m an Obama supporter by any means, but he is only human (despite what his drooling sycophants tell you). I mean, who remembers stuff they said three years ago?
Then I think about all the things I’m passionate about. My stance hasn’t changed and I remember at least the gist of anything I’ve said about it because it hasn’t changed. And if I do change my mind about something, I can at least explain why. Which leaves me to conclude that Obama is either a poor liar, believes the masses will swallow everything he says regardless, or he’s just a moron. Perhaps all three.
The only way for this guy to save his sinking poll numbers is to sit down and shut up. Even my opinion of him would rise. Slightly.
lonesome_pine on August 31, 2009 at 8:52 AM
The insurance industry has also struck their deals with Obama long ago:
Does anyone care to guess who pays for these “full cost” of benefits?
Rovin on August 31, 2009 at 8:53 AM
This guy is all over the place.
He should probably talk less. Maybe take nice a trip to Camp David or something.
forest on August 31, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Bad enough that there’s no way financially to maintain excellent medical care via Socialism. But to actually enforce protocol to bleed victims to death in order, effectively, to keep costs down via convoluted postponed delivery of services until too late, is DISGUSTING!
We KNOW via our military’s rapid response that our critically injured troops ability to survive depends on those first minutes, that the survival clock doesn’t wait to start ticking until the patient actually enters a hospital, not ANY hospital, but a specialized hospital.
Sheesh, that specializes in the most grueling torturous death. We don’t want to convert America’s humane and effective medical response protocol to French Socialist “etiquette”.
maverick muse on August 31, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Ray Nagin is constantly declaring that New Orleans has “turned the corner.” So much that the city is essentially running around in circles without any appreciable change in the insitutional faults that were apparent prior to Katrina.
Jennifer Granholm has constantly declared that Michigan would be “blown away” by her efforts when the only thing that has been blown away is any whiff of recovery, jobs, or hope.
I’d put the “ain’t seen nothin’ yet” comments from the filthy liar in the White House right up there with these fellow failures. And as a side note, it’s pretty damned stupid for an ivy league affirmative action graduate who bills himself as the most brilliant mind of our time to be using the slang word “ain’t” and the contraction “nothin’” Just shows how stupid the bastard really is.
highhopes on August 31, 2009 at 9:03 AM
He’ll be hiding out there later this week. What with all the stress of golfing last week.
highhopes on August 31, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Rovin on August 31, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Yes. This entire debate over legislative health care reform is based upon insurance being TOO EXPENSIVE.
And of course it’s not simply the drug industry that costs.
C-SPAN Q&A last night with a Virginia surgeon/hospital Board President was very enlightening, what works financially in delivering services and holding down costs, and the absolute knowledge that ObamaCare, single payer, or universal medicare across the board will destroy the medical delivery system that America now enjoys. Socialized medicine will destroy research via bankruptcy. Government expects private industry to do all the work required to keep things running while the government burdens enterprise to drain or block everything necessary to keep producing.
How long can anything survive when losing 20% all of the time? Who will invest in a losing proposition?
Taxpayers? Or LEGISLATORS against the will of the people.
maverick muse on August 31, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Not to worry, TeddyObamacare will run just as smoothly as the Post Office. You know, the same organization that will be closing 1,000 locations. Yup, the future looks bright. /s
mizflame98 on August 31, 2009 at 9:11 AM
HE consistently lies about everything. Most libs don’t care cuz he da 1.
And he likes cute little puppies.
I am so proud of America now.
conservativegrandma on August 31, 2009 at 9:12 AM
maverick muse on August 31, 2009 at 8:40 AM
/Editing Ed’s line.
I’m not saying that ONLY the pharmaceutical industry is behind Socialized medicine. They most certainly are behind the Socialist-Democrat plan, having been promised a huge piece of the windfall profits. Of course, the insurance industry is in on what’s happening; they want theirs.
maverick muse on August 31, 2009 at 9:13 AM
BTW
Bill Bennett’s substitute is quoting Allahpundit’s outrage over the Kennedy kid’s funeral prayer manipulations.
maverick muse on August 31, 2009 at 9:13 AM
But…does any of this really matter? I mean Ted Kennedy is dead…he died for this bill to pass. A sage prince has fallen on his sword.
Osis on August 31, 2009 at 9:21 AM
For the record MM, I was attempting to point out that the Obama administration has already struck deals with the two largest entities; the drug companies and the insurance companies. AARP is also on board as long as they get “their deal” with both. It’s all about the transfer of money and power SHARED WITH THE GOVERNMENT.
And, I would submit ALL of these “deals” will be subsidized by the taxpayers—the little secret Obama and the Dems would prefer to keep spinning under the guise of bringing down actual health care cost. If this thing passes, the joke will be on us.
Rovin on August 31, 2009 at 9:30 AM
They would probably argue that the are getting more efficient – you know, the elimination redundancies for which the Government is so famous.
I took a look at the list and was surprised that the offices I’m familiar with and most of the others appear to be in urban areas. I kinda figured they would stick it to the rural people again. Maybe nobody from the Administration has seen the list yet – can’t have union folks from big cities making sacrifices.
forest on August 31, 2009 at 9:30 AM
This isn’t amateurism. Obama is a professional liar. If I didn’t know better, I would even call it taqqiyah.
rockmom on August 31, 2009 at 9:43 AM
So Teddy Kennedy planned on dying of brain cancer right now to further the cause of universal, single-payer healthcare? I didn’t realize a man whose survial instincts lead to the death of a woman would be so selfless in later life.
highhopes on August 31, 2009 at 10:17 AM
The idea was to close the unproductive ones in areas where there were other alternatives. Harder to do in rural areas than cities/suburbs where post offices are often only a few miles apart.
Personally, I think they didn’t go far enough since the “retail” portion of the USPS isn’t the key to their business. They should have looked to lease space in super Wal-marts or other big box retailers and closed more of the stand-alone facilities. The mail, then, goes out from more central distribution points.
highhopes on August 31, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Your word says it all. “Consistency.”
FUBAR
gopmom on August 31, 2009 at 11:08 AM
For more anecdotal evidence of the quality of the French health care system, my French father-in-law was hospitalized in Versailles for a “routine” gall-bladder operation. The day after surgery, he was walking around while attached to a rolling intravenous fluids feeder. The next day, he was dead after hospital personnel had inserted an oral feeding tube into his lungs.
There were no damages awarded for medical malpractice. Oopsies and “desole” (sorry), and they buried the evidence. This occurred in 1985 (France already had socialized medicine back then), and his widow and two daughters, one of whom went to law school, still don’t know who did this.
No, we DON’T want French health care in America!!!
Steve Z on August 31, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Obama believes that ALL profit is price gouging. He comes from mindset where all business and all fee for service professionals, save lawyers of course, are akin to the Railroad in Frank Norris’s The Octopus. Believing that business should always be left alone, a la Friedman, is a debatable concept. Believing that all business is greedy price gouging is dangerous nonsense.
xkaydet65 on August 31, 2009 at 11:38 AM
FIFY
jana on August 31, 2009 at 11:50 AM
Oh, now… give Zero a break. He got ripped off.
Even though they spent the week *before* they went on their (official) vacation touring National Parks, the MSM was whining earlier about how his Martha’s Vineyard vacation (the official one) was “a gyp”.
First, he had to interrupt the festvities to reappoint Ben Bernanke (which of course, he *didn’t* have to do… Bernanke’s term still has five months to go…)
Then, his “friend” Teddy dies. What kind of friend can’t hold on for a few more days until everyone’s vacation is done. Selfish and rude, if you ask me.
So, in order to “make up for” all of that… The O’s are headed to Camp David on Wednesday. After two whole days of being back at work.
I’m glad to see them living so large on my dime, aren’t you?
jana on August 31, 2009 at 11:57 AM
If PeeBO says “the only thing I’ve ever said,” then you know he said something else contradictory some other time in his career.
Mallard T. Drake on August 31, 2009 at 3:06 PM