Jake Tapper fact-checks Obama assertion on public option campaigning
posted at 2:20 pm on December 23, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Yesterday, Barack Obama told the Washington Post that he never campaigned explicitly on the public option for health care reform:
Those elements are in the House and Senate versions of the legislation; their competing proposals will have to be reconciled in conference committee next year. The House bill includes a government-run insurance plan favored by progressive Democrats; the Senate version does not. “I didn’t campaign on the public option,” Obama said in the interview.
Maybe Obama would have been better off by saying, “That’s not the public option I thought I knew.” As Jake Tapper documents in his fact-check today, Obama not only campaigned on a public option, those pledges for a government-run insurance plan still exist on his campaign website:
It depends on what the meaning of “campaign” is.
Was it a major emphasis of his campaign? Not after he won the Democratic presidential nomination.
But did he mention it? Was it part of his “campaign”? Yes.
It certainly was, as Jake finds rather easily on a search of the Obama campaign website, his campaign literature
, and even a Washington Post questionnaire that the Post themselves neglected to check when publishing his denial without comment. One might think that such a categorical denial would prompt a reporter to check his paper’s own archives, but apparently the Post is more comfortable having Jake do that for them.
Of course, you can hear Obama advocating the public option himself in this appearance at Planned Parenthood:
All of Obama’s statements come with expiration dates — all of them.
Blowback
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YOU LIE!!!
rjoco1 on December 23, 2009 at 2:22 PM
His old BarackObama.com site still includes this promise:
J_Crater on December 23, 2009 at 2:24 PM
When all else fails, lie lie again.
txhsmom on December 23, 2009 at 2:24 PM
AGAIN.
Fletch54 on December 23, 2009 at 2:24 PM
Every time the man moves his lips, he lies. So what else is new?
Knucklehead on December 23, 2009 at 2:26 PM
duh!
upinak on December 23, 2009 at 2:26 PM
Jake tapper is oviously a right wing racist aryan extremist.
SHARPTOOTH on December 23, 2009 at 2:27 PM
Define “public option”.
SouthernGent on December 23, 2009 at 2:29 PM
Jake Tapper, you ignorant slut. LOL
search4truth on December 23, 2009 at 2:29 PM
Hopenchange we can all believe in…the liberals I live amongst seem especially cranky this Christmas season…
DCJeff on December 23, 2009 at 2:30 PM
I know who’s getting coal is his WH stocking this year.
conservative pilgrim on December 23, 2009 at 2:30 PM
I wish his Presidency came with an early expiration date.
therightscoop on December 23, 2009 at 2:31 PM
There is nothing trustworthy coming out of our lying POTUS. Hell, even foreign countries know that.
ORconservative on December 23, 2009 at 2:31 PM
The New Commandments:
1. Thou shalt not investigate The Won’s statements
(y’all’s turn here)
bikermailman on December 23, 2009 at 2:31 PM
Seriously now, is anyone surprised?
ornery_independent on December 23, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Let me be clear Barry…..YOU LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You POS Marxist scum!
Flyboy on December 23, 2009 at 2:33 PM
“As I’ve always said, I never said that.”
Bishop on December 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM
Obama bin Lyin’.
TXUS on December 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM
So he’s repositioning because he realizes one of the few things he didn’t actively take both sides on in his speechificationisms is failing. His lack of conviction is pitiful.
rogerb on December 23, 2009 at 2:35 PM
I declare shenanigans. Politifact didn’t declare Obama a liar on this.
/sarc
Red Cloud on December 23, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Where was the sure tell of “Let me be clear” or “As I have always”?
jukin on December 23, 2009 at 2:36 PM
I am sure the WaPo will call him on this lie when they publish their fact checking column…/
d1carter on December 23, 2009 at 2:37 PM
Thats it Jake, Under the bus.
Amadeus on December 23, 2009 at 2:37 PM
You see, Barry wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t advocate a public option. He was only ever for it when he was talking to his constituent special interests. Like the guns and religion smirk – you weren’t supposed to hear that, so he never said it.
Red Cloud on December 23, 2009 at 2:38 PM
This would be funny if the idiot wasn’t in charge.
txag92 on December 23, 2009 at 2:38 PM
but, but…Sarah Palin said there would be death panels and Obama didn’t campaign on that, so she is the biggest liar so there!
/
Johnnyreb on December 23, 2009 at 2:38 PM
You know it would be an AWESOME, if someone would write software that could search the interent for information that you want based on a few keywords you enter.
WashJeff on December 23, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Barack Obama doesn’t even lie well. He tells lies within lies. Epic LIAR.
Nice going Dems. Your leader is a liar. He lies to your face. Bahahahahaha!
TN Mom on December 23, 2009 at 2:41 PM
YOU LIE!!!!!!!
GarandFan on December 23, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Wouldn’t it be easier to just document when Obama tells the truth? Think how much carbon would be saved if we only had to point out Obama’s veracity.
ihasurnominashun on December 23, 2009 at 2:42 PM
Maybe HA should start a “Lie of the Day”…theres sure enough from the Obama,Biden,Reid crew to make sure you never run out.
theTarCzar on December 23, 2009 at 2:43 PM
The statement with the shortest expiration date was “I swear to uphold and defend the Constitution”
Obama – you crapweasel facist, please resign.
skree on December 23, 2009 at 2:43 PM
Heh.
We evidently didn’t give him a chance to be “perfectly clear”.
capitalist piglet on December 23, 2009 at 2:45 PM
Jake Tapper….RACIST!!
right2bright on December 23, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Maybey his poll numbers wouldn’t be in free-fall if every statement out of his mouth wasn’t the exact opposite of what he was saying a year ago.
He’s not even a competent liar.
Mord on December 23, 2009 at 2:47 PM
“As I’ve always said, I never said that.”
Bishop on December 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM
LOL!
txag92 on December 23, 2009 at 2:47 PM
LOTUS
ClanDerson on December 23, 2009 at 2:49 PM
“Let me be clear, I didn’t campaign on the public option and if I did campaign on the public option then I didn’t campaign on the public option.”
Basil Fawlty on December 23, 2009 at 2:50 PM
YOU LIE!!!
rjoco1 on December 23, 2009 at 2:22 PM
AGAIN.
Fletch54 on December 23, 2009 at 2:24 PM
AND AGAIN!
Brian on December 23, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Tapper has got to be a teabagging, bible thumping,gun toting,redneck, racist,propogandist, with caddilac health care coverage.
AnthonyK on December 23, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Tapper’s noticed several of Barry’s lies. His bosses at ABC News? Not so much. Burying this crap in Tapper’s blog and continuing to push Obama’s lies on their nightly news and morning news shows in ABC’s way of being balanced. Screw ‘em.
Rational Thought on December 23, 2009 at 2:56 PM
But he’s so earnest, sincere, arrogant and cocky when he makes his pronouncements.
OxyCon on December 23, 2009 at 2:56 PM
If a democrat didn’t lie, they would have nothing to say.
docdave on December 23, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Let me be clear. Mr. President, you have lied again. How “Unexpected”.
PappaMac on December 23, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Worst president ever. His lies buried him early on. Forget the arrogance, the bowing, the appointment of dopes all around, the apologies. It’s the lies that make him the worst.
FireBlogger on December 23, 2009 at 2:59 PM
Lying bastard would be about right. Of course I don’t want to be called a racist but I don’t really care either.
larvcom on December 23, 2009 at 3:00 PM
SARAH PALIN SPEAKS THE TRUTH.
OBAMA’S WORDS ARE ALWAYS MEANT TO CONFUSE SO AS TO HIDE HIS REAL MOTIVES.
In the age of Obama, LIES are TRUTH to the media and the blind supporters of teh Won. TRUTH is what these people are promoting to be called LIES to confuse the listeners and hide their real motives.
But NO. I will not contribute to that further confusion. The young people are now really confused because too much sarcasms that they have been hearing in many discussions, especially in blogs like this.
Start saying what you really mean and mean what you are really saying.
CONFUSION is always a tool of and will only benefit Alinsky’s radical collectivism and communism now personified as socialist “DEMOCRATIC PARTY” of the Left.
TheAlamos on December 23, 2009 at 3:02 PM
Hoorah for Jake, and shame on Obama. Not just for lying, but for lying, and believing everyone’s a sucker, and will believe him.
Meanwhile, WaPo continues to lap up that koolaid at record pace it seems.
capejasmine on December 23, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Princess barry gets a B++++++++++ in lying.
Monica on December 23, 2009 at 3:05 PM
This is not the me I thought I knew.
misterpeasea on December 23, 2009 at 3:07 PM
I’m not seeing a “pants on fire” over at PolitiFact for this. They have one for Charlie Crist saying “I didn’t endorse” the federal stimulus bill, but Obama has managed to stay off the pof list. Probably just an oversight.
Buddahpundit on December 23, 2009 at 3:08 PM
‘He wasn’t lying. He was merely brain-storming. Sharing illuminating, social advancing, progress-o-nomic ideas to a plainly more enlightened audience. It comes as no surprise that the knuckle dragging, racist, right wing haters can’t comprehend nuanced public speaking. Obama knew this country was on the brink and he bravely explored new frontiers in newspeak. Somebody had to stand up to the Halliburton/Bush/Cheney hate machine.’
Bleeds Fins ‘
Wow, that’s a lot easier than I thought.
BigWyo on December 23, 2009 at 3:08 PM
B-bu-bu-but a troll said that Politifact was a congressional entity, and didn’t say toward liberalism? How can this be???
capejasmine on December 23, 2009 at 3:13 PM
The “public option” has not been forgotten. The left will continue to pursue this aberration as the ultimate end in paying off all the social parasites they depend on for votes and sustaining their political lives.
rplat on December 23, 2009 at 3:15 PM
“All of Obama’s statements come with expiration dates ”
Just say it.
The creature is the biggest liar in American history.
He’s “unprecedented”.
notagool on December 23, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Where’s Vanilla Ice Simple Simon on this?
LtE126 on December 23, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Just like his promises on the wars and legalizing MJ. This smirking slimeball is making the Clintoon Clan look like pillars of truth.
Dark-Star on December 23, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Let’s be charitable: He might have meant that his campaign wasn’t rooted in the public option, that he actually campaigned on other issues: Getting out of Iraq, getting serious about Afghanistan ASAP, turning around the economy, getting corruption out of the White House, restoring civility to governance, making America more hopeful, and elevating our prestige of the world stage.
Oh boy.
calbear on December 23, 2009 at 3:19 PM
MSNBC.com has this same story, that 0bama never mentioned public health options. Morons.
Torch on December 23, 2009 at 3:20 PM
2. In the event that you investigate The Won’s statement and find it erroneous, refer to Rule #1.
mwdiver on December 23, 2009 at 3:20 PM
Thou shalt not question The Won
aka
Thou shalt not be racist
MobileVideoEngineer on December 23, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Epic B+
joejm65 on December 23, 2009 at 3:23 PM
Let’s all hope Obama’s EMPLOYMENT expiration date comes on January 21, 2013, when his successor is sworn into office.
bradley11 on December 23, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Either the barackobama.com site administrator will wait one working day before it’s scrubbed from the web site or what is more likely to happen is that barackobama.com web site disappears from the internet completely.
Americannodash on December 23, 2009 at 3:24 PM
so much campaign material for 2012 – the GOP will have a plethora of lies, broken promises, disastrous programs, out of control spending, porkulous, and so on, and so on, and so on……..
whatzit2u on December 23, 2009 at 3:25 PM
And that’s all she wrote.
russcote on December 23, 2009 at 3:26 PM
It’s just one lie right after another with this fraud! Not even “Beltline Bob” can spin him out them all!
If “W” was caught in this many outright lies every channel on TV would be crammed with headlines, bulletins, opinions from the anchor desks, you name it. But not for Barry – God’s gift to America. The media darling gets a pass every time.
You don’t suppose George Soros’ money has anything to do with any of this, do you???
Yeah, I didn’t think so, either.
GoldenEagle4444 on December 23, 2009 at 3:28 PM
What a shame that a once great nation will be destroyed by these commies.
Once the gubment is running healthcare the first thing to be taken apart piece by piece will be the military.
When it comes to building a government hospital in a district or a new missile system which do you think these commies will go for.
The military will be left to die on the vine and this is exactly what obama is trying to achieve.
ouldbollix on December 23, 2009 at 3:29 PM
You really can’t hold these things against him. He says what his handlers print for him to read from the notes or the Teleprompter. He doesn’t actually “know” these lines.
Sheesh. Give the Empty-Suit-in-Chief a break, will ya???
n0doz on December 23, 2009 at 3:32 PM
What do you expect from a filthy liar where the end justifies the means.
belad on December 23, 2009 at 3:33 PM
All politicians lie, that’s no surprise. What is a bit startling is this Massive Intellectual, the Most Gifted Orator in the Galaxy, the Smartest Man in the Room, is so completely clumsy and transparent. It’s almost like he’s dumb or something.
mr.blacksheep on December 23, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Interestingly enough, Hugo Chavez just created a “public option” chain of stores in Venezuela.
JohnJ on December 23, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Please bring it on; we need a 100 more Jake Tappers to wake the stupid droids . The old adage , if Obama lips are moving , he’s telling tall stories.
One has to wonder if he is so stupid to think he can say all this crap and not be fact checked? Do they just program him each day to read from a teleprompter. The guy is an embarrassment to the office.
Sandybourne on December 23, 2009 at 3:35 PM
FACTS DON’T MATTER TO THIS HEDGE HOG.
PappaMac on December 23, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Uuh, aren’t the insurance exchanges being created by the bill the “public/national insurance program” referred to in these quotes? And I wouldn’t say statements made in 2007 are necessarily part of his campaign.
- jpt
Jimbo3 on December 23, 2009 at 3:39 PM
Love Jake Tapper, but in this case he seems to have borrowed this post from Daily Kos or possibly this one at Think Progress, both of which had this yesterday.
John on December 23, 2009 at 3:43 PM
It also came up in the final debate between Obama and McCain — Obama stated health care is a right, not a responsibility, and then began to pontificate on how it’s unaffordable etc.
He campaigned on it, period.
Richard Romano on December 23, 2009 at 3:51 PM
When you have a poor memory lying is not a good option. If memory isn’t the problem, then it’s something worse. Deception. Flim-flam. I think it’s his intellect(?). How did this clown ever get through school? He has uttered more stupidities than any person I have ever heard with the exception of Oliver Hardy. His mentor, one Frank Marshall Davis(whom I believe to be his real father) was a known Communist from Chicago and had the most influence on him when he was growing up. His absentee mother was also a Communist. Now we have the pleasure of suffering through all of his absurdities brought about by his obvious dysfunction. Be proud, America! Sarah’s assertion wrongly characterized as a lie has proven out. Quite a difference.
LarryG on December 23, 2009 at 3:55 PM
Wake me when he tells the truth.
chemman on December 23, 2009 at 4:15 PM
2. Thou shalt question neither The Won’s lineage nor his place of birth.
ya2daup on December 23, 2009 at 4:21 PM
3. Thou shalt see neither The Won’s academic transcripts nor his writings from that veiled time of his life.
ya2daup on December 23, 2009 at 4:23 PM
B+.
5u93rm4n on December 23, 2009 at 4:36 PM
I do hope that GOP is gathering all of this stuff now so it’s all a no-brainer come 2012.
But somehow I think that’s too much to hope for.
IrishGirl17 on December 23, 2009 at 4:54 PM
This fuzzies the language. If Obama said he supported something, then doesn’t, that is a position that has an “expiration date”. But if Obama said he did do something he didn’t do, or, in this case, didn’t do something he did do, then that’s not an expiration date, that a LIE! So quit beating around the obama and have some b@lls, like Joe Wilson, and call it so.
Dusty on December 23, 2009 at 5:47 PM
THE TRUTH IS NOT IN OBAMA!
DougDavis on December 23, 2009 at 7:21 PM
Wake me when he tells the truth.
chemman on December 23, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Well, I think you are in for a long nap, Rip van Winkle style. I believe he is incapable of telling the truth.
manateespirit on December 23, 2009 at 7:59 PM
Joe Wilson continues to be vindicated.
As Michelle Malkin so perfectly put it:
PoodleSkirt on December 23, 2009 at 8:21 PM
He keeps repeating the term “reproductive care” over and over, as if that term has any meaning at all.
Abortions are not reproductive care . . . they are exactly the opposite — they are non-reproductive procedures.
Trochilus on December 23, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Does Rev. Wright hear confessions?
diogenes on December 23, 2009 at 8:36 PM
The liar-in-chief also said he was against requiring people buy health insurance. Just one lie after another with this crew. It comes as naturally as breathing.
xblade on December 24, 2009 at 12:58 AM