Obamateurism of the Day
posted at 7:25 am on February 2, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Consider this another OOTD in the category of Two Faces. During this week’s meeting with the House Republican Caucus, Barack Obama told Rep. Tom Price, the chair of the Republican Policy Committee, that he hadn’t made outlandish claims about ObamaCare:
“I mean, the easiest thing for me to do on the health care debate would have been to tell people that, “What you’re going to get is guaranteed health insurance, lower your costs, all the insurance reforms, we’re going to lower the cost of Medicare and Medicaid, and it won’t cost anybody anything.” That’s great politics. It’s just not true.”
Well, we certainly know that, but Obama has made a habit of saying all of the easiest things to sell ObamaCare. Reader Ryan M recalls this statement from Obama’s speech to the joint session of Congress in September 2009 (emphases mine):
“The plan I’m announcing tonight would meet three basic goals. It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance for those who don’t. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government…..
….Now, add it all up, and the plan I’m proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years … most of these costs will be paid for with money already being spent — but spent badly — in the existing health care system. The plan will not add to our deficit. The middle class will realize greater security, not higher taxes. And if we are able to slow the growth of health care costs by just one-tenth of 1 percent each year — one-tenth of 1 percent – it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term.”
Well, it’s a darned good thing Obama hasn’t taken the easy way out of the debate, isn’t it?
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.
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You Lie!
percysunshine on February 2, 2010 at 7:28 AM
He’s schizophrenic for sure, as well as a liar.
Dhuka on February 2, 2010 at 7:29 AM
Obamacare. The Rubik’s cube of smoke and mirrors.
Fletch54 on February 2, 2010 at 7:29 AM
Odamna: “Say what they want to hear. Do what you want to do.”
The truth is not in him.
Crusader Rabbit on February 2, 2010 at 7:30 AM
Makes it up as he goes along…
Amateurish?
No. Pathological.
coldwarrior on February 2, 2010 at 7:32 AM
Obama has the trait of sounding sincere when contradicting himself. I find that to be one of his worst traits as a leader. It creates confusion.
AnninCA on February 2, 2010 at 7:38 AM
Hey Ed, thanks for pulling yourself off the golf course during the company conference to post OOTD. How’s AP shooting?
PatMac on February 2, 2010 at 7:41 AM
Just move the Naked Emperor News’ SOTU lies video here
OSUBuciz1 on February 2, 2010 at 7:44 AM
I shot a 75 on the golf course yesterday, AP shot a 67. He quit on the 13th hole, though, while I played through to the 14th. ;-)
Ed Morrissey on February 2, 2010 at 7:44 AM
AP’s golf score matches my first bowling score.
backwoods conservative on February 2, 2010 at 7:48 AM
There is a Clintonian reason for this. It depends on what the meaning of “anybody” is.
Anybody is defined as the special interests that support the progressives and the liberal machine. Anybody includes ACORN, welfare recipients, the unions, etc. EVERYBODY ELSE pays the bill for those with Friends of Barry status.
highhopes on February 2, 2010 at 7:48 AM
Happy Gilmore meets Bagger Vance? /
coldwarrior on February 2, 2010 at 7:49 AM
It is Obama’s only leadership trait. Hitler and Stalin were also great speakers who spoke nothing but lies.
The confusion comes from Obama’s rudderless, visionless, souless destruction of America. Patriots are not confused. They see how their President is an evil rat bastard traitor and they have lost faith in government as a result. The American electoral system is supposed to filter out candidates like the filthy lying coward instead of elevating them to offices they are ill-prepared and unfit to hold.
highhopes on February 2, 2010 at 7:54 AM
I remember being told as a kid and telling my kids,after a while,you start to believe your own lies.I believe this is what has happened to this man-child.Plus he knows the obama media is not going to follow up and check his statements.
We’ve seen when he’s confronted with his hypocrisy,he can’t handle it and stammers all over the place.Just yesterday,he said he inherited the financial mess we’re in from the last 10 yrs….HE VOTED FOR EVERYTHING!…BUT does anyone demand an explanation?
ohiobabe on February 2, 2010 at 8:03 AM
Obama knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s very successful from his own perspective. There is a method to his madness. It has nothing to do with amateurism.
modifiedcontent on February 2, 2010 at 8:03 AM
I wonder, what will happen on the next go-around, when the opposition fails to nominate the “Perfect Candidate”.. Will they still be sitting at home, or voting for a third candidate with no chance of winning?
Sometimes, the lesser of two evils is, the lesser of two evils.
franksalterego on February 2, 2010 at 8:04 AM
This isn’t an Obamateurism, unless you consider everything O does as amateurish, which I do. All his actions have the cold, sinister intention of remaking America into a second-rate socialist backwater. He’s just blunderingly bad at everything he tries. Which will either save us in the end or give him his wish, albeit accidentally.
KS Rex on February 2, 2010 at 8:09 AM
why didn’t they call him on it for cripes sake!…why didn’t the leadership let the folks debate this man and say ‘You lie’ in nicer terms in front of the cameras…
cmsinaz on February 2, 2010 at 8:11 AM
The guy is a sociopath liar.
Caper29 on February 2, 2010 at 8:14 AM
seriously…no qualms whatsoever…
cmsinaz on February 2, 2010 at 8:17 AM
He’s using tried and tested techniques. Just keep saying for four years straight that Bush caused the massive deficits that will collapse the economy and the people will believe it. They’ll prop up the economy this year for the mid-term election – which they will rig via the census and the community organizing machines they’re putting in place. By the time the house of cards falls government, already running key sectors of the economy, will come to the rescue and the people will thank Obama by reelecting him in 2012.
modifiedcontent on February 2, 2010 at 8:18 AM
Nothing, nothing he can say or do would amaze me any longer.
OmahaConservative on February 2, 2010 at 8:20 AM
He only lies when his lips are moving.
kingsjester on February 2, 2010 at 8:25 AM
Obama fully believes that the truth is well hidden, on the backside of the moon.
Yoop on February 2, 2010 at 8:25 AM
But you love Billy Jeff for that same trait.
ladyingray on February 2, 2010 at 8:27 AM
Truer words were never written.
AZCoyote on February 2, 2010 at 8:28 AM
If America has an abundance of fools it’s only because they have been indoctrinated to be such. Look at our education system, the media, movies etc. All of these are full of liberal socialistics dogma. Anyone that has that pounded into their brains from childhood onward can’t help but develop into some kind of societal fool.
docdave on February 2, 2010 at 8:30 AM
Put another way, they are doing the same thing with the economy that worked so well with 9-11 and the war against islamic fascism. Just keep hammering the same points – Bush lied! Iraq was a mistake! – until it becomes accepted wisdom. Nobody still defends the Iraq war, although it was the right, unavoidable decision and a success by all historical measures. The same is already happening with the economy. Clueless conservatives are paroting the “angry at Wall Street” narrative, instead of fighting back and pointing out how government caused our predicament. There is now way back. After Wall Street the target will shift to capitalism in general and I’m seeing way too many signs that the American people will be ready to accept that narrative by 2011. The “crony capitalism” critique that some libertarians use will only speed up the process.
modifiedcontent on February 2, 2010 at 8:32 AM
The inaccuracies in The One’s statements are a natural for the format of Countdown on MSNBC but they aren’t covered. I wonder why.
And what has Factcheck dot org been doing with this guy?
IlikedAUH2O on February 2, 2010 at 8:53 AM
Obama keeps proving that reading comprehension is not taught at Hahvad!
He hasn’t the slightest idea what he is talking about.
Isn’t this obvious by now?
Cybergeezer on February 2, 2010 at 8:58 AM
On more levels than one. Does he have such a poor command of the facts that the “errors” just roll off his tongue so smoothly? Or is he a pathological liar who is able to tell flatout lies without a flicker of guilt?
ProfessorMiao on February 2, 2010 at 9:06 AM
.
Rube Goldberg style
dont taze me bro on February 2, 2010 at 9:13 AM
As we have noted several times earlier on this site, Obama makes us nostalgic for Clinton. Sure, Clinton lied all the time but at least he was good at it. Obama doesn’t even try to be slick. He’s gotten intellectually lazy from the media constantly covering his butt, to the point that he doesn’t even pretend to be honest.
jwolf on February 2, 2010 at 9:18 AM
That is an excellent quote.
Yes, but I am hopeful (cautiously optimistic is probably more accurate) that America is finally waking up. The “information superhighway”, as well as the recent advent of FOX News, have led to a better-informed populace.
As Washington bureaucrats overreach more and more, and Americans become less free and less prosperous as a direct result, this trend can only continue.
UltimateBob on February 2, 2010 at 9:40 AM
He’s not a leader, Ann. He’s the President but that’s not the same thing. He has the title and perks, but none of the skills and a complete inability to accept responsibility for his own actions. If you see “leadership” in that, you have never seen real leadership in your life.
Extrafishy on February 2, 2010 at 9:44 AM
I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on the radio. This is a layman’s observation:
Billy Jeff’s pathology included the ability to make himself believe his own lies. That was how he was able to face the world on a daily basis. His narcicism drove him to use and abuse people (mainly women) but I think he was able to discern right from wrong and wanted to do the right thing although he seldom did.
Obama doesn’t believe his own lies and doesn’t feel any remorse for them. He is a genuine sociopath. He just doesn’t care about the effect of his actions on others. Ultimately, I believe this makes him more dangerous to society in general than Clenis. Clenis was more dangerous to individual women around him. You decide which is worse. From my perspective, they both deserve to go through eternity with grill marks on their a$$.
Extrafishy on February 2, 2010 at 9:55 AM
A sociopath bordering on psychopath? Time will tell.
capejasmine on February 2, 2010 at 10:53 AM
Bingo.
jana on February 2, 2010 at 11:05 AM
This Administration is operating on the assumption that the electorate is completely stupid and clueless… Now just what percentage of that assumption is true? I say they are betting on 51percent. God I pray we aren’t in as bad shape as I think!
CCRWM on February 2, 2010 at 11:27 AM
Not sociopath, not schizophrenic, just devious as hell. Obama is not stupid and no one does us any favors suggesting he is. He is manipulative and devious, pushback confuses him. Keep pushing!
elclynn on February 2, 2010 at 11:28 AM
I agree with most of your comment, but most of our famous criminals, were beneficiaries of mental illness. I really do think Obama is a sociopath. He can lie, and not bat an eye. He feels no guilt for anything, and he’s totally into himself.
capejasmine on February 2, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Money spent “badly” on Medicare, keeping Grandma alive? Give her a pain pill and let her die, right, Barry?
Let’s see if I have this straight. This is a 10-year plan, so if we save 0.1% the first year, 0.2% the second year, 0.3% the third year, and so on through 10 years, that adds up to 5.5% of one year’s health-care costs. If that’s really $4 trillion in savings, then Americans spend 4/0.055 = $72.7 trillion on health care per year.
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm
According to the above link, the Gross Domestic Product of the United States was $14.46 trillion in 2009, but Sheik Barack Hussein the Great (pbuh) obviously knows better, that Americans spend 5 times the GDP on health care! Exit question: From what country did we import $58 trillion worth of health care?
To paraphrase Barack Hussein’s predecessor from whom he inherited such a horrific economy, who is to blame for the woes of the world, this is VERY “fuzzy math”.
Or to paraphrase an impertinent Congressman, “YOU LIE!”
Steve Z on February 2, 2010 at 1:42 PM
Even Nobama doesn’t believe what he says anymore. Pretty soon, he’ll be blogging against himself on HA and arguing with Grow Fins and Crr. It’s official: we’re in Oz.
joejm65 on February 2, 2010 at 5:05 PM