Exposing the Spin
Posted on October 31, 2008
Filed Under Barak Obama, Health insurance, John McCain, Obama, Obama's lies, Obama's sainthood, Obamabots, Obamafada, Obamaniacs, Obamercials, Obaminates, Obammunists, Political lies, United States, affordable health care, affordable housing, bias, economy, freedom of choice, healthcare, infomercials, medicine, political hypocrisy, political ineptitude, politicians, politics, rights, taxes | 1 Comment
Yahoo News, yesterday, reported the following about the latest Obamercial (H/T: Cheat-Seeking Missiles):
WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.
Obama’s assertion that “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond” the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by “eliminating programs that don’t work” masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are — beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
A sampling of what voters heard in the ad, and what he didn’t tell them:
THE SPIN: “That’s why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year.”
THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it’s not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.
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THE SPIN: “I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care.”
THE FACTS: That belief should not be confused with a guarantee of health coverage for all. He makes no such promise. Obama hinted as much in the ad when he said about the problem of the uninsured: “I want to start doing something about it.” He would mandate coverage for children but not adults. His program is aimed at making insurance more affordable by offering the choice of government-subsidized coverage similar to that in a plan for federal employees and other steps, including requiring larger employers to share costs of insuring workers.
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THE SPIN: “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost.”
THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama’s policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years — and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says: “Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years.” The analysis goes on to say: “Neither candidate’s plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified.”
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THE SPIN: “Here’s what I’ll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we’ll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. “
THE FACTS: His proposals — the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more — cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged — although not in his commercial — that: “The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals.”
Every politician stretches the truth, skips facts, nuances his message so as to sound like he or she is promising more than the candidate really means. That is expected, unfortunately. We live in an age when apparently it is necessary for a candidate to say what the particular demographic he’s after wants to hear. With notable exceptions most politicians in the hallowed tradition of their profession have been liars. Good Senator Obama, in spite of his all too real lack of experience, excels in the art of political lies and obfuscations. Finally it seems even the MSM such as AP is getting tired of the spin, tired of the distortions, tired of the lies. He has yet to tell what, concretely, the change he so often talks about consists of. What are the non-working programs he intends to get rid of? What tax increase will be necessary to pay for the new things he wants to institute?
Even the MSM knows that the truth does not flow from the junior Senator of Illinois’ silver tongue, it’s somewhat late in the game but the truth is always welcome and refreshing even if it hurts. What do you think, gentle reader, was it a mere slip of the tongue or has the $250,000.00 threshold for increasing taxes been lowered to $200,000.00? Will it be lowered again?!?!? What will it be next lowered to? $150,000.00? $100,000.00? $75,000.00? $50,000.00? Shall we all become the government’s slaves and work only to pay ever increasing taxes? What economic catastrophe will it take for any candidate to realize that at some point taxation kills the incentive to work?!?
Chaim
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[...] Exposing the Spin Yahoo News, yesterday, reported the following about the latest Obamercial (H/T: Cheat-Seeking Missiles): WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office. Obama’s assertion that “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond” the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by “eliminating progr [...]