"Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff" - Matt Kibbe

7/30/09

Even a polished speaker can have a slip of the truth.


Back in June, ABC “News” aired what the Investors Business Daily called an Infomercial for President Obama’s government run healthcare scheme. As reported by that newspaper, the President was asked during that shallow depth presentation if he and his family would abide by the rules, regulations, limitations, exclusions and restrictions of his healthcare “Reform”. I didn’t see the masquerade on TV myself, (apparently very few people did, it had abysmal ratings) but his answer to the question and refusal to pledge is a matter of record.

His reply? After ignoring the call to pledge to the same system we will be forced into, Obama admitted “If it’s my family member, if it’s my wife, if it’s my children, if it’s my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care”.
What I have called "the politicians life boat" in an earlier essay has just been secured to the ship for exclusive boarding as soon as the inevitable iceberg appears.

I’m sure the White House press corps would usually be disappointed in the low TV rating of the sales pitch but I’m also guessing that since what one blogger called “Obama’s Michael Dukakis moment”, they are feeling like they are whistling past the grave yard until the danger of discovery of his unintentional slip of the truth has passed.

It was an “AH HA” moment if ever there was one, but with the exception of the IBD, I have not heard it mentioned anywhere by anyone. Granted I have been out of town for a few days, but this happened back on June 24th so I’m guessing most of you have never heard of it either. Please let me know if you have just so I’m not laboring under a misconception about how the media toadies have swept this under the ever lumpier rug.

It just brings up another sad thing about the untimely passing of my favorite pitchman, Billy Mays. Had he been available to do the infomercial professionally, instead of sending out Obama to make the amateurish admission to what only the terminally gullible didn’t already know, the President’s political operatives might be humming now instead of whistling.




Addendum;
On July 16th, Rep. Dean Heller R-Nev. Offered an amendment to the House version of this monstrosity which would require that members of congress enroll in their own government run healthcare program.
Democrats defeated the amendment 23-18.

6 comments:

Skooks said...

Of course they did. Wonder if you could find the thing on YouTube.

mtracy said...

"Same system we will be forced into"? The president has been very clear on this. If you like your current insurance you can keep it.

Brian Jennings said...

Not sure what was more amusing: the phrase "terminally gullible", Heller's ammendment and subsequent defeat, or Ronald Regan video? Excellent commentary Grant. I forwarded the link to this blog to many others.
When I was a kid, I didn't know propaganda existed.
When I was a very young man, I calculated that misinformation comprised 40-50% of all media.
Now I think that number is closer to 80-90% propaganda/bull.
The propaganda of omission is also a force to be reckoned with.
Little to no coverage of Ochamberlain's Dukakis moment. Little to no coverage of the defeat of Heller's amendment. Little to no coverage of Hizb ut-Tahrir at the Oak Lawn Hilton on July 19th.

Sara said...

MTracy - I don't think you are correct on this. Yes, he has said that, but in the pages and pages of paper of this proposal, eventually, you will need to move your current coverage to an approved one...I think it is something like 5 years. I'm trying to find the article I read that information in now...hopefully I can post it soon.

Sara said...

MTracy- I found it. Read point #4 particularly in this link: http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news/economy/health_care_reform_obama.fortune/

Grant Davies said...

MTracy- Thank you for posting to the blog.
Your faith in Obama'a promises would be more understandable if it had been demonstrated that that he has kept his promises thus far. I'm afraid that his track record has matched that of George H W Bush (read my lips), Bill Clinton, (I never had sex with that woman, Ms Lewinski) or for that matter almost any of the politicians in our history. I'm sure you can assemble your own "golden oldies" list of the legion of lies and broken promises made by them. Birds fly, politicians lie, it's what they do. I do hope you read the article referenced by Sara above, it may enlighten you about the facts, not the promises, in the various bills being touted and floated by administration.
I can send you the exact wording if you like. I will also be happy to send you links to dozens of other articles in all kinds of news outlets, liberal and conservative if you need further references.
In the meantime, here is a partial reprint from an article in the Investor's Business Daily July 15th which should clear up the matter for you.
Again, thanks for posting the question because many people now have the opportunity to see the information themselves. The redacted article appears below, (space restrictions prohibit posting it in it's entirety) ;
"It's Not An Option"
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Congress: It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading
the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16
is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal.
When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page
document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we
sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual
private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice
To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of
the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance
issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such
coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the
first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course,
exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't
be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for
themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned
that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized
health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither.
Drawn by a public option that will be 30% to 40% cheaper than their
current premiums because taxpayers will be funding it, employers will
gladly scrap their private plans and go with Washington's coverage."