Countdown: President Obama's Claims Of Not Having Campaigned On The Public Option Debunked

[Turborama]

Run time: 09:58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-6jEOVG-IE   Posted on YouTube: December 24, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 24, 2009 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 6766

 
Lawrence O'Donnell definitively proves how President Obama is backtracking on previous PO promises and discusses this and his 180 on the mandate with The Washington Post's Ezra Klein.

I'll add the transcript when it's available.

[NYC_SKP]

1. WTF? What is this, Free Republic???

Do you even know about the Sanders Cardin amendment being added to the Senate Bill?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/21/817467/-14,000-Kennedy-Sanders-Cardin-Clinics-to-serve-45,000,000-Americans



edited to add link.

[Turborama]

2. Have you even watched this video?

I mean, it was posted 3 minutes before you commented and is 10 minutes long. If you're complaining about the title, I poached it from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cET2OSbtj0g">Firedoglake's version of it. Posting a Countdown video is making this place like Free Republic now? Wow.

In answer to your Sanders question, have you seen http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x416434">this video I posted?

[NYC_SKP]

4. It was on MSNBC, for crying out loud, how many times do I need to see it?

I'm not concerned about the title, I am tired of all the cheerleading behind how Obama has been caught backpeddling.

I'm over it, it doesn't need to be posted over and over and over again.

[Turborama]

6. I don't know whether you watched it on TV or not and a lot of DUers do not have cable

And some don't even have a TV. This isn't your personal political videos forum.

You being "over it" is not a justification for calling me a Freeper.

If you're "over it" and don't like seeing too many posts about any particular topic "hide thread" is your friend. I usually like your posts in GDP but you have gone way over the line with your Freeper comment.

Oh, and by the way, the Bernie Sanders video I posted is featured on the front page so it's pretty obvious I know about his amendment.

[NYC_SKP]

8. I'm not calling you a Freeper, I'm calling the climate here unnerving, playing "gotcha" with Obama.

It's kind of unbecoming a democrat.

There is plenty of good to come from this legislation.

Bickering over the public option and what the president said and didn't say now and then is not, IMHO, productive.

[ihavenobias]

11. Skip, you know I like you and we normally agree.

But I strongly disagree that there is plenty good to come out of this legislation, at least in the context of the entire bill. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend this must-watch interview with healthcare consultant R.J. Eskow where he . There is an article as well as the video (I'd check out both).

[NYC_SKP]

14. Will do. I feel shitty for snapping at Turborama, one of those on my buddy list.

And I'll check out the article and video.

I've been optimistic with little-reported things like inclusion of the Sanders Cardin amendment.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/22/152525/71

And I don't know the purpose in finding and pointing out Obama's inconsistencies, I mean, to what end, this???

I guess it's a service to post a video for those to understand what all the drama is about, people without MSNBC, but still...


Oh well.

Happy Holidays! :P

[ihavenobias]

17. Thanks for the link, I haven't read about that yet.

Happy Holidays to you too!

[Ticonderoga]

51. So now bald face lies have

become mere "inconsistencies"? Hmmm who da thunk it.

[katkat]

55. inconsistencies? how about big fat lies n/t

[GOTV]

104. to what end? To stop the sensless Obama love and remind people we support a country, not a man.

We would get farther if all of us owned up to Obama's shortcomings and worked to push him in the right direction. But some substantial subset of the Democratic supporters refuse to do the heavy lifting, preferring to argue against progress.

To what end do people stand against those who say Obama could do better or that the Dems in congress could do better? You don't want Obama to keep more of his promises? You don't want the Dems to work harder to stop the corporate abuse of Americans? Fine. Go watch TV. Why get in the way by wasting our time making excuses for them?

[defendandprotect]

82. Agree . . . and I think we saw this speedy vote partly because they wanted to stop the bleeding...

[griffi94]

13. obama got caught breaking a campaign promise

then said he never made that promise then got busted in this video and you're
upset that posters here noticed. you're over what obama did so everybody else should be as well.
see i think what's unproductive is giving obama a blanket pass on everything.
like i used to tell my kids....words matter

[quark219]

20. +1 N/T

[tonysam]

23. He was caught lying about not campaigning for the public option

That's the bottom line here.

[ClarkUSA]

74. Not according to Politifact.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/dec/23/barack-obama/public-option-obama-platform/

:shrug:

[ClarkUSA]

73. He never promised a public option. Politifact backs him up.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/dec/23/barack-obama/public-option-obama-platform/

:shrug:

[truedelphi]

91. Then for Pete's sake, just who was in the videos?

Did a look alike campaign for him last year??

[ClarkUSA]

93. Politifact says of the "mentions of the public option in Obama's speeches... you'll find very few."

... the public option was not a very prominent part of Obama's platform... he didn't discuss it very much during the campaign. That's true for both the general election and the Democratic primary.

If you look for mentions of the public option in Obama's speeches or comments to voters, you'll find very few. In fact, Obama gave a major address in Iowa on May 29, 2007, outlining his health care plan in considerable detail. There's not one mention of the public option in his speech.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/dec/23/barack-obama/public-option-obama-platform/

Anyone can slice a few cherrypicked film clips together to give an erroneous impression, but Politifact is an unbiased source.

As far as I recall, and I worked for the campaign for most of last year, Candidate Obama campaigned on everyone having the same insurance option that he and congress have and that's just what happened. Now I'll let others split hairs while I enjoy reading the following article.

Why the health care bill is the greatest social achievement of our time.
Jonathan Chait, Senior Editor of The New Republic
December 24, 2009 | 12:00 am

The first thing reform does is make insurance affordable for people who currently can’t buy it. Why can’t people afford insurance now? Well, either they don’t get it through work and can’t afford a regular insurance plan (say, a cashier at Wal Mart who doesn’t get insurance through her job) or they have a preexisting condition which means no insurer will sell them a regular insurance plan (say, a diabetic who can’t get insurance on the individual market.) Or sometimes both (a diabetic Wal Mart cashier, perhaps.)

Health reform solves the affordability problem by subsidizing insurance coverage, or expanding Medicaid, for low- and moderate-income families. And it solves the pre-existing condition problem by setting up a marketplace, called an exchange, where insurers must sell policies to anybody, at one price, and cover all basic services. In order to prevent people from going uninsured until they get sick, it also requires everybody to purchase insurance, except in limited hardship cases...

Reality lies in between the two mutually exclusive caricatures. First of all, the insurance industry has taken a decidedly mixed stance on health care reform... Second of all, most of us normally accept private profit accompanying public services. Liberals don’t call programs to reduce class size a “teacher’s union bailout.” Nor do liberals call Pentagon increases a “defense contractor’s bailout.” Insurers may be getting a lot of new customers, but that comes with the trade-off of a lot of unwanted regulation. There is more at work in the progressive revolt than an irrational attachment to the public plan or an executive distrust of private industry. The bizarre convergence of left-wing and right-wing paranoia echoes the forces that brought down the moderate consensus of the postwar era.

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/just-noise

[truedelphi]

114. George the Elder said only once: Read my lips -

No new taxes.

Then he allowed for new taxes, and that was the end of it.

A lie told by someone who does not fulfill the potential envisioned for them can cost them their position.

Obama has told countless lies, and his man and good buddy Geithner has lied to Congress.

One big difference between Bush the Elder's lie and Obama's - Obama and his deluded supporters can perhaps count on him having another eight years, but only because as long as he makes the deals that the Powers that Be want, the voting machines will rule in his favor.


But there is no way that the damage this mis-Administration has done the American people can be lied away:

We know about it if we are unemployed - and we know it if we are homeless.
We know it as the jobs are not coming back.
We know it as we watch our monetary capital squandered for another war.
We know it in watching the Health Care Reform becoming just another Big Industry giveaway.

And those of us who are among the more knowledgeable of today's activists know it as our food sources become non edible.

[madfloridian]

26. So is calling those who question irrelevant.

[TheEuclideanOne]

50. None of us like to see it.

It saddens everybody here to see videos like this. Heck, I just watched Cenk's video where he was calling Obama out on a number of issues, and deservedly so. I didn't enjoy watching that video either, but I can't just bury my head in the sand. I am sure that everybody was hoping for Obama to be kicking ass and taking names by pushing through a progressive agenda. I am also puzzled as to why he simply doesn't do it. Many people here are hoping that he will somehow do a 180 and realize that people are holding him to the change that he promised. Unfortunately for Obama, we are not republicans and will not blindly cheerlead for everything that he does and MSNBC is not the same as Fox. I completely understand how you feel and I am sure just about everybody here feels the same way. You may be lashing out at your buddy's here out of pain, watching what may become the worst case scenario for democrats. I am holding out hopes that if Obama sees that people are actually holding him to the promises that he offered, that he will take them much more seriously.

[Krashkopf]

54. Its not "playing 'gotcha'" . . .

its simply pointing out the truth.

Obama courted progressives with his talk about a robust public option.

Obama would NOT have won in Iowa without progressives.

Obama would NOT have captured the nomination without winnning in Iowa.

And, as soon as he got elected, he threw the progressives and the public option under the bus.

We have a right to be pissed off, and you can be damned sure that we are not going to be quite about it.

I think it is UNBECOMING A DEMOCRAT to fall in, lock step, behind ANY President. Remember how we used to ridicule the Republicans for doing JUST THAT!?

[defendandprotect]

78. Eh ... rather, I think Obama is playing "gotcha" with citizens/voters . . . !!!

And, I do think it is "unbecoming a Democrat" ... !!!

Corporatism in health care . . . and you think that's a benefit????

"Bickering" . . . ???

Granted, I see that you're disturbed at the criticism -- and there are tons of it.

But trying to deny what's going on or trying to minimize it will just make you

look disingenuous if not naive.

[truedelphi]

87. the only reason that we are playing "GOTCHA" with Obama is

because this bill lets the Big Insurance and Big Medical Interests play "GOTHCHA" with us.

We are so screwn.

The Powers that Be control it all, and I guess we should have realized early on that once our votes were counted for this man, it would be the same game but with a kinder gentler face.

[Jamastiene]

31. I don't have MSNBC, CNN or Faux.

Not having Faux is fine by me, but not having MSNBC and CNN, posts like yours are where I get to watch and catch up on the news. Thank you for posting them.

[LaPera]

57. NOW you have MSNBC morning til Rachel....Just click on the head you like!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3096434/

[pocoloco]

9. Great, you have seen it......

now give everyone else a chance!

[jonnyblitz]

25. STFU, I haven't seen it! who in hell do you think you ARE?

jesus christ. You just don't want people to see what a fucking LIAR he is.

[Divine Discontent]

32. that 2nd sentence of yours - I wish that blared into their ears so they understood how out of line

that whole post was. We can't watch it? I don't have cable, and the last thing I need is someone screaming at one of the DUers who repeatedly posts videos for us.

TURBORAMA - THANK YOU!!!

[Toasterlad]

27. YOU'RE "Over It"

Some of us like to hold elected officials responsible for the fucking promises they break. Sorry if that interferes with your unicorn-filled, Obamariffic world.

May I suggest you find a group less devoted to fact and more devoted to fiction? You seem to have trouble with reality.

[Confusious]

39. +1100000

OBAMArific!

he seems to think it's OK when democrats lie. I hate lies from either side, and they should be called on it loudly and a big fat "L" painted on their foreheads and fronts.

[GOTV]

105. Obamariffic! LOL! Why do people spend their time deflecting criticism from Obama?

It's like their well being depends on the inerrancy of Obama.

[rpannier]

44. Then don't read/watch it

No one requires you to go to the thread

[scentopine]

62. It needs to be posted over and over -

Those with principals and vision for a world where citizens are not indentured servants to a government run as corporate proxy are not over it.

Torture - "We are so over it." - The Centrist

Wall Street Corruption - "This was created by Bush" - The Realist

Wall Street Bailout - "We need to move forward" - The Moderate

Goldman Sachs/Citibank Run Treasury- "They are the most qualified" - The Pragmatist

Afghan Escalation - "War is peace" - The Mushy Middle

Mandates/Insurance Run Health Care - "We'll fix it later" - The New Democrat

[glitch]

103. Brilliant post, deserves its own thread. nt

[ihavenobias]

5. Yes, the FR reference was not necessary.

Of course tensions are running high lately.

[Divine Discontent]

29. spot on.

[Divine Discontent]

28. wow. shouting at members now for posting MSNBC videos discussing the president talking repeatedly

about the public option last year, then denying he ever campaigned for it - and you you yell What The Fuck at the OP.

Sickening.

President Obama talked about the public option so many times that it was laughable when he denied campaigning on it. And somehow, that's our fault and people like the OP are 'free republic' users for daring to point out the facts presented on Countdown.

PS - not everyone has cable. I appreciate them putting together just a few of the times he's said it, and being against mandates - but, why do all of us keep trying to rationalize with you when you gripe about a flipping MSNBC video being posted.

[freddie mertz]

60. Truth is truth, a lie is a lie, no matter who is responsible.

You may want to hide your head in the sand, but willful ignorance is not the path to enlightenment.

[rhett o rick]

61. No this is what being a Democrat is all about. Accountability. The Pres

needs to be held accountable for his campaign pledges, especially when he is now denying such. We would not be Democrats if we didnt hold him accountable.

[Bluenorthwest]

100. This shit you do just makes any position you support

and any politician seem unsavory and unworthy of attention. It is amazing that you can not bear the idea of video of the President being watched and discussed.
You need to understand that he claims to be a Christian sitting in judgment of gay people in the name of God in the mix. So when he plays patsy cake with the truth, it is really, really a vastly cynical and self serving act of hypocrisy. You need to understand that his anti gay pandering coupled with this level of personal ethics in his speech makes me think very poorly of him indeed, not as a politician, but as a man, as a person. It shows the slimmest of characters, the largest of egos, the most unflinching ambition.
Get the point? The President making this claim is not acceptable, it is not trivial, and nothing you say can make it go away. Unless maybe you and Donnie McClurkin could pray it away? That's your only hope for change in this regard.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

112. Yep. Good post.

[griffi94]

3. thanks for posting

i don't have cable. this is the first time i've seen it

[jannyk]

7. Thank You! nt

[Blasphemer]

10. Thanks.. nt

[Cronus Protagonist]

12. I like Obama, and I'm willing to give him a lot of leeway

He could still veto. There could be a tertium quid in reconciliation that makes us all happy.

In other words, I'm willing to wait for the ink to dry before I pass judgment on Obama, and until the ink is on the bill, he has options. The bills aren't his until he signs them.

[defendandprotect]

80. And we might also end the wars soon . . . and acknowledge he homeless . . .

[NYC_SKP]

15. OK.

I have to apologize for snapping.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to lump you in with a few others here who never have anything positive to add to the discussion.

I've been optimistic with little-reported things like inclusion of the Sanders Cardin amendment.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/12/22/152525/71

And I don't know the purpose in finding and pointing out Obama's inconsistencies, I mean, to what end, this???

I guess it's a service to post a video for those to understand what all the drama is about, people without MSNBC, but still...

Anyway, Happy Holidays, Turborama.

:toast:

[Turborama]

19. Apology accepted

I am a supporter of the President but am disappointed and surprised that he's made such an erroneous claim. I haven't seen all the threads about it and this is the 1st time I've seen it put into context so I thought I'd share it to see what others thought. If I hadn't posted it I might have missed the excellent Kos Dairy you've shared so I've definitely gained something positive from starting this discussion.

Happy Holidays to you and yours, too. :toast:

ETA I just noticed that you mention I'm on your buddies list. I didn't know anyone had added me and am grateful for the compliment, I hope you find what I add to my journal interesting.

[NMMNG]

79. " And I don't know the purpose in finding and pointing out Obama's inconsistencies,"

We pointed out all of the blatant lies Bush told. We raked him over the coals for them. Why should we ignore blatant lies just because they're being told by someone with a "D" after his name? That would make us hypocrites.

[JHB]

101. The purpose of exposing the "inconsistencies"...

...is to remind politicians that we're not stupid, and they can't just erase what they said before just because it's "inconsistent" with what they're claiming now.

[jgraz]

16. Um... checkmate?

:shrug:

[chill_wind]

18. This is a video forum and this belongs here. It should end the

MANY upon many dishonest disavowals on this subject.

Enough of the bullcrap gas-lighting by DUers in pretend denial. About that.

And about this: All our craaaaaazy "perceptions" about what all got comprimised.

"Nowhere has there been a bigger gap between the perceptions of compromise and the realities of compromise than in the health-care bill," Obama said. "Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill."

In listing those priorities, he cited the 30 million uninsured Americans projected to receive coverage, estimated savings of more than $1 trillion over the next two decades, a "patients' bill of rights on steroids," and tax breaks to help small businesses pay for employee coverage.

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.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122202101.html

[the blues]

21. K&R -- Obama's apparent progressive plans, like inclusion of a public option...

...drew liberals like me into working hard to get him elected. I am glad to see someone let Obama know that liberals are well aware of this support-damaging betrayal.

[chill_wind]

22. When asked about it in the follow-up, Lynn Woolsey said

she'd believed him too. Like Ezra Klein said in the same segment, why not simply say that you're a President, not a dictator, but don't do this.

[Bette Noir]

24. Who is this person, and what has he done with my Barack?

[Divine Discontent]

30. space aliens are to blame, I'm afraid.

[Divine Discontent]

33. Turborama - thank you as always for posting videos of many different subjects.

[liquid diamond]

34. I appreciate Ezra's articulate call out of Obama

without coming off like an asshole like so many posters have here. I have a question for you miserable people. How can Obama force congress to include what HE wants in the Health Care Reform bill? Congress is a separate branch with their own authority to ensure checks and balances.

[tonysam]

35. That isn't the point.

The point is he publicly denied campaigning for a public option when in fact he did.

He was caught in a lie. Your question is irrelevant.

[liquid diamond]

36. No answer? I didn't think so.

And wow. A politician lied. Since fucking when do they do that? :sarcasm:

[tonysam]

37. You're disingenuous. You want to take the heat off Obama and

try to bring up Congress. You need to watch the video, but I think you are steeped heavily in denial that Obama brazenly lied about it.

There was NO reason for him to lie. None.

[liquid diamond]

38. I saw the video. Read my first post.

I said I appreciated Ezra politely calling him out.

[ima_sinnic]

41. what DID he want in the bill, anyway?

and as far as "coming off like an asshole," you need to step back from the mirror.

[rpannier]

45. How did Johnson do it? How did Reagan do it?

They use the power of their office to strangle funding to states of Senators that f*ck with him.
They use the power of their office to get out and beat the drum in the press to rally the public.

It's been done by many Presidents over the past 200+ years
The office of President is not that impotent

[Turborama]

46. Another question

How many Executive orders has he written in comparison to other Presidents, commensurate with the amount of time they've held the same position of power?

[rhett o rick]

63. Calling posters "miserable people" is not the way to remain in DU. Goodbye. nt

[liquid diamond]

97. I'm still here and you are still miserable.

[rhett o rick]

109. Fine by me. But I must tell you this is DU and not the local school ground. nt

[liquid diamond]

110. I know where I am at.

Speaking the truth is not "school ground". A lot of posters aren't happy with the health care reform bill and are constantly complaining about it. Just because I point that out doesn't make me subject to being banned. "Bye".

[rhett o rick]

111. You are calling posters names like a child on the school ground. nt

[Eric J in MN]

90. The administration wanted a ban on annual limits (to their credit), and they got it.

In spite of the fact that Harry Reid was against the ban.

Obama could have pressured Lieberman. It might have succeeded or failed, but he didn't try.

Obama was also lukewarm about the public option in his September speech to the joint-session:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/remarks-by-the-president-to-a-joint-session-of-congress-on-health-care/

[democracy1st]

40. K & R

[Rhiannon12866]

42. K&R. Duh.

I certainly haven't given up on our president, but this is disappointing. :banghead:

[Enthusiast]

43. I watched it live.

President Obama has been transformed. When he campaigned he was an advocate for a public option because he knew it would give the insurance industry the competition it needed.

Now, after finding the true extent of far reaching corporate power in America, he has adjusted his thinking a tad. Actually it's pretty easy to understand this turn of events. President Obama now knows who is in charge, and it ain't him.

Did I get something wrong here?

[golddigger]

47. +1

"President Obama now knows who is in charge, and it isn't him."

Sadly, you are not wrong.

[icee]

48. Excellent post. Short, succinct and to the point. This is no longer

America.

[Orsino]

56. Yes. This is his sin.

He should be held to promises he made about the Legislative Branch's future performance. A tiny facet of his platform, which he deliberately downplayed, must be viewed as the cornerstone of his campaign. That he has continued to downplay it as the possibility of its fulfillment slipped away now must be termed a "lie."

[tonysam]

59. But he didn't say that. He flat-out lied about it.

If he had told the WP that he had campaigned on the public option, but that the political reality of passing health care legislation meant there could not be a public option, that would have been one thing. But he didn't do that. He LIED about ever campaigning on it.

[Liberation Angel]

72. Saying he campaigned on the public option is the flat out lie. He camapign on Universal coverage.

How we get there is what he is ficused on.

The video admits in the first 30 seconds that he told the WP the truth.

Watch it again and then closely watch the virulent spin into a lie by msnbc

[Dinger]

49. Truth Kick & Rec # 51

[IsItJustMe]

52. Thank you for posting this NYC_SKP. I no longer watch the news and most of what I pick up is at

sites like DU. As for the people that think the world revovles around them, well, I guess it doesn't.

Thanks again. I would rather know the truth of a matter rather than what I think the truth should be.

[MannyGoldstein]

53. Wow. Should Be Watched Everyday.

How can we trust someone who lies like that about anything?

[waronbanks]

58. The common playbook in politics now

...is the Rove/Bush playbook. Lie about anything you have to lie about knowing the media will never call you to account. We see Obama touting claims of success in all his policy decisions just like Bush used to do..."heck of a job Brownie!". It does not matter that all evidence points to failure...just say it was a success and keep saying it. Campaign with lies meant to get voters on your side and then once in office do as you please. Or more accurately as your corporate donors please. Laugh it off if a reporter questions the wisdom of having our troops protect and die for a corrupt, drug funded government. Claim to have taken on the corporate criminal banksters when in fact hes been giving them a free pass and throwing our hard earned tax dollars to them.

Face it people...we have been hoodwinked by Obama and his handlers. All thats changed are the faces and the names but the greedy, corrupt ways still reign supreme above any show of compassion and working for the people. I cant even stand to look at the man now.

We had so much hope.

[Liberation Angel]

64. This OP too is baloney. Watch the first 30 seconds where the comentator says Obama

was telling the truth

"depending on what you mean by "campaigning on it"

Nowhere does Obama use the term "a public option" in these camapign speeches.

He talks about a public plan and options but that is not the same thing.

Really, the nitpicking and calling Obama a liar has got to stop.

AND he DID oppose mandates.

Fact is he could not get that (yet).

[tonysam]

65. More spin.

"Public plan" is the SAME effing thing as a "public option." He NEVER campaigned for single-payer--that is true.

STOP with the spin.

[Liberation Angel]

70. He campaigned for universal coverage and said he WOULD support single payer

if it was a viable plan --- bt given the circumstances he did not believe it was viable.

If you are going to claim he lied you MUST look at his precise words. "Public option" is NOT what he campaigned on. A public plan is what we are getting with subsidized care. He has also supported the public option: it is a few DINOs who are derailing that NOT Obama who doesn't care WHAT you call it as long as it gets coverage for as many people as possible and protects the most vulnerable of us - like me.

It may be the best thing. closest to the public option or even better than that, which we can get from this Senate.

And maybe the conference will help it.

To say he is lying, especialy based on this video, is really false.

THAT is hateful spin when you cll Obama a liar over such thing.
It is right from the Rove playbook. Lies based on half0truths and total falsehoods.

[defendandprotect]

81. Hey . . . if you can get a peace prize while expanding war then you can

say you didn't "campaign" for public option. though you were for it in '09!!!

Look at Pelosi -- day after '06 election, she confirms, acknowledges, testifies that

"Democrats were elected to end the wars" . . . dum, de dum dum . . .

She's been refunding them for three years.

Now, of course, there's a video on Pelosi as well . . . but I think she may also tell

us the same thing -- i.e., "I am not a crook!" . . . !!!

[Blasphemer]

76. Yep. Public Plan = Public Option. He lied. Period... nt

[GOTV]

106. To say otherwise is nitpicking and hairsplitting n/t

[elocs]

66. The point is that why would someone as smart as Obama lie about something

when the truth can so easily be proven? Then it must be asked that if he is willing to lie about this to us, the people who worked to help elect him, then what else will he be willing to lie about? Or does lying only count when Republicans do it?

The bottom line is that our expectations of Obama when he took office were sky high and many of us are sickened to our hearts to find that he can so easily and casually lie to us.

[Liberation Angel]

71. he did NOT lie!

this is Rovian spin.

[defendandprotect]

83. All true . . . but Obama was also for public option in '09 .... so was Pelosi . . .

The overall point is whether they were or weren't ... they should have been --

They should have been supporting single payer -- public option -- Medicare for all --

And what we have is corporate/fascism cemented into our health care now . . .

[Eric J in MN]

89. Obama was a lukewarm supporter of the public option this year.

In his September speech to the joint session, he said:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/remarks-by-the-president-to-a-joint-session-of-congress-on-health-care/

"...the public option is only a means to that end -- and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. And to my Republican friends, I say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of health care, we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have. (Applause.)"

"For example -- for example, some have suggested that the public option go into effect only in those markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies. Others have proposed a co-op or another non-profit entity to administer the plan."

Joe Lieberman recently said that Obama never pressured him to support a public option.

[defendandprotect]

95. Interesting re Lieberman . . .

the more you learn, the worse it gets in a way ....

There's a noticeable absence of dancing in the streets -- people know!

[rabies1]

67. Sign at YesWeStillCan.org

Before it's too late. Thom Hartmann mentioned this yesterday.

[valerief]

68. K&R

:kick:

I guess we're supposed to pretend we never heard all that "public option" stuff, that we were just "imagining it."

[scytherius]

69. Meet the new boss

Same as the old boss.

All we did was elect a smart George Bush.

[ClarkUSA]

75. Pulitzer Prize winning Politifact debunks Countdown "gotcha" film clips.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/dec/23/barack-obama/public-option-obama-platform/

[Blasphemer]

77. Not really... on a technicality they rate his statement "Barely True"

"But since we track campaign promises, we believe candidates should be held accountable for all their promises, and that includes things they have in their campaign literature. It's up to voters to decide whether the public option -- Promise No. 518 -- is more or less important than Obama's other promises.

Obama's new claim is, "I didn't campaign on a public option." We will stipulate that it was not a particularly prominent part of his overall platform for health care. But we find that the public option was part of Obama's campaign materials, and that counts. So we rate his statement Barely True"

They gave him as much leeway as they could possibly muster and still could only come up with "barely true". I don't think they absolve him at all - not even remotely.

[tonysam]

84. It wasn't "debunked" at all

Obama said it--nobody put words in his mouth--and then he lied that he hadn't.

[ClarkUSA]

94. See Reply #93.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=416707&mesg_id=416970

[ClarkUSA]

85. Yes, really. True is true. So much for this false Outrage meme.

As far as I recall, and I worked for the campaign for most of last year, Candidate Obama campaigned on everyone having the same insurance option that he and congress have and that's just what happened. Now I'll let others split hairs while I enjoy reading the following article. :)

Why the health care bill is the greatest social achievement of our time.
Jonathan Chait, Senior Editor of The New Republic
December 24, 2009 | 12:00 am

The first thing reform does is make insurance affordable for people who currently can’t buy it. Why can’t people afford insurance now? Well, either they don’t get it through work and can’t afford a regular insurance plan (say, a cashier at Wal Mart who doesn’t get insurance through her job) or they have a preexisting condition which means no insurer will sell them a regular insurance plan (say, a diabetic who can’t get insurance on the individual market.) Or sometimes both (a diabetic Wal Mart cashier, perhaps.)

Health reform solves the affordability problem by subsidizing insurance coverage, or expanding Medicaid, for low- and moderate-income families. And it solves the pre-existing condition problem by setting up a marketplace, called an exchange, where insurers must sell policies to anybody, at one price, and cover all basic services. In order to prevent people from going uninsured until they get sick, it also requires everybody to purchase insurance, except in limited hardship cases...

Reality lies in between the two mutually exclusive caricatures. First of all, the insurance industry has taken a decidedly mixed stance on health care reform... Second of all, most of us normally accept private profit accompanying public services. Liberals don’t call programs to reduce class size a “teacher’s union bailout.” Nor do liberals call Pentagon increases a “defense contractor’s bailout.” Insurers may be getting a lot of new customers, but that comes with the trade-off of a lot of unwanted regulation. There is more at work in the progressive revolt than an irrational attachment to the public plan or an executive distrust of private industry. The bizarre convergence of left-wing and right-wing paranoia echoes the forces that brought down the moderate consensus of the postwar era.

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/just-noise

[donco6]

86. K&R Watch the video.

Decide for yourself. Or let Attack Doggie decide for ya.

[Eric J in MN]

88. Regarding the video of Obama saying that more people could have insurance like federal workers

Federal workers buy private insurance though the "Office of Personnel Management."

Others being able to do so is in the Senate bill

[SHRED]

92. I guess the Prez...

...doesn't fully understand how modern recording technology can be used.

:shrug:

[Joe Chi Minh]

96. He even had that wonderful line about not allowing the insurance companies

to buy every seat at the table! It does't get better than that.

[burning rain]

98. Laurence O'Donnell is a legendary badass.

It's regrettable to find ourselves in the position of having to nail a Democratic president for deceitfulness, but it has to be done, and no-one does it better than the smart, thorough, and remorseless Laurence O'Donnell.

[tonysam]

99. It's too brazen, and all of the spin on behalf of Obama just doesn't cut it.

He lied. There's no other way around it.

[burning rain]

102. What's more, the spinners aren't doing the president any good.

They're only discrediting themselves by showing that they don't care about honesty.

[closeupready]

108. Yep and as I've said before, even friends of mine who aren't particularly political are incredulous

that Obama is now saying he never campaigned on a public option. That is just an outright, bald-faced LIE, and really is going to hurt his credibility and approval ratingsn.

[closeupready]

107. Listen - a friend of mine who isn't even particularly political asked me

about my thoughts about the Senate bill, and when I said Obama claimed that he hadn't campaigned on a public option, he was incredulous - "he said are you sure he's saying that?? Because I remember him doing that."

So it's a real problem for him to claim that everyone who heard him campaign on a public option 'wasn't listening' or got it wrong. :mad:

[truedelphi]

115. George the Elder only said one time

"Read my lips - no new taxes."

And that was the end of him - when he reneged on that promise.

A lot of politics is not about what someone said or didn't say, or meant or didn't mean, it is about perception.

And Obama was elected in part because of a vast majority of Americans who REMEMBER how he came across.

A perception that he helped create and that we legitimately responded to..

And there are videos on YouTube that support what we recall - we do not have collective Alzheimer's - the man campaigned on the notions of CHANGE, real CHANGE, and not doing business in Washington Old School, but new school.

He has reneged on that suggested perception and he will pay in the loss of many many voters, but of course since the Powers that Control the machinery and the vote count, it may not matter.

[democracy1st]

113. Kick

[Rabbit.Storms]

116. Pres

you got pwned

[David Zephyr]

117. Kicking this up for those who care about truth telling.

.