Countdown showed a lot of video of Obama campaigning on the Public Option......

[KansasVoter]

Obama would be much better coming out and saying 'I campaigned on it, I wanted it, I hoped to get it, but I couldn't so I got the best we could in the current political situation."

Him saying he never campaigned on it really looks worse than just saying "I tried".

[DebbieCDC]

1. Agree that's true

But IMHO he never wanted it. It was lip service to the progressives/liberal Dems. Once he got elected well, we know what happened.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Gotcha!

Just too damn bad it ain't an election year, hey?
And if it was, too damn bad this would only help the opposition.

[ThomCat]

15. So you really don't care that we have a dishonest president

who openly and blatantly lies to us? :wtf:

[rsmith6621]

3. Watch Out Some Here On the DU

....will say you are the one not being truthful.....

[jonnyblitz]

4. Lying is ok when it's Obama doing it. nt

[KansasVoter]

6. How did he lie? He wanted it, but no way to get it. It is called reality!

[ThomCat]

16. He claimed in an interview this week that he never wanted it

and never campaigned on it. He's claiming that people are expecting something from him that he never campaigned on. This is not only a lie, it is an easily proven lie, and several shows are showing clips of him during the campaign to prove it.

[tbyg52]

8. Repug logic. Shame we are using it. nt

[andyrowe]

5. Exactly. That's the point we need to get across most.

And why the fuck would anyone on here unrec that?!?!

[Orangepeel]

7. that's what he is saying now

It's what he should have said to the Washington Post, too. Assuming he was quoted fully and accurately (and I have no reason to believe he wasn't), his statement yesterday was dumb and disingenuous. At least he's not standing by it.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec09/obama_12-23.html#transcript

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, look, I've been in favor of the public option. I think the more choice, the more competition we have, the better.

On the other hand, I think that the exchange itself, the system that we're setting up that forces insurance companies to essentially bid for three million or four million or five million people's business, that in and of itself is going to have a disciplining effect.

Would I like one of those options to be the public option? Yes. Do I think that it makes sense, as some have argued, that, without the public option, we dump all these other extraordinary reforms and we say to the 30 million people who don't have coverage, "You know, sorry. We didn't get exactly what we wanted?" I don't think that makes sense.

[griffi94]

12. he's not standing by his statements in the wapo yesterday?

i missed that part. what did he say. i saw him on the news hour and he said
he was happy with this bill.

[Orangepeel]

19. He's not saying that he didn't campaign on the public option. He's still happy with the bill

He's saying that he wanted the public option but had to compromise, which is what I thought the OP was saying he should have said from the start.

[griffi94]

22. i got it

that's what i thought he should have said as well.
i don't like this bill but lets see how it looks when it gets to his desk.
if it still has mandates and no public option tho i wish he'd veto it.
that said i won't be pissed when he doesn't.

[Laelth]

9. True. The Administration is not handling criticism well.

At least, not the criticism that's coming from the left.

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Larkspur]

13. I don't think they anticipated such a backlash from the Left

The Clintonistas who run Obama's Admin think it's still the 1990's before the Internet became such an effective organizing tool and when Progressive voices were shut out of traditional media. With MSNBC, Progressives have Ed Schultz, who is pounding the Obama Admin for their lack of support for the public option. Keith Olbermann smacked them in his Special Comment and Rachel Maddow helps uncover their inconsistancies. Only Chris Matthews is being a good puppy dog for the Obama Admin.

[Laelth]

17. It really is remarkably different.

I would say, "thank goodness," but the results, in terms of actual policy, seem to be the same.

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[griffi94]

10. and the part about individual mandates

he was against them in the primaries but for them in the senate bill.

[jgraz]

11. That's because "I tried" is an even bigger lie.

[pleah]

14. Transparency would have gone a long way with the people.

But, we didn't get that either. :(

[Laelth]

18. Good point. n/t

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[ThomCat]

20. True.

All his efforts seem to have been in the other direction, unfortunately, towards making the corporations happy and meeting their goals, and towards making the conservatives happy and meeting their goals, but never towards making citizens happy and meeting OUR goals.

[depakid]

21. People fell for the old bait & switch again...

Yours truly included.

Next time out, some of us at least will have wised up and learned.

[bajamary]

23. MSNBC Countdown had videos of Obama for PO

Tonight MSNBC's Countdown had many, many videos of the then candidate Obama saying that he was for a public option, that he supported a public option, that a public option was necessary for health care reform etc, etc.

Obama obviously can't handle criticism especially from the Progressives.

But how stupid does he think we are saying that he "never campaigned" on a public option?

Doesn't he know about video technology, speech transcripts, etc, etc?