Lying Hypocrites

The president needs to move swiftly. Let's not forget that the genius of a great leader is to follow the game and leap when the opportunity is right. Obama is a strategic leader, not tactical. I assure you, the works of this health bill and the benefits have been in the works long before he was elected president. He is swift, but not hasty. We musn't forget that he is cleaning up a decade of mismanagement of power and poor usage of natural resources, unforgiveable lobbyism, and a multi billion dollar deficit. I pay for my own health care. Unemployed, laid off college graduate. Yet even I can see that a strong strategy will yield great rewards for those of us who used to consider ourselves working middle class. Obama isn't a miracle worker, he is a worker with miraculous faith.

That's the spirit, DK! Don't worry until it's too late. Until then...just look at all the pretty flowers over there in the distance.

vidyohs: How does one become a "qualified" health care provider with a "qualified plan"?

You can begin by going to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's website (http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/carriers/index...) - it has the criteria for carriers as well as the application form.

New insurance carriers are evaluated annually for inclusion in the program.

DK,

Is there any indication that Obama will veto the Kennedy bill? NO, quite the contrary. Barry buddies up to Teddy whenever possible.

I do feel sorry that you want so desperately to defend a person who evinces a passion for neither truth, nor consistence, nor the long term safety and prosperity of the nation.

I'm just amazed that people take a Congressional Democratic bill and use it to call Obama a "liar".

I wouldn't call him a liar based on that, but that fact that he is a successful politician lends credence to the idea.

indiana jim and others -

RE: "Obama is along for the ride all the way, DK's doubts notwithstanding. DK, if you are that easily dooped I'm sorry for you;"

I'm quite aware Obama probably supports something similar. I'm just amazed that people take a Congressional Democratic bill and use it to call Obama a "liar". It's a little rich, and it betrays an obsession with the new president that comes across as really weird. This is Congress's bill. We'll have more than enough time to bring Obama into this fight. But geez - just let him be for the time being... talk about something he actually did for a little while longer.

vids,

I'm sorry that it was just a bit too much gin in my martini; I'm not so smart after the olives are gone, but I like your comment. Thanks!

I would like to see our politicians lead. Take this plan they got for us, and use it themselves for five years. President on down, all federal employees. If in five years, if they want to continue, I'll play along.

Among other factors that killed the attempt to socialize health care under the Clintons, Jarret Wollstein got on Dr. Dean Edell's radio program and read of the fines, punishments (prison terms), etc. that were part of the package produced by the Hillary team.

I think it was Donna Shalala taking the pro side, attempting to brush these objectionable issues aside by claiming it was all just a proposal, but we know how government works.

Hair Plugs & Face lifts are not generally covered in standard heath coverage. Would you really want to look at Nancy Pelosi without the aid of botox and plastic surgery or Joe Biden without hair plugs? As clowns use makeup for their act so to must these clowns. Do you really think these politicians want to live under the laws that they pass. Just ask Charlie Rangel or Tom Daschle. Do as I say not as I do!

Betsy McCaughey's piece in the WSJ said that "if you don't enroll in a 'qualified' health plan and submit proof of enrollment to the federal government, you'll be tracked down and fined (sections 3101 and 6055)."

I checked sections 3101 and 6055 and can't find any references to a fine. Does anyone know to what Betsy McCaughey is referring, or what I'm missing?

"It's too bad that most people aren't going to figure out that this was a bad idea until they, and we, have been forced to suffer living with it."--David

And then, when things are all messed up, these people who trust government will be blaming what tiny fragment is left of the private sector for all the problems caused by the government. They aren't going to figure out that it was the government meddling that was the bad idea. Its against their religion.

I J,

was this unintentional or the master pun of the year?

"so this bill must be his swain song."

Considering Mary Jo was his date, this is hilarious!

With this he gets to screw all of us!

Don writes:

"Par for the course."

Yes, the Obama/Kennedy course, of course. Teddy got away with murder; so this bill must be his swain song. Obama is along for the ride all the way, DK's doubts notwithstanding. DK, if you are that easily dooped I'm sorry for you; if you are disingenuous, well, just shut up!

It would be nice if some of the GOP would make a spectacle about any proposals that aren't good enough for Congress to belong to.

In fact, Congress should be prohibited from going outside any national program, in addition to being prohibited from getting any priority.

Who's this "we", David? I'm running for congress on a platform of hope and change, community activism, forced volunteerism, collectivism and solving all of your problems with my sharp rhetoric and avoiding the NHS quagmire. You little people waiting for morphine rations on dirty hospital sheets after your near fatal car accidents will have to realize that some of us are just so much more %#@$^ equal than others. I've seen the hospitals the political elites were in and I've been in the ones available to the masses. No comparison. Politics, here I come!

Oh, yes we (I) can!!

It's too bad that most people aren't going to figure out that this was a bad idea until they, and we, have been forced to suffer living with it.

Yes, Martin Brock, they do. It's scary and maybe unbelievable, but true.

Lying Hypocrites? Prof. you're too kind. Promise not to ban me and I'll tell you what you SHOULD have said.

Lying Hypocrites? Prof. you're too kind. Promise not to ban me and I'll tell you what you SHOULD have said.

... it's a wonder people still have faith and trust in politicians to solve their problems.

People still have faith and trust in politicians to solve their problems?

Politicians don't have to compromise. If politicians were not as wishy-washy as DK is, we would really have a constitutionally sized government. It is this willingness to compromise at the base of many a boondoggle that the government gets us into.

Here is an accurate representation as to how congress becomes congress.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2009/6/19&name=Pearls_Before_Swine

This is nothing new. Congress has repeatedly exempted themselves from the effects of the laws they impose on the rest of America.

Congress is also collectively smart enough to take care of the people they need; Federal employees.

DK-

"The point being it's unfair to point to a Kennedy bill to call Obama a liar."

Not in this case. The bill may not be Obama's, but he is responsible for the way he represents it. If he's telling people that Kennedy's bill will give them the same care as Congress when the bill specifically states otherwise, he's lying. You don't need to be the creator of legislation to lie about it.

Politics may very well be about compromise (I doubt it, but that's a different discussion). But this is not a case of Obama compromising on a bill to ensure it gets passed. This is Obama pitching a bill with false information. He's not making concessions to the bill for political viability, he's being dishonest about it's contents.

So far, it seems to me that the President is guilty as charged. But I'm always open to convincing.

Oh, Jesus H. Christ!

How does one become a "qualified" health care provider with a "qualified plan"?

Who does one give the bribe to, and in what form is the bribe given?

Straight cash payments to a senate office thug? Campaign contributions made to the Great Black Father in the White House?

Well America, you're getting it good and hard now, and it is going to get even harder. How's that hope and change working for ya?

S Andrews,

"...it is safe to assume that he is a liar."

Exactly.

"The problem is that candidates gloss over the fact that they don't get to decide everything once they're elected."

"Gloss over", "lie" it's all just semantics. But surely you must have noticed that the president ISN'T fighting congress over that provision, yeah? You would think that a charming wordsmith with such keen egalitarian instincts would FIGHT with congress for what he believes in, no? Yet....not a peep from him.

Maybe he's not a liar so much as he's just an ass.

Upon rereading, I'd re-emphasize this especially: "The problem is that candidates gloss over the fact that they don't get to decide everything once they're elected."

My point being, if you blame Obama for anything I'd blame him for this. This is what he's doing wrong - it doesn't really strike me as being the same thing as lying.

Methinks -

What do you mean prostrate position? I don't understand Methinks. That sounds a little too servile to me.

Look - politics is about compromise. I don't think signing a bill that you wouldn't have wanted but feel that you have to sign is qualitatively the same thing as lying. The problem is that candidates gloss over the fact that they don't get to decide everything once they're elected. I personally don't care if people call him a liar or not. I'm just saying that the bill was just submitted and it's clear that this Congress is going to do it's own thing. I don't think a Kennedy bill reflects at all on Obama, certainly not at this point - and later if a compromise is necessary, we shouldn't read too much into that either. Anyone who cast a vote for Obama without realizing that being a president involves compromising with Congress on issues is surprisingly ignorant.

Mark Perry also posted this 1961 Reagan speech on his Carpe Diem blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs

Obama is not interested in health care. He's interested in socialism and expanding the cushy life of America's Nomenklatura.

The point being it's unfair to point to a Kennedy bill to call Obama a liar.

When he refuses to veto the bill, then can we call him a liar or are we still supposed to not look up from our prostrate position?

Obama is a politician an ambitious one. He is no self sacrificing Jesus Christ or Mahatma Gandhi. Consequently, it is safe to assume that he is a liar.

I totally agree with your assessment of the special treatment of Congress in the bill, but let's keep in mind that Congressional Democrats are different from the president.

This isn't me praising the president either - there are some areas where I prefer the way that the Congress has tempered the administration as well (precious few of those, I suppose, but there are instances). The point being it's unfair to point to a Kennedy bill to call Obama a liar.

The new aristocracy... give them cake

The Health insurance program that covers Congress and all federal employees is an interesting example of a government program that does not use the power of government.

It is managed just like any private program in that the administrators allow private firms to bid for the right to offer employees various insurance options and the government does not interfere in the process.

It is a beautiful example of private markets at work. The only advantage the government offers is the very large pool of individuals so the private firms know how to price the product well.

There is essentially no difference between the government employees health insurance than that offered by other large employers.

"What does it say that the members of Congress don't want to be part of the very plan that they're drafting for the people at large?"

Everybody's equal.

But some are more equal than others.

It specifically exempts members of Congress?

What does it say that the members of Congress don't want to be part of the very plan that they're drafting for the people at large?

Helpful, indeed.

I thought we were in a country where the governed and members of the government were held to the same standards.

Then I woke up.

With all the political scandals happening in this corner of America (Ohio, especially in the Cleveland area), its a wonder people still have faith and trust in politicians to solve their problems.