Obama's Long Record of Doublespeak

OBAMA DOUBLESPEAK

We can’t expect to solve our problems if all we   do is tear each other down. You can disagree with a certain policy without   demonizing the person who espouses it. You can question somebody’s views and   their judgment without questioning their motives or their patriotism.	This notion that's peddled by the religious right   - that they are oppressed is not true. Sometimes it's a cynical ploy to move   their agenda ahead.Obama advisor David Axelrod appeared on National   Public Radio last May and insisted Carrie Prejean was one of three finalists   for the Obama family dog.You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig.
I don't want to pit Red America against Blue   America.	Conservatives cling to their guns, God, and   religion.
The strongest democracies flourish from frequent   and lively debate.	All across the world, in every kind of   environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns   and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate   over whether or not climate change is real.“These are the facts. Nobody disputes   them.”
“I'm happy to get good ideas from across the   political spectrum, from Democrats and Republicans.”“The only way to end the petty partisanship that   has consumedWashington  for so long and make a difference in the lives of ordinary Americans is by   bringing Democrats and Republicans together to pass an agenda that works for   the American people.”	Obama refused to allow the Republicans to   participate in the health care process until it was almost over. Plans were   made with Democrats, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and others behind   closed doors.
Contrary   to the claims of some of my critics and some of the editorial pages, I am an   ardent believer in the free market.	Obama ordered 789 Chrysler dealerships closed   because the owners donated to GOP candidates, Republican-leaning causes or   donated to Hillary Clinton or John Edwards during the Democratic presidential   primaries. “But a free market was never meant to be a free license to get   whatever you can, however you can get it.”“Its better for everybody if we spread the wealth around.”
“…Fed by Fox News, they   hear Obama is a Muslim 24/7, and it begins to seep in … ‘	Fox News has never called Obama a Muslim
Buying insurance on your own costs   you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer	.”   The Congressional   Budget Office writes, “Premiums for policies purchased in the individual   insurance market are, on average, much lower — about one-third lower for   single coverage and one-half lower for family policies.” It is true that   individual insurance policies are generally 30 percent less comprehensive   than employer-provided insurance, and comparable individual policies are   about twice as expensive. But much of the extra cost is a function of the tax penalty   on purchasing such insurance and the stunted market that penalty has yielded.
“There are now more than 30 million   American citizens who cannot get coverage.”	A study   prepared for the federal government estimates that 9 million people counted   as “uninsured” in the standard estimate are in fact enrolled in Medicaid. The   left-leaning Urban Institute estimates that 12   million are eligible but not enrolled, meaning they could get coverage at any   time. Health economists Mark Pauly of the University of Pennsylvania and Kate   Bundorf of Stanford estimate   that one quarter to three quarters of the uninsured can afford to purchase   coverage, but choose not to do so.
And every day, 14,000 Americans lose   their coverage	The paper   that generated this estimate assumed that two months of severe job losses   would continue forever. Applying that paper’s methodology to a broader   periodof rising unemployment (January 2008 through August 2009) produces   a figure below 9,000.It also assumes those coverage losses are permanent. Like many of the   46 million Americans we label “uninsured,” many of those 9,000 will regain   coverage after a number of months.
But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's   $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 -- immediately the surgeon is reimbursed. Well, why not make sure that we're   also reimbursing the care that prevents the amputation, right? That will save   us money.	Medicare pays a surgeon between   $740 and $1,140 for a leg amputation.
One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle   of chemotherapy. . . . They delayed his treatment, and he   died because of it.”	He didn’t die because of it. The   originator of this false claim, a writer for Slate named Timothy   Noah, has admitted he got it   wrong.
Rising costs are “why so many   employers . . . are forcing their employees to pay more for insurance.”	The “employer’s share” of employees’   health-care costs comes out of those employees’ wages, not out of profits. In   this comment and in five others in his speech, Obama contradicts that basic   truth. Employers aren’t forcing their employees to pick up a larger share of   the bill because they can’t. Workers are already paying the entire bill.
Rising costs are “why American   business that compete internationally . . . are at a huge disadvantage.”	False. The rising cost of health   benefits does not increase employers’ labor costs because, again, wages   adjust downward to compensate. The Congressional   Budget Office, under the leadership of Obama’s OMB director, Peter   Orszag, confirmed that health-care costs do not hinder competitiveness. Obama   economic aide Christina Romer has called   this competitiveness argument “schlocky.
Those of us with health insurance are   also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it — about $1,000 per   year that pays for somebody else’s emergency room and charitable care.”	That number comes from a left-wing   advocacy group. A Kaiser Family Foundation study debunked the group’s   analysis, reaching an   estimate closer to $200 per year for a family. The CBO report reached the   same conclusion.
Nothing in this plan will require you   or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat   this: Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.”	Obama’s claim is false. The CBO   estimates that slashing payments to Medicare Advantage, as Obama advocates, “would   reduce the extra benefits that would be made available to beneficiaries   through Medicare Advantage plans.” It would also cause some people to   lose their coverage.
Requiring insurers to cover   preventive care “saves money.”	According to a review in the New England Journal   of Medicine, “Although some preventive measures do save   money, the vast majority reviewed in the health economics literature do not.”
The [bogus] claim . . . that we plan   to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens .   . . is a lie, plain and simple.	Obama himself proposed a new Independent   Medicare Advisory Council with the authority   to deny life-extending care to the elderly and disabled.
“There are also those who claim that   our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The   reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”	the president’s plan would, in his   words, insure illegal immigrants. Various federal agencies,   immigration critics,   and the media   all acknowledge that a small number of undocumented aliens obtain Medicaid   benefits despite being ineligible. The president seeks to   expand Medicaid, which would create greater opportunities for ineligible   aliens to enroll.
Under our plan, no federal dollars will   be used to fund abortions.	The House bill allows the “government   option” to pay for abortions directly from the U.S. Treasury. Both the House   and Baucus bills subsidize private insurance that cover abortions. The HHS   mandate requires coverage of abortion-inducing drugs.
Critics of   the public option would “be right if taxpayers   were subsidizing this public insurance option. But they won’t be. I’ve insisted   that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would   have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects.”	How quickly we forget the example of   Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Like those institutions, the public option would   benefit from an implicit subsidy: Everyone would know that Washingtonwould not allow the program to   fail, and financial institutions would therefore offer it better rates.   (During the Clinton  administration, Obama adviser Larry Summers reported   that a similar implicit guarantee was worth $6 billion per year to Fannie and   Freddie.) The public option would thus be able to undercut its   less-subsidized competitors.
And I will make sure that no   government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and   the care that you need.”	Unless the president proposes to   abolish insurance, or abolish all care management, there will always be   tension between patients, doctors, and public/private insurers over what   patients “need.” Such tensions are sure to arise under the president’s IMAC   proposal. But even if a new program would be “administered by the government,   just like Medicaid or Medicare,” it would interfere in those decisions. As an   administrative-law judge wrote   to one of us after Obama’s address: “I am a government bureaucrat . . . and I   just happen to be reviewing [six] cases, albeit involving Medicare and   Medicaid, where the government has inserted itself between the patient and   the care prescribed by the physician.”
I will not sign a plan that adds one   dime to our deficits — either now or in the future.” “The plan will not add   to our deficit.”	None of the bills before Congress can   credibly claim to keep the deficit from rising. The one that comes closest,   the Baucus bill, does so by making the wildly implausible assumption that   Congress will allow 40 percent cuts in physician payments under Medicare to   take place in 2012. Congress has routinely refused to support much smaller   cuts.
Now, add it all up, and the plan I’m   proposing will cost around $900 billion over ten years.”	The Congressional Budget Office puts   the total cost of "Obamacare" at more than $1.7 trillion; nearly   double the original projected cost of $940 billion.
The middle class will realize greater   security, not higher taxes.	Obama would make health insurance compulsory for the   middle class (and everyone else). If he thinks that isn’t a tax, he should   listen to his economic adviser Larry Summers,   or his nominee for assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at HHS, Sherry Glied.   Both liken the “individual mandate” to a tax, as do other prominent health   economists like Uwe Reinhardt   (Princeton) and Jonathan   Gruber (MIT). The CBO affirms  that the penalties for non-compliance “would be equivalent to a tax or fine.”If Obama thinks the middle class wouldn’t pay the taxes he wants to   impose on the “drug and insurance companies,” he should read this CBO report   or talk to the junior senator from West     Virginia, who accurately describes   those levies as a “big, big tax” on middle-class coalminers.
I won’t stand by while the special   interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are.”	Everyone from the drug-makers to the   unions to the insurance companies he demonizes are spending millions to build   momentum for his version of reform — in no small part because Obama has   promised to buy   them off with middle-class tax dollars.
I will finally end the abuse of no-bid contracts once and   for all.	Checci & Company, owned by major donors to   the Democrat Party, received a $25-million, no-bid contract for work inAfghanistan.
The truth is our earmark system … is fraught with   abuse. It badly needs reform.	Earmarks have increased under Obama’s watch.   Obama signed a $410 billion omnibus spending bill with more than 8,500   earmarks.
We’ve excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs   or seats on federal boards and commissions.	Obama broke this pledge two days later when he   granted a waiver for former lobbyist Bill Lyon, and eventually for several   other former lobbyists.
Under my plan, no family making less than   $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase.	The Cap and Trade bill raises taxes  on all families – lower, middle, and upper   classes alike.
Freedom of worship
We’ve got to protect religious freedom and rights   of conscience	Obama rescinded federal protections for rights of   conscience.
There is not a liberalAmerica  and a conservativeAmerica  - there is theUnited     States of America. There is not a blackAmericaand a whiteAmerica  and latinoAmericaand   asianAmerica- there's   theUnited States of     America.	"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying,   'We're going to punish our enemies, and we're going to reward our friends who   stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that   kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's going to be   harder."
	This budget tells our veterans that if they want increased   funding for the VA they'll have to pay for it themselves.
“This is not about me.” (2010Ohiospeech)	“Pure laziness   is about the best face I can put on the private sector’s failure to   cooperate,” the president speculated. “People apparently just don’t care   enough about what I’m trying to do for this country to put forth the effort I   need to make the recovery work.”
“When there is a bill that winds up on my desk as   a president, you the public will have five days to look online  and find out what’s in it before I sign it,   so you will know what your government is doing.”	Obama repeatedly says it is not about him. Yet   he  referred to himself 114 times in   his first State of the Union speech. During a speech atWest    Pointin 2009, he referred to himself 44 times. In his first 41   speeches in 2009, he referred to himself 1,198 times. In that 2010 speech inOhiothat wasn’t about   himself, he mentioned himself 132 times.
“The vast   majority of campaign money I got was from small donors all across the country.”	On his second day in office, Obama signed the   Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act just 2 days after receiving it from   Congress. He signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program three hours after   Congress passed it. He signed the $800 billion stimulus bill in one business   day. He has broken this promise numerous times.
Unemployment will spiral out of control unless   Congress passes the stimulus bill.	66 percent of Obama’s general election campaign   money came from large donors.
	Congress passed the bill, and unemployment went   over 10 percent.