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The Truth About "If You Like Your Plan, You Can Keep Your Plan"
Submitted by F.F.Wiley of Cyniconomics blog,
Bit by bit, we’re learning more about President Obama’s broken promise that you can keep your health insurance if you like it, which was repeated at least two dozen times in recent years.
As reported last week by NBC’s Lisa Myers and Hannah Rappleye, the administration knew to expect the current wave of policy cancellations for “at least three years.” NBC cited estimates of about 7 to 11 million cancellations:
Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC News that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law.
One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent. And all say that many of those forced to buy pricier new policies will experience “sticker shock.”
None of this should come as a shock to the Obama administration.
Last weekend, The Wall Street Journal added the news that Obama’s pledge was actively debated by his advisory team. Some advisers objected to the pledge, knowing it wasn’t accurate, only to be overruled by “political aides.”
All of this raises the question: What should we call such a deliberate deception?
Did Obama merely misspeak, as claimed by The New York Times editorial board?
Or, is he guilty of an out-and-out lie?
The WSJ’s James Taranto stopped short of the “L” word in his “Best of the Web” column yesterday, but otherwise hit the nail on the head:
To misspeak means to express oneself imperfectly or incorrectly. It implies either a careless choice of words or an unintended candor (as in a “Freudian slip”). Obama did not misspeak. As The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend, the slogan was the result of careful deliberation.
…
Suppose the deliberations the Journal describes had taken place in a corporate suite rather than a government one and had concerned a commercial rather than a political advertising slogan. In that case, we’d be talking about a criminal conspiracy to defraud consumers.
In other words, Obama’s pledge was no different to, say, JPMorgan’s misrepresentations about the toxic mortgages it sold to unwitting investors. Fraudulent mortgage claims were surely discussed within JPM, just as Obama’s team debated the health insurance promise. Moreover, any internal concerns about the mortgage fraud were certainly squashed, just like the reservations expressed by Obama’s more truthful advisers.
But the consequences of Obama’s false advertisements are worse than those of private institutions such as JPM. In an economy that’s awash in misinformation – which is basically any economy – we can at least protect our interests against those of other private entities. We can walk away from claims that don’t pass the sniff test. If we learn we’ve been fooled, we can take our business elsewhere. Finally, we can turn to the courts for compensation.
None of these options are realistic, though, when the transgressor happens to hold the title, President of the United States. Under our new, more socialistic approach to health care, our only choice is to play by Obama’s rules. We also have to accept that information about those rules is tightly controlled by his team. Which means it’s crafted to protect his popularity and legacy above other considerations including the truth.
Just as Taranto didn’t go so far as to use the “L” word in his column yesterday, neither did any of the other mainstream media reports we reviewed. There were plenty of carefully worded euphemisms, but presumably it’s not polite to say the president told a lie.
We’ll show no such restraint: Obama told a blatant lie, which he then continued to repeat. It’s not the first time he’s lied, but this was an absolute whopper.
And while Taranto was right to compare his deceit to corporate fraud, we’ll add that we have no recourse against the president’s lies, unlike in the private sector. Therefore, Obama’s actions are more demoralizing and destructive than those of corporate fraudsters.
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Re; Obamacare is not about Healthcare, it is about Insurance.
It is not about Healthcare, it is not about Insurance.
It is about Control.
2700 pages, a complete plan for total societal control.
The correct word is a deliberately planned fraud. Such an act is a crime against the People and the United States, a fraud under 18 USC §1001 and a conspiracy under other statutes. The victims are millions of Americans and the United States. His act is a high crime requiring impeachment under the Constitution. We have a Congress of cowering cowards, in fear of being called racist. The whole of Congress are racists, who refuse to judge Obama by his acts and character and excuse him because of the color of his skin.
This kind of nonsense is why nobody can take you people seriously.
Nice pointy hat!
Which people are you talking about? I was with MLK in 1961, but I didn't notice whether you were scurrying underfoot. Was Obama's lie part of a giant fraud?
Your lack of meaningful response is duly noted.
Hey dill snips.
Elections are rigged by the NSA. This shithead was not elected. He was appointed.
It all makes a lot more sense when you realize it. Now, that being said, there is one and only one way to cope with this.
<- So much panty-twisting over marketing materials
<- "Death Panels" was a bigger lie
<--------Hitler did it too
<--------And the pope(s) they did it
Why can't I click both down AND up?????
marketing materials?
Financial fraud.
"Death Panels" was a quote of a facebook post by Sarah Palin. If you are reduced to reaching to facebook posts to have something to point to, you're in deep trouble.
Further, while Dems and Obama prefer the term "IPAB", it is most certainly a death panel. They are the ones that will decide who gets life-saving treatment and who doesn't. You may not consider that to be a death panel. I say it is.
eat your peas bitchez!
You can keep your half-negroe if you want to.
... but I say impeach that motherfucking weasel. People WILL DIE from this.
You lie!!!
Does it really happen that he DOES NOT LIE? I seriously doubt it.
How do you tell that a politician is lying? His lips are moving.
"I lied" ... period
The Black eyed peas.
The central law of politics is "never admit a mistake, and everything spoken is the absolute truth".
"Mistakes were made" is just a phrase used to introduce an attack on your rivals.'
eg. "Mistakes were made...........Bush's fault."
"Did Obama merely misspeak, as claimed by The New York Times editorial board?
Or, is he guilty of an out-and-out lie?"
There was no misspeak. The same was repeated over and over again. A mispeak would have been corrected. This was a deliberate lie.
Obama told the American people that they could keep their plan if they liked it- PERIOD. Obama EMPHASIZED that. There is no mistaking what he said in plain english.
I did not read the editorial, but if they are defending Obama as having misspoken, the New Yok Times editorial board has no interest in the truth.
Why is this a surprise? Obomba is simply doing/saying what his owners tell him to do.
He's a paid professional pathological liar.
The whole idea of ACA is to provide a justification, or cover , for health insurance companies to raise their premiums, yet not have to pay out.
The middle class privately insured individuals will see their policies either cancelled or the premiums increase so dramatically, many will have to bail, (although jumping from a burning building 100 stories really is not much of a bail). Thus more will be forced to buy into ACA policies. It is almost like the insurance companies are cancelling policies so that consumers will have to take the bait for their new ACA approved policies which these insurance companies secretly will love to sell the public. But wait! The deductibles and copays for these will be so high that people will not be able to afford to go to the doctors/hospitals because they won't be able to afford to pay the copays /deductibles- they will have already spent their last dollar on the premiums!
If they can't pay their deductible, then they can't get through the actual healthcare treatment window. But in the meantime, insurance companies have collected all these premiums. The goal of limitinf healthcare and enriching coporations is accomplished.
Emergency rooms will be packed. Many people will ultimately not enroll in ACA, some will perhaps pay the tax, but nevertheless most will rely on the fact that when they show up in the Emergency room, whether they have enrolled or not, or whether they have paid the tax or not if they didn't enroll, they will still have to be "treated" by the emergency room under current law. The reality is they will be "diagnosed and adiosed", and will be discharged from the emergency room and have to go to the end of the line to revisit the emergency room again. Many hospitals, especially rural ones, of course will be broken by this endless recycling and will have to close.
Thus the goals of rationing of health care are accomplished. Healthcare Organizations will make big profits, and the CEOs will reap big stock bonanza payouts, cash in their stock, and then run with the money before these big plans are "closed" only to re emerge in the form of a single payer government system, where, like lobbyists, they will be rehired to run the new health care system.
There is no end to the screwing of the people by the fascist elites.
" Read My Lips - If You Like Your Plan, You Can Keep Your Plan "
"Suppose the deliberations the Journal describes had taken place in a corporate suite rather than a government one and had concerned a commercial rather than a political advertising slogan. In that case, we’d be talking about a criminal conspiracy to defraud consumers."
So why doesn't someone sue? The government is no longer "just" the government. They are engaging in--are a direct player in--and forcing economic activity. I say hold King Barry, Queen Sibelibutt and the insurance company who cancels you directly responsible for consumer fraud, extortion, false advertising, etc. Come on, lawyers come up with ridiculous claims over spilled coffee all the time; are you saying not one lawyer has the balls to file a class-action lawsuit here?
We have recourse. According to the constitution and the declaration of independence on which it is predicated, the federal government is a foreign enemy combatant. Lock out HR and the police union reps because they are all snitches, take out the comm and bag the lawyers first to neutralize their occupying force. Go for the head, not the body.
Who are you going to believe, POTUS saying something once, or POTUS saying something 29 times? Clearly you can't believe your lying racist ears from 2010-2012 and must trust your 2013 ears...or you're a racist partisan blogger.
See? It's actually quite easy once you take the blue pill and bite into that steak again.
it's not surprising that he lied, he's a politician and as we all know that's what they do all day, every day.
they lie, they all do, honest, morally upright people rarely even get through the door and they certainly don't get to be president. it's the extremely rare exception (and becoming still more so) that gets to the hill with their humanity still intact. those few that do have a desire to do the right thing are marginalized, vilified and completely negated by the DC machine.
what is kind of surprising is why so many are buying into the act that the administration was blindsided by all this when for four years now the truth, the facts have been out there for all to see. the warnings of what this would mean for Americans individually and the economy as a whole have been evident since the first day the first parts of this act became law. the lights of the oncoming freight train were bright and the horn was loud.
I know it's a tired worn out analogy but here they are standing on the deck of the titanic, they saw the ship hit the burg, felt the entire ship shudder and shake violently, heard the twisting and ripping of steel and then react with disbelieving shock that the ship is sinking.
lies, deception and deceit is to be expected from Washington DC, it is the norm, the rule, it is what they do. so did Obama lie or misspeak isn't even a question worth asking and why anybody would be even the slightest bit surprised at just how large of a cluster this whole thing is turning into, in every possible way, is beyond me.
Obama you fucking LIAR
Potus lied.
Again and again and again. 24 speeches?
Is lying an impeachable offence, or has our self reflexive political space become so perverted, it's simply accepted. Not only accepted, but expected.
Oh, please lie to us Potus ... after all, father knows best.
Has the notion of the "People" become anachronistic?
Look at the Whitehouse.gov site.... "We the People".
Is that a perverse joke, are these jokers openly mocking and taunting said people?
Potus lied ... people died
Trust us.... we're the Government.
"It’s not the first time he’s lied, but this was an absolute whopper." -------> LMAO!
Every single time he opens his pie-hole he lies his pants. When I hear his voice, I turn the channel (when he's on every channel, I turn it off) - can't stand the sound of this pathological liar :P