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The Right Prescription
No, You Can’t Keep Your Current Health Coverage
Yesterday, Dr. Obama took his dissembling act to Des Moines.
There’s a reason President Obama tries so hard to convince Americans not to watch Fox News. He keeps shamelessly lying about easily verifiable facts. Evidently he figures that left-leaning media outlets won’t call him on it, so if he can only convince people not to watch FOX, he’ll be OK. Unfortunately for the president, the American people simply have to look around them to see that he isn’t being honest with them.
Campaigning in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday, the President repeated his biggest health care reform whopper: You can keep your current health insurance. Here is what he said:
“There’s nothing in the bill that says you have to change the health insurance you’ve got right now. If you were already getting health insurance on your job, then that doesn’t change.”
Yet hours before he uttered that line, the Boston Globe reported that Harvard Pilgrim Health Care was canceling its Medicare Advantage coverage specifically because of new regulations imposed by Obama’s health care law.
The decision “was prompted by a freeze in federal reimbursements and a new requirement that insurers offering the kind of product sold by Harvard Pilgrim — a Medicare Advantage private fee for service plan — form a contracted network of doctors who agree to participate for a negotiated amount of money. Under current rules, patients can seek care from any doctor,” the Globe reported.
Note: even if Harvard Pilgrim had kept its Medicare Advantage plan, the law would have required it to offer the service through doctors who agree “to participate for a negotiated amount of money.” That means that, contrary to Obama’s claim that you can keep your current doctor as well as your current insurance, the law requires Medicare Advantage providers to create HMO-style physician networks, in which your doctor might or might not agree to participate.
For New Englanders, Harvard Pilgrim’s decision is pretty big news. That company’s Medicare Advantage plan covered 22,000 people. Every one of them will have to switch insurers, and possibly doctors, because of Obamacare. For everyone else, it is a warning of things to come.
Obama’s claim began to unravel last year, and when reporters (including some in the mainstream media) began to expose it as untrue, he revised it. In a June 23, 2009 press conference, he offered this clarification in response to a question from Jake Tapper of ABC News:
”When I say if you have your plan and you like it, or you have a doctor and you like your doctor, that you don’t have to change plans, what I’m saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform.”
That is deliberately misleading. As Politifact.com noted in an August, 2009 post that rated Obama’s claim half-true, “It’s not realistic for Obama to make blanket statements that ‘you’ will be able to ‘keep your health care plan.’ It seems like rhetoric intended to soothe people that health care reform will not be overly disruptive. But one of the points of reform is to change the way health care works right now.”
Exactly. An honest claim would be that the changes imposed by this new law will result in many Americans losing either their coverage as it exists now or their doctor — or both.
Politifact and others have rated as technically true Obama’s claim that “the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform.” But that is not true, either. The law mandates that health insurers change the coverage they offer. Insurers have to offer coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and to policyholders’ children up to age 26. So technically, the law did change your health care plan.
As a direct result of those and other mandates, insurers will then implement further changes. For example, on Monday before last (more than a week before Obama again claimed that the law won’t make you change your coverage), reports broke that several major insurers planned to stop offering new child-only coverage because of the health care law
“Some of the country’s most prominent health insurance companies have decided to stop offering new child-only plans, rather than comply with rules in the new health-care law that will require such plans to start accepting children with preexisting medical conditions after Sept. 23,” the Washington Post reported on September 20.
The law is only just beginning to take effect, and already insurers are dropping coverage for tens of thousands of Americans because of its burdensome mandates. There will be a lot more of this as additional Obamacare regulations become active. And yet the president still claims that the law won’t make you change your coverage or your doctor. Is it any wonder he doesn’t want Americans to get their information from news outlets that will check his claims?
About the Author
Andrew Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader. His Twitter ID is @Drewhampshire.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (138) | Leave a comment
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saleboter| 9.30.10 @ 7:12AM
We are so screwed
Ret. Marine| 9.30.10 @ 7:28AM
Disagree, obamas Bin Ly'n is so screwed. The day a person begins to believe his own lies, is the day he has no creditability, he lost his the day he goose step into our house. Nothing has changed, just the weather and the amount of days We the People will have to tolerate this pretender-n-thief and the lies that came with him.
Rich| 9.30.10 @ 6:52PM
30yrs of lies have made us pretty complacment true. Maybe this will help. Sheeple gotta stop letting themselves get whipsawed by the Corporate Party (Repubs/Demos) Vote 3rd party 4th party even.
Robert| 9.30.10 @ 8:48PM
Voting 3rd or 4th Party is a wasted vote. You either end up helping the Republican (Nader in 2000) or the Democrat (Perot in 1992). 3rd and 4th Party candidates don't win. So the alternative is to pick a major party candidate and to force him or her to your ideological leanings. This is what is happening to the Republican Party right now with the Tea Party twisting their arm. And that is a good thing.
Nobama| 10.1.10 @ 1:52AM
I agree also. This is exactly what we must do. I'm attending a Tea party this Saturday. My first. I have contributed heavily to conservative candidates who represent what I believe (for the first time in my life) . We can't be complacent. If we're vocal enough, and there are enough of us, we can change Washington.
brigid feydo| 10.2.10 @ 9:18PM
what you say is true we the silent majority must not be silent anymore. we must talk to the young, educate them. he is heading to the colleges again we got to stop him
atlmom| 10.1.10 @ 1:26PM
Actually, in GA we have a runoff system, and having a third party won't change the outcome, except to have a runoff...but at least your vote gets heard. A candidate needs 50% +1 votes to win - so if the guy I didn't want gets it, they were going to get that with our without my voting for the 3rd party.
SO the libertarians are polling anywhere from 10-15% this year, in GA - if they can get to 20% for the gov'ner, they can open the ballot to all races across the country. woo woo.
The reps and the dems have shown us what they do. It's time for new leadership. And hopefully not having to vote with holding your nose.
Paul B. | 9.30.10 @ 7:21PM
I agree. In the end, The Liar will be covered with shame, his entire game exposed. As will all those who supported his attempt to destroy this nation.
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 6:26PM
Paul B .:
Agree he's a liar. Promised "real change." We've gotten squat in that regard: Haves still have (in fact, have MORE); Have-nots have less.
Insofar as this "nation" is a greed/violence (corporate/military) force, I wish he WOULD destroy it. Sad to say, he's not about that. You're really howling in the wind here, son.
A.M. Mallett| 9.30.10 @ 12:48PM
The only way you are screwed is if you sit home on election day.
Sandy D| 10.1.10 @ 1:14AM
So true!!
Stephanie| 9.30.10 @ 7:12AM
A liar, plain, pure and simple.
Will the Repubs work on repealing obamacare?
One can only hope so.
WRTolkas| 9.30.10 @ 7:37AM
Dear Miss Stephanie,
If the newly elected Republicans do not work on repealing obamacare then we will vote them out too.
That swinging door of the electorate that brought the new members into government can swing both ways as they may discover.
Regards,
WRTolkas
Mo| 9.30.10 @ 10:38AM
I almost never hear a Republican utter the word "repeal." What giant government initiative have they ever repealed? They can't wait to get their hands on it. They've got lots and lots of molding and shaping to do when they get it. They're drooling.
I hope I'm wrong.
A.M. Mallett| 9.30.10 @ 12:49PM
It cannot be repealed until we have a Republican or Conservative President but it can be "de-funded".
jhoger| 9.30.10 @ 6:52PM
PPACA is an integrated package that has to be implemented as a whole. If you only damage it, it will be clear why... Republicans are guaranteed all the blame for making it fail. Better to let it play out.
Rich| 9.30.10 @ 6:54PM
I'm still waiting for the Word IMPEACH!
S D| 10.1.10 @ 1:16AM
I heard someone say that to impeach this guy would ony cause him to be seen as a 'martyr for the cause' and would cause more damage than just voting him out in 2012. Something to think about...
Nobama| 10.1.10 @ 1:56AM
We impeached Clinton, and it did nothing. Maybe he should stay until 2012. Every day he sits in office heightens the upchuck reflex of the electorate. He will be a regurgitated projectile come 2012.
Warren G Wonka| 10.1.10 @ 3:04PM
Impeach and convict and we get the one man who has been most decisively rejected by the electorate as unfit for the presidency every time he has run -- Joe Biden.
Kodiak| 10.1.10 @ 10:45PM
Even if you get both Obama AND Biden, what's next?
Princess Pelosi
God help us all.
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 6:32PM
Rich:
C'mon. "High crimes and misdemeanors."
No big fan of Obama (think he betrayed people like me with his lack of aggression), but if you think HE should be impeached.....be consistent and also call for the indictment of Bush, Cheney, Addington, Wolfowitz, et al. Their "crimes" are FAR more clear.
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 3:48AM
Oh, I'm sure you'll be willing to elaborate on what these "crimes" were and why they, what's the Clinton-era phrase...oh yeah..."rose to the level of impeachable offenses."
And maybe while you're at it, you can get around to explaining how one would "impeach" a politician or appointed leader who has already left office. Impeachment (and later removal on conviction) does not put the disgraced politician in jail. It is more of a civil proceeding and simply removes the offending party from office.
Did I mention you're an idiot? I almost forgot to tell you.
RetAF| 9.30.10 @ 6:56PM
Mo, the reason you don't hear much about repeal is because you're listening to the wrong people. It does take a 2/3's majority to overcome a presidential veto, which OBozo would certainly do. You'll hear much more about repeal of this abomination in 2012. Keep listening.
Mo| 9.30.10 @ 7:22PM
RetAF,
I appreciate the response. I do understand the 2/3's requirement and I'll never stop "listening" to what goes on in Washington again. The whole "hope springs eternal" thing tho isn't working for me as it relates to the Republicans.
Fool me once, etc.
RetAF| 9.30.10 @ 7:31PM
Mo, I appreciate your response to my response. Please don't mistake me for a Republican or a "Teabagger", rather a Constitutionalist who loves his country and its People, including you. Respectfully, etc.
Mo| 9.30.10 @ 8:02PM
Well, I think the Tea Party people for the most part share your ideas of following the Constitution's protection of individual rights. Why adopt the "Teabagger" slur? They really seem to be honing in on the fundamentals of what the Founders wanted. If they get there without mucking it up, I'm with them.
di| 9.30.10 @ 9:16PM
Hi Mo, the Tea Party people of which I consider myself are a grass roots movement of conservative Constitutionalists who are the sleeping giant who finally woke up to fight tooth and nail to get our country back to where our forefathers meant it to be. We have to stick together and have good strategy, Tea Party candidates stand for what we want, no RINO'S allowed. WE THE PEOPLE, intend to TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!
Mo| 10.1.10 @ 12:50PM
Hi di,
I'm not sure what you mean when you say the Tea Party is comprised of "conservative" Constitutionalists. If one is a Constitutionalist, I take that to mean they want the Constitution upheld to limit the government, as was its intent. What is it that a "conservative" Constitutionalist desires?
RetAF| 9.30.10 @ 9:21PM
Mo, you're right. I think I was judgmental in using the "Teabagger" moniker. I guess I'm just used to hearing it used so much on CNBC... too much Keith Olbermann, I guess...didn't mean it as a slur. I respect the fundamentals of our Founders and the movement to return us to their principles. But Fundamentalist seems to have become a dirty word somehow.
RetAF| 9.30.10 @ 9:45PM
My mistake, I meant MSNBC, but who cares about them anyway? 13% share of cable news...whatever.
Nobama| 10.1.10 @ 2:16AM
Lefties are shape shifters. They've infiltrated the GOP to destroy it. But their deeds belie their true intentions. Rove may have been half right. We should do what the lefties have done. Infiltrate. Pretend to care about their crap, then vote correctly when it matters, and begin turning the boat around. Some decent folks in the GOP began to think America didn't support conservative ideas. And the left perpetuated this notion with their media wing. We need conservative media to lead this country back to sanity.
Linda| 10.1.10 @ 10:31AM
RetAF - I am a 57 year old office manager of a small company and I resent being called a "Teabagger". I support the Tea Party AND I SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION. You are a tool for calling honest patriotic Americans a filthy name.
RetAF| 10.1.10 @ 10:46PM
Linda, whoa...as we say in west Texas. I employ an office manager, so I respect your position. I didn't call you a teabagger, and notice that I put it in quotation marks, meaning that I'm using others' use of the word...as in Keith Olbermann (and others) on national television. I served for over 20 years in the military...patriotic enough for you? By the way, nobody, and I mean nobody is completely honest.
RetAF| 10.2.10 @ 12:49AM
Linda, honestly, did you post this on company time, or was it your day off...or possibly lunch time?
flyman8| 9.30.10 @ 4:54PM
The Repubs or the Dems will repeal only if you and I and the rest of America hold their feet to the fire of truth and accountability. Then we may get what we desire under the Constitution.
Lock and load America
RetAF| 9.30.10 @ 7:01PM
Trust me, flyman8, I'm locked and loaded. Just need a wingman or two.
jrjr| 9.30.10 @ 4:59PM
Will the Repubs repeal it, I do not think so. The programs of FDR, LBJ, and every other President since then has added to the tax burden. None of it has cured anything. ONE IN SEVEN in the US is under the "poverty level" -- as defined by the libs.
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 3:51AM
They'd better, or they're out. The Tea Party isn't to let-up next year or the year after.
Jobe| 10.1.10 @ 2:50PM
Yes, he a plain and simple liar. My question is: What kind of room temperature IQ moron, democrat or republican can actually BELIEVE this jughead? I mean, come on! He has been caught in so many BLATANT lies, falsifications, half truths, etc. that it would take a volume to list them all. He has failed to do ANY of the things that he claimed he would do if elected (except give us impossible to pay for "health care") yet there are still people out there who BELIEVE him. God how I wish I could get in touch with them to sell them some fairy dust.
figus janus| 9.30.10 @ 7:34AM
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Where is all of this money coming from? How do they get all of it to pay for the changes. We already had two stimulus bills and it has done nothing to help.
Does anyone realize we still need to raise taxes to pay for the stimulus' bills(or at least the Dems do). In several years what is going to happen when we have to start paying the bills for all of this to China.
We borrowed money from them. Then we went to the stores to buy their products which is most of Walmart!!!!! Does any of this make sense? Prepare for a world of hurt. First it will be financial pain, then government will have to cut spending on programs for us like Medicare, Medicaid, Foodstamps, Welfare, etc,. But will they reduce the size of government??......NO is the answer! They will run this country into the ground!
Take over your local district county seats. Let Washington know we will not let this happen as long as we draw breath. Here are some quotes from a great man.
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson
"The constitutions of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves;
that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property and freedom of the press." Thomas Jefferson
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.-Thomas Jefferson
Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.
flyman8| 9.30.10 @ 4:57PM
The keys to success are impeach and repeal. Let's all remember to fire the culprits and repeal the bad, bad legislation already in effect and we stand a chance at hope and recovery.
jhoger| 9.30.10 @ 6:53PM
Impeach? So now passing laws that conservatives don't like is an impeachable offense? What is wrong with you people?
RacerJim| 10.1.10 @ 8:27AM
Yes, Impeach. Bribing members of Congress to pass laws, especially laws that 70% of "We the people..." oppose, is an impeachable offense. What is wrong with people like you?
Actually, legally declaring Obama ineligible to serve as POTUS is a much better idea...that way everything he has done acting as POTUS automatically becomes null and void.
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 6:38PM
RacerJim:
You got one bit right: "Bribing member of Congress to pass laws...."
Right now, Bribing member of Congress isn't just legal, it's SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
That needs to stop. Eh?
Methinks this is perhaps the number-one issue upon which "progressives" such as myself and so-called "Tea Partiers" and/or "Libertarians" can most agree.
Eh?
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 3:52AM
I have a better question - what's wrong with YOU people? Aren't you embarrassed at Holy Man being caught in lie after lie after lie?
Jim O'Brien| 9.30.10 @ 7:42AM
McDonald's restaurants announced today that it may drop medical insurance for 30,000 workers due to the impact of Obamacare. Of course that reveals the real goal of the Demo-Socialists, which is to destroy private insurance and lead millions toward government-run medical care.
jhoger| 9.30.10 @ 6:54PM
You cheapen the term medical insurance by applying it to what McDonald's currently offers. Please.
RacerJim| 10.1.10 @ 8:29AM
You look the fool by ignoring the obvious. Please.
AnyoneButNewt| 9.30.10 @ 7:47AM
YOU LIE!
Willy| 9.30.10 @ 1:37PM
AnyOneButNewt, check the facts:
Quote from news yesterday: "McDonald's (NYSE: MCD [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]), the Dow component and the largest fast-food chain in the world, said it may cancel its health insurance plan for 30,000 hourly U.S. employees unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul, according to the Wall Street Journal."
Stephanie| 9.30.10 @ 10:30AM
Me feels you are wasting your time John. Best place your hope elsewhere.
carnot| 9.30.10 @ 11:17AM
wow! you must have a lot of friends!!!!!!
x666dog| 9.30.10 @ 12:13PM
John,
We have a President that you can have right now if you like.
coal carrier| 9.30.10 @ 8:01AM
"the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform."
Ladies and gentlemen, here we go again with the nudge. When the progressives want us to go in a certain direction, they give us the nudge. How will they do this? By increasing our cost. Oh they are not going to directly tell us that we can’t see our favorite doctor or keep our present insurance company. They will just add a regulation here and there that will force the increased cost to be passed on to us. If they can get the cost of our coverage to a point where we can’t afford it, it forces us to go with their government insurance plan.
The progressive-in-chief may feel that he is not lying; however he is not telling us the whole truth. If he can’t get us with the nudge, it will turn into a push. If it still doesn’t happen, it will be imprisonment. This is the way a socialistic system operates. History has taught us that.
marcel duranleau| 9.30.10 @ 12:40PM
Muslim kenyan marxist professor Obama next Hitler. Look www.larouchepac.com His health
plan is Hitler plan find out. What about largeUN
convoys trucks in USA? Are you ready to see UN
Blue Helmet walk on our soil? Are you ready for welcoming them? Check out : oathkeepwers.org
Why communist Hillary Clinton try so hard with
UN to takes ours guns? Hillary and her husband wants control the world. Look out americans .
Look out for concentrations camps in USA with
gas connections? Ring you a bell? Well Germany
concentrations had gas? Wake up America get ready for your own survival. Check: youtubefemacamp Never trust a marxist professor. Look what happens when people trust
Hitler? Never give up your weapons remember
Jews in Germany. Be not afraid of theirs faces.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 9.30.10 @ 8:15AM
The big time bomb contained within Obamacare is the requirement that health insurance plans spend 80 to 85% of premiums on coverage. It's well known that if that amount is spent, that health insurers will go bankrupt.
The McDonald's corporation has already informed Health and Human Services that they may have to drop coverage for over 30,000 employees because of that requirement.
Many states had held that figure to 65% because it was well known that any insurer exceeding that amount would soon be out of business and the states would have to pick up the remains.
It's only one of many destructive requirements of the new Obamacare. The MSM refers to these requirements as having "unintended consequences" but that's been the plan all along.
The ruling elite in D.C. will be able to control you all the more easily when they provide your health care and if this bizarre plan is implemented they will control your health care.
http://www.wibw.com/toyourhealth/headlines/104054679.html
Alert1201| 9.30.10 @ 8:30AM
This is true. When the health care debat was going strong a health care consultant called Rush and said that this part of the bill will be the end of the health insurance industry. She was so confidant this was true that she was actually leaving the industry to find other work before the you-know-what hit the fan.
Steve A| 9.30.10 @ 9:15AM
Bill, 100% correct, sir. Take the new 80/20% mandate, couple it with forcing insurers to accept new business with pre-existing conditions & it is game over for private insurers. Rates MUST go up. Then, Obama blames Insurers for "gouging," the media is complicit & the end result is single payer. This is the plan, no question about. I have worked in the insurance business for 15 years & there is absolutely no other possible result.
carnot| 9.30.10 @ 11:18AM
yea but.......
what about their health? .... :-) ......
Ned| 9.30.10 @ 11:15AM
As I see it, the real Dim-O-crook "gotcha in the "Obummer Ending Healthcare As We Know It" bill (as detailed in these pages a few weeks ago) is the governments newly created ability to add costs to insurance at the bottom, and at the same time cap income/revenue for insurers at the top. All Dims need to do - and take it as a given that's the plan - is raise costs until they exceed revenues,
and stand back. As private insurers flee the field government steps forward to - yet again - save us from a problem entirely of their own creation.
I've long held that ANYTHING you can point to as a problem in 21st Century America is a problem BECAUSE of government, not in spite of it.
carnot| 9.30.10 @ 11:19AM
still has to be paid for. how will they do that?
Ned| 9.30.10 @ 11:26AM
paying for something has never been an impediment to Dimwits... after all, the truest indicator of a liberal is his willingness to spend your money on his favorite issue... once they crash the private insurance market they've created a crisis which will be used to justify the confiscatory taxation to pay for their wet dream of single payer... and you won't have a choice but to participate...
carnot| 9.30.10 @ 1:26PM
there ya go....they'll raise taxes as well as monitize the debt.
problem....they...ironically...are working on a behavioral model that blithely assume what they most object to: that you and I are consumptive creatures who will do what work we have to in order to sustain (or at least minimize a reduction) in our standard-of-living. they are going to find out that that assumption is going to cost them - and millions others - dearly.
Flyman8| 9.30.10 @ 5:05PM
You are spot on friend. That is why we must all spread the WORD to vote, impeach and repeal. We must have our elected ones heed the cry for true justice and get back to basics.
525 people do all the work in DC. All the rest comprise the mud and muck they must wade through each day in order to accomplish anything in the name of the American people. Is it any wonder CORRUPTION is rampant and we are paying the bill....over and over again???
virginia| 9.30.10 @ 11:32AM
I take the stance that a "crime" was committed when this Healthcare bill was written by the democratic congress and then the crime was abetted by those who voted for it. The fact they they never read it or understood what was in it is no defense. Those who voted for it are criminals and we the American voters must now impose our sentence in November.
Ned| 9.30.10 @ 11:38AM
No need to use quotes around the word - the actions of Congress are criminal as far as I'm concerned... RICO and conspiracy cases are harder to make, but the penalties are harsher as well...
jhoger| 9.30.10 @ 6:55PM
Opposing your nonsense and passing laws you don't like is no crime. It is called progress and civilization.
RacerJim| 10.1.10 @ 8:35AM
Obama's redistribution of wealth and fundamental transformation of America are in fact crimes. They are called unconstitutional.
Oldefarte| 9.30.10 @ 11:38AM
Just as he lied about himself and who/what he realy is in order to get elected, he's also lying about his healthcare bill. Any moron should realize that by adding 30+ million previously uninsured insured to the required insurable population, that insurance companies providing this coverage will have to [1] increase their premium prices and [2] restrict/change their coverages accordingly. My guess is that his WELFARECARE's intent is to gut the existing Medicare and replace it with a diluted substitute!!!!!!!!!
di| 9.30.10 @ 9:07PM
Yup, Obamiac just wants control of a huge industry under the guise of helping everyone, basically because he is a Colonialist who considers our big money makers and entrepreneurs as outlaws who need to be brought down, he is intent on purposely bring our country down.
Joe Hamilton| 9.30.10 @ 12:01PM
Even Great Britain recognizes socialized medicine is a total disaster. They are in the process of going in the opposite direction. Our malicious , relatively low IQ ,Muslim president is either a totally incompetent fool ,or is deliberately ruining this country in every way possible (or both).
Ned| 9.30.10 @ 12:24PM
Yup
Texas Mom 2010| 9.30.10 @ 1:17PM
Down here 'yep' means yes while 'yup?' is what I text my son meaning 'are you up?' or 'yah-up?' every morning! Just a little redneck translation for ya.
flyman8| 9.30.10 @ 5:09PM
He is all the above and he really is trying to send this country down the well of Socialism. And let us not assume he has the brains to plan all of this alone. There are many in the wings contributing their efforts in order to assume the power and wealth that will fall to them as we implode.
QQQ| 9.30.10 @ 12:42PM
http://www.ecomotoscooter.com/
Track| 10.1.10 @ 1:05PM
Are you advertising in this thread?
marcel duranleau| 9.30.10 @ 12:50PM
Marxist professor is like to new Hitler if you don't believe you will pay with your freedom and your life. Hitler hates jews. Obama hates whites. Ask
why UN larges convoys trucks in USA? Are you ready for UN troops to be on our soil?
Are you ready for ours concentrations camps?
Check out: oathkeepers.org
Check out : youtubefemacamp
Never trust a marxist professor. www.obamacrimes.com/
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 6:41PM
Resume your medication.
Garry Owen| 9.30.10 @ 1:18PM
We were given fair warning about the coming disaster during the 2008 election season. One can hope this health care mess can be corrected. Oh, by the way - what health care plan do the Obama's have?
Ned| 9.30.10 @ 1:29PM
Why, naturally they - as well as all of Congress - have the Free-For-Life, Everything-You-Could-Ever-Want, Walter Reed/Johns Hopkins/Mayo Clinic plan... that YOU pay for...
After all some pigs are more equal than others, and these are truly gold-plated pigs...
Michele B.| 9.30.10 @ 4:18PM
You don't get any Medicare Advantage program from your employer, so the statement that you can keep insurance provided by your employer is actually correct.
RacerJim| 10.1.10 @ 8:43AM
If someone's employer drops/replaces their health insurance program due to one/more provisions of Obamacare then Obama's statement is in fact a lie.
Steve A| 9.30.10 @ 4:27PM
Hey Michelle, Go buy a happy meal & give your speech to the register gal @ McDonalds tomorrow.
Kateliz| 9.30.10 @ 4:49PM
All of this will inevitably lead to a health insurance "crisis" which will require the government to step in and provide ALL health insurance. Next, it will become apparent that it would be soooo much more economical if the government just eliminated those rotten PROFIT SEEKING HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS and just took over the delivery of your health care and of course the decisions that would impact your health like say...regulating your diet, re-education you about your lifestyle, eliminating sports or any activity that might be hazardous ...and so much more. The Nanny State will then decide if your treatments are "cost effective"...like would a life saving drug or screening process be worth it if you are too old. If for instance some screening process cost say $5000 but only found a tumor in one of ten people...then obviously it is costing $50,000 to find and save only one person so hmmmm, that won't be cost effective will it?? Any of this getting through? Because that is exactly the system in Canada. Right now.
30Moves| 9.30.10 @ 4:51PM
I am sure I am not alone that if the Republicans don't buck I will be in DC with my sign and my loud voice until they "buck up."
NO more politics as usual.
Houston Rao| 9.30.10 @ 4:57PM
January 25, 2007.
"The time has come for universal health care in America," Obama said at a conference of Families USA, a health care advocacy group.
"I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country," the Illinois senator said.
------
Insurers dropping plans. Employers dropping coverage. Exactly the actions that will prompt the progressives and Obama to claim that we need universal health care.
I have lived in several countries, including Canada and can tell you that this will be a disaster for the majority of Americans. MA, the precursor for Obamacare, is already talking about 'zoning' its residents (like school districts) and denying licenses to any doctor or provider that does not accept their insurance.
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 6:44PM
Houston Rao:
1. I'm an ardent supporter of "single-payer" health care.
2. I wish Obama really meant what he said.
3. Why do think that "universal" (government funded/provided) health care would be such a "disaster"?
Ralph
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 3:56AM
1. You're an idiot.
2. He did.
3. Look at Canada or the UK for the answer to that. It doesn't need to be explained here for the hundredth time.
Nancy in NC| 9.30.10 @ 5:04PM
The problem is not keeping your insurance; the problem is will they keep you.
It's a business, and one, may I add, with a small percentage of profit. With all the worthless junk the the bill, it will effectively put insurance companies out of business...keeping "kids...up to age 26" on parents policy, accepting preexisting conditions (wait until you're sick to buy insurance), along with a number of killers.
The plan is universal government insurance, and it will come about as soon as the present health insurance providers are out of business. Should take less than 10 years.
Then you can look to Canada and UK to see what is in store for us all...long waits and rationing.
Socialism is great until you run out of other people's money. So who will bail out the US when we're bankrupt?
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 3:57AM
China.
Allouchsit | 9.30.10 @ 5:30PM
The idea that the PPAC Act will NOT require you to change your health insurance policy is entirely ludicrous. All you have to do to see that you WILL have to change your current health care policy is read section 1302 [42 USC section 180220(b)(1)]. That section defines "essential health benefits" as including ALL of the following:
(A) Ambulatory patient services.
(B) Emergency services.
(C) Hospitalization.
(D) Maternity and newborn care.
(E) Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment.
(F) Prescription drugs.
(G) Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices.
(H) Laboratory services.
(I) Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management.
(J) Pediatric services, including oral and vision care.
In other words, if your current policy, like mine, does not include "Maternity and newborn care" because my wife is beyond the age of child bearing, or lacks "Pediatric services, including oral and vision care" because we have no children under the age of 26 living at home, then you will be forced by the federal government to buy a policy that does include those provisions, or pay the penalty (42 USC section 18091 ) for failure to have a federally approved "qualified plan." In my mind, that makes the PPAC Act a government controlled takeover of my health care and an unfair tax. Why do I have to buy coverage I do not want and will NEVER need? Why should you pay for coverage you do not want and do not need? No wonder the cost of health care policies are going up!!
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 6:50PM
Allouchsit:
Yeah. Duh.
That's why "single payer" made so much sense. The current "reform" is a sham/scam. Agree.
And yeah, I'm just as pissed-off as YOU are. When these SOBs start telling people like me to "stop whining," I say: "Okie dokie. No more whining. I'll start yelling. Fuck you (Rahm Emanuel)."
lol
Regards.
Ralph
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 3:58AM
Your comments are nauseating. It's unthinkable that you believe the problem with ObamaCare is that it simply doesn't go far enough.
Get lost.
John| 9.30.10 @ 6:00PM
Our company has already renewed health insurance for the second half of 2010 and the first half or 2011. We have about 80 employees. The timing of our renewal means our carrier had to factor in the changes that start in 2011. We saw a 30% increase in cost. A portion of the increase was our claims history. Our workforce is aging and our claims history is not great. We were told that companies with good claims history could expect an increase of 14% to 18%. In recent years, medical inflation has slowed to approximately 5%. That means the ObamaCare effect for one half of 2011 is 9% to 13%. The impact of socialism is so predictable. "Professing to be wise, they became fools." As an aside, I am not upset with the insurance companies that quoted at all.
tbrady| 9.30.10 @ 6:26PM
mmm, mmm, mmm, barack hussein obama
track| 10.1.10 @ 1:16PM
Ditto
track| 10.1.10 @ 1:18PM
Read sarcasm
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 6:52PM
Read superficial snottiness.
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 3:59AM
Read "you're an idiot."
Radioman777| 9.30.10 @ 6:41PM
Obama's theme song: "Liar" by the Rollins Band.
"I'm a liar! A liar! I'll rip your mind out! I'll steal your soul! I'll turn you into me!"
John Davis| 9.30.10 @ 7:42PM
Those of us who were paying attention knew that he was lying about most of the Health Care plan. It was pretty obvious that you can't add more people to the system, cover pre-existing conditions, expand coverage, and yet cost less. Also, it is stupid to think that somehow they could prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage when they are imposing restrictions.
RacerJim| 10.1.10 @ 9:04AM
Those of us who researched Obama's background during the campaign knew he was lying about most things, if not everything. You can't intentionally seek out, associate with and be mentored by the most radical Communists, Marxists, Socialists, Black Ideologists and far left-wing liberals in America from grade school through college, from community organizer through State Senator, then expect anyone to believe you are something entirely different -- especially when you implore everyone to judge you not by what you do and/or say but, rather, by who you surround yourself with.
Nomasir | 9.30.10 @ 10:38PM
These guys hate freedom with a vehement passion. But, I suppose that Americans still love freedom, and may yet cling to it. http://bethsaidafigtree.wordpress.com
Fed Up| 10.1.10 @ 2:03AM
For RetAF:
If you are just repeating "Tea Bagger" because you heard it everywhere - you are stupid.
If you know what it means, and are using it, you are as vile as those who practice this perversion.
If you don't know what it means, google it - and then go wash your mouth out with soap and stop using the term.
American Spectator used to have a better class of readers and commenters. That was when they confined Readers Comment to thoughtful responses instead of this ongoing contest for the cutest name to call our Sociopath-in-Chief. OBozo, OBummer
RetAf| 10.2.10 @ 2:19AM
Fed Up, I understand the meaning of the term "teabagger." I used the term to describe the category of people (which I fall into) whom the Left disdain. I didn't use it to identify anyone, and I am certainly not stupid nor intentionally vile. Please scroll up and re-read my comments to Mo and Linda, and try not to take this personally, my brother/sister. We probably share more values than you think.
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 7:36PM
RetAf:
P.S.:
Liked that last bit about "We probably share more values than you think."
Yeah.
RetAF| 10.2.10 @ 2:28AM
Oops, I should clarify...I fit into the category of the people that the Left disdains, but I'm not a "teabagger."
RetAF| 10.2.10 @ 2:38AM
...and I've been to three tea-party rallies...okay, I'm done now.
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 4:01AM
Teabagger is a homosexual slur. I'm tired of hearing it. It's got nothing to do with Tea Partiers.
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 7:33PM
RetAF:
Curious about why you'd say "I fit into the category of the people that the Left disdains...."
Please explain.
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 4:00AM
You disdain anyone who thinks that socialization of the healthcare system would be a disaster, so...
Yosemeti Sam| 10.1.10 @ 3:18AM
Yikes - Folks, has this Resident no regard for the carbon emitted by Air Force 1 during his propaganda tours?
cats1cowboy| 10.1.10 @ 5:43AM
Bill Clinton was impeached in the lame duck session. Impeach means "formal accusation" and the process is initiated in the House of Representatives. After the hearings, 2/3 of the Senate is required to remove the president from office. The Senate voted 55-45 and 50-50 on the 2 charges. However, Clinton had not overtly alienated The Democratic Senators and RINO Republicans to the extent that Obama has done. Few Democrats voted for conviction of Clinton. It is probable that enough Democrat Senators will vote to convict Obama, in an attempt to secure re-election.
patrick| 10.1.10 @ 10:54AM
Let us just forget the impeachment process, this will save time and money for all the paperwork, and just set up the trial for treason. After the guilty judgements come to light, then set up the firing squad for immediate death to all invlved criminals. End of story!!!
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 7:40PM
patrick:
Yikes
I halfway agree. Except I'd be talking about Bush, Cheney, etc.
You and I are shamefully close to fascists, methinks, eh, my friend?
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 4:02AM
Your comments are shamefully close to communism. What do you think it is to be an "ardent supporter of single payer?"
You're an idiot, methinks.
Track| 10.1.10 @ 1:24PM
If we could only plant that seed in the minds of the Senators up for re-election in '10 & 2012
Track| 10.1.10 @ 1:26PM
I was just getting into this. Where'd everyone go?
Track| 10.1.10 @ 1:26PM
Is it over?
Track| 10.1.10 @ 1:28PM
Well... back to Neal's Nuze... See ya
Marie| 10.1.10 @ 11:05PM
Remember, John Dingell D-MI let the truth slip when he said "We have to pass health care to CONTROL the people." That's what it is all about.
Marx Karl| 10.2.10 @ 11:07PM
Why does anybody with a single functioning brain cell still believe anything this guy says.
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 8:33PM
Marx Karl:
Who's the "this guy"?
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 4:03AM
You. You are "this guy."
Fed Up| 10.3.10 @ 1:19AM
RetAF - Well, mea sorta culpa - if you know the TRUE DEFINITION of the the slang term, "tea bagger" and are still willing to use it to describe any category of decent human beings, OK by me.
I thought it was just people like BIll Maher and Chris Matthews and a few other MSNBC slur-meisters who were being cute until one day I googled the term because I didn't know why they thought it was such a degrading put-down of a riled up group of the electorate. I learned that it refers to a homosexual practice that frankly is not only vile, degrading and filthy but sounds anatomically impossible to accomplish. If you wish to use that descriptive term, you must know the kind of comparison you are making. You probably also call people scum bags and dirt bags - another accepted term, which actually means "used condom. " Tea bagger makes scum bag sound like a term of endearment..
There is one "Christian", Bible-quoting woman who writes in calling everyone she doesn't agree with "Dirt Bag" with regularity. Maybe God told her to.
There are more than 600,000 words in the Oxford English Dictonary. Plenty of them more insulting than tea bagger - and yet we are dumbed down to using words scrawled on bathroom stalls.
The Evolution of Man!
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 8:26PM
Fed Up:
Yeah, fuck the federal bureacrats..............EXCPET............who'd be left in their stead?
I'll tell you......."Insurance-executive" types.
Do you REALLY trust THEM more than the people, however inept, who've chosen public service over profit?
Hmm?
Ralph Novy| 10.3.10 @ 8:31PM
Damn.
Couple of misspellings.
Instead:
Fed Up:
Yeah, fuck the federal bureaucrats
...... EXCEPT........who'd be left in their stead?
I'll tell you......."Insurance-executive" types.
Yikes!
Do you REALLY trust THEM more than the people, however inept, who've chosen public service over profit?
Hmm?
Cylar| 10.4.10 @ 4:04AM
You're STILL an idiot. Is this what passes for discourse in your neck of the woods?
Good night Irene, you're pathetic. Get off this site.
Christian Louboutin | 6.23.11 @ 6:23AM
Campaigning in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday, the President repeated his biggest health care reform whopper: You can keep your current health insurance.