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Barack Obama is a politician. Nearly all politicians lie. They do it rather often too.
One of President Obama's biggest whoppers in a December 2009 Washington Post interview when he said:
I didn't campaign on the public option.
Obama was repeating the White House spin on the subject. That talking point was already proven false on 9/10/09 by Jane Hamsher of Firedog Lake, who has been one of the most tenacious supporters for healthcare reform that actually includes reform.
Hamsher did the kind of real research that corporate media "reporters" seldom bother with. She actually looked at "Barack Obama's Plan for a Healthy America." This was part of the Obama campaign website which told us the specifics of his healthcare policies. Those of us who were trying to decide whether or not to support him in the primaries used this as a critical aspect of evaluating the candidate.
Here it is on Page 2, at the top (bolding mine to save you time).
The Obama plan both builds upon and improves our current insurance system, upon which most Americans continue to rely, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans. The Obama plan also addresses the large gaps in coverage that leave 45 million Americans uninsured. Specifically, the Obama plan will: (1) establish a new public insurance program available to Americans who neither qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP nor have access to insurance through their employers, as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees; (2) make available the National Health Insurance Exchange to help Americans and businesses that want to purchase private health insurance directly; (3) require all employers to contribute towards health coverage for their employees; (4) mandate all children have health carecoverage; (5) expand Medicaid and SCHIP to cover more of the least well-off among us; and (6) allow state flexibility for state health reform plans.
If you go through the document, you will find this public plan referenced in several other places.
It should also be noted that, in response to a candidate questionnaire from the Washington Post, he said that his plan included "a public health plan." (Hat Tip: Think Progress)
Why am I bothering to debunk a lie Obama told a few months ago? I keep seeing it as a talking point in blogs where people defending Obama whip it out without realizing that it already has been proven false.
When President Obama lied about not campaigning on the Public Option, he was being just as dishonest as Sarah Palin was when she made shit up about death panels.
Wait...Obama lied!? Say it isn't so! ;-)
Good for you libhom. I thoroughly agree with your position.
Off-topic but for what it's worth, I ain't Irish but if you're out doing that green beer thing have a Happy St Patricks Day.
Actually I kinda like those guys, the Irish. Very well thought of in Mexico, an entire battalion switched sides during the Mexican War, mostly because they didn't like what the US was doing to a Catholic country but partly cause they hated the US officers. St Patricks Day battalion, they're honored by a ceremony in the capital each year. Schoolchildren put flowers at a memorial and the names of the dead are read aloud.
I know, ya didn't ask.
Of course he did.
One -- actually, one of the many reasons I supported Obama in the Democratic primary and not the Borg Queen, was his commitment to the public option.
As well as pledging to repeal DADT, DOMA, and promising to redeploy the troops out of Iraq.
In LGBT circles, my support of Obama over the Borg Queen made me a heretic. For many gay men, the Borg Queen is a surrogate mother and they are willing to ignore her neocon world view, as well as her allegiance to nuclear weapons, attacking Iran and not repealing DOMA.
I guess Obama thinks we have a short memory. Some of us don't as libhomo demonstrates.