Sheehan More Consistent Than Media: She Protests Bush and Obama, Media Only Bush

On a Sunday evening in August four summers ago the NBC Nightly News devoted its “In Depth” segment to how Cindy Sheehan was “single-handedly bringing the Iraq debate to Mr. Bush’s doorstep” with her protest in Crawford, Texas. But Sunday night this year, after Sheehan departed Martha's Vineyard without earning any network media coverage as President Barack Obama's wrapped up his vacation there, NBC's Ron Allen began a story: “Hours before President Obama's vacation ended, he treated his girls to ice cream and candy -- the kind of family time the President said he had in mind for the week on Martha's Vineyard. A chance, friends say, to renew himself.”

A week ago, a MRC Media Reality Check asked: “Will Nets Note Sheehan's Anti-Obama Protest? Media Embraced Cindy Sheehan's Anti-Bush Push in 2005; ABC Anchor Now Says: 'Enough Already.'” (NB posting) The answer: No. Though she spent four days on the island and held an event on Thursday right next to the media set up in the Oak Bluffs School, her anti-Obama efforts were ignored by all the networks (cable too) as well as major newspapers.

“Sheehan is using the backdrop of a presidential vacation to make her pitch for peace. It's an effective way to get her anti-war protests attention, she said,” in contrast to the reality of media indifference, the Cape Cod Times proposed in a short Friday story, “Peace activist protests on Vineyard,” in which reporter George Brennan relayed how Sheehan announced: “'We're here to make the wars unpopular again,' Sheehan said. 'If we were right to call them wrong under Bush, we're still right to call them wrong under Obama.'” (Picture of Sheehan's protest.)

She may be consistent, but the media are not. On Friday morning, MSNBC anchor Carlos Watson didn't mention Sheehan, but highlighted how Barack Obama's “taking flack for bicycling without a helmet.”

On MSNBC's “First Read” blog on Friday, Alicia Jennings related: “Sheehan said that she's opposing Obama the same way she opposed George W. Bush. 'The facade has changed but policies remain the same,' she told reporters. 'Integrity in our movement means we have to do same for Obama as we did for Bush.'”

Sad to say, Sheehan has more integrity than the news media.

newsbusters.org

Hair-raising: More hard-hitting MSM coverage of Michelle Obama

Last week, the tough-nosed MSM dug deep to uncover the scandal of Michelle Obama’s shorts.

This week, TIME magazine shows the suck-ups how it’s really done.

The prestigious publication investigates…

…Michelle Obama’s hair.

Yes, her hair.

You will learn “Why Michelle’s Hair Matters.”

You will get explosive details about her updos and silky strands.

And also, her hair is all your fault:

The choice many black women make to alter their hair’s natural texture has undeniable historical and psychological underpinnings. It has been attributed to everything from a history of oppression and assimilation to media-influenced notions of beauty…

Because this is the important news you need to know.

Ignore the crony ties, her meddling in the firing of the Americorps inspector general, and her central role in Team Obama’s Culture of Corruption.

What you need to know is the difference between a “flip-out” and “flip-under.”

Stay informed!

michellemalkin.com

State-Run Media Refuses to Run TV Ads Critical of Obamacare

ABC and NBC have refused to run an anti-Obamacare ad.

This is after ABC aired an Obamacare infomercial from the White House earlier this year and refused any response from conservatives.

The networks refuse to run this ad by League of American Voters:

FOX News reported:

The refusal by ABC and NBC to run a national ad critical of President Obama's health care reform plan is raising questions from the group behind the spot -- particularly in light of ABC's health care special aired in prime time last June and hosted at the White House.

The 33-second ad by the League of American Voters, which features a neurosurgeon who warns that a government-run health care system will lead to the rationing of procedures and medicine, began airing two weeks ago on local affiliates of ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS. On a national level, however, ABC and NBC have refused to run the spot in its present form.

"It's a powerful ad," said Bob Adams, executive director of the League of American Voters, a national nonprofit group with 15,000 members who advocate individual liberty and government accountability. "It tells the truth and it really highlights one of the biggest vulnerabilities and problems with this proposed legislation, which is it rations health care and disproportionately will decimate the quality of health care for seniors."

Adams said the advertisement is running on local network affiliates in states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Maine and Pennsylvania. But although CBS has approved the ad for national distribution and talks are ongoing with FOX, NBC has questioned some of the ad's facts while ABC has labeled it "partisan."

"The ABC Television Network has a long-standing policy that we do not sell time for advertising that presents a partisan position on a controversial public issue," spokeswoman Susan Sewell said in a written statement. "Just to be clear, this is a policy for the entire network, not just ABC News."

Previously:
State Run Media Won't Allow GOP to Respond to Obama Infomercial
State-Run Media Refuses Opposition Ads During Obama Health Care Infomercial
Shadegg: BOYCOTT ABC Over Obama Health Care Infomercial

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Farmer Uses Crop Circle to Speak Out Against ObamaCare

One Texas farmer is going to the extreme to protest President Barack Obama, creating a sign that spans several acres — but you’ll have to be in the sky to see it.

Sam Bates, of Lubbock, took out his aggression on his farm’s weeds, spelling out in the ground with his plow, “Say no to Obama.”

The Washington Examiner

Stimulus Checks Go to Convicts--- Veteran's Education Checks Delayed

FOX News reported that 1,700 convicts were mistakenly sent stimulus checks this year:

The inspector general's office for the Social Security Administration is looking into the problem as part of its broader audit on stimulus spending. The Social Security Administration acknowledged the $425,000 glitch following a report that nearly two-dozen inmates in Massachusetts had wrongly received the $250 stimulus checks.

Meanwhile FOX News also reported that tens of thousands of student veterans will not receive their government checks on time:

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is telling university officials nationwide there will be a six- to eight-week delay in processing payments under the new GI bill, citing a massive backlog of applications.

Let's give them health care!

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Obamacare becomes Kennedycare

Byrd wants health bill renamed for Kennedy

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the only senator to have served longer than the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), mourned his friend Wednesday, saying his “heart and soul weeps.”

Byrd said he hoped healthcare reform legislation in the Senate would be renamed in memoriam of Kennedy.

“I had hoped and prayed that this day would never come,” Byrd said in a statement. “My heart and soul weeps at the lost of my best friend in the Senate, my beloved friend, Ted Kennedy.”

Byrd’s wistful statement focused on the work accomplished with Kennedy during decades together in the Senate, and called on the healthcare bill before Congress to be renamed in honor of Kennedy.

Story continues: The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room

Kennedycare - sink or swim?

Mary Jo Kopechne, victim of first Kennedycare death panel.

nobamablog.wordpress.com

WTH?... Obama Ignores National Day of Prayer But Sends Out 5 Minute Ramadan Blessing(?)

HotAirPundit posted Obama's Ramadan wishes today...
It's five minutes long:



It's even translated into several languages.
From the White House blog:

President Obama extends his best wishes to Muslims around the world during Ramadan. (public domain)

Sous-titrage disponible en français.
Имеются русские субтитры
Özürlüler için altyazılı
Teks tersedia dalam bahasa Indonesia
Kapsyen tertutup terdapat di dalam Bahasa Melayu

Now, do you remember how Obama observed the National Day of Prayer?
He distanced himself from it.
The Washington Times reported:

President Obama is distancing himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast the next morning.

All Mr. Obama will do for the National Day of Prayer, which is Thursday, is sign a proclamation honoring the day, which originated in 1952 when Congress set aside the first Thursday in May for the observance.

For the past eight years, President George W. Bush invited selected Christian and Jewish leaders to the White House East Room, where he typically would give a short speech and several leaders offered prayers...

Maybe he was serious when he said America was a Muslim nation?

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

And now for some hard-hitting reporting on Michelle Obama

I need to stop focusing on Michelle Obama’s relationship with Astroturf Axelrod and her other crony Chicago ties.

I need to stop asking questions about her meddling in the firing of the Americorps inspector general.

No, I’ve got to learn to emulate the hard-hitting MSM and investigate the important issues raised by the First Lady.

Like her shorts.

No, really.

Her shorts:

By now, Michelle Obama has firmly established her sartorial right to bare arms. But baring thighs may be another matter.

Photographs of the first lady descending the steps of Air Force One in shorts have the media in a sweat. Some are saying Mrs. Obama— on her way to the Grand Canyon for a family vacation — may have revealed too much skin.

Mrs. Obama is no stranger to public scrutiny over her fashion decisions, including exposing her bare arms or wearing expensive sneakers to a soup kitchen. When Anya Strzemien, style editor at The Huffington Post, saw Obama’s shorts, she knew there would be interest.

“I thought the fact that she wore shorts was newsworthy because she’s the first first lady to wear shorts on Air Force One,” Strzemien said. “I was interested as a newsperson because it was a first. A lot of things the Obamas have done have been firsts.”

She posted a poll for readers to explain what they thought: Most were in favor of the outfit, but others thought the shorts were inappropriate or too short.

She was “interested as a newsperson.”

Reason number 10,997 I had to write Culture of Corruption!!

michellemalkin.com

MSNB-see-only-what-we-want-you-to-see

Oh, you are just going to love MSNBC’s explanation for why the network doctored up video of a black town hall protester carrying a gun to suggest that gun-toting Tea Party folks are all white racists.

This takes the cake:

MSNBC on race-baiting gun segment: Um, we were speaking “generally”

Er, yes. That was precisely the problem. So lame that it barely qualifies as spin:

Following the shot of the African American man focusing specifically on the gun, MSNBC host Contessa Brewer said that “you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with guns strapped to their waists or to their legs.”…

[B]y raising the racial issue in this context, bloggers claimed that MSNBC was purposely misleading viewers by not showing that at least one African-American man has also carried a gun to an event.

An MSNBC spokesperson responded to POLITICO: “Contessa was speaking generally and not about that specific person with the automatic weapon.”

Indeed she was, even though the presence at the rally of that specific person — which was withheld from MSNBC viewers — undercut her general thesis that the gun display was motivated by racial paranoia rather than libertarian principle. This is really just an extreme version of the media “forgetting” to mention who’s really responsible for those Obama/Hitler signs at town halls. The sin in that case is one of omission in order to further the “Republican mob” narrative; in this case, they went a step further and actually trimmed the video to support their race-war storyline. And the best defense MSNBC can offer for it is a Larger Truth/fake-but-accurate non-answer. It’s one thing when the media doesn’t report things that should be reported, but when they’re actually doctoring facts to better tailor them to their ideological agenda? I don’t know where we go from here.

hotair.com

michellemalkin.com

Comic for the day..

ABC's Charles Gibson to Cindy Sheehan: Thanks for your sacrifice. Now get lost.

In an appearance August 18 on WLS radio in Chicago, ABC News anchor Charles Gibson was asked about anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan's plans to travel to Martha's Vineyard next week, where she will protest the Iraq and Afghanistan wars while President Obama is vacationing there. Gibson, whose newscast and network featured Sheehan when she led anti-war protests outside President Bush's Texas ranch in 2005, answered, "Enough already."

That's a remarkably different stance from the one Gibson took four years ago. On August 9, 2005, the ABC anchor conducted an extensive on-air interview with Sheehan. "Cindy Sheehan is her name," Gibson began. "She says she's not moving until the president meets with her, and I had a chance to speak with her a few minutes ago. Cindy Sheehan, bottom line, what do you hope to accomplish with all this?" During the next week, Gibson and ABC continued to cover Sheehan. On August 17, 2005, when Sheehan left Crawford, Gibson reported, "We're going to turn next to the standoff that is playing out near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Cindy Sheehan, you know, the mother who lost a son in Iraq, is now on the move, but she's still standing her ground. ABC's Geoff Morrell is in Crawford with the details…" The next day, Gibson reported, "All across the country last night, people held candlelight vigils in support of Cindy Sheehan…" Sheehan was mentioned in several other ABC newscasts, as well.

This week, after the Washington Examiner reported that Sheehan will be protesting on Martha's Vineyard (see here and here), WLS radio host Don Wade, noting all the coverage that Sheehan received in 2005, asked Gibson "whether we're going to see some coverage of Cindy Sheehan…do you suppose Cindy is going to make the news again?"

Gibson's answer was sympathetic but clear: No. "I gather she's going back to Martha's Vineyard," Gibson began.

It's such a sad story. Martha Raddatz [of ABC News] wrote a terrific book about one battle that took place in Iraq, and it was the battle in which Cindy's son was killed. And you look at somebody like that and you think here's somebody who's just trying to find some meaning in her son's death. And you have to be sympathetic to her. Anybody who has given a son to this country has made an enormous sacrifice, and you have to be sympathetic. But enough already.

You can listen to the entire interview here.

This week a number of observers have wondered whether the press will cover Sheehan now that she is protesting a war run by Barack Obama as opposed to George W. Bush. Gibson's interview strongly suggests it won't happen.

By: Byron York - washingtonexaminer.com

Spendapalooza: The Obamas’ vacation at Martha’s Vineyard

The ABC News Business Unit does some recession math and compares other luxury vacation resorts to Martha’s Vineyard, where the Obama family will travel next week for an end-of-summer stay.

FYI, you’re footing some of the bill:

…Caroline Taylor, another Martha’s Vineyard realtor, estimated that the property would go for $35,000 to $50,000 a week. The Obamas will pay for at least a portion of the rental, but taxpayer funds will be used to pay for Secret Service and staff housing on the property.

Shared sacrifice for thee, but not for He.

michellemalkin.com

Obama Promised 3.5 Million Jobs-- Instead the US Has Lost 2.1 Million Jobs Since Stimulus Signed

Six Months Later and What Do You Get?
2.1 million jobs lost and a record $1.8 trillion budget deficit--



The Republican Study Committee released this video and statement today:

Washington, D.C. – Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement on the six-month anniversary of the signing of the President’s so-called stimulus bill. Since becoming law, over 2 million Americans have lost work and only 18% of Americans say that the trillion-dollar plan has helped the economy.

“Is this the immediate economic jolt Americans were promised six months ago?” said Chairman Price. “Americans envision urgent action and job creation when they think of a stimulus. Yet after 181 days of bureaucratic bungling, wasted tax dollars, and growing unemployment, the American people see clearly that the President’s spending package was anything but an economic stimulus.

“While the results are surely disappointing to all, they are anything but surprising. Government spending is the single most inefficient manner of sparking economic growth. And it didn’t have to be this way. Conservatives offered a positive, proven solution to lift us out of our troubles, yet the President and congressional Democrats demonstrated they have faith in only government to lead this economy. While jobs continue to hemorrhage and deficits pile up, the American people are ready for a new approach. The Republican Study Committee is ready to lead with concrete solutions to restore the prosperity we seek. It is our hope that the President and majority will join us in a bipartisan effort to promote a true, pro-growth plan to put Americans back to work.”

57% of Americans say the Stimulus is having no effect on the economy. Only 18% say it has done anything to help improve their personal situation.

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

White House disables e-tip box

Following a furor over how the data would be used, the White House has shut down an electronic tip box — flag@whitehouse.gov — that was set up to receive information on “fishy” claims about President Barack Obama’s health plan.

E-mails to that address now bounce back with the message: “The e-mail address you just sent a message to is no longer in service. We are now accepting your feedback about health insurance reform via http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck.”

The “flag” service was introduced Aug. 4, with a White House blog post saying: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at a briefing shortly after the service launched: “We're not collecting names from those e-mails. … All we're asking people to do is if they're confused about what health care reform is going to mean to them, we're happy to help clear that up for you. Nobody is keeping anybody's names.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote a letter to Obama raising privacy concerns about what the senator called an “Obama monitoring program.”

“I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor asked Americans to forward e-mails critical of his policies to the White House,” Cornyn wrote. “So I urge you to cease this program immediately.”

In a later statement, Cornyn said: “Of course the White House is collecting names. … It is inevitable. Anyone with access to the flag@whitehouse.gov account has access to the names and email addresses that are collected in that account. … How are they purging names and e-mail addresses from this account to protect privacy?”

By MIKE ALLEN - politico.com

Pelosi Tells Protesters in 2006: "I’m a Fan of Disruptors"

Nancy "Nazi" Pelosi is ABSOLUTELY shameless.
Only three years ago she told Far Left anti-win-the-Iraq-War protesters in San Francisco, "I'm a fan of disruptors."



Fast forward to 2009-- Pelosi tells the press that conservative protesters who don't want Obamacare rammed down their throats are nazis.

Dennis Miller was so right...
Pelosi is a "a vapid, insipid, empty-headed and nasty piece of work."

Exit Question: Where are all of those so-called antiwar protesters today?
The US still has troops in Iraq and is talking about sending more troops to Afghanistan. Where are the Code Pinkos today? Why aren't they rushing the stage when Dear Leader speaks?

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Comics

The Etiquette Czar’s Rules for Patriotic Protest

The Etiquette Czar’s Rules for Patriotic Protest
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

The White House press office is now Miss Manners’ office. President Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs took to the television airwaves this week to criticize congressional town hall protesters for “yelling.” Gibbs’ underling, Bill Barton, chastised voters not to “disrupt” and “scream.” Instead, he advised America to engage in a “spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it.”

What constitutes “spirited?” How do they define “vigorous?” When does forceful dissent become intolerable disruption? Herewith, the Obama Etiquette Czar’s Official Rules for Patriotic Protest. Keep this guide with you at all times to avoid being flagged by the Democrat politeness monitors.

*No shouting. Congressional representatives cannot sell Obamacare with mobs of unruly senior citizens and small business owners interrupting to press them on specific sections of the bill. Limit your objections to a library whisper (30dB or less) and only challenge your lawmakers with hushed, dulcet tones. Otherwise, you will scare them and they will be forced to hide behind teleconference calls, sick children at hospitals, or union bosses.

If, on the other hand, you are attending a presidential town hall to show your affection and approbation, “spirited” chanting is acceptable.

Don’t: “HANDS OFF HEALTH CARE!” and “READ THE BILL!”

Do: “I LOVE YOU, BARACK!” “AMEN!” and “YES WE CAN!”

Also permitted: Shouting at historic inaugurations to protest war (as legions of Code Pink activists did in 2005 during the president’s address) and shouting, “We didn’t cross the borders, the borders crossed us!” to protest immigration enforcement (as thousands of illegal alien supporters did during raucous rallies in 2006).

Do refrain from boisterous shrieking against those who accuse you of lacking patriotism - unless you are Hillary Clinton, who bellowed at the top of her lungs in 2003:

“I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.”

*No laughing. Snickering at proponents of nationalized health care is rude, bordering on political terrorism. Stifle all derisive chuckling at bogus statistics and denials that Obamacare will lead to long lines and rationed care. That would be “evil-mongering,” as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put it on Thursday.

If, however, you are a member of Congress confronted with silly questions about whether you have read the bill, feel free to giggle. For tips on executing acceptable levels of cackling, take a cue from Democrat Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. “If every member pledged to not vote for it if they hadn’t read it in its entirety, I think we would have very few votes,” Hoyer told CNSNews.com while choking back laughter after a recent news conference. “I’m laughing because a) I don’t know how long this bill is going to be, but it’s going to be a very long bill.” Tee-hee-hee.

*No Nazi comparisons. References to fascism are ugly and un-American. Swastikas have no place in debates about nationalizing 20 percent of the economy. Swastikas may, however, still be used as substitutes for the “S” in “BusHitler” and tattoos on the forehead of Darth Cheney.

*No boorish questions. “Real vigorous conversation” requires town hall attendees to formulate queries that will encourage true debate. This is not the time to ask why Congress won’t subject itself to the health mandates it wants to foist on every other American. This is not the time to ask how the White House will pay for the massive Obamacare bureaucracy without raising taxes on the middle-class. The White House endorsed model citizen questioning at its stacked East Room health care town halls in March and July, including this:

“Hi, Mr. President. I’m a member of SEIU and I’m down here in Fairfax County working on Change That Works. What can I do, as a member of the union, to help you with your reform bill?”

*No mean signs. That 11-year-old daughter of a Massachusetts Obama donor/campaigner who was randomly chosen to criticize the scary posters held up by town hall protesters in New Hampshire was right. “Mean” signs are, well, mean. Never mind the placards that blared “Bush is the only dope worth shooting” in Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco and the assassination art depicting former President Bush with a gun to his head in Chicago. “Obama is a socialist” is a sign too far and cannot be tolerated in a civil society. Period.

Instead, print out the “STANDING UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM/THANK YOU” signs helpfully produced by Obama’s Organizing for America and burn your “Don’t Tread on Me” flags. Such rebellious sentiments are dangerous incitements to violence.

To those of you who can’t abide by The Rules: Stop talking and get out of the way.

Shhhhhhhhh!

michellemalkin.com

Selective outrage of the MSM

Bill Sammon points out what I reported on at length in my “Assassination Chic” chapter of Unhinged and in years of my Unhinged blog archives: Journalists don’t care about nutballs and extremely extreme extremists unless they can be used to embarrass conservatives.

As it has always been:

News outlets that are focusing on the incendiary rhetoric of conservatives outside President Obama’s town hall meeting Tuesday ignored the incendiary rhetoric — and even violence — of liberals outside an appearance by former President George W. Bush in 2002.

When Bush visited Portland, Ore., for a fundraiser, protesters stalked his motorcade, assailed his limousine and stoned a car containing his advisers. Chanting “Bush is a terrorist!”, the demonstrators bullied passers-by, including gay softball players and a wheelchair-bound grandfather with multiple sclerosis.

One protester even brandished a sign that seemed to advocate Bush’s assassination. The man held a large photo of Bush that had been doctored to show a gun barrel pressed against his temple.

“BUSH: WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE,” read the placard, which had an X over the word “ALIVE.”

Another poster showed Bush’s face with the words: “F— YOU, MOTHERF—ER!”

A third sign urged motorists to “HONK IF YOU HATE BUSH.” A fourth declared: “CHRISTIAN FASCISM,” with a swastika in place of the letter S in each word.

Although reporters from numerous national news organizations were traveling with Bush and witnessed the protest, none reported that protesters were shrieking at Republican donors epithets like “Slut!” “Whore!” and “Fascists!”

Frank Dulcich, president and CEO of Pacific Seafood Group, had a cup of liquid thrown into his face, and then was surrounded by a group of menacing protesters, including several who wore masks. Donald Tykeson, 75, who had multiple sclerosis and was confined to a wheelchair, was blocked by a thug who threatened him.

Protesters slashed the tires of several state patrol cruisers and leapt onto an occupied police car, slamming the hood and blocking the windshield with placards. A female police officer was knocked to the street by advancing protesters, badly injuring her wrist.

Noel Sheppard has more.

***

Meanwhile, Patterico does more reporting the rest of the MSM won’t do — exposing an Obamacare supporter at Sheila Jackson Lee’s town hall who pretended to be a pediatrician.

Absolute moral authority, and don’t you dare question it, you political terrorist racists, you!

Video here.

michellemalkin.com

No Treats From Obama

Opie is extremely picky about who he takes his treats from.

Obama: The Economy Won’t Recover Until We Pass Government Health Care

He’s said it before, and it was as absurd then as it is now:

Using better-than-expected jobs numbers to press his top domestic priority, President Barack Obama argued Saturday that overhauling the nation’s costly health care system is essential to the country’s economic well-being.

“We’ve begun to put the brakes on this recession and ... the worst may be behind us,” Obama proclaimed in his weekly radio and Internet address, citing a new Labor Department report that shows a dip in unemployment. “But we must do more than rescue our economy from this immediate crisis; we must rebuild it stronger than before.”

He added: “We must lay a new foundation for future growth and prosperity, and a key pillar of a new foundation is health insurance reform.”

It’s a pitch that comes as the Democratic-controlled Congress wrestles to write a health care plan that meets Obama’s goals of expanding coverage to millions of uninsured while reining in exploding costs.

I’m not sure I’m willing to trust Obama’s economic prognostications. After all, Obama predicted that unemployment wouldn’t go above 8% if we passed his $787 billion in deficit “stimulus” spending (red dots show what unemployment has actually been):

That most recent unemployment number looks hopeful for Obama, but remember that it’s only lower because of the way the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates unemployment. People who have been unemployed for a certain amount of time don’t get counted in the unemployment numbers any more. They’re still unemployed. They didn’t get jobs. They just don’t count any more.

Anyway, Obama’s desired deficit spending on government health care is as likely to be as good for the economy as his deficit spending on the “economic stimulus” was.

The whole idea that government health care could somehow be beneficial for the economy is based on Americans and businesses not having to pay for health care any more. Or not having to pay as much. But remember that government health care wouldn’t be funded by some magical pot of federal money found at the end of a rainbow. In order to give us government health care the government must take taxes from us first. Or borrow more money from China and Brazil against future taxes our children and grand children will pay.

And, again contrary to what Obama and his fellow liberals have to say about it, government-run health care wouldn’t be cheaper than the health care we pay for now. Per-patient spending in the Medicare and Medicaid systems over the last 40 years, per a Pacific Research Institute study, has grown significantly faster than per-patient spending in the private sector. And the government pays a lot more on per-patient health care costs for people on government health care than people in the private sector pay.

What’s more, any government efforts to control health care costs are going to be directed at the amount of health care you use. That means rationing.

Government health care would be a disaster for the economy. Just like the “stimulus” spending spree has been a disaster. Just like “cash for clunkers” has been a disaster.

It’s time we stopped listening to Obama.

By Rob - sayanythingblog

Knock-knock!

“Knock-knock!”

“Who’s there?”

“Kenya”

“Kenya who?”

“Kenya please show us your birth certificate?”

Comics

Obama’s Words On Health Care Don’t Match What’s In The Health Care Bill

Maybe somebody should report Obama for spreading “fishy” rumors about the health care bill:

by Rob - sayanythingblog.com

Neil Cavuto Tells Obama To Stop Whining About Criticism

Remember When Obama Said That If We Passed The “Stimulus” Spending Spree Caterpillar Would Re-Hire?

This is what Obama said back in April:

President Barack Obama, campaigning to cast his economic plan in terms of real jobs and families, said Wednesday that machinery giant Caterpillar Inc. plans to rehire some of its laid-off workers if Congress approves a sweeping stimulus bill.

The president sought to offer a clear example of how the legislation would help as House and Senate negotiators reached for a final deal with the White House, trimming the emerging legislation down to below $800 billion. That’s still an enormous package, targeted at an economy that continues to bleed jobs.

Today, however, Caterpillar said that the employees they’ve laid off won’t ever be re-hired:

For the first time since it began massive layoffs eight months ago, Caterpillar Inc. on Friday acknowledged publicly that some of its workers now laid off will not be called back.

In a video message to workers on indefinite layoff, the second such quarterly message produced by the company, Sid Banwart, vice president for human services, said that is “the reality” of the situation at Caterpillar.

While many have believed that to be the case since indefinite layoffs began last December, it’s the first time an official with a rank of vice president or higher has said it publicly, acknowledged company spokesman Jim Dugan.

Meanwhile, today Obama has been saying that the economic recovery to date has been “measurably better than expected.”

The moral of the story? Obama just says whatever sounds good.

By Rob - Sayanythingblog

“How can you manage health care when you can’t manage Cash For Clunkers?”

Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett went home to Austin, Texas, and heard from his constituents about the planned government health care takeover.

Message: “Just say no!”

This taxpayer counterinsurgency is exactly what I talked about on the ABC This Week panel earlier today. The long, hot recess is underway. Make yourselves heard. Mark your calendars for the nationwide August 22 Recess Rally. Prepare to be demonized, of course.

And don’t let up until socialized medicine goes down:

In Philadelphia, Kathleen Sebelius and Arlen Specter get an earful (the YouTube user who posted the video calls the protesters “crazies.” You’re going to get a lot of that. Just carry on):



Better video and report from Andrew Monaghan here. Here’s one question from a woman who ticks off failed government program after failed government program and concludes, “How Can You Manage Health Care When You Can’t Manage Cash For Clunkers?”



More, Reaction from the raucous crowd in Philly when Arlen Specter says health care takeover has to be done “fast” (hat tip: Salena Zito):



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