Thursday, September 10, 2009

Media Buzz


Click Cartoon for Larger Size
The president's healthcare speech was hardly the "game changer" that mainstream media had been promising, but was at least amusing for those who enjoy the challenge of parsing political jargon. He "guaranteed" that nothing in his bill will require you to change your current insurance plan...but forgot to mention that his bill would force all insurance plans (and their costs) to change radically.

Obama emphatically said that talk of "death panels" was "a lie, plain and simple" - and if there's one thing the president hates, it's any lie that's plain and simple. His plan will unavoidably lead to rationing of life-extending medical services for seniors. The semantics of whether or not the decision is made by a "death panel" won't matter much to the old woman given a painkiller instead of a pacemaker.


Finally, the president said that if anyone misrepresents his healthcare bill, "we'll call you out on it!" Better put the Congressional Budget Office and the Associated Press on speed dial, Mr. President, because they're calling you a liar - plain and simple.

Flashback from the Hope n' Change Cartoon Vault (6/21/09): The president also demanded that people who have chosen not to buy health insurance will be fined (up to $3800)...



Bonus: From the Hope n' Change Gift Shoppe, a free poster commemorating the one true statement made during the president's entire speech!


Click Poster for Larger Size

4 comments:

Shang said...

Again, you hit the nail on the head. It's time "we call Obama out" with respect to bipartisan policy development.

Philip said...

"If you misrepresent what is in this plan, we will call you out." So sayeth The One. I guess he is going to be talking to himself a lot.

Or rather calling himself out a lot. Because every single speech he has made about this plan has directly misrepresented not just viewpoints about the plan, but basic facts about it.

.... and now he brings up the ghost of Teddy Kennedy. You knew this was coming. Cue the violins. Please. Give. Us. A Break.

"What drove him was something more." Maybe he ought not use that verb...

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

Philip, even the Associated Press - not exactly a Right Wing propaganda machine - said that the president wasn't being (ahem) accurate in his major points.

They said that existing healthcare plans WILL change, whether owners like them or not. They said that the plan WILL raise the deficit by nearly a trillion dollars - if not more. They said that mandatory "early screening" tests will increase costs without increasing national health. And they said Obama's plan will reduce medical services to seniors.

So I guess Obama will be "calling out" the Associated Press soon, too.

As for the Teddy Kennedy remark, I hadn't caught the "drive" reference...hilarious!

Suzy said...

Love the poster!!!!