Does He Lie?

Was Wilson right? Does Obama lie? Krauthammer says no, its more subtle than that. I guess it all depends upon what your definition of "is", is. I know if my child did this, I'd say he lied.
This is even more devious than a lie.

From Charles Krauthammer via Town Hall:

Three examples within a single speech -- the now-famous Obama-Wilson "you lie" address to Congress on health care -- of Obama's relationship with truth.

"I will not sign (a plan)," he solemnly pledged, "if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future. Period."

And then, part two:

"And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize."

This apparent strengthening of the pledge brilliantly and deceptively undermines it. What Obama suggests is that his plan will require mandatory spending cuts if the current rosy projections prove false. But there's absolutely nothing automatic about such cuts.

Medicare had a similar plan in 2003 to institute automatic cuts to sustain its growth. Every year since it was enacted Congress has waived the cuts.

This same deceptiveness is used regarding providing health care coverage to illegal immigrants. Obama says they will not be covered, yet all four committee-passed bills in Congress allow illegal immigrants to take part in the proposed Health Insurance Exchange.

Also, there is no provision to require proof of citizenship of those who seek health care and two attempts by Republicans to include such language have been shot down by Dems. This raises the question of why the Dems care so much about making illegal immigrants happy. Is it a future block of potential voters or perhaps it represents those already signed up by ACORN? But that is a different post.

After Wilson’s outburst the Senate Finance Committee revisited the language of its bill to prevent illegal immigrants from getting any federal benefits. To which Krauthammer asks, “Why would the Finance Committee fix a nonexistent problem?” Why indeed.

(3) Obama said he would largely solve the insoluble cost problem of Obamacare by eliminating "hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud" from Medicare.

That's not a lie. That's not even deception. That's just an insult to our intelligence. Waste, fraud and abuse -- Meg Greenfield once called this phrase "the dread big three" -- as the all-purpose piggy bank for budget savings has been a joke since Jimmy Carter first used it in 1977.

Moreover, if half a trillion is waiting to be squeezed painlessly out of Medicare, why wait for health care reform? If, as Obama repeatedly insists, Medicare overspending is breaking the budget, why hasn't he gotten started on the painless billions in "waste and fraud" savings? (more)

This type of deception and misdirection has been a hallmark of this administration even in while he ran for the office. I have never been so distrustful of any President in my entire life.