Obama’s Own Words Offer Rebuttal On Dem’s Entitlement Demagoguery

MSNBC’s CHUCK TODD: “I want to play for you something the President himself said in January of 2010 about entitlements, here’s what he said.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “There is a political vulnerability to doing anything that tinkers with Medicare. … I raise that because we’re not going to be able to do anything, about any of these entitlements, if what we do is characterize whatever proposals are put out there as ‘well, you know that’s, the other party is being irresponsible, the other party is trying to hurt our senior citizens.’”

TODD: “Now, that could have been a rebuttal to what you just said. I mean – are you guys going to go over the top and attack?” (MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown,” 8/13/12)

Obama Has Repeatedly Used Lies And Demagoguery To Attack Republican Solutions For Medicare

Obama Repeats Politifact’s “Lie Of The Year” That Republicans Will “End Medicare As We Know It.” OBAMA: “The net result is that our country will end up spending more on health care, and the only reason the government will save any money — it won’t be on our books — is because we’ve shifted it to seniors.  They’ll bear more of the costs themselves.  It’s a bad idea, and it will ultimately end Medicare as we know it.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks by the President at the Associated Press Luncheon, Washington, D.C., 4/3/12)

·         Politifact: “Lie Of The Year 2011: ‘Republicans Voted To End Medicare’” (Bill Adair And Angie Drobnic Holan, “Lie Of The Year 2011: ‘Republicans Voted To End Medicare’,” Politifact, 12/20/11)

• “Politifact Debunked The Medicare Charge In Nine Separate Fact-Checks Rated False Or Pants On Fire, Most Often In Attacks Leveled Against Republican House Members.” (Bill Adair And Angie Drobnic Holan, “Lie Of The Year 2011: ‘Republicans Voted To End Medicare’,” Politifact, 12/20/11)

FactCheck.org: President Obama Made False Claims About How The GOP Plan Will Impact Seniors And Their Ability To Obtain Health Insurance. “Obama went on to say that seniors wouldn’t get ‘guaranteed health care’ and if the ‘voucher isn’t worth enough to buy the insurance that’s available in the open marketplace, well, tough luck -– you’re on your own.’ It’s false to say seniors would be in the ‘open marketplace.’ Instead, they would buy coverage through the Medicare exchange Ryan envisions. And as we said, the private insurance companies in the exchange would be required to cover any eligible senior who wanted insurance.” (Lori Robertson, Eugene Kiely, and D’Angelo Gore, “FactChecking Obama’s Budget Speech,” Factcheck.org, 4/15/11)

• “Saying The Plan Throws The Elderly To ‘The Mercy Of The Insurance Industry’ Is An Exaggeration And Ignores Elements Of The Plan That Require Insurance Companies To Cover All Seniors And To Charge The Same Rate Based On Age.” (Lori Robertson, Eugene Kiely, and D’Angelo Gore, “FactChecking Obama’s Budget Speech,” Factcheck.org, 4/15/11)

FactCheck.org: The President’s Claim That Children Would Be Left To “Fend For Themselves … Is An Exaggeration.”  “He said ‘poor children,’ ‘children with autism’ and ‘kids with disabilities’ would be left ‘to fend for themselves.’ That, too, is an exaggeration. The GOP says states would have ‘freedom and flexibility to tailor a Medicaid program that fits the needs of their unique populations.’ It doesn’t bar states from covering those children.” (Lori Robertson, Eugene Kiely, and D’Angelo Gore, “FactChecking Obama’s Budget Speech,” Factcheck.org, 4/15/11)

Robert Gibbs Dodges Questions On Obama’s Lack Of A Plan For Medicare

MSNBC’S CHUCK TODD: “Does the President owe us a plan then? Ryan’s got a plan on Medicare, does the president owe us a Medicare sort of what do you do for Medicare after 2024. Should he be having to put a plan on the table before November?”

ROBERT GIBBS: “Let’s be clear that the President has taken important steps to not only make the Medicare benefit stronger, again by adding things like preventative healthcare …”

TODD: “Right but what comes next …”

GIBBS: “and we’ve extended the life of the healthcare …”

TODD: “So what comes next?”

GIBBS: “Look I think that’s gonna certainly be part to the debate in this campaign.”

TODD: “My point is do you owe an alternative, you’re running against his alternative.”

GIBBS: “Again I’m happy to compare what we’ve done and what they want to do and I don’t doubt that we’ll have a chance to have that continued debate.” (MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown,” 8/13/12)

Obama Has Dodged Entitlement Reform Despite Promises To Tackle The Issue While In Office

USA Today: Obama’s Failure To Tackle Entitlement Reform Is “Irresponsible.” “That’s mostly because Obama failed to take on the entitlement programs, by far the biggest drivers of future spending. Thanks to a weak economy, Baby Boomer retirees and payroll tax cuts, Social Security is already running in the red. Congressional Budget Office projections show it will add a half trillion dollars to the debt over the next decade, making Obama’s refusal to tackle it now irresponsible.” (Editorial, “Editorial: Politics Takes Priority In Obama’s Deficit Plan,” USA Today, 9/19/11)

FLASHBACK: Obama Said “[I]’m Going To Be Willing To Make Some Very Difficult Choices In How We Get A Handle On This Deficit. That’s What The American People Are Looking For.” (President-Elect Barack Obama, “Informal Exchange With Reporters On The Economy And Budget,” 1/6/09)

·         Obama Added That He Would Make “Those Tough Choices While I’m In Office” And “Not By Punting To Future Administrations.” “And, you know, what we intend to do this year, next year, and all the years that I’m in office is to demonstrate our seriousness, not by gimmicks, not by punting to future administrations the tough choices, but by making some of those tough choices while I’m in office.”(President-Elect Barack Obama, “Informal Exchange With Reporters On The Economy And Budget,” 1/6/09)

Obama Admitted That The Democrats’ Do-Nothing Plan On Medicare Will Result In Medicare’s Bankruptcy. OBAMA: “What I’ve tried to explain to them is, number one, if you look at the numbers, Medicare in particular will run out of money, and we will not be able to sustain that program no matter how much taxes go up. I mean, it’s not an option for us to just sit by and do nothing. And if you’re a progressive who cares about the integrity of Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, and believes that it is part of what makes our country great, that we look after our seniors and look after the most vulnerable, then we have an obligation to make sure that we make those changes that are required to make it sustainable over the long term.”  (President Barack Obama, Remarks At Press Conference, Washington, D.C., 7/11/11)

·         Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Admitted The Administration Doesn’t Have “A Definitive Solution” To The Long-Term Problems Posed By Our Entitlement Programs. REP. PAUL RYAN: “Because we got 10,000 people retiring every day, and healthcare costs going up…” TREASURY SECRETARY TIMOTHY GEITHNER:“That’s right. We have millions of Americans retiring every day, and that will drive substantially the rate of growth of healthcare costs. You are right to say we’re not coming before you today to say we have a definitive solution to that long-term problem. What we do know is, we don’t like yours.” (Committee On The Budget, U.S. House Of Representatives, 2/16/12)