Obama Over-Delivered on Failure
After Three Years of Broken Promises and Economic Failure, Democrats Falsely Claim That They Never “Overpromised”
- Faced with the unenviable task of defending Democrats’ failed policies, President Obama has taken to revising history, claiming in a CBS interview this weekend that he “didn’t overpromise” on his timeline for turning around the struggling economy.
- The Democrats’ government takeover of healthcare is another gold mine for Democrats’ broken promises and hypocrisy.
- Sadly this isn’t the first time Democrats have resorted to excuses to distract attention from their failed policies. And it likely won’t be the last.
BACKGROUND
Faced with the unenviable task of defending Democrats’ failed policies, President Obama has taken to revising history, claiming in a CBS interview this weekend that he “didn’t overpromise” on his timeline for turning around the struggling economy:
OBAMA ON WEAK ECONOMY: “I DIDN’T OVERPROMISE”: “I didn’t overpromise. And I didn’t underestimate how tough this was gonna be. I always believed that this was a long-term project.” (Steve Kroft, “Obama on the Economy: ‘I Didn’t Overpromise’,” CBS News, 12/9/2011)
OH, AND NEVER MIND ABOUT THAT PROMISE THAT DEMOCRATS’ STIMULUS WOULD KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT BELOW 8%: “…[T]wo of [Obama’s] chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Last month, the jobless rate in the U.S. hit 9.5%, the highest level it has reached since 1983.” (Stephen Gandel, “Obama’s Stimulus: Failing by its Own Measure,” Time, 7/14/2009)
CURRENT UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 8.6%, A NUMBER THAT MAY BE TOO OPTIMISTIC: “Job market conditions in the United States were flat in November, as Gallup’s Job Creation Index remained at +14, similar to the range seen since May. This is another indication that Friday’s sharp drop to 8.6% in the government’s U.S. unemployment rate may be overstated.” (Dennis Jacobe, “U.S. Job Creation Flat in November,” Gallup, 12/6/2011)
1.9 MILLION JOBS LOST SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 12/12/2011)
“CBO: STIMULUS HURTS ECONOMY IN THE LONG RUN”: (Stephen Dinan, “CBO: Stimulus Hurts Economy in the Long Run,” The Washington Times, 11/22/2011)
UNDEREMPLOYMENT HIGHER THAN A YEAR AGO, EMPLOYERS HIRING PART-TIME WORKERS FOR HOLIDAY SEASON: “ ‘UNDEREMPLOYMENT’ AT 18 PERCENT – Data from Gallup suggest that recent job growth includes a lot of part-time slots for people who would rather be working full time: ‘Underemployment, a measure that combines the percentage of workers who are unemployed with the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work, is 18.1% in November, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment. That is up from 17.8% a month ago and 17.2% a year ago. Many employers appear to have chosen to hire part-time rather than full-time employees for this holiday season.’” (Ben White, Politico’s “Morning Money”, 12/2/2011)
The Democrats’ government takeover of healthcare is another gold mine for Democrats’ broken promises and hypocrisy:
PROMISE MADE: FLASHBACK: PELOSI PROMISES HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER WOULD CREATE “4 MILLION JOBS” AND “400,000 ALMOST IMMEDIATELY”: “It’s about jobs. In its life, it [the health bill] will create 4 million jobs — 400,000 jobs almost immediately.” (“Pelosi: Health Reform Will Create 400,000 Jobs ‘Almost Immediately,’ Real Clear Politics, 2/25/2010)
BROKEN: “MANY BUSINESSES THAT NOW ARE MARGINALLY PROFITABLE WILL DISAPPEAR WHEN OBAMACARE CAUSES THAT MARGIN TO DISAPPEAR”: “Puzder says one certainty is that many businesses that now are marginally profitable will disappear when Obamacare causes that margin to disappear. A second certainty is that ’employers everywhere will be looking to reduce labor content in their business models as Obamacare makes employees unambiguously more expensive.’ ” (George Will, “Choking on ObamaCare,” The Washington Post, 12/2/2011)
HEALTHCARE OVERHAUL EXPECTED TO COST CARLS JR. CHAIN $18 MILLION IN NEW COSTS, TWICE THE PRICE OF ALL NEW RESTAURANTS BUILT IN 2010: “Carl Karcher, the founder of Carls Jr., a fast-food chain that’s huge on the Pacific coast, ‘died in 2008 but his legacy, CKE Restaurants, survives. It would thrive, says CEO Andy Puzder, but for government’s comprehensive campaign against job creation. CKE [has] more than 3,200 restaurants (Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s) … When CKE’s health care advisers, citing Obamacare’s complexities, opacities and uncertainties, said it would add between $7.3 million and $35.1 million to the company’s $12 million health care costs in 2010, Puzder said: I need a number I can plan with. They guessed $18 million — twice what CKE spent last year building new restaurants. …’ ”(George Will, “Choking on ObamaCare,” The Washington Post, 12/2/2011)
PROMISE MADE: OBAMA: “IF YOU LIKE YOUR DOCTOR, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP YOUR DOCTOR. PERIOD. IF YOU LIKE YOUR HEALTH PLAN, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP YOUR HEALTH PLAN. PERIOD. NO ONE WILL TAKE IT AWAY.”(Barack Obama, “Obama: ‘If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor,’” The Wall Street Journal, 6/15/2009)
MORE OBAMA: “SO IF YOU LIKE YOUR PLAN, YOU CAN KEEP YOUR PLAN. IF YOU LIKE YOUR DOCTOR, YOU CAN KEEP YOUR DOCTOR. I DON’T WANT TO INTERFERE WITH PEOPLE’S RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THEM AND THEIR DOCTORS.” (Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President on Health Care Reform in Strongsville, OH,” The White House,3/15/2010)
BROKEN: MCKINSEY STUDY: 30% OF EMPLOYERS “DEFINITELY OR PROBABLY” PLAN TO DROP COVERAGE: “While only 7% of employees will be forced to switch to subsidized-exchange programs, at least 30% of companies say they will ‘definitely or probably’ stop offering employer-sponsored coverage, according to the study published in McKinsey Quarterly.” (Russ Britt, “Firms Halting Coverage as Reform Starts: Survey 30% of Companies Say They’ll Stop Offering Health Plans,” Market Watch, 6/6/2011)
MORE THAN 25 PERCENT OF COMPANIES TO DROP COVERAGE FOR RETIREES:“More than one-quarter of companies plan to discontinue retiree medical sponsorship in 2012 for at least one segment of current and/or future retirees(Figure 22).” (“16th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care,” Towers Watson, March 2011)
MEDICARE SCOREKEEPER SAYS OBAMA STATEMENT NOT TRUE: “The landmark legislation probably won’t hold costs down, and it won’t let everybody keep their current health insurance if they like it, Chief Actuary Richard Foster told the House Budget Committee. His office is responsible for independent long-range cost estimates.” (“Medicare Official Doubts Health Law Savings,” Associated Press, 1/26/2011)
PROMISE MADE: AND MORE: HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER WILL “LOWER RATES…BY UP TO 14 TO 20 PERCENT”: “‘You’ll be able to buy in, or a small business will be able to buy into this pool,’ Mr. Obama said. ‘And that will lower rates, it’s estimated, by up to 14 to 20 percent over what you’re currently getting.’” (“Will Health Care Bill Lower Premiums?,” Associated Press, 3/17/2010)
BROKEN: “HEALTH INSURERS PIN RATE HIKES ON HEALTH LAW”: “Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats’ efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections.” (Janet Adamy, “Health Insurers Pin Rate Hikes on Health Law,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/7/2010)
63 PERCENT OF EMPLOYERS PLAN PREMIUM INCREASES: “The economic slowdown and the likely increase in costs due to health care reform have led many employers to use various incentives to promote greater individual responsibility… Over the last year, employers put more emphasis on increasing premium contributions (Figure 23). Nearly two-thirds of companies have increased the share employees and their dependents pay in premium contributions (versus 2010).” (“16thAnnual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care,” Towers Watson, March 2011)
PROMISE MADE: VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: GOAL IS “BENDING THE COST CURVE”: “But, look, I think, if I can lay out, Mr. President, what I think we all agree on, and then figure out whether as a way to deal with the deficit end of this —bending the cost curve, to use a phrase you and many others have used, Mr. President.” (“Remarks by The President In Discussion of the Deficit at Bipartisan Meeting on Health Care Reform,” The White House, 2/25/2010)
BROKEN: “HEALTHCARE COSTS RISING SHARPLY THIS YEAR,” ACCORDING TO KAISER STUDY: “The cost of health insurance for many Americans this year climbed more sharply than in previous years, outstripping any growth in workers’ wages and adding more uncertainty about the pace of rising medical costs.” (Reed Abelson, “Health Insurance Costs Rising Sharply This Year, Study Finds,” The New York Times, 9/27/2011)
Sadly this isn’t the first time Democrats have resorted to excuses to distract attention from their failed policies. And it likely won’t be the last:
DNC CHAIR DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ “SAYS (WRONGLY) JOBLESS RATE FELL UNDER OBAMA”: (“Chair of DNC Says (Wrongly) Jobless Rate Fell Under Obama,” MarketWatch, 12/12/2011)
OBAMA SAYS AMERICA “HAD GOTTEN A LITTLE SOFT” BEFORE HE TOOK OFFICE:“President Obama told and Orlando television station that the United States ‘had gotten a little soft’ in the years before he took office, and needs to regain its ‘competitive edge’ in the global economy.” (David Jackson, “Obama: U.S. ‘Had Gotten a Little Soft,” USA Today, 9/30/2011)
OBAMA IN A STATE OF DENIAL: THINKS HIS POLICIES DIDN’T FAIL, IT’S THE ECONOMY’S FAULT IT FAILED TO RESPOND TO THEM… WE’RE CONFUSED, TOO:“Obama has mused in several private settings that if he loses re-election, it won’t be because a Republican beat him: It will be because the economy was impervious to his attempts to revive it.” (Marc Ambinder, “One Small Step for Jobs, One Big Target for Republicans,” National Journal, 9/7/2011)
OBAMA: NEW ECONOMIC FEARS ARE DUE TO “BAD LUCK”: “Over the last six months, we’ve had a string of bad luck — there have been some things that we could not control.” (“Remarks by the President in a Town Hall Meeting in Cannon Falls, Minnesota,” The White House, 8/15/2011)
NY TIMES: WHITE HOUSE HOPING “MAYBE IT’S NOT THE ECONOMY, STUPID”:“Maybe it’s not the economy, stupid. White House officials have begun to entertain the idea that they can run for re-election without being able to point to a strengthening economy.” (David Leonhardt, “Negotiating Election Headwinds,” The New York Times, 7/19/2011)