Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The White House--Home Of The Whopper

Barack Obama's latest lie designed to point out the hideous failings of private health insurance is all over the internet. So in the spirit of piling on, let me join them. The Democrats in general, and Obama in particular, love to tell horror stories about disembodied spiritual victims of private health insurance, but this time Obama went one victim too far. He cited the case of his own mother.

And a true horror story it is. As a cancer survivor, few words have more impact on me than that word--cancer. Obama's mother died of ovarian cancer at the age of fifty-three. She was the victim of a private insurance system that denied her coverage because the cancer was a pre-existing condition. Says the Heart-Render-in-Chief: "For my mother to die of cancer and have to spend the last months of her life in the hospital room arguing with insurance companies because they're saying that this may be a pre-existing condition and they don't have to pay for her treatment, there's something fundamentally wrong about that."

He's right. There is something fundamentally wrong, all right. Not with the treatment, however, but with the story. In fact, the insurer made not a peep about her cancer treatment, and paid for every procedure, the hospital and the doctors. The actual problem revolved around an entirely separate and unconnected disability insurance claim that in no way affected her medical treatment. I'm sure that if a brave news reporter questions him hard on this whopper, he will raise the Al Sharpton defense: "OK, it wasn't true. But it could have been."

One White House spokesman who was asked about the fable replied: "The President's story speaks powerfully to the impact of pre-existing condition limits on insurance protection from health care costs." How, pray tell? I can twist this story a dozen different ways, and I still can't make it apply to pre-existing conditions or denial of coverage. But then I'm not as accomplished a liar as Barack Obama, and I didn't get my law degree from Harvard.

Even if there were a grain of truth to the story, I would still have some questions. ". . . the last months of her life in the hospital arguing with insurance companies." She died in 1995. Sonny Boy was licensed to practice law in 1991. Couldn't he have done the arguing for her and given her a little peace while she was being denied coverage? Was he too busy community-organizing? Was he too busy litigating unlawful detainers (evictions) on the South Side of Chicago? Was he too busy making political connections to call on his legal connections? Was he too busy taking golf lessons? Inquiring minds want to know. This sad story just got a whole lot less sad.

The Democrats have told insurance (or lack of insurance) horror stories that range from an Illinois cancer patient being left untreated because he didn't report a prior gallstone problem to his insurer (untrue), to dragging out an eleven-year old boy to boo-hoo publicly about his mother dying of pulmonary hypertension left untreated by heartless doctors and insurers (also not true). There was the breast cancer patient who lost her private insurance because she didn't declare her prior history of acne. Except that what she didn't declare was her previous heart condition and morbid obesity. But on review, the insurer covered her anyway. Then there's the unemployed sawmill worker who was denied treatment for a serious neurological condition because he didn't have insurance. In fact, he received excellent treatment at the Oregon Health and Science University which accepts Medicaid as payment in full. The sawmill worker was on Medicaid.

As a retired private attorney, I know that there are genuine denial-of-coverage cases. But most are complicated, hard to explain in soundbites, and rarely as dramatic as the stories told by the socialized medicine crowd. Still, at least some of those cases would have made good propaganda, if the Democrats had bothered to investigate honestly. But a scripted, "could be true" story is so much better than reality.

Speaking of pre-existing conditions, I wonder if the President's health insurance policy covers pre-existing mental illness, to wit: the utter inability to tell the truth combined with the obsessive need to tell lies even when the truth would work just as well. Perhaps it's a genetically-transmitted disease. After all, the President's grandmother was a typical white person.

37 comments:

Tennessee Jed said...

Hawk - as an aside, it was neat to see Andrew on Breitbart's home news page as the featured BH article.

It is hardly unusual to catch Pinnochiobama is a lie. But, here is the problem with the "insurance are the bad guys" approach. It is true there are unsavory practitioners of insurance just like their are doctors and lawyers. The issue in play here is "pre-existing condition." Insurance is based on having a lot of outcomes which are fairly predictable in the aggregate, but unpredictable for an individual outcome. A pre-existing condition is not an unknown outcome.

I would think a better way to handle healthcare (at least in terms of minimizing the societal costs) is to have true competitive health insurance for the healthy. By isolating the individuals whose probability of having costly illness, we can then determine better how to isolate the cost drivers and find methods to handle those costs as efficiently as possible. Some of this was, of course, handled back in the Commentarama Care series.

Joel Farnham said...

From what I can tell, high level Democrat politicians have this penchant for lying in public. Barack is so shameless, he uses the death of his mother to lie. He lies even when the truth will serve. This is a documented pathology.

I thought Bill Clinton was bad. Obama is a sick man. Sick in the head. What really bugs me, is there are people who think it is great that Obama does lie and lie regularly.

LawHawk, I guess I was brought up by people who think that lying is wrong.

Joel Farnham said...

LawHawk,

This is a departure from this article.

I am now listening to Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch being questioned. This doesn't feel like a fact finding situation. Some of the questions seem to be of the nature, "Have you stopped beating your wife sort."

This is just a fishing expedition designed more to "show" the world that the British Government is on top of this scandal than to actually elicit new information. What a waste of time!

End of departure.

BevfromNYC said...

It goes beyond that famous dance craze "The Political Sidestep" that every politician knows. Obama isn't even good walking back. And his new press secretary Jay Carney isn't helping him at all.

I am completely at a loss why he gets to lie, get caught in an obvious lie, and then the MSM just collectively shrugs their shoulders and, oh well, we know there's a case like that somewhere, so it could have been true, so there's no nothing to see here. -->-->>>LOOK OVER THERE! BOEHNER'S CRYING AGAIN-->---->-->-->

And what exactly IS a "typical white person"?

BevfromNYC said...

BTW - I see we have a link on BH now! Is that new?

T-Rav said...

Well, at least we won't have the sickening sight of Obama throwing his own mother under the bus. Small favors, I guess.

So what are the odds that Our Leader simply reads this stuff off the teleprompter as it appears, as opposed to outright deliberate lying?

Joel Farnham said...

No, Bev, that link has been here from the beginning of Commentarama. I think LawHawk and Andrew met at BH. It was from BH where I found Commentarama. I was seeking some slightly more intelligent conversation than BH. BH has gone down hill a bit and Commentarama has always kept to a higher standard.

Joel Farnham said...

T-Rav, I wonder if there is a scorecard around on TOTUS. I told LawHawk that I wished someone would hack into TOTUS and give Obama a line like, "I resign effective immediately." Then blow up the hard drive.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, We've always had the BH link.

Lawhawk, It frustrates me to no end that Obama gets to say whatever he wants and the MSM just covers for him. It's seriously obscene. And this is another example that he will say anything he wants just because it sounds good at the time.

TJ said...

And, of course, there are just enough people out there that don't pay attention and Obama and his friends in the MSM can get away with it.

As an aside, I mentioned McCotter to my mother-in-law, who is somewhat well informed and she hasn't heard of him. I plan to send her the link to your 2012 contender series so she can be up-to-date.

Unknown said...

Tennessee: Andrew has hit the big time. Now we can cite him as authority. I'm really happy for him and proud to be an associate of his.

You and I have both been in the insurance business, and we're not blind to the fact that like all businesses, things can go wrong. But the fabrications and outright lies from Obama and his brethren are beyond the pale.

There are multiple ways to attack the problem of health care for the uninsured who are unable to obtain insurance through no fault of their own. That will take a lot of work and dedication. But first we have to rid ourselves of the biggest lie of them all--Obamacare.

Unknown said...

Joel: Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you and I and most of our readers were brought up by our parents, not relatives we've been shuffled off to, or "mentors" from Jihadistan, and communists.

Unknown said...

Joel: In the short time that I've watched the hearings in Parliament, it looks like the typical political show. But I must say that the Murdochs are holding their own very nicely.

Unknown said...

Bev: The expression "in bed with the Democratic administration" has applied to the press since at least Carter. But ever since Chris Matthews' "tingle" remark, I think we can say that the MSM is more than just in bed with Obama.

I've been trying to figure out what a "typical white person" is ever since the fool made that racist remark. I've been unsuccessful so far.

Joel Farnham said...

LawHawk,

I am very impressed by James Murdoch. Highly articulate and knowledgeable. He strikes me as honest and candid.

Unknown said...

Bev: The link refers to Andrew as the new BH film contributor. We've had the link in our collection of favorites since the beginning, but now it has special significance.

I hope everyone will go over to the BH site and say "hi" to our very own film critic, Andrew Price.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: Much of what Obama says is from the TelePrompter, but are we really supposed to believe that he lies about his own mother without having a hand in it? The man simply has no sense of honor or shame.

Unknown said...

Joel: You are absolutely correct. Andrew and I built the Commentarama site after meeting and debating with each other at Big Hollywood.

Unknown said...

Joel: Wouldn't it be fun watching that happen, then watching Obama, speechless, standing there like a deer in the headlights?

Unknown said...

Andrew: I got a late start this morning, so I will be going over to your article at BH as soon as I finish here. CONGRATULATIONS!

Obama is pathological, so there's no reason to doubt that he's a pathological liar as well. But that doesn't address the problem of the MSM going along with his lies, particularly the verifiable, factual lies.

Unknown said...

TJ: I really like McCotter, but he does have a very serious name-identification problem. I truly hope he can get past that, and make his name during future debates.

Of late, I have also been extremely impressed with Marco Rubio. I really wish he would get into the race. I've talked before about being overly-enthusiastic about "newbies" in Congress and the Senate without seeing a meaningful track record. But Rubio's record in Florida was very conservative, and Florida will once again be a key player in the 2012 election. But most of all, as I've watched Rubio lately, he seems to be one of the few who can manhandle the press, answer their questions on his own terms, clearly enunciate what it means to be a conservative, and handle questions about the Republican plans for the economy without sounding like we're all about intransigence. He's able to blow up their theory that we only exist to thwart the will of The One.

Unknown said...

Joel: I've been watching the Parliament hearings off and on as I've been responding to comments here. James is articulate as hell, and obviously not easily trapped by "gotcha" statements posing as questions.

They just took a break, ahead of schedule, because of some sort of "security violation." I'm sure we'll hear shortly what that was all about.

T-Rav said...

LawHawk, did you happen to see Rubio's interview with Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation" Sunday? It was ten minutes of awesomeness; Rubio just kept tearing Obama a new one and Schieffer (who I generally like) was spinning his wheels trying to defend him.

I really like Rubio. I kinda wish he'd reconsider his decision not to accept a VP nomination; I get why he's said no, but he would be a great attack dog for any ticket.

Joel Farnham said...

I can't see much, but it looks like a man interrupted the proceedings. He is now covered in some sort of white substance. It could be paint.

Rupert's wife jumped in and attacked the idiot. That's so cool!!

Oh, and Yahoo's article on Murdoch's testimony is misleading.

The talking heads are speculating this guy is seeking fame with dumping paint on Murdoch.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: That was exactly the interview that caused me to make the comment. It was an absolutely bravura performance.

Unknown said...

Joel: Apparently it was spray shaving cream or something like it. It was fun watching Mrs. Murdoch bitch-slap the protester. Sessions of the House of Commons make sessions of the House of Representatives look like models of decorum. The Brits aren't half as civilized as they would like us to think they are. This was further proof of that. LOL

Joel Farnham said...

What really is amazing about this is the hacking happened 8 years ago. These idiots act like it happened yesterday.

The last liberal hack used a term that I thought the Clintons and Pelosi had copyrighted. "Culture of corruption". Rebekah Brooks is now up.

Unknown said...

Joel: If digging up dead horses is what it takes to discredit the opposition, that's what the liberals will do. I will say, though, that I don't know when the hacking was first discovered. If only recently, then it's fair comment. A wrong doesn't become a right with the passage of time. The nefarious motives of those on the attack are somewhat irrelevant if they've actually uncovered a genuine scandal, however old it may be.

Joel Farnham said...

I couldn't find it, but I googled it and found it at NewsBusters.

Obama is on right now, I hope someone has the guts to ask him about his lie about his mom.

Unknown said...

Joel: I'm correcting the link now.

Unknown said...

Joel: Here's the correct link to the MRC/CyberAlert on the issue: Obama Falsehood on Mother's Insurance.

StanH said...

That’s a leftist accolade, to be a proficient liar. Barry’s just following in a long train of flim-flam men who have come before. Any more with this lying bastard (Barry), I just assume that it’s a lie and I’m never disappointed.

Sorry I haven’t commented in a while, we’ve been on vacation for a week.

Congrats to Andrew, on his BH debut, very nice.

Joel Farnham said...

Thanks LawHawk.

It is incredible that something as so basic as this is resolutely ignored by the MSM.

Obama couldn't stop lying to save his life.

Tehachapi Tom said...

Hawk
If he will just keep piling the s__t on maybe the major portion of our country can come to him for what he is.
Hope Hope Hope!!!

Unknown said...

Stan: Glad everything's OK. We missed your comments. What's a vacation?

Now, shut up and drink your snake oil. LOL

I'm really pleased for Andrew. He's getting lots of favorable comments, and even has a troll!

Unknown said...

Joel: The only thing we have going for us is that Obama doesn't quite grasp the "big lie" concept. So he tells a bunch of little and medium-sized lies, often obvious and occasionally inconsistent and self-contradictory.

That means more and more opportunities for the average guy to spot lie after lie that he can sort out for himself. Eventually, they will reach the obvious conclusion: "This guy is a liar."

Unknown said...

Tehachapi Tom: Hope, hope, hope, change, change, change, lie, lie, lie.

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