I don’t have cable so I was not able to see it, but the Associated Press article had the following to say about it.
WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.
Obama’s assertion that "I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond" the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by "eliminating programs that don’t work" masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are — beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
A sampling of what voters heard in the ad, and what he didn’t tell them:
THE SPIN: "That’s why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year."
THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it’s not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.
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THE SPIN: "I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care."
THE FACTS: That belief should not be confused with a guarantee of health coverage for all. He makes no such promise. Obama hinted as much in the ad when he said about the problem of the uninsured: "I want to start doing something about it." He would mandate coverage for children but not adults. His program is aimed at making insurance more affordable by offering the choice of government-subsidized coverage similar to that in a plan for federal employees and other steps, including requiring larger employers to share costs of insuring workers.
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THE SPIN: "I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost."
THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama’s policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years — and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says: "Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years." The analysis goes on to say: "Neither candidate’s plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified."
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THE SPIN: "Here’s what I’ll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we’ll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. "
THE FACTS: His proposals — the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more — cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged — although not in his commercial — that: "The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals."
Laura – Obama’s speech became meaningless when he entered Wright’s church and stayed there for 20 years listening to "Black Liberation theology" which is a twisted perversion of the Christian gospel and is heavily racist to the point of wanting to see white people exterminated.
Obama was born to a Muslim father, he had a Muslim grandfather, he was raised
by a Muslim step father, taught as a boy in a Muslim school, tutored by a man who was a sexual pervert and socialist during his early boyhood, attended the church Wright pastored which had many Muslim members, has been praised by Quaddafi and Hamas – Muslim terrorists,
and in an absent-minded moment on tv slipped and said "My Muslim faith."
His friends are terrorists and leaders who hate our nation and want her destroyed from without and within. He has not proven his citizenship, and his biggest campaign issue centered around race. He has promised that his future plans are heavily racial in purpose.
Christian? Never!
Obama voted 4 times against letting a baby receive medical attention if that baby survived an abortion. Fannie and Freddie paid him more than everyone but Chris Dodd and 39 times more than McCain. I believe McCain received a token payment to cover their tracks, and the big three; Dodd, Obama and Kerry were paid to keep their mouths shut or to continue their refusal to vote with Bush
regulate them. Obama has NEVER at any time declared he loves America, but has called our troops terrorists and has downgraded our Constitution. He has lied so many times about so many things
that it is hard to believe he means any of the things he says. He has vacillated on numerous issues, and has never instituted any legislation in his one year that he actually showed up for work in Illinois. He has can speak eloquently about nothing and people look beyond his lack of knowledge and experience like they are in a hypnotic trance. He is a fraud, and unworthy of the respect of any thinking person.
I thought it was hilarious, personally. He didn’t give many more details than what we already knew.
He wants to cut spending, but then he blows 125 million for 30 minutes of TV time?
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August 3, 2009
Todd Stottlemyer, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), an ociation representing small businesses, talks with Kaisernetwork.org Managing Editor Jill Braden Balderas about NFIB’s 10 principles for health care reform, how various organizations have come together to advance change in a bipartisan environment and his views about how mandates and changes to the tax code and risk pool laws impact access to affordable health care for small business owners.
South Pinellas 9.12 Patriots (Pinellaspatriots.org) stage our 3rd 35 mile, 24 car Health care funeral procession through Central Pinellas county on August 1st.