I’ve spent my entire career in Professional Sales, and long ago learned the golden rule of “Under Promise, Over Deliver”.
Because when you do the opposite, as the President did so spectacularly with his “You Can Keep Your Plan...” schtick, you merely guarantee that at some point down the road, people are going to be very, very mad at you.
Which brings us to today’s press conference.
Obama, who has railed against any and all attempts to change a single jot of what he’s repeatedly trumpeted as The Law Of The Land, is now feeling overwhelming political heat from within his own party. Thus he came out today and offered a temporary “fix” to his disastrous Obamacare legislation.
Never mind that his fix basically amounts to asking the insurance industry to switch gears in the MIDDLE OF THEIR CANCELLATIONS which OBAMACARE CREATED, in order to cover Barack’s posterior. You can also ignore how completely unrealistic and unworkable that would be, just from a logistical perspective. You can even ignore the state laws they’d have to break to do such a thing, a mere 6 weeks before the end of the year.
Just focus on the press conference itself. If you watched it, you may have initially wondered if this was actually an SNL skit. There’s no possible way that it could have been planned to be this horrible:
If you’d like, here’s the entire transcript to read. A warning: as bad as the presser reads, the entire video is worse.
And no, that’s not hyperbole.
So, rather than linking a video of the whole debacle, I’ll instead give you some reactions and thoughts via Twitter:
Insurance source: WH fix places “onus on us even tho they know we can’t” effectively extend cancelled policies given rates/logistics probs
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) November 14, 2013
If this man were the CEO of a major or minor company the board would not only remove him, but send him for evaluation.
— David Limbaugh (@DavidLimbaugh) November 14, 2013
I think I just saw Valerie Jarrett off camera holding a giant hook.
— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) November 14, 2013
Shorter Obama: I didn’t know anything that was going on before, and don’t know anything now. So just relax.
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) November 14, 2013
I long for the clarity and good sense Obama showed in the first debate.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) November 14, 2013
Obama: I’m a turnip. I know less about my own policies than the average third-grader. So you can’t blame me for anything.
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) November 14, 2013
Obama saying he thought things would be fine for 98% of Americans when he made pledge. That still leaves 6 million.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) November 14, 2013
The Immaculate Deception: A lie was heard by the public, but no one was actually responsible for it.
— SquatchPride69 (@AceofSpadesHQ) November 14, 2013
It’s like he read about his own plan in the NY Times — and stupidly believed what they wrote.
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) November 14, 2013
Hey @chucktodd. I will pay you one thousand dollars to throw a shoe at this guy.
— Adam (@GPIA7R) November 14, 2013
Obamacare is the biggest lie in the land. The second biggest is that the admin was too incompetent to know any better.
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) November 14, 2013
Obama: Our assumptions about how the country would react to ACA were wrong. Also, I didn’t know how it was being implemented. So…trust me.
— DrewMTips (@DrewMTips) November 14, 2013
The “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” press conference in January will be amazing
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) November 14, 2013
#ObamaPresser He’s starting to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher.
— rdbrewer (@rdbrewer4) November 14, 2013
RT @HeyTammyBruce At this point, can we get Toronto’s Rob Ford to take over the presidency? I think he might be a little better at the job. — justturnright (@justturnright) November 14, 2013
Obama fix announced today passes the buck to insurance cos and state regulators to undo mess ACA caused. Sets them up for blame. — Brit Hume (@brithume) November 14, 2013
Serious question: Anyone believe this will help Obama? — John Nolte (@NolteNC) November 14, 2013
Obama’s promise just changed from applying to 95% to 98%; apparently there has been some inflation over the past 10 minutes. — SquatchPride69 (@AceofSpadesHQ) November 14, 2013
NOTE to Obama–this announcement may have done good BEFORE insurance companies cancelled plans. You know, pre-shutdown.
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) November 14, 2013
—
Apart from providing fodder for the late-night comedians and gastric ulcers for congressional Democrats, there is one more likely result from all this:
Historically, the United States presidency was always thought to be a job for which very few people felt they were sufficiently qualified, and rightly so.
After today’s press conference, I believe that particular perception is a thing of the past.
The only person celebrating all of this is Jimmy Carter – FINALLY not at the bottom of those damned lists anymore! I am almost nostalgic for the good ol’ days of “malaise”.
Sweaters for everybody!!!
Not to mention the fact that a President has NO legal or Constitutional authority to change and/or ‘fix’ LAW passed by Congress. The executive branch has no legislative power. (section one, article one of the U.S. Constitution) He is unconstitutional and should be impeached under the Law of the Land.
No question, Teach. But since we will NOT see that happen (I’ll bet my mortgage on that one) anytime soon, we need to hammer him where he bleeds: his alleged ‘competence’.
And this entire charade, as much as anything, was a direct broadside on THAT.
Keep firing, gang…
DUDE! I could write TEN posts just shredding this embarrassment of a “press conference”! You know my juvenile mind and while I’m watching that freak show, I’m channeling my inner Bugs Bunny….AGAIN!
“What a maroon”
“What an Eskimo pie-head”
“What an ‘im-bessel”
I had to pause the vid when he said “the website is doing a lot of (hands waving to make air quotation marks) STUFF….”
Thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard.
Then, just when I thought I had recovered he lays the “the Federal Government does a lot of things right…..” (just not computer “stuff”…) line on us….
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE: Keep on making a **** of yourself, Mr. President! I want to see you and all of the 2014 Dems running on this mess.
It was almost painful.
And as bad as WE thought it was, imagine if you were a congressional Democrat?
I’d keep an eye on tall buildings and bridges in DC: might be more than a few jumpers today…
THIS just in: All of the congressional democrats who are up for re-election in 2014 just declared that they are going over to the Republican Party, and VOW to repeal PPACA.
Dude, if that were true, you and I would be at a bar right NOW! :)
We’d likely close it down tonight, too….
Oh, I’d SO want to be there too!
You’d be invited, Teach!
LOL yea, but ‘bit of a drive’ just for a cheers! :D
LIP , me too, Please, run on it…because they can’t run away from it. And their nonsense that it is all about ideas has to stop, (implying Repubs have none) It’s about actions and consequences now. But I’m disappointed we have to have yet another election centered around this albatross. (6 years of it)
Just remember: every time he says um ahhh er, he’s getting to put one over on you.
When his lips are moving…
Which, basically, is anytime he’s not reading from a teleprompter.
I just can’t listen to him anymore. I’m gonna need some high tech drugs to just zone me out of his garbage.
Good news, Di:
High-tech drugs are covered under Obamacare!!
…if you could actually SIGN UP for it, or afford it if you COULD sign-up, …which, obviously, you can’t.
Okay, maybe that’s not such good news…
;)
Good . They must have searched for tomatoes before he started.
Must not have found any, BR.
If they’d had ‘em, they’d have thrown ‘em….
If this thing gets any worse he might sue to have his name removed.
True, BR.
The beautiful aspect is he was just saying a few days back that as soon as everyone started to “Love” it, the REPUBLICANS would stop calling it “Obamacare”.
…Guess what word never crossed HIS lips today? :D
When will the legality of Obama’s decrees be questioned? Gopers? Anyone out there?
Great question, B-Ville.
Even Howard Dean questioned the legality of this move today.
If some bright young mind in the GOP wanted to get noticed, this is where I’d start…..
That is exactly the point I was trying to make in my first comment, bunkerville!
The executive branch has no legislative power. So any ‘fixes’ / ‘changes’ / waivers / extensions, etc. (whatever word they use) done by a President without going through Congress, is unconstitutional.
Teach…I’m not really comfortable with the thought of something being unconstitutional being an impedance to these folks. There’s actually a provision in PPACA that the Republicans got in there that provides an exemption for self insured groups. The Left is going apoplectic behind the scenes trying to get it removed. So much for “it’s the law”.. Cc
Hi livingrightinpgh, are you are saying that o’diot is not the only corrupt law breaker? If so, I agree completely… different parties, same animal.
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