AARP backs away from Obamacare
UPDATE, 3:46p: Well, isn’t this interesting. The AARP Media channel on YouTube has just posted this CNN story, entitling it, “CNN fact check on President Obama’s AARP ‘Endorsement’ statement”:
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I previously wrote that the AARP was defending Obamacare.
Well, I’m guessing due to the growing furor by seniors over the euthanasian tenor of Section 1233, AARP is backing away, which is huge and important. I’ve said before if Democrats lose seniors on this, they’ve lost.
Now CNSNews.com is reporting:
AARP Chief Operating Officer Tom Nelson issued a statement saying that the organization has not endorsed any legislation. “While the President was correct that AARP will not endorse a health care reform bill that would reduce Medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills…are inaccurate,” Nelson said.
AARP does support measures to reform health care, Nelson said, but has not endorsed the bills being crafted in Congress.
This referred back to Obama’s statement yesterday in his pep rally townhall meeting that AARP was behind him. This has become a hot topic. According to Fox News this afternoon, a great exchange…
During the White House briefing today, Major Garrett asked Robert Gibbs about the comments President Obama made yesterday in regards to the AARP endorsing the health care plan – for the record – they have NOT!
QUESTION: OK. Yesterday, the president said the AARP endorsed a plan. As you’re aware yesterday, the AARP said it hasn’t addressed a plan. Where on the information or disinformation scale would the president’s remark fall?
GIBBS: Well, the president said – well, AARP has said they are certainly supportive and have been for years on comprehensive health reform. I don’t think the president meant to imply anything untoward. I think he discussed the notion that AARP is supportive of legislation – or, I’m sorry, an agreement that would – that would fund filling the doughnut hole for seniors as part of Medicare Part D, as well as additional savings for comprehensive health care reform.
QUESTION: The president is doubtless aware AARP hasn’t even endorsed the House pending committee legislation…
GIBBS: Which is what I just said.
QUESTION: … or the Senate legislation. Right. So he’s aware of that. So he wasn’t trying to mislead anyone?
GIBBS: No. No.
QUESTION: He just misspoke?
GIBBS: Right.
QUESTION: Is that something that can happen in this debate?
GIBBS: That people can misspeak?
QUESTION: Right, without intentionally meaning to mislead.
GIBBS: Sure. I don’t know if it’s happened on certain subjects, but yes.
QUESTION: OK. So it’s within the range of this whole discussion something can be wrong, but not necessarily intentional misinformation, is what I’m getting at?
GIBBS: Yes. I think most of — I think most of what the president has addressed, though, has been in many ways intentional misinformation.
QUESTION: That he’s been trying to correct…
(CROSSTALK)
GIBBS: Right.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Has Obama run out of “misspeaking” passes yet?
Let me get this straight:
Sooooo….when Obama or his zombies/cronies say something which can be seen as intentionally misleading, THAT is “misspeaking”
When anyone from the opposing side brings up legitimate actual facts about the bill they’ve read, or parts of the bill which contains language they find unsettling, THAT is “misinformation”
I love the rules to this little game they’re playing.
It is hard to keep track of the misspeaks, isn’t it??
Gibbs is lying thru his teeth, like his boss…
I guess that’s a requirement for one to be on staff at the White House, huh?
If each journalist were held accountable the number of times Obama has “misspoken” and they failed to report it…
xalisae – right – the hypocrisy is astounding, but the real culprit here is not Obama, but the media who have completely failed to hold an objective standard throughout the election and now.
The public is quickly finding out that the existing mainstream media is no longer needed.
“Gibbs is lying thru his teeth, like his boss…”
“I guess that’s a requirement for one to be on staff at the White House, huh?”
RSD,
Check out Gibb’s bio on Wikipedia. All he’s ever done is play hardball politics.
“The public is quickly finding out that the existing mainstream media is no longer needed.”
Posted by: Chris Arsenault at August 12, 2009 4:56 PM
Amen.
I find it amusing (in a sad sort of way) that when Bush was president, people were constantly making fun of him “misspeaking” but he was just using improper grammar and made-up words and now they say Obama is “misspeaking” when he is saying things that are untrue but politically advantageous for him (such as *cough* lies).
I use to be liberal and would constantley make fun of Bush’s English butchering, but then I saw the light (thank You Jesus) and turned conservative. Will I ever have a president that I don’t think is an idiot?
(Bush supporters, please don’t get angry, people change… and he did say some silly stuff. but he didn’t LIE.)
Posted by: Dominique at August 12, 2009 6:13 PM
“(Bush supporters, please don’t get angry, people change… and he did say some silly stuff. but he didn’t LIE.)”
—————————————————–
Dominique,
I do not know that would consider myself a Bush supporter or even defender. Bush’s legacy will speak for itself. History will be his judge.
Though ‘W’ may or may not have authorized ‘torture’ as an enhanced interogation technique, there is no doubt Bush ‘tortured’ the English language mercilessly.
Bush did not ‘butcher’ the language to mislead and deceive. He just had a problem with finding the right word so he just made them up on the fly.
You are correct in your observation. No need to apologize.
yor bro ken
Dominique,
My husband and I still say “strategery.” :)
We still say noo-kee-ler.
On a related topic, is there any outrage over Arlen Specter saying that the woman who got angry at his town hall meeting has a right to speak up, but that she “doesn’t represent America?” Um…what, does she represent Russia or something? Arlen, Arlen – she IS America. So annoying.
All of us regular folks going to townhall meetings and “listening sessions” are the lunatic fringe, dontcha know?? :)
Who does represent America? A Kenyan?
Carla,
Apparently, they don’t attend PBHO’s New Hampshire appearance.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care_overhaul
Methinks I smell something fishy. (lol perhaps I should report it to the White House^_^)
hahahahahaha! I love you, carla.
Love you, X!!
Did anyone see at a townhall meeting a man confronting Arlen Specter said “you people can’t even balance your checkbook and you expect us to hand over our healthcare to you”? The country is in over a trillion dollars in debt, people are paying more in taxes than ever, people are unemployed and hurting and we are to trust them to take over the life and death decisions of the American people? Wow, that is unbelievable.