Talking about lies by a president has become all the rage. Not long ago it was thought of as unacceptable, but it is now de rigueur in the fashionable set. In fact, the paper of record (NYT) published a full page of President Trump lies -- dirty, filthy lies. Of course, what is considered a lie is often in the eye of the beholder.
I read each and every lie as listed in the New York Times. Please read them for yourself. First, many of the statements he said were repeated numerous times. Many, if not most, of the statements were (even by the NYT standards) President Trump taking credit for something the NYT says was previously negotiated like a reduction in the cost of military aircraft. Wow, huge revelation-- a president takes credit for something someone else negotiated like President Clinton signing a NAFTA agreement that President Bush negotiated before him. Do you recall the big uproar over Clinton taking credit for the deal? Well, neither do I.
If you remember, President Obama took credit for the increased production of oil and gas in the United States under his watch. In fact, PolitiFact called his statements mostly true. President Obama had less than zero to do with that increased production. He stalled any production on federal land and was against fracking. In fact, a federal judge ruled against his executive order imposed against fracking on federal lands. Trump reversed his executive orders against fracking.
Did the NYT note the lie of Obama taking credit for the American oil boom? Not that I can find. The only MSM I could find that wrote about Obama’s blatant lie was CNNMoney which supported Obama’s claim. Denis McDonough went on Fox News Sunday on January 26, 2015, and took credit for the Obama administration's production increase. FNS host Chris Wallace did everything short of calling him a liar, but McDonough persisted with the fraud. Not one article about it in the NYT.
Presidents taking credit for good things on their watch they had nothing to do with has gone on forever and will go on forever. Presidents taking credit for something they tried to stop from happening, but happened anyway, was somewhat unique to Trump’s predecessor.
In my first column on this subject, I wrote about President Obama’s lies regarding two incidents that occurred during his presidency – Benghazi and the crimes of the IRS -- Lois Lerner should be in jail for the latter. I argued that the significance of a lie is the relevance of whether the subject matter about what a president lies actually matters. That is because they all tell half-truths or make statements open to interpretation. Obama could be the king though.
There is no issue in America of greater consequence than our health care system. It occupies around 20 percent of our economy. It concerns virtually every American. Eighty-five percent of Americans were happy (or as happy as one can be) with their health insurance when Obama set out remake the total health care system; not to take care of the other 15 percent, but to federalize that sector of the economy.
To do such Obama stated six lies. Six statements that are demonstrably lies. The six are:
- If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.
- If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.
- Obamacare would cover every American.
- Obamacare would cut the cost of typical family premiums by up to $2,500 a year.
- Obamacare would bend the medical cost curve.
- Obamacare would not add one dime to the deficit.
While President Obama was out pitching his plan and stating these lies over and over and over again, he had to know these were all lies except for maybe No. 3. That one was just a foolish dream and he should have known that was a lie. It certainly is a grave overstatement at best if not an outright lie.
These lies caused a major disruption in people’s lives. We are now in a crisis because Obamacare is clearly not working. Premiums have soared, taxes have soared, outlays by the federal government have soared. People like my wife and me had to scramble to find insurance that would keep our doctors. We were able to; many were not. Virtually every private industry plan had to be redone. And one must ask -- why?
Obama’s lies had significant consequences. Where were you NYT? Where was your full page article showing how Obama lied each day and then include the other topics he lied about other than the health care of our nation.
This is of far greater importance than the NYT-cited Trump lie of June 1st: “China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So, we can’t build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement. India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020.” Yes, the NYT is correct the Paris Climate Accords does not speak exactly to this, but the outcome Trump speaks of is absolutely correct.
The MSM hates Trump. The have changed the rules in how they treat a sitting president. They might have some creditability if they had taken on Obama when he outright lied, especially about consequential matters. But they did not. Thus, they are the losers here. And, as a byproduct of their errant behavior, all of us -- no matter your political leanings -- are the losers.
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