Joe Wilson Was Right

Republican congressman Joe Wilson yelled "You lie" to Obama during his healthcare speech and there's been a great deal of stink over it which eventually led to Wilson's appropriate apology. But that doesn't change that what Wilson said was absolutely entirely without question 100% dead on accurate.

Obama lied last night. A lot.

And while politicians I'd never heard of came out of the speech running up to cameras to call out Wilson, can't we even mention the fact that the President of the United States called Sarah Palin a liar last night? As Ace points out, Obama called Palin a liar in his speech when he said this:

Some of people’s concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Such a charge would be laughable if it weren’t so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple.

You can say he didn't mention her by name but nobody didn't know who he was talking about. So Obama can call Palin a liar and that's cool. But when one congressman blurts it out that's way over the line.

Cut me a break, OK?

Never mind that the AP essentially came out last night and concurred that Obama is a liar of the big fat variety. Except the AP calls Obama's lies "omissions" or "oversimplifications."

Psst. That's code for lie.

The AP concludes that Obama uses "iffy math." But here's the thing. Math is pretty simple in at least one way. In the end, it's either right or wrong. There's no iffy. But hey, that's the closest the AP can come to criticizing THE ONE so we'll take it, I guess.

These are a few of the lies...I mean oversimplifications told by Obama, according to the AP:

OBAMA: "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits either now or in the future. Period."

THE FACTS: Though there's no final plan yet, the White House and congressional Democrats already have shown they're ready to skirt the no-new-deficits pledge.

House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years...

OBAMA: "Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have."

THE FACTS: ...The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the health care bill written by House Democrats and said that by 2016 some 3 million people who now have employer-based care would lose it because their employers would decide to stop offering it.

In the past Obama repeatedly said, "If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period." Now he's stopping short of that unconditional guarantee by saying nothing in the plan "requires" any change...

OBAMA: "Don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut. ... That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare."

THE FACTS: Obama and congressional Democrats want to pay for their health care plans in part by reducing Medicare payments to providers by more than $500 billion over 10 years. The cuts would largely hit hospitals and Medicare Advantage, the part of the Medicare program operated through private insurance companies.

Although wasteful spending in Medicare is widely acknowledged, many experts believe some seniors almost certainly would see reduced benefits from the cuts. That's particularly true for the 25 percent of Medicare users covered through Medicare Advantage.

So while I don't want congressmen yelling out at Presidents in the middle of speeches, at least Joe Wilson told the truth when he called Obama a liar. Obama lied about Palin being a liar. And then he lied about the costs of his plan. He lied about who it would cover. He lied about Medicare. He lied....He lied...He lied...

Update: Santorum defends Palin.