This was after President Obama had attempted to quell points of harsh contention that he labeled as untrue:
“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. There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”
“You lie!” yelled Joe Wilson. Given the context of this comment where The One had been calling his political opponents liars and irresponsible, one cannot necessarily fault Rep. Wilson for being disgusted with the President’s finger-pointing. In the text of HR 3200 as it existed, there was no airtight safeguard to prevent illegal immigrants from reaping public option benefits. Two amendments were proposed to ensure that illegal immigrants would not be able to receive these benefits, but both were rejected on a party line vote. If one is in Wilson’s position and is unjustly called a liar by the nation’s highest public official on national television in front of a joint session of Congress, he or she would be justifiably annoyed.
Joe Wilson is currently being raked over the coals for disrupting The One’s speech. Apparently, both the Republicans and Democrats in Congress as well as media figures, commentators, and bloggers alike have short memories:
George W. Bush was speaking to a joint session of Congress for the 2005 State of the Union Address on February 2, 2005. During this address, President Bush noted the increasing concerns regarding the potential demise of Social Security:
“By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt. If steps are not taken to avert that outcome, the only solutions would be drastically higher taxes, massive new borrowing, or sudden and severe cuts in Social Security benefits or other government programs.”
President Bush’s statement was met with boos from many on the left side of the aisle. This must have been out of order as well. No doubt many of the same Congressmen and women are the ones crying foul at Joe Wilson’s outburst last night.
Some other thoughts on the address last night:
Notice the change of language regarding the insurance coverage regarding employers. He now says that employers and individuals will not be “required” to switch to the public plan. What if the employer switches plans to the public option even though the individual likes the current plan? Then that worker will have to, in effect, buy two plans (one through taxes, the other on his/her own).
Obama is obsessed with throwing bricks at the Bush Administration. He had to blame the Bush Administration for the trillion dollar deficit he inherited. He cited the Iraq war (that he is still fighting) as well as Bush’s “tax breaks for the wealthy” (which will expire next year) as some of the factors for his disadvantages in crusading against deficit spending. He then added that the cost of this “plan” (which still does not exist) is estimated at $900 billion, less than the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (again, which he is still fighting) and the “tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration.” President Obama, this is your term. You are in charge now. Bush is not in office anymore, you are. You have a Democratic House and Senate. Your party controls everything. Are you still blaming Bush because it is convenient and easy to do so? It worked when you were a senator, but that does not work when you are the president.
Another observation: there is no bill. Obama’s details were very scant. Where is this bill?
Also, Obama stated that he is directing his Secretary of Health and Human Services to look into state demonstration initiatives for tort reform to protect doctors against frivolous malpractice suits. The very mention of tort reform was met with enthusiastic approval from House and Senate Republicans. Few Democrats rose to join them. The Democrats will write the bill because they control the House and the Senate. President Obama has not met with Republicans since April regarding health care and the Democrats do not need to meet with Republicans in the drafting process. The bill will not include tort reform because the Democrats are funded by the deep pockets of the trial lawyers that would be hurt by restrictions on malpractice suits filed against physicians.
Finally, many on the left have criticized Republicans and conservatives for criticizing the plan without presenting a viable alternative. This is not true. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has sent his proposed legislation, The Patients’ Choice Act, to the President and has been virtually ignored by the White House. Tort reform along with allowing insurance companies from other states to compete with each other will decrease insurance costs. Providing a tax incentive (such as not taxing the income used by an individual to purchase his/her own insurance) would also lower the prices of insurance coverage and health care as a whole.
The Republicans are “the party of no?” Joe Wilson may be taking a beating today, but he voiced what many informed observers have been thinking all along. He was right, President Obama. “You lie!"
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