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Charlie Rose and a trio of former Obama speechwriters laughed it up this week as they discussed the president's infamous promise that that under the Affordable Care Act, "if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan."

Charlie Rose and three of Barack Obama’s former speechwriters had a good laugh Monday night while joking about the president’s infamous, oft-repeated false promise that under Obamacare, “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” Obama said dozens of times in the run-up to the Affordable Care Act’s signing and enactment that no Americans who liked the insurance plan they had would lose it under the Affordable Care Act. In reality, millions of policies were canceled because of the law’s regulations, and Obama was forced to apologize to the American people. The infamous remark...

Eagle Forum has published a memo detailing Marco Rubio's lies to conservatives in his effort to get Chuck Schumer's immigration bill passed. "Lies" is a strong word, but it's the only word that fits. This wasn't the natural trimming of politicians, like Rubio's justification of sugar subsidies in the service of his financial patrons the Fanjul brothers. From Cicero to Reagan, all successful politicians engage in misdirection or exploit ambiguity (including all the other current Republican hopefuls). In this case, though, Rubio led a Clintonian campaign of calculated falsehoods designed to sell Schumer's Gang of Eight bill to conservatives.

President Barack Obama on Saturday issued a statement about the shooting that took place at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday.Three people, including a policeman, were killed in the incident.“If we truly care about this--if we’re going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience--then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them,” said Obama. “Period.  Enough is enough.”Here is the full text of President Obama’s statement: The last...

Donald Trump hadn't said 300 words during his announcement speech before he called Mexican immigrants rapists. Even before that, he'd already made fun of his sweaty opponents and President Obama. But by word 300, he'd already made the comment that prompted a backlash from Univision — a backlash that drew new attention to his hard-line stance on immigration and, by extension, moved him into first place in the polls. Trump mocked Vietnam veteran John McCain's war record. He made a comment about Fox News's Megyn Kelly that was widely interpreted as referring to her menstruation. He retweeted a joke about...

The battle between Ohio Gov. John Kasich and GOP front-runner Donald Trump is heating up. A video released online Tuesday by the Kasich campaign attacks Trump for his rhetoric against various minority groups, invoking the theme of needing to stand up for people before it's too late. The video features retired Col. Tom Moe, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Vietnam POW, paraphrasing the famous words of late German pastor and concentration camp survivor Martin Niemoller: "You might not care if Donald Trump says Muslims must register with their government because you're not one. And you might not care if...

In his speech at the 122nd International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference in Chicago on Tuesday, President Obama pleaded with the American people not to believe that he is out to take their guns away. Obama called it a sad irony that after a shooting happens the purchase of guns and ammunition go up. "And some of you who are watching certain television stations or listening to certain radio programs," Obama began, "Please do not believe this notion

What was supposed to be friendly territory grew heated in a CBS interview with President Obama that aired Sunday night, showing a contentious debate between Obama and a network correspondent. In a wide-ranging, 24-minute interview that covered domestic and foreign policy, it was the Middle East that produced the most fireworks between Obama and '60 Minutes' reporter Steve Kroft. Kroft repeatedly challenged Obama's strategies in Syria and against the Islamic State in the region, accusing the president of 'embarrassing' failures and a lack of leadership. Obama defended the U.S. mission in countries like Syria and Iraq and said better results...

President Obama knows nothing about guns. Nothing. On Saturday, President Obama spoke before a crowd at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser with Jamie Foxx in Hollywood. There, he told the Hollywoodites – few of whom own guns, but virtually all of whom have utilized expensive armed guards in public places – that “It is easier to buy a gun than buy a book.” This is only true if you have never bought a gun or a book. In the state of California, buying a book requires no form of identification, a background check, or a waiting period. Buying a handgun...

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Health care coverage for the undocumented gets its first test this week when a bill to extend Medi-Cal coverage and Covered California health plans to the undocumented will be heard by the Senate Health committee. A number of legislative efforts to help the undocumented comprise the "Immigrants Shape California" legislative package introduced last week by the Legislature's leadership. The bill would provide Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented Californians who are income-eligible for it and require the state to ask for a federal waiver to include the undocumented in Covered California health plans. The undocumented population currently is ineligible for any state...

President Obama slammed Republicans Wednesday for continuing to war against his signature healthcare law five years in."It's working, despite countless attempts to repeal, undermine, defund and defame this law," Obama said in a speech commemorating the Affordable Care Act's anniversary of passage."We've made our share of mistakes since we passed this law, but we also know beyond a shred of doubt the law has worked," he said. "Deficits have been slashed, lives have been saved."It's been half a decade since Democrats in Congress passed the healthcare law and it remains arguably the most controversial piece of legislation passed during Obama's...

While I normally focus on jaw-dropping examples of hypocrisy by politicians, I realize that our beloved leaders also can be absurdly brazen in their exaggerations, deceptions, and prevarications. But sometimes you can’t help but be shocked by their chutzpah.Sort of like the time back in 2010 that a Greek politician issued an ultimatum that his country should get a giant bailout without taking the necessary steps to rein in bureaucratic bloat.But nothing compares with Obama’s recent claim that his opponents are trying to “bamboozle” voters. President Obama, in a fiery speech to Democrats Friday, accused Republicans of trying to “bamboozle...

NBC’s chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said on Friday that President Barack Obama‘s statement on the passing of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud was ironic and just an attempt at being polite because in reality, the late king “could not stand” President Obama. According to Engel, Saudi Arabia was against the “democratization” that the U.S. encouraged with its support for the Arab Spring and its opposition to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “One of the big ironies here is that President Obama, in his statement, said how close he was to King Abdullah — King Abdullah did

President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the American way is to drink as you watch. It'll take Obama about an hour to review the year and announce programs like free community college, required sick leave and cheaper housing, so several websites have put together State of the Union drinking games. Here's a guide to a few of the best from around the Web. Remember to drink responsibly -- and make sure it's domestic. The basic: This drinking game gives you levels of intoxication to choose from. It suggests drinking every time Obama...

As President Obama prepares to make new promises tonight, here’s a look back at those not yet fulfilled

I am sure that my fellow freepers can provide a list of Obama SOTU phrases that he will surely use tonight in his speech to the masses...

“Health care inflation has gone down every single year since the law [the Affordable Care Act] passed, so that we now have the lowest increase in health care costs in 50 years–which is saving us about $180 billion in reduced overall costs to the federal government and in the Medicare program.” – President Obama, news conference, Nov. 5, 2014 When making a claim like this, the president needs to get his statistics right. Uttering this claim without any caveats is going too far, even when making allowances for the fact he is speaking extemporaneously. The president earns Three Pinocchios.

More than 2,000 more Coloradans had their health insurance plans cancelled as a result of the Affordable Care Act, according to a letter from the state regulatory agency to state Senate Republicans.Following a dust-up earlier this year between Colorado Democratic Sen. Mark Udall and the Division of Insurance, Republicans have requested regular updates on policies that are cancelled because they don’t conform to Obamacare or because companies are getting out of the individual insurance market.Udall disputed the original number of nearly a quarter million cancellations in the immediate wake of Obamacare’s rollout in late 2013, arguing that almost all of...