Time's Mark Halperin Lamented Press Failure to Scrutinize Obamacare....But In 2010, Boasted About It

 Last Thursday, Time's Mark Halperin told guest host Laura Ingraham on "The O'Reilly Factor" that "There is no doubt that the press failed to scrutinize this program at the time of passage and during the context of the president's re-election. Any reporter who would argue otherwise would be putting their head in the sand." Romney's vulnerability on Romneycare meant it wasn't much of an issue.

"It's part of the flaws of the way the media works," Halperin added. "If the candidates aren't talking about it, it gets less coverage. But there's no doubt a disservice was done to the country and even to liberals who want this program to succeed, because it didn't get scrutiny on passage, and then again when the President was running for re-election." But James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal did the mean thing to Halperin. Oh, look, here's one Mark Halperin on March 22, 2010, boasting about the forthcoming press failure on Obamacare, right after it passed:

 In the 7½ months between now and November's midterm elections, millions of Americans will be whipped into a frenzy over the purported evils in the Democrats' health care bill, egged on by Fox News chatter, Rush Limbaugh's daily sermons, threats of state legislative and judicial action and the solemn pledge of Republicans in Washington to make the fall election a referendum on Obamacare. But in doing so, they may be playing right into the Democrats' hands. . . .

 Democrats will be joined in the fray by much of the press. For Republicans, this will seem like familiar ground, since generations of conservatives have complained that the so-called mainstream media have been biased against them. Well, get ready, Republicans, for déjà vu all over again. The coverage through November likely will highlight the most extreme attacks on the President and his law and spotlight stories of real Americans whose lives have been improved by access to health care (pushed, no doubt, by Democrats from every competitive congressional district and state).

 The louder Republicans yell, the more they will be characterized and caricatured as sore losers infuriated by the first major delivery of candidate Obama's promise of "change." The focus on the weekend's alleged racial and gay-bashing verbal attacks by opponents of the Democrats' plan should be a caution to Republican strategists trying to figure out how to manage the media this year.

Taranto added: "His indictment should have been framed as a confession."

Via: Newsbusters

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The Democrats' Freak-Out About ObamaCare Has Begun

Frustrated with the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov, the Democratic coalition is beginning to crack slightly on the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a frequent critic of the health care law, is preparing to introduce legislation that would delay Obamacare's individual mandate by a year. Other Senate Democrats are going to push for an extension of open enrollment in the exchanges. And House Democrats are openly venting their frustrations.

Manchin appeared on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Wednesday night to discuss his plan, and he said there that he'd be open to working with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

"I came here to fix things," Manchin said. "Affordable health care was never meant to be, if you've got insurance now you're going to have to buy insurance that's more costly and not as good. That has to be fixed."

Manchin said he wouldn't attach his name to Rubio's legislation, which would delay the mandate's penalties until six months after the  Government Accountability Office (GAO) certifies that the online exchanges are functional.

Manchin's willingness to look at tweaks to the law is nothing new. He said in September that he would support  a year-long delay in the individual mandate — he just didn't support that being part of negotiations surrounding the federal government shutdown.

In fact, if there were any senator Democrats were worried about breaking off from the caucus during the debates, it was Manchin. He told Bill O'Reilly that he thinks he can get the votes for his plan, but no other Democrats have come out publicly in support.

Via: Fox News

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The Fundamental Transformation of the Nation by Monica Crowley

Last night on "The O'Reilly Factor," I recalled how Barack Obama spoke in 2008 about the "fundamental transformation of the nation." After five years of his presidency, we see the enormous success he's had in achieving it. The objective was always to move America away from a nation built on individual liberty and economic freedom and toward a government welfare and dependency state. Socialism, communism, statism, leftism....in the end it doesn't matter what you call it, because what matters is what's being carried out....and its consequences.

Radical wealth redistribution, class warfare, socialized medicine, the atomization of American society, divisive identity politics, the war on success, the loss of our Triple A credit rating, the retrenchment of U.S. power abroad, the gutting of our military, the erosion of our international credibility.... It's all being done deliberately by Obama and the Left in order to "fundamentally transform" this country into just another crippled dependency state.

After five years of evidence, people are still wondering aloud why Obama doesn't negotiate, why he doesn't compromise, why he doesn't handle things the way, say, Bill Clinton did.

Wake the BLEEP up! (And by the way, my book laid all of this out and more. Please see the top of this website for how to order the paperback edition of "What The (Bleep) Just Happened?" It's all there...and way ahead of its time.)

Unlike Clinton, who was a pragmatist, Obama is a pure ideologue. Why do you think he hasn't negotiated with Republicans? A) Because he doesn't really have to, given that the Left in Congress and the media protects and advances his interests at every turn and because the GOP is so spineless, and B) because he's a total ideologue who will NEVER give ANYTHING on his way to "fundamentally transforming the nation."

Via: MonicaMemo

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