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Not Worth His
Salt
Obama Travels To Kansas Tomorrow To Channel Teddy Roosevelt, But There Is One Part Of Teddy’s Speech That Obama Will Skip |
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President
Theodore Roosevelt: “A Broken
Promise Is Bad Enough In Private Life. It Is Worse In The Field Of
Politics. No Man Is Worth His Salt In Public Life Who Makes On The
Stump A Pledge Which He Does Not Keep After Election; And,
If
He
Makes
Such A Pledge And Does Not Keep
It, Hunt Him Out Of Public Life.” (President
Theodore Roosevelt, “New Nationalism,” Osawatomie, Kansas,
8/31/1910)
OBAMA MADE
NUMEROUS PROMISES TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHICH HE HAS FAILED TO KEEP
Obama
Promised
To
End
Special Interest Access
PROMISE: When Announcing His Campaign
For Presidency, Obama Pledged To End Special Interest Access. “Special interests have
turned our government into a game only they can afford to play … They
get the access while you get to write a letter … The time for that kind
of politics is over. It’s through.” (Sen. Barack
Obama, Remarks Announcing Campaign For
President, Springfield, IL, 2/17/07)
FAILURE: Bundlers Meet With Obama In
The White House To
Talk About Policy And Later Host Fundraisers
For Obama’s Campaign. “They glide easily through the
corridors of power in Washington, with a number of them hosting Mr.
Obama at fund-raisers while also visiting the White
House on policy matters and
official business.” (Eric
Lichtblau, “Obama Backers Tied To Lobbies Raise Millions,” The New York Times, 10/27/11)
·
Obama’s
Promises Of Change Were “Either Hopelessly Naïve” Or Were “A
Little Bit Of A Shell Game.” “‘Any
president who says he’s going to change this is either hopelessly
naïve or polishing the reality to promise something other than can
be delivered,’ said Paul Light , a New York University
professor and expert on presidential
transitions. ‘At best it’s naïve and a
little bit of a shell game.’”(Fred
Schulte, John Aloysius Farrell, And Jeremy
Borden, “Obama Rewards Big Bundlers With Jobs, Commissions, Stimulus
Money, Government Contracts, And More,” IWatch, 6/15/11)
Obama Is Ignoring His Pledge
To Not Take Money From Special Interests, Raising Millions From
“Prominent Supporters Who Are Active In The Lobbying Industry.” “Despite a pledge not to take
money from lobbyists, President Obama has relied on prominent
supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions of
dollars for his re-election bid.” (Eric
Lichtblau, “Obama Backers Tied To Lobbies Raise Millions,” The New York Times, 10/27/11)
At Least 15 Of Obama’s
Bundlers Are In The Lobbying Industry And Have
Raised Over $5 Million For Obama’s Reelection Campaign. “At least 15 of Mr. Obama’s
‘bundlers’ — supporters who contribute their own money to his campaign and solicit it from others — are involved in
lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies. They
have raised more than $5 million so far for the campaign.” (Eric
Lichtblau, “Obama Backers Tied To Lobbies Raise Millions,” The New York Times, 10/27/11)
The Bundlers Show The Obama
Ethics Policies Do Not Match The “On-The-Ground Practices.” “But the prevalence of major
Obama fund-raisers who also work in the lobbying arena threatens to
undercut the president’s ethics push, raising questions about whether
the campaign’s policies square with its on-the-ground practices, some
of those same watchdogs say.” (Eric
Lichtblau, “Obama Backers Tied To Lobbies Raise Millions,” The New York Times, 10/27/11)
Obama’s
Stimulus
Failed
To
Keep Unemployment Below 8 Percent As Promised
PROMISE: The White
House Predicted Unemployment Would Not
Rise Above Eight Percent With Stimulus. (Christina
Romer and Jared Bernstein, “The
Job
Impact
Of
The American Recovery And
Reinvestment Plan,”1/9/09)
FAILURE: Since Obama’s $825 Billion
Stimulus Passed, The Unemployment Rate Has Remained Above Eight Percent
For A Post-WWII Record 34 Straight Months.(Bureau Of
Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed
12/2/11)
Obama
Promised
To
Cut
The Deficit In Half In His First Term
PROMISE:
“President Barack Obama Plans To Cut The U.S. Budget Deficit To $533
Billion By The End Of His First Term …” (Hans
Nichols,
“Obama
Plans
To Reduce Budget Deficit To $533 Billion By
2013,” Bloomberg,
2/21/09)
FAILURE: The National Debt Is Now
Over $15 Trillion Dollars. (US Department
Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed
12/3/11)
Since President Obama Took
Office, The National Debt Has Risen $4.4 Trillion, An Increase Of
Over 41 Percent. (US Department
Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed
12/3/11)
·
Under Obama’s
Watch, Each Citizen’s Share Of The National Debt Has Risen By Over
$14,250. (US
Department Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed
12/3/11)
Even Though He Promised To
Tackle The Deficit, Obama Has “More Mundane Political Imperatives, Like
Positioning Himself For His 2012 Re-Election Campaign.” “As a candidate, Obama
promised to deal with the exploding deficit – so committed to tackling
the underlying issue of entitlement reform that he told the Washington
Post he’d make the ‘hard decisions… under my watch’ shortly before his
inauguration almost 27 months ago. But as president, such high-minded
goals have run headlong into a tanking economy and
more mundane political imperatives, like positioning himself for his
2012 re-election campaign.” (Carol
Budoff Brown, Glenn Thrush and David Nather,
“Showtime For President Ambivalent About Deficit,” Politico, 4/12/11)
Obama
Promised
That
No
One Would Take Away Your Health Care Plan
PROMISE: President Obama Promised
That “If You Like Your Health Care Plan, You Will Be Able To Keep Your
Health Care Plan. Period.No One Will Take It Away. No
Matter What.”(President
Barack Obama, Address
To
The
American
Medical Association, Chicago,
IL, 6/15/09)
FAILURE: Towers Watson Survey Finds
That “One Out Of Every 10 Midsized And Large
Companies Say They’ll Stop Offering Health Insurance Once Federal
Insurance Exchanges Kick Off In 2014.” (Ryan Jaslow,
“Is Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance On Life Support?” CBS
News, 8/24/11)
·
“For
Retirees, More Than Half Of Employers (54%) That Offer Health Care
Benefits Plan To Discontinue Them For Both Pre-65 And
Post-65 Retirees.” (“Employers
Committed To Offering Health Care Benefits Today; Concerned About
Viability Of Insurance Exchanges,” Towers
Watson, 8/24/11)
Union Leader: New Hampshire Medicare
Advantage Beneficiaries Were Lied To. “Remember when President Obama
said that if his health care ‘reform’ law passed, you’d still get to
keep your doctor? Medicare Advantage participants in the Granite State
are finding out what a lie that was.” (Editorial,
“A Small Taste: New Hampshire Samples ObamaCare,” Union
Leader, 12/1/11)
FactCheck.org:
The
White House Ad
Promising Medicare “Benefits Will Remain The Same” Is False. “Currently,
about 1 in every 4 Medicare beneficiary is enrolled in a Medicare
Advantage plan. For many of them, the words in this ad ring hollow, and the promise that ‘benefits will remain the same’
is just as fictional as the town of Mayberry was when Griffith played
the local sheriff.” (Brooks
Jackson, “Mayberry Misleads On Medicare,” FactCheck.org, 7/31/10)
Obama
Promised
That
Lobbyists
Would Not Find A Job In His White House
PROMISE: Obama Promised That
Lobbyists Would Not “Find A Job In [His] White
House.” “President Obama promised
during his campaign that lobbyists ‘won't find a job in my White House.’ … Formalized
in a recent presidential executive order, it forbids executive branch
employees from working in an agency, or on a program, for which they
have lobbied in the last two years.” (Kenneth P.
Vogel & Mike Allen, “Obama Finds Room For Lobbyists,” Politico, 1/30/09)
FAILURE:
President
Obama
Has
Granted
Numerous Exceptions To His Lobbyist Ban. “Yet in the past few days, a
number of exceptions have been granted, with the administration
conceding at least two waivers and that a
handful of other appointees will recuse themselves from dealing with
matters on which they lobbied within the two-year window.” (Kenneth P.
Vogel & Mike Allen, “Obama Finds Room For Lobbyists,” Politico, 1/30/09)
The Center For Responsive
Politics Finds Over 300 Individuals In The Obama Administration Who
Have Been Through The Revolving Door, With 98 Individuals Who Are
Current Or Former Registered Lobbyists. (Center For
Responsive Politics, Opensecrets.org,
Accessed 10/7/11)
BUT THERE’S
ONE POST-STUMP PROMISE AMERICANS WILL HOLD OBAMA TO
In 2009, Obama Said If “I
Don’t Have This Done In Three Years, Then There’s Going To Be A
One-Term Proposition.” OBAMA: “That's exactly
right. And — and, you
know, a year from now I think people — are going to see that — we're
starting to make some progress. But there's still going to be some pain
out there. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going
to be a one-term proposition.” (NBC’s “The
Today Show,” 2/2/09)
·
Obama: “And there's no excuse--I'm not going to make any
excuses. If stuff hasn't worked and people
don't feel like I've led the country in the right direction, then
you'll have a new president.” (President
Barack Obama, Remarks
on
Economic
Stabilization
and a Question-and-Answer
Session, Fort Myers,
Florida, 2/10/09)
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Obama’s
Always “Out Of Balance” In Kansas
Obama’s “Out Of Balance” Economy Messaging Sounds Familiar |
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DESPITE BEING
PRESIDENT FOR THREE YEARS, OBAMA WILL MAKE THE SAME CALL AS CANDIDATE
OBAMA FOR “FAIRNESS AND BALANCE”
THEN: Obama: We Need “To Restore
Fairness And Balance To Our Economy.” “But we need to do even more to
restore fairness and balance to our economy.” (Senator Barack Obama, “Reclaiming The
American Dream,” El Dorado, Kansas, 1/29/08)
·
Obama “Dwelled” On The Idea
That The Economy Is “Out Of Balance” And
Criticized CEO Bonuses. “In El Dorado, he dwelled on
the economy, which he called ‘out of balance,’ delivering millions in
bonuses to CEOs but little affordable health insurance to working
families.” (Scott Cannon And
Steve Kraske, “Obama Comes To KC Calling For Change,” The Kansas City Star, 1/30/08)
NOW: Obama Will Call To Restore
Fairness To The Economy. “Obama will ‘lay out the
choice we face between a country in which too few do well while too
many struggle to get by, and one where we're
all in it together – where everyone engages in fair play, everyone does
their fair share, and everyone gets a fair
shot,’ the White House
said in a statement announcing the Kansas
address.” (Aamer Madhani, “Obama Looks
To Emulate Teddy Roosevelt,” USA Today, 12/3/11)
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OBAMA ALSO
CALLED FOR AN END TO THE DIVISIVE POLITICS HE HAS SINCE EXPLOITED
THEN: Obama Said He Would
“Fundamentally Reject” The Politics Of Division Used “To Score Points And Win Elections. “We have been made to believe
that differences of race and region; wealth and gender; party and
religion have separated us into warring factions; into Red States and Blue states made up of individuals with opposing
wants and needs; with conflicting hopes and dreams. It is a vision of America
that's been exploited and encouraged by
pundits and politicians who need this division
to score points and win elections. But it is a
vision of America that I am running for President to fundamentally
reject - not because of a blind optimism I hold, but because of a story
I've lived.” (Senator Barack Obama, “Reclaiming The
American Dream,” El Dorado, Kansas, 1/29/08)
NOW: “Forget Hope And
Change,” Obama’s Reelection Campaign Is Based On “Fear And
Loathing.”
“Forget hope and change. President Obama’s
reelection campaign is going to be based on fear and
loathing: fear of what a Republican takeover would mean, and loathing of whomever the Republican nominee
turns out to be. Of course the Obama campaign will attempt to present
the affirmative case for his reelection, citing legislative
achievements, foreign policy successes and the
current flurry of executive actions. But his strategists have clearly
concluded that selling the president will not be enough, and the contours of the ugly months ahead are
becoming increasingly apparent.” (Ruth Marcus, “Campaign 2012:
Welcome To The Slugfest,” The Washington Post, 11/2/11)
THEN: Obama Said Washington Is
Where Politicians “Demonize Each Other” Rather Than Work With Each
Other. “But the biggest divide in
America today is not between its people, it is between its people and their leaders in Washington, DC. That is where
our collective dream has been deferred. That's where the money and influence of lobbyists kill our plans to make
health care more affordable or energy cleaner year after year after
year. That's where campaign promises to keep jobs in America or put tax
cuts in the pockets of working families are cast aside to make room for
the politics of the moment. And that's where
politicians would rather demonize each other to score points than come
together to solve our common challenges.” (Senator Barack Obama, “Reclaiming The
American Dream,” El Dorado, Kansas, 1/29/08)
NOW:Obama’s “Overly Partisan Road”
Is To Blame For “Stalemate In Washington.” “One year ago in these pages,
we warned that if President Obama continued down his overly partisan
road, the nation would be ‘guaranteed two years of political gridlock
at a time when we can ill afford it.’ The result has been exactly as we
predicted: stalemate in Washington, fights over the debt ceiling, an
inability to tackle the debt and deficit, and paralysis exacerbating market turmoil and economic decline.” (Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen, “The Hillary Moment,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/21/11)
·
Obama’s Partisan Tone Has
“Eroded Our National Identity, Common Purpose, And
Most Of All, Economic Strength.” “By going down the
re-election road and into partisan mode, the
president has effectively guaranteed that the remainder of his term
will be marred by the resentment and division
that have eroded our national identity, common purpose, and most of all, our economic strength. If he
continues on this course it is certain that the 2012 campaign will
exacerbate the divisions in our country and
weaken our national identity to such a degree that the scorched-earth
campaign that President George W. Bush ran in the 2002 midterms and the 2004 presidential election will pale in
comparison.” (Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen, “The Hillary Moment,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/21/11)
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Fact Check:
Obama In Kansas
Obama Can Give Yet Another Speech With Lofty Rhetoric, But No Amount Of Words Can Hide His Record Of Failure |
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OBAMA
RHETORIC: BANKS MAKING RISKY BETS
Obama: “The new law bans banks from
making risky bets with their customers’ deposits, and
takes away big bonuses and paydays from failed
CEOs, while giving shareholders a say on executive salaries.” (President
Barack Obama, Speech, Osawatomie, KS, 12/6/11)
FACT
CHECK:
Obama Cites Rules That Were Delayed After Personal Lobbying
By Jon Corzine
President Obama: Jon Corzine
Is “Our Wall Street Guy.” “The rollout also provided a
showcase for Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs CEO whom Obama referred
to as ‘our Wall Street guy’ at a meeting of Democratic governors in
Chicago on Friday.” (Claire
Heininger, “Corzine Profile Rises In Obama Camp,” The Star-Ledger (NJ),6/23/08)
Corzine’s Firm Borrowed Cash
From Its Customers, “A Serious Violation Of Wall Street Rules.” “In the last days before MF
Global’s collapse, the firm was borrowing cash from its customers
without backing the loans, a serious violation of Wall Street rules
that regulators believe contributed to $600 million of missing money.” (Ben Protess,
“MF Global Is Said To Have Used Customer Cash Improperly,” The New York Times,11/17/11)
·
$1.2 Billion
Is Missing. “The
court-appointed trustee overseeing MF Global's bankruptcy says up to
$1.2 billion is missing from customer accounts, double what the firm
had reported to regulators last month.” (Marcy Gordon,
“MF Global Trustee Says $1.2B Or More Missing,” The Associated Press, 11/21/11)
Yesterday The CFTC Approved
The “MF Global Rule” Which Would Bar Wall Street “From Using Client
Funds To Buy Foreign Sovereign Debt.” “Federal regulators approved
tougher constraints on Wall Street risk-taking on Monday, adopting the
‘MF Global rule,’ named after the collapsed brokerage firm that is
believed to have improperly used hundreds of millions of dollars of
customer money. The new rule will limit how the brokerage industry can
invest customer money, largely barring firms from using client funds to
buy foreign sovereign debt. It also prevents a complex transaction that
allowed MF Global, in essence, to borrow money from its own customers.”
(Ben Protess,
“Regulator Approves ‘MF Global Rule,’” The New York Times’ “Dealbook,” 12/5/11)
The CFTC Proposed The Rule In
October 2010, But “Met A Powerful Roadblock In Mr. Corzine.” “Mr. Gensler’s agency
initially proposed the crackdown in October 2010, and
neared a vote on the plan this summer. But at the time, the agency met
a powerful roadblock in Mr. Corzine, former Democratic governor of New
Jersey.” (Ben Protess,
“Regulator Approves ‘MF Global Rule,’” The New York Times’ “Dealbook,” 12/5/11)
·
Rule “Was
Originally Proposed In The Summer, But Its Finalization Was Delayed
After Wall Street Executives, Including Corzine Personally, Lobbied
Against It.” “MF Global
was brought down primarily by billions of dollars in investments in
bonds from troubled European nations, a move that was reportedly pushed
by Corzine. The CFTC rule also prohibits firms from using those funds
to lend to entities within the same company in another attempt to keep
customer accounts intact. ‘I believe there is an inherent conflict of
interest between parts of a firm doing these transactions,’ said CFTC
Chairman Gary Gensler. Gensler, who previously worked with Corzine at
Goldman Sachs and as a staffer on the Senate
Banking Committee, recused himself from all matters related to the firm
after it went bankrupt. The rule was originally proposed in the
summer, but its finalization was delayed after Wall Street executives,
including Corzine personally, lobbied against it.”(Pete
Schroeder, “The Spectacular Fall Of ‘Key Man’ Corzine,” The Hill, 12/6/11)
Corzine Lobbied Personally On
MF Global’s Behalf. “While other financial firms
employed teams of lobbyists to fight the new regulation, MF Global’s
chief executive in meetings over the last year personally pressed
regulators to halt their plans.” (Azam Ahmed And Ben Protess, “As Regulators Pressed Changes,
Corzine Pushed Back, And Won,” The New
York Times’ “Dealbook,” 11/3/11)
Corzine’s “Aggressive Lobbying
Campaign” Delayed The Rule From Taking Effect. “Mr. Corzine’s efforts
culminated on July 20, as MF Global executives were on four different
calls with the agency’s staff. Mr. Corzine personally participated in
two of those calls. Ultimately, the aggressive lobbying campaign helped
delay the proposal.” (Ben Protess,
“Regulator Approves ‘MF Global Rule,’” The New York Times’ “Dealbook,” 12/5/11)
Corzine Argued That The Rule
Would Be Aimed At Fixing “Something That Is Not Broken.” “The rules were
unnecessary, Mr. Corzine said, because federal laws already prevented
brokerage firms from mixing client money with company funds. In a
letter, MF Global insisted to regulators that they were trying to ‘fix
something that is not broken.’” (Ben Protess,
“Regulator Approves ‘MF Global Rule,’” The New York Times’ “Dealbook,” 12/5/11)
“The Agency Proposing The
Rule, The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Relented.” (Azam Ahmed And Ben Protess, “As Regulators Pressed Changes,
Corzine Pushed Back, And Won,” The New
York Times’ “Dealbook,” 11/3/11)
The CFTC’s Chairman Is Gary
Gensler, Who Worked For Corzine When They Worked At Goldman Sachs. “Leading the government’s
effort to curtail these arcane practices was Gary Gensler, the
chairman of C.F.T.C., who had worked for Mr. Corzine at Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Gensler pushed for the proposed change in October 2010, and planned to bring it to a vote this summer.” (Azam Ahmed And Ben Protess, “As Regulators Pressed Changes,
Corzine Pushed Back, And Won,” The New
York Times’ “Dealbook,” 11/3/11)
OBAMA
RHETORIC: “BALANCE AND FAIRNESS”
Obama: “Ever since, there has been a
raging debate over the best way to restore growth and
prosperity; balance and fairness.” (President
Barack Obama, Speech, Osawatomie, KS, 12/6/11)
FACT
CHECK:
What Happened To The Past Three Years Under Obama’s
Presidency?
Obama 2008: “But we need to do even more
to restore fairness and balance to our
economy.” (Senator
Barack Obama, “Reclaiming The American Dream,” El Dorado, Kansas, 1/29/08)
OBAMA
RHETORIC: 2001 AND 2003 TAX CUTS
Obama: “Remember that in those years,
in 2001 and 2003, Congress passed two of the
most expensive tax cuts for the wealthy in history, and
what did they get us? The slowest job growth in half a century.” (President
Barack Obama, Speech, Osawatomie, KS, 12/6/11)
FACT
CHECK:
Obama RENEWED The Bush Tax Cuts In 2010, Flip Flopping On
His Own Position From ‘08
FLIP: In 2008,
Obama Promised To End The Bush Tax Cuts For Top Earners. Obama:“And to pay for that, we're going to have to roll
back the Bush tax cuts on the top two percent. And
they can afford it. I can afford it. As the fact of the matter is we
didn't need it and weren't even asking for it.” (Sen.
Barack
Obama, Remarks At Jefferson-Jackson Dinner,
Indianapolis,
IN, 5/4/08)
FLOP: Obama
Extended The 2001 And 2003 Tax Cuts.” “President
Obama on Tuesday forcefully defended the deal his administration has
struck with Republicans to temporarily extend Bush-era tax cuts for all
income levels, saying the concessions - some of which have infuriated
liberals - are necessary to avoid a tax increase for nearly all
Americans at year's end.” (Perry
Bacon
Jr., “Obama Defends White House
Deal With GOP On Tax Cuts,” The Washington Post,
12/7/10)
OBAMA
RHETORIC: “MASSIVE
DEFICITS”
Obama: “Massive deficits that have
made it much harder to pay for the investments that built this country and provided the basic security that helped millions
of Americans reach and stay in the middle
class – things like education and
infrastructure; science and technology;
Medicare and Social Security.” (President
Barack Obama, Speech, Osawatomie, KS, 12/6/11)
FACT
CHECK:
Obama Has Had Three Record-Setting Trillion Dollar Plus
Deficits And Failed To Cut The Deficit In Half
Obama Pledged To Cut The
Deficit In Half By The End Of His First Term. OBAMA:“And
that's why today I'm pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half
by the end of my first term in office.” (President
Barack Obama, Remarks At The Fiscal Responsibility Summit, Washington,
D.C., 2/23/09)
FAIL: Even If Every Part Of
Obama’s Deficit Reduction Proposal Was Enacted, The Deficit At
The End Of His First Term Would Still Be $1.33 Trillion, Over Double
What He Promised. (“The
President’s Plan For Economic Growth And
Deficit Reduction; Table S-3,” Office Of Management And
Budget, 9/19/11)
President Obama Has Racked Up
The Three Largest Deficits In U.S. History. “The U.S budget deficit for
fiscal year 2011 is $1.299 trillion, the second largest shortfall in
history. The nation only ran a larger deficit for the 2009 fiscal year,
which included the dramatic collapse of financial markets and a huge bailout effort by the government.” (Erik Wasson,
“Treasury Announces 2011 Deficit Is Second Highest In History,” The Hill’s “On The
Money”, 10/14/11)
OBAMA
RHETORIC: COST OF
HEALTHCARE
Obama: “Remember that in those years,
thanks to some of the same folks who are running Congress now, we had
weak regulation and little oversight, and what did that get us? Insurance companies that
jacked up people’s premiums with impunity, and
denied care to the patients who were sick. Mortgage lenders that
tricked families into buying homes they couldn’t afford.” (President
Barack Obama, Speech, Osawatomie, KS, 12/6/11)
FACT
CHECK:
Cost Of Healthcare Premiums Have INCREASED Even With
ObamaCare
“The
Cost
Of Health Insurance Skyrocketed In 2011 After Several Years Of
Relatively Small Increases.” (Jane
M.
Von Bergen, “Health Insurance Costs Skyrocketing,” The Philadelphia Inquirer,
9/27/11)
Spending
On
Health Coverage For Workers “Spiked” By 9 Percent In 2011. “Employers'
spending
on health coverage for workers spiked abruptly this year, with
the average cost of a family plan rising by 9 percent, triple the
growth seen in 2010.” (Julie
Appleby,
“Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011,” Kaiser Health News,
9/27/11)
Workers
Paid
An Average Of $132 More For Family Coverage This Year. “Although
premiums
rose, employers kept the percentage of the premium workers pay
about the same: An average of 18 percent for single coverage and 28 percent for family plans. Still, with rising
costs, workers paid more, up an average of $132 a year for family
coverage. Since 1999, the dollar amount workers contribute toward
premiums nationally has grown 168 percent, while their wages have grown
by 50 percent, according to the survey.” (Julie
Appleby,
“Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011,” Kaiser Health News,
9/27/11)
·
Cost
Of
Single Employee Coverage Grew 8 Percent According To The Survey. “Family
plan
premiums hit $15,073 on average, while coverage for single
employees grew 8 percent to $5,429, according to a survey released
Tuesday by
the
Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health
Research & Educational Trust. (KHN is an editorially-independent
program of the foundation.)” (Julie
Appleby,
“Cost Of Employer Insurance Plans Surge In 2011,” Kaiser Health News,
9/27/11)
OBAMA
RHETORIC: POVERTY IN
AMERICA
Obama: “It’s heartbreaking enough
that there are millions of working families in this country who are now
forced to take their children to food banks for a decent meal.” (President
Barack Obama, Speech, Osawatomie, KS, 12/6/11)
FACT
CHECK:
Record High Number Of Americans Under Obama Going To
Food Banks
Nearly 49 Million Families
Could Not Afford Adequate Food In 2010, “One Of The Highest Numbers
Recorded In Recent History.” “In 2010, nearly 49 million
people could not afford adequate food, according to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. That’s one in seven households, one of the highest
numbers recorded in recent history.” (Huma Khan,
“Federal Government, Charities Struggle To Combat Hunger,” ABC News, 11/23/11)
“The Face Of Hunger In America
Is Changing. It’s A Little More Ex-Middle Class, A Little More
Desperate…”
“The face of hunger in America is changing. It’s a little more
ex-middle class, a little more desperate and
there are a lot more mouths to feed, people who run the nation's food
banks say. ‘We’re seeing a lot more families, many who are
running out of money and benefits because of
long-term unemployment,’ said Bill Clark, executive director of food
bank Philabundance.” (Eve
Tahmincioglu, “Lingering Joblessness Taxes Nation’s Food Banks,” MSNBC’s “The Bottom
Line,” 12/1/11)
“The Emptying Of Food Banks Is
Another Indicator Of The Depth Of The Recession And
Its Long Term Impacts.” “’The emptying of food banks
is another indicator of the depth of the recession and
its long term impacts,’ said Jerry McElroy, economics professor with
Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., who has been watching the
food bank crisis and blames a big part of it
on long-term unemployment. ‘I was astounded looking at the food bank
situation. It’s a national phenomenon across almost every state in the
union.’” (Eve
Tahmincioglu, “Lingering Joblessness Taxes Nation’s Food Banks,” MSNBC’s “The Bottom
Line,” 12/1/11)
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