 |
|
December 2, 2014
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon With its colorful cache of purples and oranges and reds, COLLARD GREEN SLAW is a marvelous mood booster --- not to mention just downright delish
April 18, 2014
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Clarifying one of the greatest philosophical conundrums in theology
John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
The Kosher Gourmet by Julie Rothman Almondy, flourless torta del re (Italian king's cake), has royal roots, is simple to make, . . . but devour it because it's simply delicious
April 14, 2014
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer: Passover frees us from the tyranny of time
Eric Schulzke: First degree: How America really recovered from a murder epidemic
Georgia Lee: When love is not enough: Teaching your kids about the realities of adult relationships
Gordon Pape: How you can tell if your financial adviser is setting you up for potential ruin
Dana Dovey: Up to 500,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver disease. New Treatment Has Over 90% Success Rate
Justin Caba: Eating Watermelon Can Help Control High Blood Pressure
April 11, 2014
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Silence is much more than golden
Susan Swann: How to value a child for who he is, not just what he does
Susan Scutti: A Simple Blood Test Might Soon Diagnose Cancer
Chris Weller: Have A Slow Metabolism? Let Science Speed It Up For You
April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
Samuel G. Freedman: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
April 8, 2014
Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
Chris Weller: Electric 'Thinking Cap' Puts Your Brain Power Into High Gear
April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
John Ericson: Older Women: Save Your Heart, Prevent Stroke Don't Drink Diet
John Ericson: Why 50 million Americans will still have spring allergies after taking meds
Sarah Boesveld: Teacher keeps promise to mail thousands of former students letters written by their past selves
April 2, 2014
Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Sept. 10, 2009
/ 21 Elul 5769
Liar, Liar
By
Cal Thomas
| 
|
|
|
| |
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Wouldn't it be nice, as The Beach Boys sang in another context, if there was such a thing as a liar meter? It would detect when a politician wasn't telling the truth and alert the public. In the absence of such an invention, we are left to challenge our political leadership based on an objective look at the facts.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) may have been out of order when he shouted, "You lie!" in response to President Obama's assertion in his congressional address Wednesday night that illegal immigrants would not be covered by his proposed health care plan. What if the administration plans to bar illegal immigrants from purchasing health care coverage, but as the New York Times reported, continues "to require hospitals to provide emergency treatment to illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense? Would that then absolve Wilson of his rude behavior?
If we believe the president when he promises there will be no "death panels," does he lose honesty points when instead the government sends doctors who "counsel" the elderly about their "end of life options"? If bureaucrats end up rationing care so that only the "fit" or "near fit" still young enough to keep producing tax revenue receive treatment, does this weaken the president's credibility?
If the sensibilities of the few who remember what "good etiquette" means were offended by Congressman Wilson's shouted remark, shouldn't they be equally offended by Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid who called former President Bush a "loser" and a "liar" and then apologized for saying he was a loser, but did not apologize for saying he was a liar? "Bush lied, people died," said the bumper sticker. No one apologized (much less repented) for that sentiment.
| FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER |
| Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here. |
|
Is it a lie to say, as the president did, that his plan will be paid for and that the money will come largely from Medicare and Medicaid funds that are currently being wasted and/or fraudulently spent? According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the House Democrats' bill (the only one whose details we've seen) would increase the deficit by "$239 billion over the 2010-2019 period. A recent study by the Lewin Group, a healthcare policy research and management-consulting firm owned by United Healthcare Group, one of the nation's largest insurers, found that "(in) the second 10 years ... the proposal would add an estimated $1 trillion to the federal deficit." Is saying otherwise a lie? Lewin also projects that two out of three Americans will lose their current health coverage and "the cost of private health coverage will skyrocket." Is it an untruth to say otherwise, as the president has?
The president says federal dollars won't pay for abortions, but in none of the bills under consideration is there a specific prohibition — as in the Hyde Amendment — against such spending.
The Senate confirmation last Thursday of Cass Sunstein as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget means Sunstein will have the power to decide what Congress means by the laws it passes. Sunstein has written books and given lectures in which he says that animals deserve lawyers to argue for their "rights" and that the Second Amendment does not grant an absolute right to keep and bear arms. He also has said he wants to ban hunting. Sunstein's defenders say those statements were simply academic exercises and would not be implemented as policy in his new position. Tell that to Bob McDonnell, candidate for governor of Virginia, who has been smeared by Democrats for a thesis he wrote more than 20 years ago in which he took "academic" positions his detractors say were anti-women's rights.
The President and his defenders can't have it both ways. They can't be offended when they are called liars and think nothing of labeling as liars those they don't agree with. President Obama regularly uses the "L" word, most recently in his Labor Day and congressional speeches in which he accused his critics of spreading "lies." Are we to believe that he is the only one virtuous enough to tell the truth and anyone who disagrees with him is lying?
Someone please invent that political lie detector. We need it now more than ever.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
| BUY THE BOOK |
|  Click HERE to purchase it at a discount. (Sales help fund JWR.). |
|
Cal Thomas Archives JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.
© 2006, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
|
|
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles
|
