Obama Lied Overstated Commitment from HealthCare Leaders?

This wouldn't be the first time somebody sat down with the President and came away thinking something completely different about the meeting than him. Remember Poland and the missile shield? And all those Obama staffers who thought the President was saying one thing until he decides to "clarify" their "inartful" statements later? It happens because Obama talks in generalities, without any idea what he's committing himself or others to.

Now it's the healthcare industry.

Hospitals and insurance companies said Thursday that President Obama had substantially overstated their promise earlier this week to reduce the growth of health spending.

Mr. Obama invited health industry leaders to the White House on Monday to trumpet their cost-control commitments. But three days later, confusion swirled in Washington as the companies’ trade associations raced to tamp down angst among members around the country.

After meeting with six major health care organizations, Mr. Obama hailed their cost-cutting promise as historic.

Health care leaders who attended the meeting have a different interpretation. They say they agreed to slow health spending in a more gradual way and did not pledge specific year-by-year cuts.

Who is more believable? Obviously, Obama has a pattern of doing this to people. There's also this weaksauce reply from the White House:

Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said “the president misspoke” on Monday and again on Wednesday when he described the industry’s commitment in similar terms. After providing that account, Ms. DeParle called back about an hour later on Thursday and said: “I don’t think the president misspoke. His remarks correctly and accurately described the industry’s commitment.”

Silly Nancy-Ann. The One does not misspeak. Lesser mortals mis-hear his divine messages.

More: I focus on Obama's failure, but this is a nontrivial issue. He's trying to use the "historic" compromise to jumpstart healthcare nationalization. Now these folks have completely derailed his plan.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 08:41 AM

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