Obama's Health-Care Flier

Obama mailer on Clinton health care plan lacks context.

By Jess Henig | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Feb 4, 2008 | Updated: 4:56  p.m. ET Feb 4, 2008

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  • Posted By: Joker's Ace @ 02/11/2008 4:00:09 PM

    How is it people can want to vote for a man who refuses to salute the american flag. yes, he may promise to bring our troops home but thats a major issue right now and of course he is willing to say that just to win more votes. yet we are willing to vote him in to office without first knowing everything about him.

    • Posted By: Michele_N_AZ @ 04/01/2008 6:16:34 PM

      Rumor. (Obama did salute)...education... can't stress that enough!

  • Posted By: Joker's Ace @ 02/11/2008 4:01:57 PM

    How is it we can choose to vote for a man who refuses to salute the american flag. yet we are willing to vote for someone who we dont know much about. yes he says he will withdraw troops but does he mean it?

    • Posted By: Michele_N_AZ @ 04/01/2008 6:14:29 PM

      That's a Myth. There is a picture showing him saluting the american flag. You should educate yourself, and try to steer clear from gossip.

  • Posted By: Crackhead hater @ 02/08/2008 2:32:51 PM

    5. Incorrect polls that Showed this huge Swing where Obama was supposed to destroy Hillary in every state 49 - 36 like in California, Mass. New Hampshire, Florida and Michigan "Where he "Obama" still doesn't want the votes to count" Hillary won all those.
    6. Obama did Capitalize in those Republican Voting states where General Election states they vote republican after supporting Obama to try and knock Hillary off! And From 24 Hour Media Assassination Of Hillary and listing these incorrect polls since some sadly there are a bunch of people who vote for whoever the Media say is the Favorite not the best Candidate.
    7. Crying about how Super delegates might vote from the Obama camp all the while saying there winning in delegate count when they havent even been fully totaled.
    8. Running on a Platform of Change but not having the slightest vision or message to what they are changing and how they are going to accomplish it.
    9 Playing up the Racecard after not running as a Black Candidate in Iowa but then after losing in New Hampshire Crying in a Debate about how the President is Picking on him to make White vote feel sympathy towards Obama when Bill was only stating facts but the Media has to make to Spin of the comment which then made Black voters thank they were being insulted by a friend whom they loved in Bill but now have turned as Racist as they accused others of being voting 82 to 18 against the best Candidate because of skin color.

    10. Obama is a first year Mail clerk trying to be CEO the nest day. Obama does have something in common with experience just like George W. Bush who had no experience seen how that turned out.

    Hillary 2008 "The Best Qualified Candidate"

    • Posted By: Becky in Michigan @ 02/24/2008 11:40:57 AM

      The votes in Michigan were counted - they just don't count. That was the rules the voters of Michigan knew at the time they cast their ballots - and many usual die-hard democrats voted republican ballots - instead of voting for the only democratic contender on the ballot - Hillary Clinton. Remember the uncommitted vote was 40% - not a vote of confidence for her in Michigan. if the rules had not been such - as the democrat vote would not count - I believe the outcome would have been entirely different. I am in a position to know these are facts.

  • Posted By: mseipel @ 02/23/2008 11:21:57 PM

    I am so glad Barack Obama is going to be our next president. Regarding health care, I personally do not want to purchase something I don't want. Not everyone wants western medicine with no alternative or preventative options. Some people would rather invest our money in alternatives and not be forced into the status quo's limited options for healthcare. Thank god we have a reasonable candidate who is willing to protect the freedom and rights of Americans to do what is right for us.

  • Posted By: mseipel @ 02/23/2008 11:21:53 PM

    I am so glad Barack Obama is going to be our next president. Regarding health care, I personally do not want to purchase something I don't want. Not everyone wants western medicine with no alternative or preventative options. Some people would rather invest our money in alternatives and not be forced into the status quo's limited options for healthcare. Thank god we have a reasonable candidate who is willing to protect the freedom and rights of Americans to do what is right for us.

  • Posted By: mseipel @ 02/23/2008 11:21:49 PM

    I am so glad Barack Obama is going to be our next president. Regarding health care, I personally do not want to purchase something I don't want. Not everyone wants western medicine with no alternative or preventative options. Some people would rather invest our money in alternatives and not be forced into the status quo's limited options for healthcare. Thank god we have a reasonable candidate who is willing to protect the freedom and rights of Americans to do what is right for us.

  • Posted By: mseipel @ 02/23/2008 11:20:53 PM

    I am so glad Barack Obama is going to be our next president. Regarding health care, I personally do not want to purchase something I don't want. Not everyone wants western medicine with no alternative or preventative options. Some people would rather invest our money in alternatives and not be forced into the status quo's limited options for healthcare. Thank god we have a reasonable candidate who is willing to protect the freedom and rights of Americans to do what is right for us.

  • Posted By: fmadrigal @ 02/23/2008 8:19:06 PM

    Barack is a cynic and hypocrite, I thought this man was a honest person, but now I see he is a mirroring image of the same old washington republican tactics, Obama you are nothing more than false words, you say change and then turn around and do the same old things Washington has done, what a cynic

  • Posted By: PatronEstates @ 02/23/2008 5:28:35 PM

    Yes Obama's plan does have a mandate for children who have no choice in the matter and penaltie for those who lie however Clinton's mandates are across the board and are just wrong. How many 23 years olds can afford to have more taken out there check. No kids so no tax breaks and now penalties, There plans are similar but Hillary just doesn't make sense.
    It's alot like her stop on foreclosures what does that do. It's just a bandaide for points. She is out of touch.
    His attacks are fair Just as fair as her attack saying he leaves people out in his plan.

  • Posted By: Cassandra113364 @ 02/07/2008 9:11:06 PM

    Well the way I see it Hillary is a sell out, once a sell out always a sell out. She sold out to the insurance companies before, once she is president what will stop her from doing it again. And according to Michael Moore who appeared on Larry King last night she voted for all the wars. I am sick and tired of fighting other countries for control of their oil and make up lies to do it. At least Obama has never done that. She is just more of the same and not truthful.

    • Posted By: chersplace @ 02/23/2008 4:52:32 PM

      First of all, Barack has not been around long enough for us to know how he would actually vote on any of these issues. Hillary voted on the basis of the information that was given to her. She was not the President and had no control of the information she recieved. Obama has pushed this issue as though he has never made a bad judgement call based on the info or experience he had at the time. And that if you did that once then you will always do it. DOES THAT MEAN HE STILL SMOKES MARIJUANA AND SNORTS COCAINE AS HE STATED IN HIS BOOK (DREAMS OF MY FATHER) . SAYING HE DID BOTH IN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE.

  • Posted By: shianna @ 02/08/2008 1:24:56 AM

    Hillary's plan is to penalize those who do not purchase health care.....let's not forget that!

    • Posted By: chersplace @ 02/23/2008 4:12:41 PM

      Barack's plan also penalized those who do not purchase health care, that's the mandate that both have in thier plan. Barack has said that there would be fines for those who don't purchase healthcare. Yet he is trying to scare people by saying she would go after their wages, which is exactly what his plan would do in order to collect the fines he would impose.

    • Posted By: president hillary @ 02/08/2008 8:21:44 PM

      First read what the article before commenting on something.... typical Obama supporter. You are like the majority of Obama supporters just following the craze. Maybe we should start looking at ones experience before voting for someone just because everyone else is.

      This is part of the article:
      The Obama campaign is trying to shift the focus to some unspecified "punishment" that Clinton's plan would mete out for those who didn't obtain coverage. It's true that a "mandate" implies penalties for noncompliance, and Clinton's campaign has yet to outline what those would be. But Obama's plan, which would mandate coverage for children, would presumably also have some enforcement mechanism, and he doesn't make explicit what that would be, either, at least as his plan is laid out on his Web site.

  • Posted By: jneffw1 @ 02/12/2008 5:57:07 PM

    Maybe I missed something but which "Facts" did Obama get wrong? Isn't your criticism not so much that his facts are wrong but more that he didn't show how much his plan looks like Mrs. Clinton's. The question is, or ought to be, whether Obama is telling the truth when he says his plan will save a family $2500.00 per year. Even your analysis indicates that is more that Mrs. Clinton's plan will save. Even more important to me in this analysis is that Obama's plan (without mandates) stands a better chance of being approved by recalcitrant Republicans than does Clinton's preciously because he has eliminated the criticism of "Big" government forcing "poor" citizens to buy insurance that they "don't want". I have now read several of these "Fact Check" articles and almost all have been critical of Obama. I am begining to think you guys just don't get it or you really do think Mrs. Clinton's ideas are smarter than Obama's. I think you are wrong.

    • Posted By: chersplace @ 02/23/2008 4:07:29 PM

      Obama's plan also includes MANDATES.

  • Posted By: Crackhead hater @ 02/08/2008 2:34:17 PM

    Obama does have something in common with experience just like George W. Bush who had no experience seen how that turned out.

    Hillary 2008 "The Best Qualified Candidate"

    • Posted By: MChieco @ 02/23/2008 11:17:52 AM

      Crackerhead you are right, but people think they are voting for American idol.

  • Posted By: MChieco @ 02/23/2008 11:16:07 AM

    Obama's plan has a fatal flaw . He wants to leave it up to individual families . Many children either have deadbeat parents or come from broken homes. Some children's parents are drug addicts. Some are addicted to gambling . If its not a mandate , alot of children will be left behind.

  • Posted By: nanmark1@optonline.net @ 02/11/2008 3:58:18 PM

    "Unfunded mandate" is a dirty word in state and local politics. What's key to universal healthcare, mandatory or otherwise, is the amount of government funding.

  • Posted By: patamow @ 02/07/2008 4:22:34 PM

    I do believe that Hillary Health plan is the better of the two. There are almost 51 million people in this country that are either uninsured or under insured. Obama plans only focus on the children. But, what about the adults? Hillary I think proposes a sliding scale approach according to your income. THis has worked all over the world, even in third world country, so why should it not work here?

    • Posted By: Johnny1967 @ 02/10/2008 3:04:24 AM

      Obamas plan does not only focus on the children. His idea is to make health care affordable to everyone. Will it work? No one knows if Hillary or Obamas plan will work. The decision is who do you think will have a better chance of making it work?

      HIllarys mandates are dangerous because we may have to purchase unaffordable healthcare. This will likely happen if market prices of healthcare do not fall. I do not think Hillary is guaranteeing us a certain price for healthcare. No one is guaranteeing that healthcare cost will come down.

    • Posted By: Cassandra113364 @ 02/07/2008 9:13:18 PM

      Just remember she sold out once before and she will sell out again to the insurance companies. How can she go against them, when she has taken their money?

  • Posted By: JimF @ 02/09/2008 2:55:44 PM

    Re: Obama attacks. Yes he certainly does engage in attack politics.. Obama and his surrogates have repeatedly attacked Clinton and earlier attacked Edwards. An Obama campaign manager after NH said on CNN, "Clinton didn't cry for Katrina," for my money one of the more reprehensible comments this side of Karl Rove. Atlantic Monthly, I believe it is, reports that Obama campaign managers encouraged the press to look into Bill Clinton's post-pres sex life. After Obama criticized Edwards for not stopping his 527 supporters and not owning up to responsibility for their actions, racist Spanish-language ads in Nevada accused Clinton of "betraying our people." Obama never disavowed them, nor made any apparent attempts to stop them. One note: This article mentioned the "nazi" comment without stating that the person who made it was an EDWARDS advisor, who helped create Edwards' health plan, not a Clinton advisor as the "sources" headline states. It is interesting that the Edwards camp felt betrayed and the press portrays the response as coming from Clinton.

  • Posted By: JimF @ 02/09/2008 2:45:20 PM

    Good article, but you ignore one key fact. In the Hollywood debate Obama amazingly admitted that HIS plan would FINE uninsured people that made health claims. He was trying to patch a glaring hole in his plan: Since insurance couldn't deny coverage of pre-existing claims and rates would be capped people would be motivated to NOT buy insurance. He patched that by saying in LA that they would be FINED when they made a health claim (so, instead of a large bill they would be some unspecified claim that would to be the size of years of insurance coverage to have its desired effect). So, the central claim of the mailer is to criticize Clinton for what Obama said he will do himself.

  • Posted By: KATA @ 02/09/2008 4:26:27 AM

    It is amazing to me how it is OK for everyone (including Obama) to attack Hillary all the time, but not OK for anyone to say anything criticisizing Obama. Is it because noone wants to appear racial? Or is it just because gender prejudice is more acceptable? The media has continually talked about how the Clintons went "negative" against Obama in South Carolina. However, the ONLY negative campaign ad I have heard was a SC radio ad (by Obama) the day of the primary attacking Hillary.

  • Posted By: mrdarrell85 @ 02/08/2008 5:56:28 PM

    The bottom line on health care is that Hillary did try and took on the establishment to pass healthcare with Bill in the first 100 days of the Clinton Administration but the establishment would not bend and or compromise at all. This I think at least makes me sure that Hillary will and can do something about our health care crisis in lieu of battering around words that have no substance from Senator Obama

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