WasPo: Obama's 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman's claim of being 'over-taxed'

[spursncowboys]

Obama's 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman's claim of being 'over-taxed'

Toward the end of a question-and-answer session with workers at an advanced battery technology manufacturer, a woman named Doris stood to ask the president whether it was a "wise decision to add more taxes to us with the health care" package.

"We are over-taxed as it is," Doris said bluntly.

Obama started out feisty. "Well, let's talk about that, because this is an area where there's been just a whole lot of misinformation, and I'm going to have to work hard over the next several months to clean up a lot of the misapprehensions that people have," the president said.

He then spent the next 17 minutes and 12 seconds lulling the crowd into a daze. His discursive answer - more than 2,500 words long -- wandered from topic to topic, including commentary on the deficit, pay-as-you-go rules passed by Congress, Congressional Budget Office reports on Medicare waste, COBRA coverage, the Recovery Act and Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (he referred to this last item by its inside-the-Beltway name, "F-Map"). He talked about the notion of eliminating foreign aid (not worth it, he said). He invoked Warren Buffett, earmarks and the payroll tax that funds Medicare (referring to it, in fluent Washington lingo, as "FICA").

(1) "Number one is that we are the only -- we have been, up until last week, the only advanced country that allows 50 million of its citizens to not have any health insurance,"
(2) "Number two, you don't know who might end up being in that situation,"
(3)"Point number three is that the way insurance companies have been operating, even if you've got health insurance you don't always know what you got, because what has been increasingly the practice is that if you're not lucky enough to work for a big company that is a big pool, that essentially is almost a self-insurer, then what's happening is, is you're going out on the marketplace, you may be buying insurance, you think you're covered, but then when you get sick they decide to drop the insurance right when you need it,"

But Obama wasn't finished. He had a "final point," before starting again with another list -- of three points.



"I hope I answered your question."-BHO

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/04/obamas-17-minute-2500-word-res.html

[ElNono]

by Anne E. Kornblut

[George Gervin's Afro]

what was the question?

[ChumpDumper]

How much does Doris pay in taxes?

[balli]

The absolutely retarded op and idiot dead-enders like misinformation packed into trite little slogans.

Complexity is lost on them. It's a sad day in America that when a president takes time to throughly engage with the citizenry and he gets mocked for... what exactly? Not answering with some moronic fucking three word slogan.

[florige]

The absolutely retarded op and idiot dead-enders like misinformation packed into trite little slogans.

Complexity is lost on them. It's a sad day in America that when a president takes time to throughly engage with the citizenry and he gets mocked for... what exactly? Not answering with some moronic fucking three word slogan.



Isn't that the Teaparty's whole MO though? Why would you expect different?

[spursncowboys]

Isn't that the Teaparty's whole MO though? Why would you expect different?
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:eWtupI4lKbOxWM:http://robertsravings.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/barack-obama-yes-we-can-posters.jpg

[nkdlunch]

A president trying to answer a question?

Impeach him!

[George Gervin's Afro]

Isn't that the Teaparty's whole MO though? Why would you expect different?

They are against marxism and socialism...doesn't mean they understand the true meaning of the words... but they are against them..:lmao

[spursncowboys]

A president trying to answer a question?

[George Gervin's Afro]

I'd rather he not waste his time on talking point questions. His time is to valuable to deal with the spursncowboys of the world.

[TeyshaBlue]

They are against marxism and socialism...doesn't mean they understand the true meaning of the words... but they are against them..:lmao

Your attempts at talking point marginalization of a movement are weaksauce.

This is the work of the enlightened progressive?

I haven't formed a full, working opinion of the tea party yet...I've yet to actually attend one of their functions. It's odd, how the open minded, enlightened progressive can form their opinions based upon....well....upon what, really?

Polls? :rolleyes Breitbart? Fox? Kos? HuffPo?

[Ignignokt]

How many of Doris's friends were inside the twin towers on 911?

Is Doris being personally wiretapped?

Then stfu! Doris and worship our dear leader!

[George Gervin's Afro]

Your attempts at talking point marginalization of a movement are weaksauce.

This is the work of the enlightened progressive?

I haven't formed a full, working opinion of the tea party yet...I've yet to actually attend one of their functions. It's odd, how the open minded, enlightened progressive can form their opinions based upon....well....upon what, really?

Polls? :rolleyes Breitbart? Fox? Kos? HuffPo?

far from enlightened... my take is that the majority of these people didn't vote for obama, won't vote for obama, or will ever vote for a democrat... how do I know? It's easy to see figure out that they do not know what they are talking about. Considering how they throw around complex idealogical beliefs and attribute them to Obama is weaksauce... he wants healthcare reform..Tea Bagger response " Socialism! "

[TeyshaBlue]

far from enlightened... my take is that the majority of these people didn't vote for obama, won't vote for obama, or will ever vote for a democrat... how do I know? It's easy to see figure out that they do not know what they are talking about. Considering how they throw around complex idealogical beliefs and attribute them to Obama is weaksauce... he wants healthcare reform..Tea Bagger response " Socialism! "

So, you are assigning attributes to a group because you leaned these things how............
"They" seems to be pretty plastic..


I still don't get it.

[George Gervin's Afro]

So, you are assigning attributes to a group because you leaned these things how............
"They" seems to be pretty plastic..


I still don't get it.

I go by what I see.. marxism signs, communism signs, marxism signs... let's be honest Obama is none of those yet these people still carry them. It's one of two things: either they don't know what those terms actually mean or they do know what they mean and are being dishonest when making the claim that Obama espouses to those views.. which is it?

[Wild Cobra]

I go by what I see.. marxism signs, communism signs, marxism signs... let's be honest Obama is none of those yet these people still carry them. It's one of two things: either they don't know what those terms actually mean or they do know what they mean and are being dishonest when making the claim that Obama espouses to those views.. which is it?
That's real tame compared to the lies you Liberals have about president Bush.

[TeyshaBlue]

I go by what I see.. marxism signs, communism signs, marxism signs... let's be honest Obama is none of those yet these people still carry them. It's one of two things: either they don't know what those terms actually mean or they do know what they mean and are being dishonest when making the claim that Obama espouses to those views.. which is it?

Which is it? What difference does it make? The holders of said signs are irrelevant.
So, I'm going to judge an entire movement based upon signs that some extremists are waving around?

Honestly, you want me to do that?

[George Gervin's Afro]

Which is it? What difference does it make? The holders of said signs are irrelevant.
So, I'm going to judge an entire movement based upon signs that some extremists are waving around?

Honestly, you want me to do that?

lying extremists

[TeyshaBlue]

lying extremists

The whole movement?

[George Gervin's Afro]

The whole movement?

no, just the ones who make those claims..

[TeyshaBlue]

Well then, since we've established that you don't think the whole tea party reflects the views of the extremists in their midst, I'm sure you'll want to clarify this:


Isn't that the Teaparty's whole MO though?


Why would you expect different?
They are against marxism and socialism...doesn't mean they understand the true meaning of the words... but they are against them.:lmao.

[spursncowboys]

crickets.

[MannyIsGod]

So, seriously? A thought out response to a question is scoffed?

[jack sommerset]

That's what Obama does. He talks and talks and talks and doesn't give people a chance to respond to his bullshit anwsers. After 17 minutes he finsihes with "I hope that answers your question" and moves on. Obama wins again!!!!!

[ChumpDumper]

crickets.Crickets for what?

Did you actually say something?

[George Gervin's Afro]

Well then, since we've established that you don't think the whole tea party reflects the views of the extremists in their midst, I'm sure you'll want to clarify this:

clarify what? those people who claim he's a marxist, socialist are either stupid or liars..I stand by that.. find where I claim that all tea partiers are extremists..I'll wait for you

[George Gervin's Afro]

crickets.

that's what I'll call you from now on ..cricket..

[ducks]

if palin answered a question for 17 minutes people would say shut up let them ask you more questions

[balli]

if palin answered a question for 17 minutes people would say shut up let them ask you more questions

lol Palin can't remember enough buzzwords and slogans to speak coherently for 17 minutes. Not for one minute. Hell, she couldn't remember the words 'energy' 'tax cuts' and 'lift the American spirit' without writing them in her fucking palm.

The only persons in America more dumb than Palin are Trig and you, ducks.

[Spurminator]

We 'Muricans don't like talkin' folk.

[TeyshaBlue]

clarify what? those people who claim he's a marxist, socialist are either stupid or liars..I stand by that.. find where I claim that all tea partiers are extremists..I'll wait for you

Lets follow the logic chain, shall we?

The exchange starts with the little ball of hate's enlightend observation:

The absolutely retarded op and idiot dead-enders like misinformation packed into trite little slogans.

Complexity is lost on them. It's a sad day in America that when a president takes time to throughly engage with the citizenry and he gets mocked for... what exactly? Not answering with some moronic fucking three word slogan
Here, balli establishes, thru the use of the collective, them, that there is a population (dead-enders) that like misinformation packed into trite little slogans. (Please, try to endure the onslaught of irony that this brings forth).
He further adds that complextiy is something that "they" cannot grasp.

So, we have a population labled dead-enders that cannot grok complex issues and like slogans.

Next, florige offers his considered condensation of balli's point.


Isn't that the Teaparty's whole MO though?

Florige posits that the Tea Partys' MO, their "whole MO" is represented by the balli-esque "dead-enders" inability to grasp complex issues and to rely on trite sloganeering.
Still with me? At this point we have now labled the Tea Party as dead-enders who exhibit the same traits you lend to the extremists.

Here, you could've simply culled the herd and labled the extremists as outriders rather than the mainstream population but, rather than suggesting that not all Tea Party members are dead-enders, instead you round them all up in the "They" corral....ergo extremists = tea party.



Why would you expect different?
They are against marxism and socialism...doesn't mean they understand the true meaning of the words... but they are against them.. :lmao

Since there was no delineation of the Tea Party by you, the deductive trail leads to balli's "dead-enders", simpletons of some magnitude = Tea Party.

See, it's not difficult. You do have to pay attention to what is being said.

GGA thread scorecard:
[ ] Lead
[x] Follow
[ ] Get the hell out of the way.


btw, I hold similar views of the nutbars on both the right and the left.

[TeyshaBlue]

That's what Obama does. He talks and talks and talks and doesn't give people a chance to respond to his bullshit anwsers. After 17 minutes he finsihes with "I hope that answers your question" and moves on. Obama wins again!!!!!

A response is generally better than none.

[Blake]

A response is generally better than none.

A sincere response to the question is generally better than none.

None would have been better than this response: "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

[TeyshaBlue]

A sincere response to the question is generally better than none.

None would have been better than this response: "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

ROFL...that one still makes my head hurt. :lol

[George Gervin's Afro]

Lets follow the logic chain, shall we?

The exchange starts with the little ball of hate's enlightend observation:

Here, balli establishes, thru the use of the collective, them, that there is a population (dead-enders) that like misinformation packed into trite little slogans. (Please, try to endure the onslaught of irony that this brings forth).
He further adds that complextiy is something that "they" cannot grasp.

So, we have a population labled dead-enders that cannot grok complex issues and like slogans.

Next, florige offers his considered condensation of balli's point.



Florige posits that the Tea Partys' MO, their "whole MO" is represented by the balli-esque "dead-enders" inability to grasp complex issues and to rely on trite sloganeering.
Still with me? At this point we have now labled the Tea Party as dead-enders who exhibit the same traits you lend to the extremists.

Here, you could've simply culled the herd and labled the extremists as outriders rather than the mainstream population but, rather than suggesting that not all Tea Party members are dead-enders, instead you round them all up in the "They" corral....ergo extremists = tea party.



Since there was no delineation of the Tea Party by you, the deductive trail leads to balli's "dead-enders", simpletons of some magnitude = Tea Party.

See, it's not difficult. You do have to pay attention to what is being said.

GGA thread scorecard:
[ ] Lead
[x] Follow
[ ] Get the hell out of the way.


btw, I hold similar views of the nutbars on both the right and the left.

So you couldn't find where I said all tea baggers were extremists?.. instead of rambling on and trying to tie my statements to others you could have just admitted you were wrong..

so now we have stablished that those who call obama a socialist/marxist/communist are either stupid or liars.. great group of people!

[TeyshaBlue]

So you couldn't find where I said all tea baggers were extremists?.. instead of rambling on and trying to tie my statements to others you could have just admitted you were wrong..

Well, I do tend to ramble from time to time. But, as I demonstrated, you jumped on the extremists ergo tea party (not tea baggers..you're really not helping your arguement here), bandwagon with balli and florige. Is it not a reasonable assumption to think you agreed with them? Deductive logic certainly agrees with me. Your plausible deniability defense is distinctively GOP. :lmao
*edit to address your edit*

so now we have stablished that those who call obama a socialist/marxist/communist are either stupid or liars.. great group of people!

I would agree that those who call Obama a socialist/marxist/communist are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. But, they don't represent the spoons and forks either. P.S. Great people can be and often are, wrong. Be all you can be, GGA.:lol

[ElNono]

Would have been interesting to read what Obama actually answered, IMO, instead of the reader's digest version. Not that I don't believe the OP, but just to give it a contrast...

[George Gervin's Afro]

Well, I do tend to ramble from time to time. But, as I demonstrated, you jumped on the extremists ergo tea party (not tea baggers..you're really not helping your arguement here), bandwagon with balli and florige. Is it not a reasonable assumption to think you agreed with them? Deductive logic certainly agrees with me.

*edit to address your edit*


I would agree that those who call Obama a socialist/marxist/communist are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. But, they don't represent the spoons and forks either. P.S. Great people can be and often are, wrong. Be all you can be, GGA.:lol

Let me state clearly that I do not think all tea party participants are nut jobs.

[Bartleby]

Would have been interesting to read what Obama actually answered, IMO, instead of the reader's digest version. Not that I don't believe the OP, but just to give it a contrast...

I'm sure WC will remind us of the need to see the full context of Obama's reply so we don't get a distorted picture of what happened.

[TeyshaBlue]

Let me state clearly that I do not think all tea party participants are nut jobs.

Well, thanks. That's all I was getting at. :toast

[TeyshaBlue]

Would have been interesting to read what Obama actually answered, IMO, instead of the reader's digest version. Not that I don't believe the OP, but just to give it a contrast...

Indeed. There's probably quite a bit of info to pull from the entire response.

[Drachen]

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:eWtupI4lKbOxWM:http://robertsravings.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/barack-obama-yes-we-can-posters.jpg

Ok. I laughed my butt off here.

[EmptyMan]

Not answering with some moronic fucking three word slogan.


You watch your mouth! That shit wins elections.

[balli]

You watch your mouth! That shit wins elections.
Or not...

Fight Them There Not Here
Stay the Course
Shock and Awe
Axis of Evil
Gathering Threat
Mushroom Cloud
Support The Troops
War on Terror
Drill Baby Drill
Mission Accomplished
Socialist/fascist/communist- I don't really know what the fuck I'm saying, but it sounds bad.
Maverick
Joe Six Pack
Country First
The Real America


Want me to keep going?

[TeyshaBlue]

Hope and Change?

[coyotes_geek]

Indeed. There's probably quite a bit of info to pull from the entire response.

I doubt it. Politicians spin questions to avoid having to admit to someone that they might not like what one of their policies results in. Obama was trying to spin the question, only he's not very good working off-script so he rambled.