What really is the true lies and health care?”
Politicians accused of lying are much in the news these days. On opening day of the B.C. legislature’s fall session, NDP leader Carole James intentionally breached the rules of parliamentary decorum by using the ‘L’ word to describe Premier Gordon Campbell’s studied ignorance of the province’s declining financial situation during the spring election campaign. In a clearly rehearsed set piece, she withdrew the comment almost before Speaker Bill Barisoff had time to demand it, thus fixing it in the Hansard record. Did Campbell lie about the deficit? No. He did what U.S. President Ronald Reagan did regarding a secret scheme to fund Nicaraguan rebels via Iran: he maintained a “plausible deniability” of the facts. This nasty business took a new turn in the U.S. last week. President Barack Obama was making a rare speech to both Houses on health care, when South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson shouted “you lie.” Obama was moved to respond on the spot, saying “that’s not true.” What did Wilson
True lies and health care By The Daily Sentinel Friday, September 11, 2009 An obscure South Carolina Congressman became infamous last Wednesday when he shouted, “You lie!” as President Barack Obama delivered his speech on health care reform. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson quickly apologized to the president — as he definitely needed to do — and Obama accepted his apology. But the issue that sparked Wilson’s attack — whether illegal immigrants would receive any of the benefits of Obama’s health care plan — remains in dispute. And that issue highlights one reason there is so much contention over health care reform. In many cases, the different parties can’t even agree on what proposed legislation would do or not do. President Obama said Wednesday his proposal would not extend health care benefits to a single illegal immigrant, and that prompted Wilson’s unfortunate outburst. But Wilson later cited a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that concluded the main health care r
