05.10.16

White House Advisor: Iran ‘Is Healthcare For Us’

Obama Administration Boasts Of Selling American Public A Bill Of Goods On Its Iran Deal, Just Like They Did On Obamacare

BEN RHODES, Deputy National Security Adviser For Strategic Communications: “…it’s a big deal. This is probably the biggest thing President Obama will do in his second term on foreign policy. This is healthcare for us, just to put it in context.” (“The Coming Détente With Iran,” The Washington Free Beacon, 10/31/14)

2nd Term: Obama Administration Pushed ‘Actively Misleading’ Story To Sell Iran Deal

BEN RHODES: “I don’t know anymore where I begin and Obama ends.” (“The Aspiring Novelist Who Became Obama’s Foreign-Policy Guru,” The New York Times Magazine, 5/08/2016)

“The way in which most Americans have heard the story of the Iran deal presented … was largely manufactured for the purpose for selling the deal.” (“The Aspiring Novelist Who Became Obama’s Foreign-Policy Guru,” The New York Times Magazine, 5/08/2016)

  • “In the narrative that Rhodes shaped, the ‘story’ of the Iran deal began in 2013, when a ‘moderate’ faction inside the Iranian regime led by Hassan Rouhani beat regime ‘hard-liners’ in an election and then began to pursue a policy of ‘openness,’ which included a newfound willingness to negotiate the dismantling of its illicit nuclear-weapons program. . . [I]t was also actively misleading, because the most meaningful part of the negotiations with Iran had begun in mid-2012, many months before Rouhani and the ‘moderate’ camp were chosen in an election among candidates handpicked by Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The idea that there was a new reality in Iran was politically useful to the Obama administration.” (“The Aspiring Novelist Who Became Obama’s Foreign-Policy Guru,” The New York Times Magazine, 5/08/2016)

RICHARD COHEN: “In effect, the White House lied. The lie exposes a truth. Obama wanted the deal (almost) no matter what. He had not been beckoned into the talks by more reasonable Iranians, but had initiated them with the previous regime. In other words, he wanted the talks more than the Iranians did — a negotiating position of great weakness. It explains why nothing in the agreement thwarts Iranian efforts to support terrorism in the Middle East or continue to make mayhem in Iraq. It lowers the odds that Iran will continue to adhere to the agreement.” (Richard Cohen, Op-Ed, “Of Pride, Falls — And Obama’s Foreign Policy,” Washington Post, 5/10/16)

“What distinguishes the Obama administration’s propaganda machine from previous efforts is its cold, casual style... Whatever pretensions the Obama administration had about being straight-shooting or exceptional just went ‘poof.’” (“How Obama Manipulates the News,” Politico Magazine, 5/06/2016)

  • “This quotation seems to capture his worldview: ‘He referred to the American foreign policy establishment as the Blob. According to Rhodes, the Blob includes Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, and other Iraq-war promoters from both parties who now whine incessantly about the collapse of the American security order in Europe and the Middle East. Blowing off Robert Gates takes nerve.” (“A Stunning Profile Of Ben Rhodes…” Foreign Policy, 5/06/2016)

SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY: “What I do know is this: If we turn our backs on this deal, folks, we're sending one hell of a message to the hardliners in Iran... But Rouhani and Zarif, who have staked themselves on the potential of being able to negotiate with the West and being able to arrive at a conclusion, will be in serious trouble in my judgment.” (Sec. Kerry, Council on Foreign Relations Forum, 7/24/2015)

  • KERRY: “President Rouhani needs to deliver to the Iranian people. They have high expectations from this deal for a change in their lifestyle.” (PBS’ “PBS NewsHour,” 7/17/2015)
  • KERRY: “President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif are both individuals who have expressed a very different point of view from the past leadership…” (U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing, 7/28/2015)

 

1st Term: ‘Mislabeling,’ ‘Lack Of Transparency’ Key To Selling Obamacare

OBAMA PROMISE: “If you have health insurance and you like it, and you have a doctor that you like, then you can keep it. Period.” (President Obama, Conference Call With Liberal Bloggers, 7/20/09)

  • POLITIFACT’s 2013 Lie of the Year: 'If you like your health care plan, you can keep it' (Politifact, 12/12/13)

JONATHAN GRUBER, Obamacare Architect: ‘Lack Of Transparency Is A Huge Political Advantage’

“…MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the architects of the law more commonly known as Obamacare…” (“Obamacare Architect In 6th Video: 'Mislabeling' Helped Us Get Rid Of Tax Breaks,” CNN, 11/14/14)

“‘If you have a law that makes explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it wouldn't have passed,’ Gruber said on the video. ‘Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage and, basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever. But basically that was really critical to getting the thing to pass.’” (“Obama: We Didn't Mislead On Health Care Bill,” USA Today, 11/17/14)

GRUBER: ‘It's a very clever, you know, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter’ “A third video emerged Wednesday of MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, insulting voters and suggesting their ignorance was exploited by those pushing passage of the health care law. … In this one, Gruber was discussing how then-Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, pushed forward a way to add a tax on expensive health insurance plans, or ‘Cadillac Plans,’ that would purportedly tax the insurance companies though Gruber suggests everyone knew the companies would just pass on the additional cost to customers. ‘It's a very clever, you know, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter,’ Gruber said at the Honors Colloquium 2012 at the University of Rhode Island.” (“Third Video Emerges Of Obamacare Architect Insulting Voters,” CNN, 11/13/14)

GRUBER: ‘Mislabeling’ helped pass Obamacare. “The issue at hand in this sixth video is known as the ‘Cadillac tax,’ which was represented as a tax on employers' expensive health insurance plans. … ‘It turns out politically it's really hard to get rid of,’ Gruber said. ‘And the only way we could get rid of it was first by mislabeling it, calling it a tax on insurance plans rather than a tax on people when we all know it's a tax on people who hold those insurance plans.’ … ‘This was the only political way we were ever going to take on one of the worst public policies in America.’” (“Obamacare Architect In 6th Video: 'Mislabeling' Helped Us Get Rid Of Tax Breaks,” CNN, 11/14/14)

SEN. OBAMA: “I Have Stolen Ideas From [Jon Gruber] Liberally”

(Panel, The Brookings Institution, 4/5/06)

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Obamacare, Health Care, Iran, Iran Nuclear Deal