Posted on 09/20/2009 6:40:20 PM PDT by Bob Leibowitz
In a discussion that centers on the meaning of the word "tax" President Obama tells us that relying on the definition listed by Merriam-Webster is "stretching." Instead, we should just accept his position: the dictionary is wrong, let's move on.
Here is the transcript, courtesy of ABC News. The argument between George Stephanopoulos and President Obama, over whether the requirement that every person in America must purchase government-approved insurance or pay a fine, has just begun.
The incoherence is in the original. I presume Mr. Obama's telepromtors had the day off.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That may be, but it's still a tax increase.
OBAMA: No. That's not true, George. The… for us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. What it's saying is, is that we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore than the fact that… right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance. Nobody considers that a tax increase. People say to themselves, that is a fair way to make sure that if you hit my car, that I'm not covering all the costs.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But it may be fair, it may be good public policy...
OBAMA: No, but… but, George, you… you can't just make up that language and decide that that's called a tax increase. Any...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Here's the...
OBAMA: What… what… if I… if I say that right now your premiums are going to be going up by 5 or 8 or 10 percent next year and you say… well, that's not a tax increase; but, on the other hand, if I say that I don't want to have to pay for you not carrying coverage even after I give you tax credits that make it affordable, then...
STEPHANOPOULOS: I… I don't think I'm making it up. Merriam Webster's Dictionary: Tax…"a charge, usually of money, imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes."
OBAMA: George, the fact that you looked up Merriam's Dictionary, the… definition of tax increase, indicates to me that you're stretching a little bit right now. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone to the… dictionary to check on the definition. I mean what...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, no, but...
OBAMA: ...what you're saying is...
STEPHANOPOULOS: I wanted to check for myself. But your critics say it is a tax increase.
OBAMA: My critics say everything is a tax increase. My critics say that I'm taking over every sector of the economy. You know that.
It is eerily similar to the finger-wagging lecture by Bill Clinton, also over a definition, in his case the meaning of "is."
In this instance, George has armed himself against potential Presidential dissembling or overly aggressive wordsmithing by bring along one of the country's most respected dictionaries and quoting from its first listed meaning of the word in question.
Relying on the dictionary's definition is stretching, Mr. President?
Well, I suppose it depends on the meaning of the word dictionary...
Imagine how much fun SNL could have with this guy — if he were a Republican.
Obama is insane.
it depends on the definition of stretch
I was so mad when I saw this exchange I had to leave the room. I had blood shooting out of my eyes.
And the look on George’s face was priceless. It was like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Obama is an insane moron. I think he actually believes his “gift” will make you believe whatever he says.
Obama even lies when confronted with a definition. The girl is incredible.
BTW, no difference from the trolls here.
Arguing against an accepted dictionary definition for a common, three letter word, and one that he must have heard used many, many times in his time as a lawyer and a lawmaker is not a good sign. (He also has a history of word use problems; his exams posted at the New York Times show this same problem.)
Maybe George is finally getting it. Perhaps he will ask Obama about the Sasha almost died from meningitis that she didn’t really have story....
Ping for later read.
After reading this transcript, hats off to Snuffy for asking a few semi-hard questions (not really hard questions) ... but the answers say only one thing to me: Obama is really in love with himself and thinks the dictionary is wrong!! Holy crapola! Perhaps he can re-write the Bill of Rights, The Constitution and maybe even the Bible as well, since there are so many things that can be done better. Better being HIS way.
I’d rather have “this is a village” Hillary in office than this guy! Hell, I’d rather have ANYONE else in office!
I hope those who watched his TVapalooza today learned a little more about his myopic personality. I myself - couldn’t bear watching. Spent my morning cleaning toilets and gutters and other dirty things.
Glenn... Sean... PRETTY PLEASE interview a psychologist on your show and get an opinion on what they think about Zero!!
;-/
Snuffleupagus the puppet vs the Teleprompter. Toady puff piece.
Video added at blog.
you see , this is why i don’t dread the endless round of appearances of this clown and the pundits comments afterwards. it seems that there is ALWAYS something weird,wacky,off the wall /just plain don’t make sense about Obama
Dictionaries are racist.
So was Hitler.
Nobody in here hates Obama more than I do, but....
My take is that he was upset that the host had a dictionary already there to challenge him.
His idea of a tax is either point of purchase or payroll withholding.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.