Obama Lied About Stimulus Jobs & Health Care Costs

Obama Had Facts Wrong About Visit Here: Stimulus Jobs


A local project that President Barack Obama cited during a visit Wednesday to Columbus as an example of how the federal stimulus package has worked isn't actually being funded with stimulus dollars.

The president spoke at the North Side home of architect Joe Weithman, and both Obama's comments and information from the White House touted Weithman's work on a project that the president said was being at least partially funded by the $787 billion stimulus bill passed last year.

"What we've been trying to do is to build infrastructure that puts people back to work but also improves the quality of life in communities like Columbus," Obama said in his remarks. "So Joe is an architect, and he's now working on a new police station that was funded in part with Recovery Act funds."

But although federal money is being used for the project in question, there are no stimulus dollars involved, said Columbus Finance Director Paul Rakosky, a Democrat.

Rakosky said the project is not a police station but rather the renovation of an abandoned warehouse that the city purchased on the South Side in 2007 to house the city's police crime lab and property room.

Weithman's firm, Mull & Weithman Architects, is handling the $300,000 in design work for the crime lab as part of the project, and the $300,000 is coming from a congressional earmark, Rakosky said.

When White House spokesman Matt Lehrich was asked about the discrepancy, all he would say is: "The president's trip to Columbus was, in part, to highlight the role that small businesses, like Joe's, will play in creating jobs in communities across the country. That's a fact, and it's why he's been urging Republicans to stop blocking a proposal to cut taxes for small businesses that are looking to grow and hire more workers."

Background information the White House provided before the president's visit didn't identify the stimulus bill as the source of funding for the work, but it said the architectural firm that Weithman runs "was able to keep two of their employees that otherwise would have been laid off due to work on a police station renovation that received infrastructure funding."

It also said Weithman hopes to hire an additional employee as the economy improves and as "additional projects, some of which could be funded by the Recovery Act, are secured."

The White House did properly credit the stimulus bill for tax subsidies that Weithman's wife, Rhonda, used to maintain the family's health-care coverage after she lost her job last year.

Rakosky also noted that Columbus has received $70 million in stimulus money for infrastructure work, which he said is freeing up capital dollars for other projects such as the warehouse renovation.







The Obama administration’s Continued Devastating Lies About Healthcare


Based on anecdotal evidence from business owners, insurance brokers and the media, insurance premiums on policies renewed for 2010 and 2011 are increasing 20 percent to 40 percent. These rising premiums are driven by mandated coverage that includes free or low-cost preventive care, non-exclusion of children with pre-existing medical conditions, required coverage for children up to age 26 and the elimination of lifetime medical reimbursement limits.

Americans may recall that Mr. Obama promised, "If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan." While this mandated coverage in the healthcare reform legislation may be desired by some people who are willing to pay the cost, there are certainly other medical insurance consumers who would rather have their current lower-cost coverage. However, under the legislation, contrary to the president's assurance, they are not permitted to keep their preferred lower-cost healthcare plans.

The healthcare reform legislation also will have a devastating impact on the spending power of working Americans and our economy as the higher premiums kick in. In order to understand this impact, it is instructive to look at the actual impact of the legislation on a small company. In 2010, some companies’ plans cost approximately $15,000 per year for family healthcare coverage, of which the company paid 60 percent and the employee paid 40. For 2011, the premium for this coverage will increase 30 percent, or $4,500.

The average non-management employee in this company earns $30,000 per year. The employee's share of the increased premium will cost $1,800. That is equivalent to a 6 percent pay cut for the average worker. The legislation will not allow them to keep their old policy at a lower cost.

Do you now feel misled by the Obama administration, or just outright lied to to further their passage of this atrocious bill?


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Sources: Columbia Dispatch, The Hill, Youtube, Google Maps