Grievance 7: Lies, Broken Promises, and Cover Ups.

Like all children, I got in trouble from time to time growing up.  I would receive punishment according to the crime but if I lied or tried to cover it up, the punishment was worse.  I also received a more severe punishment if I made a promise and failed to keep it. 

Since politicians are only human, we can expect them to make mistakes.  They will also make promises and for one reason or another fail to keep them.  They may even be caught lying from time to time.  However, it seems that unlike when I was a child, their lying, failing to keep promises is a normal function of their job, and when caught, they try to cover it up and suffer no punishment. 

Take Obamacare for example.  During the 2008 Presidential Election and during debate over Obamacare in the House and Senate, Obama continually promised that his healthcare plan would allow us to keep our doctor and insurance if we liked them.  (1) Obama also promised us that the cost of healthcare would go down.  (2)  With healthcare being a product we all need from time to time and with people seeing the cost of healthcare and especially what is taken out of their paychecks each payday for insurance premiums raising, these promises sounded good.  Many voted for Obama, a man they knew little about, based on his promise to reduce the healthcare costs without forcing them to change doctors or insurance coverage. 

However, as we face the implementation of major portions of Obamacare in 2014, we now know that these promises will not be kept.  Health and Human Services now admits that we might not be able to keep our doctor under Obamacare.  (3) This is because someone forced into one of the state exchanges where their doctor is not part of the network, will have to change doctors.  Of course, one might argue that if I am able to keep my current policy, I will not be forced into some state exchange and will not have to change doctors. 

This is true but what if your employer cuts your hours to less than 30 hours and are no longer required to provide insurance for you, throwing you into one of the state exchanges.  This can happen because the law only requires employers to provide coverage for full-time employees, which the law defines as employees working 30-hours or more.  If an employer cuts hours for an employee to under 30-hours, they not only do not have to provide health insurance, but they avoid a fine for not doing so.  (4)

Health insurance premiums are also expected to raise, not drop.  In Ohio, a key swing state, premiums are expected to increase 41 percent on average.  (5) In Georgia, the situation is even worse where the insurance Commissioner Ralph T. Hudgens expects increases of up to 198 percent for some individuals.  (6) So much for the promise of healthcare costs going down.  It was just another empty promise offered by a politician to get votes. 

Obama has not kept his promises on healthcare but seems to suffer no punishment in the mainstream media for his failure to be truthful with the American people and keep his promises.  Now let us look at promises made by politicians regarding immigration and border security. 

When interviewed by Sean Hannity, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was asked several times if he promised to do border security first prior to any legalization or path to citizenship for illegals.  He answered yes every time.  However, in another interview with Hannity after the passage of the “Gang of Eight” bill in the Senate he said, “Right, but it is border security before the green card,” Rubio went on to say, “The problem is in the interim you have to do something with the people who are here illegally so we know who they are.” (7) Once again, an empty promise from a politician, a Republican this time.  I guess promise breaking is one of the few examples of bipartisanship in our country. 

However, in what might be the biggest cover-up and lie to come out of this administration, we have allegations that the CIA might have been transferring weapons from Libya to Syria from the consulate in Benghazi.  (8) (9) If true, this would explain why there was a lie concocted about some video causing the attack and explains why the State Department is stalling investigations and not letting witnesses testify.  In fact, there are also allegations that the administration is going to great lengths to insure the truth about what occurred in Benghazi does not come out. 

According to Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) the administration is hiding the survivors, dispersing them around the country, and changing their names.  In an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Thursday August 2, 2013 he said, “Including changing names, creating aliases.  Stop and think what things are most calculated to get at the truth?  Talk to people with first-hand knowledge.  What creates the appearance and perhaps the reality of a cover-up?  Not letting us talk with people who have the most amount of information, dispersing them around the country and changing their names.” (10)

We cannot allow these lies and cover ups to go unpunished.  We need to defund Obamacare to prevent people from losing their doctors, health insurance, or seeing their premiums increased.  We must kill the Senate “Gang of Eight” bill currently in the Senate and instead the House needs to vote on a stiff border security bill and send it to the Senate to see how serious they are about border security. 

We also need to hire a special prosecutor to gather all of the evidence about what happened in Benghazi and them present it to the House and Senate.  People died in the attack on the consulate and the American people deserve to know the truth. 

The United States is a representative republic where we elect men and women to office.  We elect them with an expectation that they will be truthful with us and keep the promises made to us when they ran for office.  We also expect them to come clean with us when they make a mistake and not attempt to cover it up.  When leaders violate our trust, as we have seen in Obamacare, border security, and Benghazi, they must be held accountable.  This includes removal from office if they continue violating the trust of the American people.  

1. Miller, Jake Tapper and Sunlen. President Obama Continues Questionable “You Can Keep Your Health Care” Promise. abcnews.go. [Online] ABC News, July 16, 2009. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/07/president-obama-continues-questionable-you-can-keep-your-health-care-promise/.

2. Obama, Barack. Remarks in Hartford, Connecticut: "A Politics of Conscience". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. [Online] The American Presidency Project, Junw 23, 2007. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=76986.

3. Bier, Jeryl. HHS Admits: You Might Not Be Able to Keep Your Doctor Under Obamacare. www.weeklystandard.com. [Online] The Weekly Standard, July 19, 2013. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/hhs-admits-you-might-not-be-able-keep-your-doctor-under-obamacare_740093.html.

4. Book, Robert. Why Obamacare Incentivizes Part-Time Jobs. www.forbes.com. [Online] Forbes, December 3, 2012. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/12/03/why-obamacare-incentivizes-part-time-jobs/.

5. Millman, Jason. Ohio becomes latest battleground in Obamacare premium wars. www.politico.com. [Online] Politico, August 2, 2013. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/ohio-premiums-rates-going-up-95067.html?hp=l5.

6. Halper, Daniel. Ga. Insurance Commissioner: Obamacare to Force 'Massive Rate Increases Up to 198 percent'. www.weeklystandard.com. [Online] The Weekly Standard, July 30, 2013. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ga-insurance-commissioner-obamacare-force-massive-rate-increases-198-percent_742311.html.

7. York, Byron. Marco Rubio: I should have been 'more artful' in immigration remarks. washingtonexaminer.com. [Online] The Washington Examiner, June 12, 2013. [Cited: July 2, 2013.] http://washingtonexaminer.com/marco-rubio-i-should-have-been-more-artful-in-immigration-remarks/article/2531760.

8. Picket, Kerry. REP. WOLF: SOURCES SAY CIA WAS MOVING GUNS IN BENGHAZI. www.breitbart.com. [Online] Breitbart News, August 1, 2013. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/08/01/Republican-Congressman-Sources-Say-U-S-Was-Moving-Guns-On-The-Ground-In-Benghazi.

9. McElroy, Damien. CIA 'running arms smuggling team in Benghazi when consulate was attacked'. www.telegraph.co.uk. [Online] The Telegraph, August 3, 2013. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/10218288/CIA-running-arms-smuggling-team-in-Benghazi-when-consulate-was-attacked.html.

10. Hoft, Jim. BREAKING>>> GOP Rep: Obama WH Is Hiding Benghazi Survivors AND CHANGING THEIR NAMES (Video). www.thegatewaypundit.com. [Online] The Gateway Pundit, August 1, 2013. [Cited: August 2, 2013.] http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/08/breaking-obama-administration-is-hiding-benghazi-survivors-dispursing-them-around-the-country-and-changing-their-names-video/.