AlterPolitics

The disingenuous Bill O’Reilly …

Here’s Bill O’Reilly on September 16, 2009, understanding the significance of a public option, and saying that he supports it:

O’Reilly: I want for working Americans to have an option — that if they don’t like their health insurance, if it’s too expensive and they can’t afford it — if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the ‘folks’.

You can see the clip here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U-cysjNT-Q[/youtube]

Here’s Bill O’Reilly, yesterday, November 9, 2009 (with Brit Hume):

NOTE:  Watch how O’Reilly pretends this ‘public thing’ is so insignificant he can’t even remember what it’s called.  But he does know that it stinks; that the folks reject it — he claims all the polls show this, despite the polls showing the exact opposite.  He claims it’s expensive — though the CBO has reported the public option tied to Medicare rates would reduce deficits by $110 billion over 10 years — and he says that politicians in the House are going to get punished if they support it.  Brit Hume corrects him on the popularity:

O’Reilly: Now, there is a growing feeling in America — all the polls say this — that the ‘folks’ don’t want this ‘callouses’ — this government callouses, they call it um … you know … the ahh … public .. ah .. sector .. ah what is it, the public …?

Hume: the public option, you mean?

O’Reilly: … public option, whatever.  Umm … the ‘folks’ don’t want it, and the politicians fear they’re going to be voted out of office, and the cost is astronomical.  The Senate has a little more room, because they’re in for six years, not two, umm, but it looks like they have more than 55 votes to pass it and that means they could be fillibustered and never come up for a vote.

Hume: That’s what it looks like right now.  The public option — actually some polls show the public option standing by itself is not at all unpopular, but kind of popular.   That depends on how the poll question is phrased.  But the public option is a loser, because it loses Lieberman, it loses Olympia Snowe, who is the one Republican who voted for it in committee, ah so the chances of anything with a public option passing is pretty remote.

You can see the clip here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaO2zNNcZFk[/youtube]

Why the switch, Bill?  I suspect he’s laying the ground work for defending the forthcoming Republican Fillibuster.  Poor Bill, if only he could erase that September video clip …