Obama Using Tired Tricks of the Trail

Says insurance companies will raise rates 'as long as they can'

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama got downright fiery today, in a speech on health care at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania, lambasting insurance companies for their ever-higher premiums. “They will keep doing this for as long as they can get away with it,” he said. “How many more Americans have to lose their health insurance? …. When is the right time for health insurance reform?” More»

(AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter says Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech last week was an act "based on racism." Carter says Wilson's comment was part of an "inherent feeling" of some that a black man should not be president. In responding to a question at a town-hall meeting at his presidential center in Atlanta, Carter also called Wilson's comment "dastardly" and said the president should be treated with respect. More»

Highly effective talk knocks down House plan, public option

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s health care speech was “the finest speech of his presidency,” writes David Brooks: While rhetorically appeasing liberals, it “subtly staked out ground in the center” to win over moderates, making passage “much more likely,” he opines in the New York Times. Obama was firm in creating the “Dime Standard”: No plan can add “one dime to our deficits.” Bye, House plan. More»

Vitriol surrounding health care debate sure to continue

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s speech last night will probably prod Congress into passing health care reform, writes Joe Klein in Time. “But it will not end the public malignancy that has attended this debate, and threatens the democratic fabric of our nation.” Klein attended an Arkansas town hall recently and was shocked by the vitriol. He’s afraid that poison will spread from fans of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to the public at large. More»

SC Republican accused of sins from beer-spitting to newspaper theft

(NEWSER) - A website born overnight fires back at Rep. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who accused the president of lying, the Huffington Post reports. The site makes shocking accusations consistent with its slogan: “You dissed America, we’ll dis you right the f--- back.” A few gems from joewilsonisyourpreexistingcondition.com:

• Joe Wilson yells while adults are talking
• Joe Wilson stole your newspaper
• Joe Wilson didn’t refill your Brita pitcher