Glenn Beck: More Contradictions from Obama

October 23, 2009 - 13:00 ET

GLENN: From high above Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, my name is Glenn Beck. A couple of days ago we were once again amazed by President Obama, I don't even know what to call it, his disingenuousness, his two facedness? His ability to talk out of both sides of his mouth. As we watched him bash the Chamber of Commerce for daring to oppose this healthcare reform and the disastrous climate change bill, painting the Chamber of Commerce as evil lobbyists.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: They are very good at this because that's how business has been done in Washington for a very long time. In fact, over the last 10 years the chamber alone spent nearly half a billion dollars on lobbying, half a billion dollars.

GLENN: Okay. Horrible, aren't they? Then fresh from hammering the Chamber of Commerce who was on board for his planned takeover of GM and Chrysler and the other bailouts and the stimulus package, Obama then went directly to give a speech to small businesses to tell the small business group just how important business is to the country.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I guarantee you this: This administration is going to stand behind small businesses. You are our highest priority because we are confident that when you are succeeding, America succeeds.

GLENN: Okay, hang on. That's your highest priority, the small businesses... that can't get loans. Are the small businesses in your office helping SEIU design healthcare and everything else? Even as he is working to destroy the group that represents over three million businesses in this country, 95% of them small, 95% of them small, he's saying that in one side of his mouth. Then he woos and schmoozes the other businesses out of the other side of his mouth. He mean, he does this brilliantly, so much so that most Americans don't even notice it. But I do, and it drives me out of my mind. Blood shoots right directly out of my mind my eyes. I don't know if you heard the mop speech the other day, but everybody focused on the mop part of it, "I'm mopping up everybody else's mess." But listen to this part.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: To the non Democrats who may be watching today, I want everybody to know we believe in a strong and loyal opposition. I believe in a two party system where ideas are tested and assumptions are challenged because that's how we move this country forward. But what I reject is when some folks decide to sit on the sidelines and root for failure, on healthcare or on energy or on our economy. What I reject is when some folks say we should go back to the past policies when it was the very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

GLENN: I can't help but this is a mask. This is a mask this guy is wearing. You can't have it both ways. This man has been getting away with it up until now, but somebody needs to stand up here because I can't take it anymore.

Let's play it again, and I want to take it slowly this time.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: To the non Democrats who may be watching today, I want everybody to know we believe in a strong and loyal opposition.

GLENN: Okay. You believe in a strong and loyal opposition. Okay, that's good. Then let's leave Fox News, talk radio, the Internet, what do you say, the Chamber of Commerce, let's leave them alone. Let's sit down with serious conservative members of congress, not Olympia Snowe. Let's have a serious discussion about why they and 54% of the country oppose your disastrous healthcare reform. 54%. And no doubt the climate change bill as well. But he doesn't just stop there.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I believe in a two party system where ideas are tested and assumptions are challenged. Because that's how we move this country forward.

GLENN: Really? Okay. So ideas are heard and assumptions are challenged. You mean like somebody asking questions. That's how we move this country forward, by asking questions. Well, have we seen any evidence of him being open to anyone asking tough questions?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: But what I reject

GLENN: Oh, boy. Here he comes.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: is when some folks decide to sit on the sidelines and root for failure.

GLENN: Wow.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: On healthcare or on energy.

GLENN: Yes.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Or on our economy.

GLENN: Right.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: What I reject is when some folks say we should go back to the past policies when it was those very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

GLENN: Okay. So he rejects folks who are just sitting on the sidelines rooting for failure. What is your definition of folks on the sidelines? Who are they? Am I a folk on the sideline because I feel like I'm kind of on the front lines. Are the tea partygoers, are they folks on the sidelines? Because they're doing things they've never done before. Then he reels off healthcare, energy, and the economy. Those are huge issues that threaten to fundamentally transform our country, as he has admitted he's planning to do, and we're not supposed to have any input at all? No, no, no, we're not. Because again right after saying that he welcomes strong and loyal opposition with different ideas and challenging assumptions, he immediately rejects all of that because your ideas got us here in the first place. So he's under no obligation to hear from you whatsoever.

Any idea that is not a progressive idea is the one that got us into the mess. But what he and no college professor will ever tell you is the ideas that got us here in the first place are the progressive ideas. They are the ideas that started with Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the progressive ideas that were pitched and implemented by both the Republicans and the Democrats. The progressive ideas that came from the Fed. The progressive ideas that have gone from John McCain, both Bushes, Ted Kennedy, and Senator Obama. For years. He was and is apparently happy to entertain ideas not from tea partygoers because their ideas got us here. But he is happy to entertain ideas from Van Jones, a communist. Anita Dunn whose favorite political philosopher is Chairman Mao, one of the two people she turns to most. He will listen to Mark Lloyd, a fan of Hugo Chavez, a revolution in Venezuela! He will entertain the radical thoughts of John Holdren and Cass Sunstein, Carol Browner, Ron Bloom, but not a Republican, not a conservative, not a free market thinker. That's crazy.

Here's another amazing example. This contradiction is from the same speech. Now, I want to make it clear we did edit this, but we didn't edit it to change the context or the meaning. The context and the meaning are the same. We just shortened it for time.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: It starts off with the basic idea that we're all in this together. What we're going to do is we're going to be pragmatic instead of ideological. We are going to try to bring people together rather than push them apart. We are going to make sure that we listen to other people's ideas. But I don't want the folks who created the mess, I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them just to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking.

GLENN: I'd sure like to know don't you think it's important? Since the president of the United States says that those who created the mess need to get out of the way, just shut up and get out of the way, don't you think it's important that we get the list from him, that we get specifics from him on who created the mess? Because see, I don't understand. I don't know how the mess was created. I don't know. I'm getting the impression that it is just anyone who believes in the free market. Who created the mess because you've got to stop talking. Just shut up. This isn't open to debate. I've got other things to do over here. I'm busy mopping with Maoists. I've got Maoists on my staff that have some new ideas that haven't been tried in America. Because they are in China. There is some successful and political economic thinking, I'll tell you that. Wow. I've got to talk to some more people about freedom and freedom of the press. I'm going to get Mark Lloyd here in just a second. He is going to tell me about that important revolution in Venezuela. I don't have time to listen to you free market thinkers. And the media has been so in love with him that no one outside of talk radio or Fox News has ever, ever, as far as I have seen, shown this habit he has of repeatedly contradicting his own message. A lot of times, not always, but a lot of times within the same speech. We just played one from back in August. Sometimes it's not as obvious, but if you're paying attention, you can catch him in a lie or a contradiction almost daily.

Here's an interview he just did. He was asked about the Fox attacks.

VOICE: Do you think it's appropriate for the White House to say what is and what is not a news organization?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I think the American people are a lot more interested in what we're doing to create jobs or how we're handling the situation in Afghanistan.

GLENN: Well, first of all, he's not creating jobs at all. The president was just in Connecticut. He was supposed to create 40,000 new jobs. Connecticut's lost 20,000 jobs. But they were talking about creating jobs. Hello? He's not creating jobs. He's hemorrhaging jobs, and he's doing the American people, let's stop talking about Fox because the American people are more interested in creating jobs and talking about Afghanistan. Well, what have you done in Afghanistan, sir?

VOICE: Fair enough, but your advisors raised this issue.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, no, I think what our advisors have simply said is that we are going to take media as it comes, and if media is operating basically as a talk radio format, then that's one thing.

GLENN: But who caused the mess?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And if it's operating as a news outlet, then that's another. But it's not something I'm losing a lot of sleep over.

GLENN: It was his advisors that raised the issue, right? It wasn't like Captain Kangaroo rising from the dead and having bunny slap it out on the table, right? It was his advisors that raised the issues. But his response was, no, well, no, I... I mean, I... what I... what our advisors have simply said is that we're going to take the media as it comes. Take it as it comes? He sent out Anita Dunn, Robert Gibbs, his two top guys, chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel and top advisor David Axelrod to attack, disparage and try to destroy Fox News. I mean, if they were focused on Afghanistan, they would have no comment on Fox. They would be like, whatever, I don't know, we're working on these things. And if it's not something that he's losing sleep over, why are his highest ranking people out on a smear campaign? Why did they try to eliminate Fox from the press pool yesterday? Did you hear that? They tried to eliminate Fox from the press pool yesterday. Oh, you bet he's losing sleep over this.

But let me give you a few more examples here of his duplicity. First he's accountable.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And we expect you, the American people, to hold us accountable for the results.

GLENN: Yeah, he wants to be held accountable. But then... not so much.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: My administration inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion.

GLENN: Yeah.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: But because we also inherited the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression.

GLENN: Oh, boy. Stinks to be but you can hold them accountable, just not on these things that he has inherited. Now remember he's for it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal healthcare plan.

GLENN: But at the same exact time, at the same exact time he's also, I mean, pretty much against it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I have not said that I was a single payer supporter.

GLENN: Ah. One thing is certain, though, Barack Obama just loves and respects our nation's doctors.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I want to welcome all the doctors who have joined us today at the White House, all.

GLENN: All.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Have devoted their lives to the healing of others.

GLENN: So doctors all have devoted their life to healing of others. They're good and honorable people.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And you come in and you've got a bad sore throat or your child has a bad sore throat or has repeated sore throats.

GLENN: Oh, boy.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: The doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, you know what, I make a lot more money if I take this kid's tonsils out.

GLENN: Wow, that's, I mean, good and honorable guys who are taking tonsils out because they make more money. That almost sounds unethical.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: If a family care physician works with his or her patient to help them lose weight, modify diet, monitors whether they're taking their medications in a timely fashion, they might get reimbursed a pittance. But if that same diabetic ends up getting their foot amputated, that's $30,000, $40,000, $50,000.

GLENN: Wow.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Immediately the surgeon is reimbursed.

GLENN: Wow, that's needlessly cutting off patients' feet just to make more money. He does indeed love you, doctors. Wow. So well, my only question left is all the doctors who have devoted their lives to healing others, are they hacking body parts off people to make their Mercedes payments? That's oh, forget about the questions. I must be part of the problem. I'm pretty confused here, but maybe this will clear everything up.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Listen. I'll take responsibility. I'm the president. It's my job to make sure that we fix these messes even if I don't make them.

GLENN: Yeah. It's important that he fix the messes, even if he didn't make them. He will take responsibility. He's the president. He's willing to take responsibility. The buck stops here.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I do think it might be useful to point out that it wasn't under me that we started buying a whole bunch of shares of banks. It wasn't on my watch, and it wasn't on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement, the prescription drug plan, without a source of funding. And so I think that it's important just to note when you start hearing folks throw these words around that we've actually been operating in a way that is entirely consistent with free market principles.

GLENN: (Laughing). No, no, with the progressive principles that you, then Senator Obama, endorsed and signed. Taking responsibility. That doesn't sound like he was because didn't I just hear him say...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Listen. I'll take responsibility. I'm the president. It's my job to make sure that we fix these messes, even if I don't make them.

GLENN: Yeah. Well, he's going to have well, I've just got a few more questions, but he's busy mopping up the mess! Better stop asking questions. But I've had so many more. So I've just got to get them off my chest here in just a second.

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