Obama Hits Palin's Debate Performance In Ad (VIDEO)

Barack Obama's campaign is already out with an ad based on the vice presidential debate -- specifically, Sarah Palin's inability to defend John McCain's health care plan. The clip uses Joe Biden's line that the McCain-Palin health care plan is a "bridge to nowhere." Watch:

The Politico reports that the ad is part of a broader health-care focused strategy:

Obama's aides said the campaign would key in not on something Palin said, but rather on what she didn't: Her failure to offer a detailed defense of McCain's plan to finance a $5,000 healthcare tax credit by treating employers' healthcare payments as taxable - something Democrats relish hitting both as a "radical" healthcare scheme and a tax hike.

The campaign had already decided to attack McCain's healthcare plan, and the debate exchange will help drive that focus, they said.

"We're on a big offensive on John McCain's healthcare plan," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. "I think Sen. Biden did a terrific job today of describing why middle class families should fear John McCain's health care plan. She didn't answer the attack."

Palin's silence - she attacked Obama's plan as "government run," but didn't return to McCain's - was "a huge missed opportunity," Plouffe said, "because I will assure you this: Every voter in every battleground state is going to know that John McCain is taxing healthcare for the very first time. Twenty-one million people lose their healthcare because small businesses will drop it."

Read more about the new ad ">here.

Comments

[MNmommy]

This one needs to run absolutely everywhere, I don't think many folks understand this.

[conservus]

It seems apparent to many of us out here that the Obama sycophants don't really understand it either.
A $5000 tax credit is a hell of a lot more of a tax break than the taxes an employee would have to pay on the currently tax-free income used for health insurance.

For example, I am in a 25% tax bracket and then let's just use 8$ for payroll taxes and we assume that my employer-sponsored healthcare plan costs me $10000 annually. That means that the total taxes that I would be charged for that income would be $3200. With the $5000 tax credit, I actually make out with an additional $1800 in savings on my overall tax bill for the year.

That is why it is disingenuous to call the plan a tax increase on employees.

[MrIncognito11]

If you already have an employer sponsored health care plan, then what is the purpose of giving you an $1800 tax break? It would be great to just give people a tax cut, but we're trying to provide health coverage to those who don't currently have it.

If you don't have health insurance, you have to make about $38,000 a year to owe $5000 in taxes if you're single and $43,000 if you're married. So if you make less than that, McCain's plan actually provides less help.

It's a giant crap sandwitch for the uninsured any way you spin it.

[conservus]

Okay, so my hurriedly figured math aside; the point still stands that it is more money in my pocket in this example. Please feel free to provide me with examples where you demonstrate a different scenario.

25% tax, 8% payroll = $3300, leaving $1700 in additional tax credit

[missette]

Over the past couple of months I've told co-workers about McCain's plan to tax employees for employer-provided health insurance and they were shocked, and had yet to hear about it. What must be brought out now is that even though McCain wants us to buy insurance on our own, he still wants health insurers to be able to deny you coverage or charge exorbitant rates based on pre-existing conditions. Have any of you ever had to apply for one of these? They're frightening, You do your own underwriting, and there's a page in the application saying if you forget to mention any health issue, sometimes from over a period of 10 years, they can rescind your policy at any time. What that really means is, should you, God forbid, need to file a catastrophic claim, THEN they do an underwrite to try to find a reason to deny you coverage or rescind your policy. In my state there have been people denied coverage because when they were found to have a brain tumor, it's discovered they didn't state in their application that they had sought treatment for, say, a yeast infection. The attorney general is hot on their trail. But sometimes, by the time justice prevails, it's too late.

[stuckintx]

I am so glad someone wrote about this. Yes, when the time comes that you have to purchase your own private insurance, YOU ARE IN FOR A MAJOR WAKE UP. You can be denied coverage by even the most garden variety doctor visit, i.e. yeast infection, sinus infections, etc. if you forget to list it. If you do not meet their weight specs, and they are strict, you can and will be denied. Any prescriptions you forgot you'd taken? Denied. And worst of all, you are going to find out all the things your doctor bilked your previous insurer for during routine exams, and YOU will be left to explain the additional tests you never received over the last decade. And you'll look like you are trying to hide something. For those with real problems...cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, injuries, mental health issues, you will probably never get private coverage, not even with a pre-condition clause. For those lucky enough to be privately accepted, you are just one "undesirable" claim away from cancellation. It's horrible. You are going to start hearing more about this.

Thanks, missette, for bringing this up. It's criminal.

[LongTimeLiberal52]

As I said earlier, I can only hope this is the first of many ads to be crafted out of the VP debate. There's certainly enough material to make several quickly and efficiently.

Now "doggone it," make sure you and everyone else you know votes on November 4th. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pqGxnrM1A ) Let's all just say "Thanks, but no thanks" to another minute of GOP rule in America.

[MourningDude]

Libs don't seem to grasp that McCain's plan is essentially a "cap and trade" program for health insurance.

If a business offers an acceptable level of health insurance to their employees, it's essentially a wash. Employees may benefit a little bit, but those are not the primary target of this system. There's no incentive for a business to drop insurance if they already have it.

If a business offers lavish, gold plated, triple diamond benefits, that's fine too. But if they choose to do so, they will have to subsidize the uninsured by paying into the system.

If a business offers no health insurance, then the government subsidized those workers by providing $5,000 as a down payment for them to start purchasing health insurance.

This same type of "cap and trade" policy is an effective way to normalize behavior in an economic system without infringing on people's right to behave in any way they deem acceptable. You don't modify the behavior, you modify the consequences of the behavior, and allow them to have the freedom to decide what's best under that framework.

[MsDressup]

Most people who don't have health insurance will not see a $5000 tax credit...they simply don't earn enough money. How is it that someone who is receiving a $10,000 family benefit from their employer will be able to go out and purchase the same insurance with half the money? Employers will drop health insurance so they will not have to pay taxes on it...what you are saying doesn't make any sense.

[MourningDude]

That's ludicrous.

There's no incentive whatsoever for companies to drop coverage. If they're willing to pay X amount for insurance today, they will be willing to pay X tomorrow.

For an average worker, the tax credit will MORE than offset the additional tax paid, so if anything the company would end up better off.

[Crumbx]

I am just amazed on this thread. I have seen at least 4 interpretations of McCain's health plan. Let's see this Plan. My employer is a Fortune 100 company. Ten days after the Prescription Drug Plan was signed into law, my employer dropped prescription drug coverage for their present and future retirees. If McCain became President and implemented this Plan, I understand it would take away the deductibility of that portion of the health insurance premium that our employers pay at present (only 60% in my case). The other 40% is paid by me now at pre-tax income. After McCain's plan, the EMPLOYER would not be able to deduct the present 60% they paid from their corporate taxes and I would add 100% of the cost of my group health plan to my income and file a 1040. At that point, I would get a $5,000 credit towards the additional taxes I would pay after having $12,000 added to my income. Since I presently pay $3000 in federal taxes and my tax bill would now be $ 6,320.00, I could claim a CREDIT of $5,000 towards this bill. The most likely scenario would be that my employer would drop coverage altogether because there would be no reason not to do so, as there is no incentive to administer a plan where they wouldn't be able to deduct the costs of administering it.

[gopSTEALSyourTAXmoney]

WE DON'T WANT OUR HEALTH CARE DICISIONS COMING FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT LICENSED TO :* PRACTICE MEDICINE*!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MourningDude]

Unless you plan to pay 100% out of pocket, you don't have much choice.

Obama would put people into an HMO where non-medical people make the decisions, so you're railing against the entire system, and nobody is on your side.

[kat1park]

You really don't get it do you? Millions of people will be left out, especially those with preexisting conditions. Now, you must be pretty healthy at the moment because you don't seem to care about this, but if you had stage 3 melanoma like McCain and no money, you would be terrified. The rich get richer and the poor get screwed. That's not change we can believe in, THAT'S MORE OF THE SAME!

[Merewen]

You don't get it! Health should not be for profit. Especially at the type of prices we are forced to pay! We should not even be having this conversation. And if you really think employers are goona continue to offer health insurance then your in for a rude awakening. Companies don't even want to pay their employees a fair wage. Why you ask? More money for them. More money for share holders. More money for everyone but the people busting their azzes stressing out and getting sick.

[feminancy]

The empress has no clothes.

[mero909]

What's that suppose to mean?

[Nina64]

You can get on the Barack Obama and Joe Biden website and tell your ideas. I agree that they need to repeat the information about the health insurance. Also, the other candidates keep repeating even though they've been told different that Obama will raise their taxes and it will be hard on small businesses. No one making under $250,000 per year will have their taxes made higher.

[MsDressup]

Off topic...this is odd.

In Ontario, we receive CBS on cable from Buffalo. They just came on and said the station had been pulled by TimeWarner Cable at midnight last night. The people in that viewing area can only get the station via airwaves.

Apparently, 11 CBS stations have been dropped by TimeWarner across the US.

[MsDressup]

To clarify...TimeWarner is the US cable company that dropped the Buffalo station. Canada has a separate cable system.

[Mat8675]

Time Warner is a terrible corporation!!

[indyleftist]

Terrible add

You need the numbers in there or it doesn't work. The reason that line worked in the debate is because he explained how they were taking away $10,000 and replacing it with $5,000.
If you leave the numbers out the point doesn't get made

[Scytherius]

Perfect. I thought that was the BEST point in the debate . . . that one issue that will push a mountain more Indies to the Dems.

[grimp]

palain wired for debate See eyelash problem and winking problem videos check wire on Palins hair left side. Also Yahoo News and Ap associated Press Gallery slides talking with Gwen Ifill battery pack on Palins lower back in pleat of jacket back. If you check the gallery slides you will see other photos showing the wire and battery pack.

[Babysnake]

The Lo o o n g pause before starting each response is also proof she was wired.

[theMightyT]

even if she was wired, it certainly didn't help. she couldn't answer the questions!

[genia]

got a link....I'd love to see this...thanks

[cjgnew]

Grimp--

Please, please provide a link. I am Thomas. I need to see with my own eyes. That wouldn't surprise me one bit, though, especially since I felt that McCain pulled a fast one a while ago on Pastor Rick Warren. Thanks in advance, Grimp!

Carlos Jean-Gilles
St. Louis, MO

[Arkangel3]

The Obama campaign MUST focus on the vastly different Health Care initiatives between the two candidates. In addition to this being the time of year for elections, it is also the time of the year most people decide their employee benefits for the coming year. People can clearly see the prive impace on their benefit statements.

Obama needs to press McCain on the point that his plan will result in a Middle Class tax increase that would send reverberations across the economy, sending thousands of families off the insured rolls and possibly into bankruptcy as a result. A $5,000 tax credit (payable directly to insurers!) would nowhere NEAR offset real world dollars for most families.

I'd be playing this ad non-stop in Florida until election day.

[touchdown]

I am sick of looking at this Palin woman. What an airhead.

[mero909]

You don't like looking at her? I think she's great to look at! She's not really an airhead. I mean, did you listen to her at all? As a conservative independent, I thought she was impressive as well as Biden.

Senator Biden met expectations and was a professional debater against Palin. I agree with his position on the war.

Gov. Palin was just as impressive. I agree with Palin on the economy.

Unfortunately, we can't have both.

[AtticusinPa]

Many of her comments on the economy were self-contradictory. On the issue of Wall Street corruption, she wants more regulation. But she repeated Governor Reagan's comments that the government is not part of the solution and is often the problem. These two concepts: greater governmental regulation of the market and laissez-faire economics cannot co-exist. Given that it was the removal of the government regulations from the New Deal (specifically Glass Steagal) that permitted the newest meltdown, it is hard to comprehend a McCain admin. making this change. Everyone wants to curb waste and pork, but waste and port amount to less than 3% of the budget annually and thats not even close to allowing us to build bridges to small islands, fight two wars, cut taxes and still balance the budget. If I missed anything, please let me know. Thanks

[HurryUp1212009]

OBAMA NEEDS TO RELENTLESSLY RUN TWO ADS BETWEEN NOW AND ELECTION DAY:

THE FIRST ONE SHOULD LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT MCCAIN'S HEALTH CARE PLAN WILL CAST ANOTHER 20 MILLION PEOPLE OUT WITH NO INSURANCE, AND MANY MORE WILL BE DENIED FOR PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS - THAT'S WHAT INSURANCE COMPANIES DO WHEN NOT FORCED TO TAKE EVERYONE IN AN EMPLOYEE POOL. PLUS, HIS STUPID $5k TAX CREDIT MAKES NO DIFERENCE IF SOMEONE CAN'T AFFORD THE $400 PER MONTH TYPICAL FAMILY INSURANCE PREMIUM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

THE SECOND ONE SHOULD LET W-O-M-E-N KNOW THAT B-O-T-H MCCAIN AND PALIN ARE S-W-O-R-N AGAINST ABORTION AND DEDICATED TO ITS UNCONDITIONAL ABOLITION. WITH AT LEAST 2 SUPREME COURT VACANCIES COMING UP, IF MCCAIN IS ELECTED, WOMEN CAN BE SURE ROE V. WADE WILL BE OVERTURNED BY THE RE-CONFIGURED COURT.

WHY ANY FAMILY WOMAN WOULD VOTE REPUBLICAN DEFIES RATIONALITY!!!

[ManOutOfTime]

Well said! Did you know your caps lock is on?

[Scytherius]

Agreed. And though I haven't heard them, I do know they are running the abortion issue HEAVY on radio.

[mero909]

Well, the President/VP and the Government shouldn't have anything to do with Abortion...ever. Democrat or Republican shouldn't allow regulations against or for abortion. Period.

On a side note... we can read your post; turn off the caps lock.

[Babysnake]

Could you please stop with the caps? You might have something good to say, but I don't/can't listen to screaming people.

[Bluejay00234]

Great stuff.

[WritusMaximus]

You rabid, sexist folks in here, stop attacking Palin! Of course Palin didn't have a clue as to the details of McCain's health"care" plan, let alone who would have to pay for it, which turns out to be the very same people McCain is trying to "help"---those without health insurance! You see, you nasty fact-checkers, you all, if it wasn't in them talking points, Palin sure the heck was not going to talk about it! Heck, overall and in general as to the entire debate, Pallin had no clue as to McCain's NO vote record as to regulation, energy assistance for those finding it difficult trying to make ends meet, etc. because such a thing was NOT part of Palin's talking points, so she had to keep mum on the subject and thereby NOT defend McCain against such impertinent things as facts! See the light now, you disrespectful lot of knowledgeable, truth-loving freaks that you all are!

Paraphrasing that immortal Youtube Britney Fan Crying video, Leave Her (Palin) ALONE!

[Deadbeat1000]

Palin is a GOVERNOR. She should not be treated differently because she is a woman