What do you expect from the President?

Lies:

Speaking at three different events to thousands of enthusiastic supporters, Mr. Bush focused on domestic issues, particularly health care, and portrayed Mr. Kerry as a traditional, big-government liberal.

"I'm running against a fellow who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decision-making in health care," the president said. "Not only is his plan going to increase the power of bureaucrats in your life, but he can't pay for it unless he raises your taxes."

On Tuesday the Republican National Committee will begin running an advertisement that hits the same theme. It ends with a voice-over intoning: "Big government in charge. Not you. Not your doctor."

Mr. Kerry's campaign officials on Monday called that characterization a fabrication and a deliberate distortion. "It's ridiculous," said Sarah Bianchi, the policy director for the Kerry campaign, in a telephone call to reporters who were traveling with Mr. Bush. "The reason he is doing it is that he doesn't have a plan; he has a failed record."

Ms. Bianchi said of Mr. Kerry's plan: "It gives small business a tax credit to buy health insurance. The last time I checked, tax cuts for small businesses is not nationalized health care." Under the plan, the government would pay for 75 percent of the premiums for catastrophic health care - that is, coverage for very expensive, nonroutine care. It would pay for that by rolling back the tax cuts passed early in the Bush administration for those earning more than $200,000 a year.

Remember this claim is now coming from a big government conservative, who has proposed 2 trillion in new spending of his own according to an independent group and not just wild claims by his opponent.

The Kerry plan has nothing to do with putting the government in charge of health care. It simply subsides those large claims with government money. That's it as far as government funding goes.

Something must be wrong in Bushworld. They must be getting nervous, seeing as Kerry has pulled back to within a point according to the new Rasmussen poll. It must freak them out that a guy the media has called dead for the last week or so is running so close, especially in light of all they have thrown at him. Kerry keeps on coming, and if he can hone his message, it'll be lights out for Bush come November.
*UPDATE* Let he who is without sin:

Bush Withheld Information on the Effect of Medicare on Social Security. Every year the Bush Administration has included a chart in its annual Medicare Trustees report on how much of the Social Security benefits Medicare will consume. However, the information was not included in the 2004 report. As Rep. Stark said: “it doesn’t look good to lie to grandma so the Bush administration has withheld information and come up with creative ways to mask the damage they have done to Medicare.” [USA Today, 9/14/04]

Medicare Premiums Consuming Increasing Amount of Social Security. “Information the Bush administration excluded from its 2004 report on the Medicare program shows that a typical 65-year-old can expect to spend 37% of his or her Social Security income on Medicare premiums, co-payments and out-of-pocket expenses in 2006. That share is projected to grow to almost 40% in 2011 and nearly 50% by 2021.” [USA Today, 9/14/04]

The Bush Medicare Law Will “Consume Virtually the Entire Amount of Social Security Benefits.” “Unless Congress does something to hold down costs confronting seniors, the official projections suggest that health spending will consume virtually the entire amount of Social Security benefits when children born today reach retirement age.” [USA Today, 9/14/04]