New Ad Hits Obama's Credibility 

Obama continued to push a deal with Iran during his press conference today. Bill Kristol's Emergency Committee for Israel (I serve on the board) is pushing back with a one-minute ad that will run onCNN, MSNBC and Fox News. If we can't believe Obama on healthcare, can we believe him on Iran? Watch the ad here. 

Obama's Trust Deficit 

A new Fox News poll will have White House aides reaching for the Maalox. Obama is losing the respect of millions of Americans who now question his integrity. 

According to the poll, 55% of registered voters disapprove of Obama's job performance. That's a record high disapproval rate for the Fox poll. But that's the least of Obama's problems. 

Like recent polls from Quinnipiac and Gallup, 55% of voters told Fox pollsters that they believe Obama has tried to deceive them about Obamacare. Half say he "knowingly lied" when he repeatedly promised that individuals could keep their current health insurance policies. Only 40% gave him the benefit of the doubt.

When asked about the president's "apology" to the millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance coverage because of Obamacare, only 38% said they felt Obama's apology was sincere. 

Of course every president hits a rough patch in the polls from time to time. But it is something completely different when the American people conclude they were lied to and deceived. 

Democrats Head For The Lifeboats 

This morning several media outlets are reporting that members of Obama's party are in open revolt. The Hill writes: "Vulnerable Democrats are scrambling to find ways to stand apart from the White House on Obamacareů" 

Meanwhile, new reports suggest that nearly five million Americans have received notices that they are losing their current health insurance coverage because of Obamacare. So Obamacare -- which was supposed to increase access to health care -- has cancelled nearly 50 times more policies than it has issued. 

At least two Senate Democrats have introduced their own bills to prevent Obamacare's continued cancellations of health insurance policies. The fact that Democrats have introduced these bills is an admission that Obama's repeated promise about keeping policies you liked was a lie. 

Tommorrow the House is scheduled to vote on legislation that would allow individuals to keep their current policies. 

Obama Waves His Magic Wand 

The White House is working overtime to prevent a significant number of House Democrats from defecting and voting for the House bill. That's why the president stood before the Washington press corps today and once again waved his magic wand to try to undo Obamacare's damage. Obama announced this afternoon that he was tweaking the regulations to allow cancelled policies to be renewed through 2014. 

But Obama's administrative fix really isn't a fix at all. The president admitted that, saying, "it won't solve every problem for every person." Consider this excerpt from the Associated Press: 
 

• "It's unclear what the impact of Thursday's changes will be for the millions of people who have already had their plans canceled. While officials said insurance companies will now be able to offer those people the option to renew their old plans, companies are not required to take that step. ů 

  "Under Obama's plan, insurance companies would not be allowed to sell coverage deemed subpar under the law to new customers, marking a difference with legislation that House Republicans intend to put to a vote on Friday."

Still Panicking 

The reaction to Obama's announcement did little to stem the panic. A spokesman for the health insurance industry warned that Obama's proposal "could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers." Nancy Pelosi, seemingly unsatisfied with Obama's approach, said that House Democrats would offer their own plan to address this problem. 

Democrats aren't the only ones jumping ship. CNBC's John Harwood has been a staunch apologist for the administration from day one. But after the president's address this afternoon, Harwood was uncharacteristically skeptical of Obama's latest pronouncements. 

Moreover, Howard Dean questioned Obama's authority to do it. "I wonder if he has the legal authority to do this, since this was a congressional bill that set this up," the former Vermont Governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee said. 

Speaker John Boehner also questioned Obama's legal authority. "I don't see within the law how they can do this administratively," Boehner said. "No one can identify anything the president could do administratively to keep his pledge that would be both legal and effective." 

Bishops Battle On 

Another of the major problems with Obamacare is its assault on religious liberty and conscious rights. Several lawsuits are pending in the courts challenging Obamacare's mandate that forces religious institutions and Christian-owned businesses to pay for medical services and procedures that violate their values. So far, the administration is losing more of these cases than it is winning in the lower federal courts. 

Yesterday the nation's Catholic bishops, meeting at their annual General Assembly, unanimously passed a "Special Message" vowing to resist Obamacare's "coercive mandate." The resolution also blasted the Obama White House for "refusing to uphold its obligation to respect the rights of religious believers." You can read more here.