'You can keep it' haunts Obama like 'Read my lips'

It was perhaps the most memorable utterance of former President George H.W. Bush’s early days, so when he broke his “read my lips, no new taxes” pledge in 1990 the public never again viewed his policy promises the same way.

A prominent Republican pollster who was working at the Republican National Committee then said the broken pledge contributed significantly to Bush’s 1992 loss to Bill Clinton. Now President Obama is facing his own rhetorical crisis over the false Obamacare sales pitch, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”