Though injecting humor into his general-session speech before about 500 attendees, O'Reilly was highly critical of President Obama's missteps and was particularly disparaging of the recently passed, health-care legislation.
With [image-nocss] many of the law's provisions going into effect in 2014, the most immediate result of health-care reform is a 10% rise in insurance costs, he said. "[Insurance companies] are scared of what's going to happen in 2014, so until then, prices are going up," O'Reilly said, noting how his personal rates have gone up $2,100. "The problem when selling [the bill] is that Obama did not tell us how tough it would be from 2010-2014."
Though believing in laws that will help protect the "millions" of children who fall through the "safety net" of the nation's current health-care system, O'Reilly said there were ways to improve that situation without a complete overhaul.
"Maybe not to me, but to a lot of my friends, $2,100 is a big hit," he said. "And how is unemployment going to get any better when small business isn't hiring [because of high insurance costs]?"
The struggling economy, the war in Afghanistan and political missteps regarding the BP oil spill and controversy over building a mosque at the site of the former World Trade Center weigh heavily on the current administration, he said, and will eventually cause the Democrats to lose their majority in the House of Representatives, O'Reilly said.
"The people now have buyer's remorse [with President Obama]," he said. "No one in [the c-store] industry has buyer's remorse. Who comes back in and says, 'I don't want this Twinkie.'?"
He added: "Clearly, the president is not on the same wavelength as the American people."
And while critical of the Democrats, O'Reilly also had tough words for Republicans, calling the party "inept" and asking, "How are they going to do anything if they're not going to focus?"
In sizing up the Republican field for the next presidential election, he said if it were held today, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate in 2008 would win. He said vice presidential candidate and former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin has a populist view and could probably raise the money necessary to make a solid bid, but "the Republicans in Washington don't like her."
The concern for any candidate entering the presidential race is fundraising, he said, noting that $150 million was the going rate.
Ultimately, O'Reilly expressed optimism going forward. When asked in a question-and-answer period what country would surpass the United States economically, he said, "Nobody. Americans have worked too hard, we're too independent."
O'Reilly was also asked what he would do on his birthday next month, to which he replied: "I'm not a big birthday guy. I'll probably have surf and turf at a local convenience store."
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