Obama’s Town Hall: Taxation with Misrepresentation.
After two weeks of raucous town hall events, the One descended from on high to deign and touch the common man with his unending wisdom on healthcare. He admonished the unclean masses for their “wild misrepresentations” and proceeded to promise no lines, coverage for every condition, lower costs, free parking, and a unicorn in every garage. But lying, you see, is a sin. And although he has sinned before, repeatedly, he doth rise above us and he may cast stones down upon us.
First, he dismissed even the rowdy protests themselves as being misleading and disproportionate with the real sentiment of his people. The evil insurance companies, you see, are handpicking the crowds. Highly trained, paid actors who only look like your friends, neighbors and family membors. He then went on to impart his wisdom to the completely random, unscreened, not-Democratic operative audience (who only look like people you’ve never seen before in this quiet New Hampshire town) thusly:
- “We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors;” and “AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare, okay?” Generally, it’s best to wait for an endorsement before touting it. If AARP has endorsed healthcare–ooh, sorry, forgot you were trying to hoodwink us with that sleight of hand–health insurance [wink] legislation, it’s news to the AARP. When asked about this point in a press briefing today, Robert Glibbs incredibly responded that the president “misspoke.“ This is absurd. The President lied. He would have misspoke if he had meant to say the NAACP, or some organization known as the “AARD.” Obama clearly said that AARP had endorsed a bill it had not and Obama made the point in an attempt to pursuade the audience on Medicare cuts, a point near and dear to the hearts of seniors and therefore those likely to rely on an AARP endorsement. In legal vernacular, this is a material misstatement of fact and would be actionable in court. To add insult to fraud, Glibbs goes on to say that, while the President could innocently misspeak, those who misstate facts in opposition to his plan only do so out of malice. Stay classy Mr. Glibbs.
- “Under the reform we’re proposing, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” Really? That’s not what the CBO says. They say up to 15 million people may lose thier employer provided coverage. And if your insurance company goes bankrupt, what then? If your doctor, as one of mine already has, quits practicing because his malpractice insurance is too high? Can I come to you and complain, or will I then just be a mob shill of the insurance lobby? You also said that “under my stimulus plan, unemployment won’t exceed 8.25%.” It’s now almost 10%.
- “[W]hat you need to know is this: If you don’t have health insurance, you will finally have quality, affordable options once we pass reform. If you do have health insurance, we will make sure that no insurance company or government bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need. And we will do this without adding to our deficit over the next decade, largely by cutting out the waste and insurance company giveaways in Medicare that aren’t making any of our seniors healthier.” Again, the CBO would have to disagree. None of the bills considered by Congress does this. None of the bills possible in the real world could acheive this. The CBO says the cost cutting Obama keeps referring to will likely have little or no effect. Saying something doesn’t make it true, even if you are Barack Obama. You can promise jetpacks fueled by unicorn pee and built by leprechauns all day, but you’re still walking to work.
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“Insurance companies basically get $177 billion of taxpayer money to provide services that Medicare already provides.” Yes, if by “basically” you mean “do not at all”. Medicare Advantage provides additional services, like dental and eye care. This is what we call capitalism. You pay money and someone provides a service. If you pay them enough money, they make a profit and stay in business. If you don’t pay them enough money, they lose money and get taken over by the government and become a bureaucracy. Then the unions come.
- About ‘death panels’ “[T]his idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for ‘death panels’ that will basically pull the plug on Grandma. … (T)he intention. .. was to give people more information so that they could handle issues of end-of-life care when they’re ready, on their own terms. … (O)ne of the chief sponsors of this bill originally was a Republican … Johnny Isakson.” Although Isakson thinks the provision does not create ‘death panels,’ he did not sponsor the legislation and vehemently objected to the President trying to make him the token Republican. On the actual issue of ‘death panels’, the idea of a government program where a bureaucrat comes to your home and discusses your end-of-life “options”, one of which is your speedy, cost-effective and imminent death, is anathema to mere mortals with a healthy fear of government. Obama harbors no such fear nor, apparently, such mortality.
- “You will not be waiting in any lines.” Really? Obama hath decreed that his people shall not waiteth in line. This alone should make people see through what a ridiculous prat Obama really is. He would promise anything, words are meaningless to him. People wait in lines now. They’re not actual lines like the stereotype of the DMV, but there is waiting. The point is, with free healthcare the demand increases because people pay nothing to see a doctor. If supply is fixed (it actually drops), the only give is wait time. People have to wait. Unless Obama plans to make doctors work around the clock at gunpoint, free access to healthcare for the 15% of people who don’t have it will result in wait times. People in Massachusetts, who have the single-payer system Obama covets, pay more for healthcare and have to wait nearly two months to see a doctor. They’re not standing around outside the doctor’s office for 50 days, but they are waiting.
- “Either the insurance company refused to cover the person, or they dropped their coverage when they got sick and they needed it most, or they refused to cover a specific illness or condition, or they charged higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs.” You know who else doesn’t cover specific illnesses or conditions? Government healthcare. Whether it’s Medicare, Medicaide, Canadian healthcare, National Health Service in the UK or CubaCare, there are always procedures, illnesses and conditions not covered. (CubaCare apparently doesn’t even cover toilet paper). Governing is about choice, no matter how smooth your tongue, at some point, Mr. President, you will have to stop talking and start governing. Promising people universal, unlimited coverage for less cost is absurd. Anyone who believes you is moron or a liberal, but I repeat myself.
- “… No one holds these companies accountable for these practices.” The consumer holds these people accountable. If, as the conservatives suggest, we disconnect health insurance from employment, consumers will be free to drop their health insurance just as they can drop their car insurance. If I am unhappy with my car or home insurance, I call them, give them a piece of my mind and go to their competitor. Allowing healthcare consumers to do the same would improve service overnight.
- “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” Someone should report him to Linda Douglass for maligning the People’s Glorious HealthCare Reform Bill™ and the People’s Glorious Post Office. Unfortunately for Obama, though, this is the entire point: the government is terrible at operating things. The difference of course is that when the Post Office fails, Aunt Mille doesn’t get her birthday sweater; when her insurance fails, she dies. This is typical liberal myopia; they see the lesson but miss the point. Just as Hillary retold a story of a boy complaining that after a minimum wage hike his mom’s boss had to cut her hours. The mom ended up with the same take home pay. She retold the story as reason to raise the minimum wage again.
- From a darling 11 year old girl: “I saw a lot of signs outside saying mean things about reforming health care. How do kids know what is true, and why do people want a new system that can — that help more of us?” You can almost hear Whitney Houston breaking into “I believe the children are the future…” Look at that question– “saying mean things;” the way she phrased the question in reverse: “why do people want a new system,” so sweet and innocent. Yeah, about that. She’s a plant. Her mother and her her mother’s law firm donated thousand’s to Obama’s campaign. Oh, and their practice includes medical malpractice litigation. Shameless Astroturf. And exploiting a minor. On a day when the Obama’s were hypocritically whining about someone else using Shasha and Malia to make a point.
- At one point, Obama said “I don’t want people thinking I just have a bunch of plants in here.“ Of course, it’s unfair to call Obama’s last statement a lie. He said he didn’t want people to think that. He didn’t say it wasn’t true.
- Finally. when asked to explain his support of a single-payer plan and the fear that healthcare reform is a Trojan Horse for a single payer system, Obama tried to deny he had ever said anything of the sort: “I have not said that I was a single-payer supporter because, frankly, we historically have had a employer-based system in this country with private insurers, and for us to transition to a system like that I believe would be too disruptive.“ First, that’s like saying “I’ve not said I rooted for the Arizona Cardinals because, frankly, the Steelers have won the Superbowl.” Second, the change would be too disruptive? Is that the only reason? If your wife or husband ever asks if you would leave them for another, try answering with “I think the change would be too disruptive,” and enjoy the divorce.
Once again Obama deigns to speak to us without a teleprompter and we get nothing but gaffes, half truths and whopping lies to an audience of supporters and Democratic party plants. Of course in today’s climate, as an added bonus, we also get lectured that his all of his detracters are liars and his enemies fill the audience with paid shills. It is bad enough to suffer a President that constantly lies, but the constant moral superiority is getting old.
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