Rather than describe the details of President Obama's speech before Congress on health care, which is being picked apart by all the pundits, I would like to highlight my main impressions.
First of all, his speech was too long. He tried to be concise about what his plan would do and where the "misrepresentations" made by his opponents lay. His ending was a reminder of his campaign stump speeches where he tried to end on soaring oratory and, in this case, an emotional reference to Edward Kennedy.
Here are the questions I am left asking:
Why was there no conciliatory reference to the town hall dissidents who made loud and clear their objections? He spoke of "lies" and "misrepresentations." He attacked his critics and he demonised the insurance companies.
He said (again) that if you have insurance you are happy with, you can keep it. Fine, but what if my insurance company goes out of business in trying to compete with that "government option"?
He said that claims that illegal aliens would be covered were "false", prompting a South Carolina congressman to yell out, "You lie!". (He has already apologized as well he should.) But what if some months down the road, the government issues another "amnesty" and legalizes those illegal aliens? Then will they be covered?
As to the Republican desire for tort reform, he sounded conciliatory and held out the prospect for specific state by state trials (something the Republicans have previously asked for and which Karl Rove dismissed as a "fig leaf").
But what really raised my eyebrows was his claim that his plan would not add one dime to the deficit (the Congressional Budget Office disagrees.) He claimed that his bill would cost about 900 billion dollars over 10 years. How would it be paid for? By eliminating waste and inefficiency in Medicare.
Let me see if I understand this correctly. The federal government is going to find and eliminate 900 billion dollars in waste and inefficiency (in anything). In addition, how in the world are you going to add some 30 million people to insurance coverage, improve the quality of health care for those who already have coverage and not add to the deficit? The numbers don't add up. As for the government eliminating 900 billion dollars in waste and inefficiency, common sense and my own experience in government tells me different.
It just doesn't make sense.
There are two areas in which the Democrats seem to have no answers-tort reform and allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines to increase competition. After the speech, Bill O'Reilly posed the latter question to David Axelrod. He basically evaded the question and tried to change the subject to attacking Karl Rove.
Axelrod also told O'Reilly that "doctors and nurses support this plan." Well, I guess some do, but the ones I have talked to, including my own, don't think it's such a great idea.
Obama has now addressed the nation five times to sell this idea (a White House news conference, three town halls and now an address to Congress). Maybe tomorrow, there will be a slight bump in the polls in the President's direction, but a week or two later, I just don't see this address has having really advanced his goal.
If I were an impartial, undecided observer, I would ask this simple question: Do the numbers quoted by President Obama add up?
1 comment:
The incident that occurred in Congress by Rep. Joe Wilson R-NC, illustrates the consequences of a blurring line between illegal immigration and health care. Our politicians have been alerted to the angry voices of the American people. For once they have disregarded the business campaign contributors and all the cloaked gifts given for services rendered by special interest lobbyists. Millions of US citizens are enraged with the status quo buying favors from our representatives that has led to our wilting economy. Today speaking on behalf of Washington committees on health care, the lawmaking emphasized that illegal aliens cannot access the new health reform package, that any person applying will be checked through government databases.
E-Verify might be implemented for this very issue, that it has shown in the majority of cases remarkable successes in remove illegal alien workers from the working environment. E-Verify can solve this problem and bring sanity back to immigration enforcement. E-VERIFICATION OF EACH AND EVERY AMERICAN WORKER MUST BE MADE PERMANENT? NOT JUST VOLUNTARY POLICY, BUT AS A FULL FORCE OF OPERATION CARRYING STRICT PENALTIES. This operation will work under federal policies? But what about state laws? California as an example is a Sanctuary state for millions of illegal immigrants and their families? Other border states are also occupied by large proportions of unlawful populations of foreign nationals?
This last year has culminated in huge financial losses in California caused by millions of low income illegal aliens, which has created a third world community within the United States. There must be federal measures to bring under control, massive spending benefits for people who have no right from benefiting from those who come here legally or were born here. How can any public health care option work at a state level, when states like California ignore federal law, regarding financial refuge to indigent people? Our own people remain homeless and in many cases without hope, when legislators have prioritized, health care, education an overloaded jail system and easy welfare money for illegal immigrants?
The once golden state has been using taxpayer money, to support illegal aliens, when the same expenditures should have been adopted for a collapsing infrastructure. Highways, schools, tunnels, bridges and dams in a dangerous state of disrepair? Our legislators in many cases have been seduced by lobbyists and should be banned from any contact with our politicians. This will never happen, but something must be done? Millions have been spent on derailing the health care reform currently and in the past, as has immigration enforcement. Rescinding 287(g) federal training for local police enforcement of immigration laws, the NO MATCH LETTER and the cutting back on ICE raids on obnoxious businesses using foreign workers.
The order to crush E-verify was given to Sen.Harry Reid, Speaker Pelosi, Janet Napolitano, but narrowly survived in the Senate chambers. Both political parties are equally to blame for not enforcing the 1986 Immigration Control & Reform Act that was inundated with fraud and a desire to weaken the laws. Now they want to rescind that law, offering yet another reform package that will never function? Let’s not kid ourselves! Huge veiled forces are at work to import as much cheap labor as possible with no restraints, lowering wages and an unconscionable burden on taxpayers.
DON'T LET THE POWERS IN WASHINGTON WHITEWASH THE FACTS! DEMAND THE ORIGINAL DESIGNED FENCE AND THE FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF E-VERIFY, 287 (g), THE SAVE ACT AND AS WRITTEN, THE 1986 SIMPSON/MAZZOLI BILL AND AMEND THEM IF NEED BE? NO MORE IMMIGRATION REFORM? DO THE JOB THEY WERE VOTED FOR? CALL YOUR POLITICIANS AT 202-224-3121 AND DEMAND THESE LAWS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE? MORE ANSWERS FOUND AT NUMBERSUSA & JUDICIAL WATCH.
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