I got into a “debate” with a facebook friend about Obama’s accomplishments, or lack thereof. My friend thinks passing sweeping health care reform that nobody read and most don’t understand was a major triumph. I then presented a variation of the list below to him and he scoffed and assumed I was quoting from “some tea-bagging neo-con blog.” Sorry… these are real sources. Sometimes the truth hurts. Stop drinking the kool-aid, it is deadly. Wake up, look at reality and stop thinking with your heart. Yes, our health care system needs reform, but the monstrosity that Obama/Reid/Pelosi passed is not the solution.
With a week to go before the most important election in our lifetime I ask you to consider the following: ObamaCare is a massively expensive governmental power grab that will cause more harm than good. If you think this is the best thing to come out of the Obama administration, let me point out a dozen things that were “in the bill” that Congress failed to read, but passed anyway, with Speaker Pelosi saying that we had to pass it to find out what was in it.
They might as well be driving on the highway with their eyes closed.
- “Boeing will cut back its health-care insurance plans and require greater employee contributions, 90,000 nonunion workers to pay significantly more for their health plan.” (Seattle Times)
- “For seniors who wish to keep their current plans, out-of-pocket costs will increase.” (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
- “Beginning January 1, 2011, more than 15,00 over-the-counter health care items will require a prescription for a tax-free reimbursement. “ (The Examiner)
- “HHS has already missed one-third of the deadlines contained within the legislation for the first six months under Obama’s law.” (Heartland Institute)
- “A study by Towers Watson suggests more than three-quarters of employers surveyed believe companies will drop coverage as a result of health-care reform, and 50% of them plan to do so themselves. The move by 3M will likely be the first of many more similar announcements to come.” (Motley Fool)
- “Hewitt Associates study projects an 8.8% average premium increase for employees, compared with a 6.9% jump in 2010.” (National Conference of State Legislatures)
- “Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks” (Wall Street Journal)
- “Health premiums may rise 17% for young adults buying own insurance” (AP/USA Today)
- “More than 3 million beneficiaries will see their current drug plan eliminated as Medicare tries to winnow down duplicative and confusing coverage.” (AP/Yahoo News)
- “The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from the $5 billion high-risk pool program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured. Rational analysis says it will run out of money before Jan. 1, 2014. That’s when the program sunsets and health plans can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.” (The Hill)
- “AT&T said that it is preparing for President Obama’s health care overhaul to cost the telecommunications giant an additional $1 billion in expenses in the first quarter, possibly forcing the company to cut benefits it offers to current and retired workers. AK Steel Corp., Caterpillar, Deere and Valero Energy announced similar accounting charges, saying the health care law will raise their expenses.” (CNN)
- “the companies — so far, they include AT&T, Verizon, Caterpillar, Deere, Valero Energy, AK Steel and 3M — said a tax provision in the new health care law will make it far more expensive to provide prescription drug coverage to their retired employees.” (Washington Examiner)
Is this leadership? Is this the fundamental transformation of America that you voted for? Or are these cuts and negative fallout what you should expect from a president that has never lead before and his Chicago-style win at all costs mentality? And think about this: Democrats locked Republicans out of debate and negotiations about health care line items, and now have the unmitigated gaul to say that Republicans are obstructionists and share the blame for the problems we face today? The Democrats have a massive majority, and it still took bribes and intimidation to get the votes needed to pass this pig?
Please, I beg of you. If you think this bill is a good bill, do some more research. I’ve provided sources for every quote above. It took me fifteen minutes with a web search engine to find this stuff. If you refuse to do the homework and still support Obama because he’s not George W. Bush, please just stay home. An uneducated vote is more dangerous for America than you probably realize.
Health care talk, deficit talk, and more educational goodies.
Apparently word of the president’s poor performance has spread quickly. He has come off as defensive and unable to tolerate criticism of the current bill or facts that support Republican arguments.
[This is a quick draft, but after listening to Harry Reid's spiteful blabbering I feel compelled to get the word out.]
YES, reconciliation has been used 20+ times before, as follows:
- Reagan = 8 times for a net effect on the deficit of -$428B.
- GHW Bush = 2 times for a net effect on the deficit of -$275B
- Clinton = 4 times for a net effect on the deficit of -$586B
- GW Bush = 5 times for a net effect on the deficit of +$925B
(just one of the reasons conservatives are so angry)
Harry Reid just said in this meeting “our bill cuts the deficit by $132 billion dollars.” He is referring to the most recent CBO report. But you have to remember that the CBO can only analyze and report on what is the proposal and cannot factor in actual legislative changes in the future. One of the claims in the current legislation is that the Senate will actually cut $330 billion from Medicare. Any one with a realistic perspective on the topic knows with almost 100% confidence that that cut will never, never, never happen. If this is true, Reid’s claim of $132B in budget savings now becomes a budget increase of $198B. That’s a little different, and there are billions if not trillions of dollars that are still not included in current legislation.
So Harry, while reconciliation has been used many times before, history has shown that it’s use was on issues having nothing close to the impact of the government takeover of health care. Millions will still remain uncovered, costs will skyrocket, and not having insurance will become a criminal offense. This bill is a pig, and in my humble opinion I think that doing the wrong thing quickly is far more damaging than starting over and getting it right. Tort reform. Purchasing insurance across state lines. Tax incentives for insurance companies to provide low-cost insurance for the needy.
Harry Reid is a stubborn old man, unwilling to listen to opinions other than his own. I hope this meeting serves as just another wake up call to the people of Nevada.
Here’s what the CBO Director said earlier this year:
According to our preliminary assessment, enacting the proposal would result in a net increase in federal budget deficits of about $1.0 trillion over the 2010-2019 period. When fully implemented, about 39 million individuals would obtain coverage through the new insurance exchanges. At the same time, the number of people who had coverage through an employer would decline by about 15 million (or roughly 10 percent), and coverage from other sources would fall by about 8 million, so the net decrease in the number of people uninsured would be about 16 million or 17 million.
So, a net increase of 17 million newly insured people. Let’s run with the lie that the entire package will cost $900B over ten years. This equates to a taxpayer cost of $52,941 per newly insured American. If we use a more realistic $1.5T estimate the per person cost jumps to $88,235. Of course, we all know that the government always comes in at or under budget for massive projects, right?
