Obama Knows Best? Vows to Force-feed Americans Bill They Hate
Heritage Foundation: Morning Bell: “The American Public Is Not Behind This Bill”
After more than a year of $862 billion dollar deficit stimulus bills, national-debt-doubling federal budgets, and government takeovers of the auto industry, it is difficult to remember that President Barack Obama actually ran as a moderate in many ways. On his way to a 53% – 46% win over Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), then-Sen. Obama promised to “cut taxes for 95% of workers and their families,” expand the Army by 65,000 and the Marines by 27,000, and enact “a net spending cut” for the federal government. Obama promised lower taxes, a strong defense and shrinking the size of government. No wonder independents in nine states that went for President George Bush in 2000 and 2004 switched their vote to Obama in 2008 (CO, FL, IN, IA, NV, NM, NC, OH and VA). But now those independents are beginning to reassess. Public Policy Polling (a liberal polling firm) notes that Obama now has a negative approval rating in every state that he flipped from the Bush column to his in 2008.
And now President Obama has lost one of his biggest and earliest supporters on his signature issue: health care. Yesterday, when pressed on CNBC if he would be in favor of scrapping the Senate health care bill, Warren Buffett responded: “I would be.” Specifically, Buffett believes that the Senate bill will not contain health care costs: “We have a health system that, in terms of cost, is really out of control, and if you take this line and you project what has been happening into the future, we will get less and less competitive. So, we need something else. Unfortunately, we came up with a bill that really doesn’t attack the cost situation that much and we have to have a fundamental change.” Buffett is correct on both fronts: 1) the President’s own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has reported that the Senate health care bill would raise national health expenditures $234 billion by 2019; and 2) our current system is completely unable to control exploding health care costs.
So why is our current system completely unable to control costs? For the same reason most Americans over-eat at buffets: when you don’t have to pay for each plate of food, you usually eat more. In recent decades, the percentage of health care spending paid “out of pocket” by patients has fallen substantially, from 52% in 1965 to only 15% in 2005. Instead of patients paying for the care they receive, our system is built around a third-party payment system where the government and insurance companies are the ones who actually pay for individual medical expenses. When prices are determined through administrative procedures rather than market processes, both patients and producers are anesthetized from normal market incentives to reduce prices and spending. That is why our health care costs are rising so rapidly.
And every major pillar of Obamacare makes the third-party-payer problem worse: mandates that limit out-of-pocket spending by patients, mandates that extend the minimum benefits insurance must cover, a massive expansion of Medicaid, and lower limits on the tax deductibility of out-of-pocket spending. And the one measure that the left once pointed to as its key cost-reducing measure – the taxing of expensive health insurance plans –has been gutted and pushed back until 2018, when any honest observer knows it will never be implemented. Commenting on the state of health care reform, Buffet told CNBC yesterday:
If it was a choice today between plan A, which is what we’ve got, or plan B, what is in front of — the Senate bill, I would vote for the Senate bill. But I would much rather see a plan C that really attacks costs. And I think that’s what the American public wants to see. I mean, the American public is not behind this bill. And we need the American public behind the bill, because it’s going to have to do some tough things.
The current system is unsustainable. We do need heath care reform. But not reform that is opposed by the vast majority of the American people and makes the core problem of the current system worse. The President should follow Buffett’s advice, scrap the current bill and start over.
The Foundry: All Rhetoric, No Reality from White House on Health Care
Flanked, again, by doctors in lab coats, President Barack Obama gave yet another speech this afternoon urging Congress to pass his health care reform plan.
The President again claimed his plan lowers health care costs. It doesn’t.
The President again claimed his plan would not give government bureaucrats or insurance company bureaucrats more control over health care. It does.
The President again claimed that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” That simply is not true.
The President again said his plan gives the American people the same health care as Members of Congress. It doesn’t.
The President again claimed his plan is paid for. It is not.
The only “new” wrinkle in this speech was President Obama much telegraphed call for “an up or down vote” on health care reform. Again the White House is completely out of touch with reality. The Senate has already passed Obamacare. It is currently sitting ready for a vote in the House of Representatives. The House could pass Obamacare into law by an up-or-down/simple-majority vote tomorrow if they so desired.
But the simple reality is that they don’t have the votes. The House may be controlled by an overwhelming Democratic super majority, but the Obama administration simply does not have the 50% plus one votes they need to turn their top domestic priority into law.
Now the President is claiming he has some new plan that he all of a sudden wants a brand new vote on in the Senate. But that is not going to happen any time soon. President Obama says he is open to four specific conservative ideas, but the White House has produced no details or even legislative language for this new plan. And even if the White House ever does produce such language, it would then have to go to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring.
More importantly, simply adding so-called conservative ideas to the bill does not change the fundamental direction of the proposal. The bills before Congress, including the President’s new additions, would still result in a massive shift of power over health care financing and delivery of care to Washington politicians and bureaucrats. The public has spoken, and it does not want a federal take over of health care.
Conservatives should continue to press the Administration and leaders in Congress for bipartisan solutions that are based on elements of common ground, including letting states take the lead on health reform, tackling the tax treatment of health insurance, sensible insurance market reforms, and an honest commitment to fixing existing health care programs that the government already controls.
The Obama HC Cramdown is part of Obama’s Progressive Agenda which includes a socialistic-type power grab and his payback to the Unions (SEIU) for his election.
Scary Video of Andy Stern the Most Frequent Visitor to the WH and President of SEIU – Their slogan is the Marxist slogan: “Workers of America (the World) Unite”
Video: More Slight of Hand, More Lies, More Broken Promises
America… We Have Been Had… And Continue To Be, Let’s Get to Work ~
Ok, Patriots, you just heard the President say "Make your voice heard" so let them hear us...Here's a list of the 30 Democrats that are "on the fence". This list is compliments of Dick Morris' website.
He's put the names and numbers together for us. Now all we have to do is accept the President's invitation to make our voices heard. Pick up the phone and start calling!!!
Harry Mitchell (202) 225-2190 (480) 946-2411
Gabrielle Giffords (202) 225-2542 (520) 881-3588
Ann Kirkpatrick (202) 225-2315 (928) 226-6914
Jerry McNerney (202) 225-1947 925-833-0643
John Salazar 202-225-4761 970-245-7107
Jim Hines (202) 225-5541 (866) 453-0028
Alan Grayson (202) 225-2176 (407) 841-1757
Bill Foster (202) 225-2976 630-406-1145
Baron Hill 202 225 5315 812 288 3999
Mark Schauer (202) 225-6276 (517) 780-9075
Gary Peters (202) 225-5802 (248) 273-4227
Dina Titus (202) 225-3252 702-256-DINA (3462)
Carol Shea-Porter (202) 225-5456 (603) 743-4813
Tim Bishop (202) 225-3826 (631) 696-6500
John Hall (202) 225-5441 (845) 225-3641 x49371
Bill Owens (202) 225-4611 (315) 782-3150
Mike Arcuri (202)225-3665 (315)793-8146
Dan Maffei (202) 225-3701 (315) 423-5657
Earl Pomneroy (202) 225-2611 (701) 224-0355
Steven Driehaus (202) 225-2216 (513) 684-2723
Mary Jo Kilroy (202) 225-2015 (614) 294-2196
Zach Space (202) 225-6265 (330) 364-4300
Kathy Dahlkemper (202) 225-5406 (814) 456-2038
Patrick Murphy (202) 225-4276 (215) 826-1963
Christopher Carney (202) 225-3731 (570) 585-9988
Paul Kanjorski (202) 225-6511 (570) 825-2200
John Spratt (202) 225-5501 (803)327-1114
Tom Perriello (202) 225-4711 (276) 656-2291
Alan Mollohan (202) 225-4172 (304) 623-4422
Nick Rahall (202) 225-3452 (304) 252-5000
Steve Kagen (202) 225-5665 (920) 437-1954
Congress.org - Elected Officials
1-202-224-3121- US Congressional Switchboard
1-202-225-3121- US Congressional Switchboard
(202) 225-0100 - Speaker of the House Pelosi
Related:
It could always be worse… You live in bankrupt California where they are still trying to pass a State Single Payer HC Bill as well: “SB810”…
California Senate Passes SB 810,The California Universal HealthcareAct
Single Payer Discussion Moves to Assembly
Watch the Senate Floor Debate. SB 810 discussion begins 62 minutes into the Senate Session.
View the one hour and 13 minute senate debate. This is must viewing. It contains all the arguments for and against singlepayer.
Special thanks to Senator Leno for being such a strong single payer advocate. Below is a list of the various senators who spoke, when they spoke, and one sentence on their comments. Scroll forward 62 minutes into the senate session to the SB 810 discussion.
Next Steps:
- Thank Senators Who Voted Yes
- Collect Single Payer Postcards
- for Delivery to Assembly Members
- Please Donate
We want to thank all the senators who voted yes. It is important that senators know we appreciate their support so thank them.
Let them know you want universal healthcare minus the insurance companies. Below is a list of all senators, how they voted, and their Sacramento phone numbers. If your senator did not vote for SB 810, call them and ask them what it would take for them to vote for SB 810.
SB 810 debate begins on timeline at 1:02:20
Timeline – speaker – what they said
1:02:20 Author Leno from San Francisco introduces and speaks for bill.
1:11.50 Runner (R-17 – just north of LA) Opposed. Taxation removes choice of healthcare from families. Massachusetts shows voters do not want radical healthcare.
1:16:50 Strickland (R-19 – Santa Barbara) Opposed. Single payer has the compassion of the IRS and the efficiency of the Dept of Motor Vehicles. Single Payer is worse than what is being rejected in DC. Listen to the voters of Massachusetts.
1:19:59 Aanestad (R-18 – Chico) Opposed. Canada is failing. Massachusetts went to single payer and it is being rejected.
1:24:38 Romero (D-24 – East LA) For. System is broken. #1 cause of bankruptcy is healthcare. Employers are dropping healthcare.
1:26:48 Harman (R-35 – Orange County) Opposed. Are you kidding? SB 810 costs 200 billion. Kill this bill.
1:28:05 Hancock (D-9 – Oakland) For. Long list of groups for SB 810. 6 of 11 groups listed in opposition are insurance companies. MA is not single payer and that is its’ problem.
1:32:28 Pavley (D-23 – Santa Monica) For. Healthcare costs are rising 3 times faster than wages. This is an expansion of Medicare.
1:35:58 (Keho D-39 – San Diego) For. Keho is chair of Appropriations Committee. 810 is a fiscally sound bill. Our current system is not fiscally prudent.
1:38;02 (Denham R-12 – Central Valley) Opposed. 810 is socialized medicine.
1:40:55 (DeSaulnier D-07 – Contra Costa County) For. Good for small business.
1:43:11 (Simitian D-11 – San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz counties. For. Keep the discussion going.
!;44:31 (Steinberg D-6 Sacramento – He is the Senate President pro Tem (leader of Senate). For. Asked Republicans what their fix is. Asked Republicans where is their rage for a broken system.
1:52:00 Runner (R-17) Opposed. Families can spend money better than government. SB 810 is like fixing a flat tire by burning the car.
1:54:24 Steinberg (D-6) For. Families and businesses are getting shafted.
1:56:00 Cedillo (D-22 – LA) For. Republican proposals have been rejected because the car is burning and you only want to fix the tire.
The current system has the compassion of Exxon and the dependability of Amera Quest.
2:00:34 Dutton (R-31 – San Bernardino, Riverside) Opposed. Tried to change the subject by saying the problem is that we chased 2 million jobs from California.
2:2:32 Author Leno closes. 59% of Californians want Medicare for All. He then went point by point and answered all the objections. Cited polls on Brown voters in MA.
SB 810 is physician run healthcare, not insurance company run healthcare.
2:13:14 The vote. We win 22 to 14. 3 Dems did not vote. One office is vacant.
Your state senator and contact information can be found here.
California… You are getting scr_wd coming and going…
VA: URGENT ACTION ALERT
VA Urgent Action Alert: HB10 Vote in Senate Tomorrow
Stand-up America and Speak-up, there are still votes up for grabs. "The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about IT! --Albert Einstein
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