Obama- The Master of Illusion
The Obama Illusions
The President gave another of his legislative clarification speeches today concerning Healthcare. He clearly stated that his plan would save lives improve the health of the nation and cost everyone less for better healthcare than is currently being provided, He made it clear that the Congress was squandering an opportunity by taking time to consider writing a bill that made sense for America. He seemed irritated that Congress in this instance was actually working on the issue instead of rubber stamping his brilliance as was done with the Stimulus Bill.
Of course the Stimulus Bill doesn’t look exactly brilliant these days but I will try not to digress from health issues.
The President in his speech made it clear that his plan would not add to the deficit and would bend the cost curve down as we moved into the future. He came up with a plan involving another committee that he would create to make a yearly review of heath costs to see what they needed to cut to maintain the downward bend that the President talked about,
I have been searching for creditable support for the Presidents Downward Bending Theory (DBT)from someone who knows what they are talking about.
I thought a good place to look was the Congressional Budget Office> They usually underestimate program costs but it would be a starting point in a search for projected cost.
The following summation by the Head of The Congressional Budget office is interesting
Congressional Budget Office disputes Obama’s HealthCare cost assertion
Congressional Budget
Office Director Douglas Elmendorf warned lawmakers based on calculations of the various bills in the House and Senate. Elmendorf was asked by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., if the bills Congress is considering would “bend the cost curve.” The budget director responded: “The curve is being raised.”
Subsidies to help uninsured people would raise federal health care spending, which is already growing at an unsustainable rate, Elmendorf said at a hearing. The Medicare and Medicaid cuts that lawmakers have offered to pay for the coverage expansion aren’t big enough to offset the cost trend, particularly in the long term, he said.
The President as is his usual wont did not comment on any contrary analysis such as that by Elmendorf and the CBO. He rolled right past their warning and once again indicated that he knew better than anyone who might disagree. He further indicated that he would only sign a bill that met his criteria. Elmendorf indicates that the Medicare and Medicaid cuts proposed are not big enough to support the Obama Downward Bend Theory.
My advice to the older Americans on Medicare is to get everything medically taken care of that you can as soon as you can. There is little doubt who is going to pay for the Obama Downward Bend Theory. Diminished care for the elderly is on the way. Listen to the rhetoric concerning all the wasted money on unneeded procedures when a pain pill might take the place of a pacemaker.
The President is getting easier to read as the days pass. It is becoming easy to see why everything he proposes needs to be rushed. He is worried that the Nation may suddenly wake up and understand the Socialistic direction he is taking America.
To an awakened America, he might have to give a truthful analysis of the costs of his various proposals. Obama will not be able to give us real answers to real questions. Hopefully the public will soon understand that the Obama “magic moments” are simply illusions presented by an actor using expert stage craft technique.
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Comments
It goes way beyond healthcare…although admittedly that’s this Administration’s latest push. It’s all about an agenda to fundamentally change the guiding principles that have supported and sustained this nation from it’s inception and to replace them with principles and policies that have both caused much pain and suffering in other countries as well as been the unsustainable foundation for nations, empires and whole civilizations that are now in the ash heap of history. And I was a Democrat all my life until this last election! Go figure. Well, we’ve moved way beyond “parties” here. This is about decent people, honest, compassionate, trustworthy people being able to find their way to positions of public trust that allow them to lead by the example of their integrity, not by fiat.
Carole,
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. You have entered new elements into the discussion that I fear are not broadly understood anymore.
Trustworthy people leading by the example of their integrity.
I’m ready to follow that type of leader. Party does not matter!
Buck
It’s much worse than just dimished care. In a speech last week, President Obama was extolling the virtures of hospice care in lieu of costly life prolonging techniques. This is one thing as a personal/family decision, but Obama’s comments reflect the direction that his health care will take us.
In the Senate version of the Bill, it is stated that the goals are to “reduce the consumption of health care” and give everyone the “same health care experience regardless of their ability to pay”. In short, this is no longer about the access to health care that he campaigned on because that access is being limited for those who already have it. The Senate Bill also has a household income scale by which your co-pays are set. Over $88,000 per year for a family is 100% co pay. That means your family health care will be paid entirely by you because your premiums are now paying for those “less fortunate” than you. You get no benefit from your premiums and you no longer have insurance in case of severe illness or hospitalization.
These bills will deny services needed (especially for the elderly and terminally ill whose costs are greater), increase health care costs across the board, shift costs to the public rather than private health insurance companies, and increase unemployment by dissolving an entire health insurance industry.
Other than all of those issues, this is a great bill. My vote is for Jack Kevorkian to head up this new committee.