During his news conference Wednesday night, Barack Obama failed to make a compelling case for the implementation of his much-touted government takeover of healthcare. Several reasons are readily apparent:
1. He refused to deal with the issue of denial of care, or rationing, athough he was asked about the matter several times by at least 2 different reporters.
As we have stated repeatedly right here in this column, the ONLY way a generalized government takeover of healthcare can control the inflationary costs of medical coverage is to implement a system of limitations on what, and more importantly, who gets covered. The elderly and severely chronically ill will bear most of the brunt. My previous columns on this matter can be found here, here, and here.
2. Obama set up an entirely false premise that states Americans have only 2 choices--do nothing at all, or buy into his healthcare plan.
No one, and I repeat, NO ONE has ever advocated doing nothing. I sure haven't. In fact, most of the forward-looking, innovative programs for improving America's healthcare system have come from free-market conservatives. We recognize that improvements need to be made, and we have provided concrete solutions. Some of these solutions are noted at the end of my article entitled, 'Government Takeover of Healthcare Won't Solve Problem.'
Obama would love for Americans to think that the only 2 choices we have are his, and doing nothing. This sets up a scare-tactic scenario, similar to the one he used to falsely persuade the country into following his highly flawed 24 trillion dollar bailout of Wall Street and the mortgage giants.
The 'do it my way or we will fall off the precipice' chicken-little ultimatum is not working anymore, simply because once you fool the American people with false claims of disaster around every corner, they yawn and laugh at you when you attempt the same thing again.
3. Blaming George Bush for everything has long since gotten old. It has become putrid rotten, and its stench emanates from every pore of Obama's body. This has definitely become a joke, and Obama is the butt-end of it.
In the news conference he continued to persistently blame 'the previous Administration' for all of his woes. That may still work with the kool-aid drinkers who blindly follow him like a Messiah, but to the rest of the country it is clear that this man has trouble accepting responsibility for any of his actions.
When Obama took office we had a deficit of a little less than 2 trillion. Within 6 months, Obama has tripled it. He also quadrupled the national debt. George W. Bush did not do these things. This is entirely Obama's doing, and it is time he took responsibility for his reckless actions.
4. The true cost of this healthcare proposal was ignored and glazed over by Obama's insistence that it can be paid for by savings in other areas alone and that it won't increase the size of the deficit. The CBO and other sources have already totally debunked that notion, estimating the costs of the plan to be roughly 9 trillion dollars over the next several years. In addition, heavy tax increases will be necessary to fund it. Some of this WILL come from the middle class, no matter what Obama says. We must remember he has already broken his promises before that there be 'no tax increases for the middle class.'
And we must remember he wishes to cut 500 billion from Medicare--taking care from the elderly--to pay for this monstrosity.
5. Obama obviously still has an immature, thin skin for someone in public office. He simply can't get over the fact that Republicans are telling the truth about this proposed disaster for our nation and its finances, and he seems to think S.C. Senator Jim DeMint wants the healthcare proposal to fail 'just so Obama can meet his Waterloo.'
What a joke. That response is not one of an adult but of an adolescent who never grew up. Obama claims 'this is not about me,' yet when anyone criticizes it, it suddenly becomes 'all about him.'
The Senator was clearly referring to the fact that Obama's proposal is very unpopular in the country, even among his fellow Democrats, thus leading one to the conclusion that this ill-conceived plan WILL be his Waterloo unless he backs off. The Obama Presidency may well be destroyed by this one issue alone. Obama's failure to grasp this simple fact causes one pause to reflect on his reasoning ability under pressure. The problem isn't Jim DeMint. It's the President's failure to grasp basic political wisdom.
6. Obama seemed mad, agitated, distracted. Gone was the relaxed give-and-take to which we have become accustomed to seeing in his interactions with reporters. It was only at the end of the news conference that smiles and laughter returned when Obama joked about what would happen if he attempted to break into a window at the White House.
With that one exception, the press conference appeared to be that of a dictatorial tyrant demanding that an unpopular piece of legislation be approved by the end of this year, or else.
And he would not even commit himself to urge Congress to place itself on whatever 'public' option for healthcare they pass for the unwashed, unsophisticated masses who are not good enough for the medical plan the President and Congress get.
The best thing Congress can do, if it knows what's good for it, is to table the entire thing and get the heck out of town on their summer recess. This little monster of a bill has ruffled the feathers of so many citizens throughout the heartland that if Congress doesn't listen, there will be dire consequences for their careers and reputations.
And rightly so.
http://www.examiner.com/x-3704-Columbia-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m7d23-ObamaFail-The-healthcare-news-conference
