The most troubling part of the current health care debate is the dishonesty of President Obama and the Democratic Party.
During his June 23, 2009 press conference President Obama said this when asked whether his public plan health insurance option would drive private health providers out of business:
"Why would it drive private insurance out of business? If private insurers say the marketplace provides the best quality health care - that they are offering a good deal then why is it that the government - that they say can't run anything - suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That's not logical."
While his delivery is smooth the content of his rhetoric is a lie. The entire purpose of the public plan is to eliminate competition and serve as a "first step" or a "bridge" to socialized medicine. It is also logical. If the government can provide a product for a lower cost and not face any negative consequences even if they lose a massive amount of money of course private industry is going to go out of business. There is nothing "competitive" about this at all.
If one doesn't want to take my word for it, then listen to both the creators of the plan and those who are pushing it the hardest.
The architect and creator of the public plan strategy is far left political writer and thinker Jacob Hacker. He has been peddling this plan in a variety of different forms since 2001. By his own admission this strategy is simply the first step towards a single-payer system.
Speaking to the Tides Foundation (a far left nonprofit) on July 21, 2008 Mr. Hacker said: “Someone once said to me, ‘This is a Trojan horse for single-payer,’ and I said, ‘Well, it’s not a Trojan horse, right? It’s just right there.’ I’m telling you, we’re going to get there.” His basic point was that the elimination of competition from the private sector was an obvious byproduct of the public plan.
In addition to Mr. Hacker, several current sitting Congressmen and Cabinet members have made similar statements. Representative Jan Schakowsky a Democrat from Illinois said the following on April 18 of this year during a speech: “And next to me was a guy from the insurance company and he said to me, 'A public option would not let private insurance compete. A public option will put the private insurance industry out of business and lead to single-payer.' My single payer friends, he was right! The man was right! . . . This is not a principled fight. This is a strategy for getting there and I believe we will!"
Continuing, Senator Russ Feingold a Democrat from Wisconsin said the following during an interview with the liberal media group Democracy Now! on May 5, 2009: "I do support single-payer health care. . . I would love to see it and I believe the goal here is to create whatever legislation we have in a way that could be developed into something like a single payer system."
Even more, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said this in 2007 about her strategy for "closing the gap" towards a single-payer plan: "What we need is a national agenda and a commitment to universal health care. . . I mean I'm all for a single-payer system eventually. I think what we have to do though is work with what we've got to close the gap."
Finally, Barrack Obama in 2003 during a speech stated in very specific, clear, and strong words that he was a proponent of a single-payer, universal healthcare system for America. He went on to say that “we may not get there immediately” but went on to suggest that they would be successful over time in this issue.
I don't care if President Obama or any other Democrat for that matter is an advocate for nationalized health care. If that is what you want then debate it on its merits and let the American people decide. But instead, the Democratic Party has cloaked the health care debate in dishonesty as a "strategy" to get what they want. Shame on the Democratic Party and shame on President Obama.
During his June 23, 2009 press conference President Obama said this when asked whether his public plan health insurance option would drive private health providers out of business:
"Why would it drive private insurance out of business? If private insurers say the marketplace provides the best quality health care - that they are offering a good deal then why is it that the government - that they say can't run anything - suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That's not logical."
While his delivery is smooth the content of his rhetoric is a lie. The entire purpose of the public plan is to eliminate competition and serve as a "first step" or a "bridge" to socialized medicine. It is also logical. If the government can provide a product for a lower cost and not face any negative consequences even if they lose a massive amount of money of course private industry is going to go out of business. There is nothing "competitive" about this at all.
If one doesn't want to take my word for it, then listen to both the creators of the plan and those who are pushing it the hardest.
The architect and creator of the public plan strategy is far left political writer and thinker Jacob Hacker. He has been peddling this plan in a variety of different forms since 2001. By his own admission this strategy is simply the first step towards a single-payer system.
Speaking to the Tides Foundation (a far left nonprofit) on July 21, 2008 Mr. Hacker said: “Someone once said to me, ‘This is a Trojan horse for single-payer,’ and I said, ‘Well, it’s not a Trojan horse, right? It’s just right there.’ I’m telling you, we’re going to get there.” His basic point was that the elimination of competition from the private sector was an obvious byproduct of the public plan.
In addition to Mr. Hacker, several current sitting Congressmen and Cabinet members have made similar statements. Representative Jan Schakowsky a Democrat from Illinois said the following on April 18 of this year during a speech: “And next to me was a guy from the insurance company and he said to me, 'A public option would not let private insurance compete. A public option will put the private insurance industry out of business and lead to single-payer.' My single payer friends, he was right! The man was right! . . . This is not a principled fight. This is a strategy for getting there and I believe we will!"
Continuing, Senator Russ Feingold a Democrat from Wisconsin said the following during an interview with the liberal media group Democracy Now! on May 5, 2009: "I do support single-payer health care. . . I would love to see it and I believe the goal here is to create whatever legislation we have in a way that could be developed into something like a single payer system."
Even more, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said this in 2007 about her strategy for "closing the gap" towards a single-payer plan: "What we need is a national agenda and a commitment to universal health care. . . I mean I'm all for a single-payer system eventually. I think what we have to do though is work with what we've got to close the gap."
Finally, Barrack Obama in 2003 during a speech stated in very specific, clear, and strong words that he was a proponent of a single-payer, universal healthcare system for America. He went on to say that “we may not get there immediately” but went on to suggest that they would be successful over time in this issue.
I don't care if President Obama or any other Democrat for that matter is an advocate for nationalized health care. If that is what you want then debate it on its merits and let the American people decide. But instead, the Democratic Party has cloaked the health care debate in dishonesty as a "strategy" to get what they want. Shame on the Democratic Party and shame on President Obama.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment