Reasons Why We Are Winning The Health Care Debate
I have heard a lot of agonizing over the past few days, as threats of reconciliation have been heard on the lips of Democrats. Many have asked how we stop the Democrats, who hold such huge majorities?
I say the threats mean we are winning, not only politically, but winning the ideological debate.
Don’t let the media and talking heads fool you. We are winning the debate on every battlefield. There is a reason that Obamacare support nationwide has plummeted. You really believe the media talk that a few extremist comments and posters (that no one has seen) has caused the public to turn against this plan? Heck no. It is the plan ITSELF! It is the details of the plan that has turned the public against the proposal. Media are so arrogant to believe that the public is clearly too stupid to know what is good for them; by the way, that means you. But Americans are a motivated people, and when it comes to their freedom and independence, they will not be dictated to by anyone, from the political Left or Right.
Want more reasons to be optimistic?
1. It is the unions and the left busing people to townhalls, not the right.
Show me an organized effort on the right to get people to townhalls. It simply is not occurring. People on the right are emotional and responsive without any grand effort from any large scale group or organization. It is a grassroots effort. I have lost count of the number of people that have told me they are independents or even Democrats, who have been apolitical, who now are protesting the health care bill.
Of course, the media has ignored that unions, especially the SEIU, has bused people from hundreds of miles away in some cases to make their voice heard. That level (or lack thereof) of support shows where the public is on the issue.
And Democrats are scared of talking to their own constituents. They would rather have unions, ACORN, and others bus people in. That is all fine and dandy now…but how exactly do you campaign next year without talking to your constituents? This issue will not conveniently go away.
2. When they talk about already rationing…that means they admit they want to ration in the future.
Now, factually they may be right. But this is not exactly the most effective argument to make to a public that is totally against rationing (70%, in the last poll I saw). Basically, the left’s argument is that we are already rationing, so why complain about it? In fact, this is precisely the reason not to give a government monopoly the unlimited right to ration even more than we do now. If you don’t believe me, please refer to my piece on the Massachusetts Health Care Plan…which is already rationing two years in.
3. Liberals are pretty ignorant on what the issues and facts are.
Liberals love to think they are smarter…they are not. Look, there are a lot of misconceptions on the right, and I am not trying to hide from them. But you talk to supposedly intelligent and educated liberals, and they don’t know the facts either! Don’t let liberals give you some elitist notion that somehow they are smarter. They simply are not. The media spreads numbers around, without understanding them. They state that our health care is ranked 39th in the world by a WHO study…without knowing that study takes into account factors using different standards. They don’t make note that on cancer care, we have better life expectancies than almost any country in the world. When you point out these facts to liberals, they are too thick skulled to even listen to you; they shake their head, put figners in their ears, and start yelling. Not exactly the most intellectual response.
Canada is a perfect example. Canadian health care is pretty good…but has many deficiencies. For one, they don’t have the ability to pay for the high tech facilities we have here in the United States, one reason they are so backlogged on complicated cases. This is so much of a problem that Canada is now contracting with U.S. hospitals, especially in Michigan, to handle care. Not exactly a glowing endorsement of the greatness of Canadian Health care; nor does it help the argument that U.S. health care system is broken beyond repair.
The classic example is the number of uninsured. They keep using the figure ’47 million’ uninsured, without looking at the fact that about 10 million of that number are illegal immigrants, and another 10 million are Americans that don’t live in the United States. 8 million of those make $50-75,000 a year. 17 million people of the ‘uninsured’ are steadfastly in the middle class. Once you take out these people, the number of uninsured drops to 20 million, or 7% of the population. And those numbers come directly from the Census Bureau, which itself states that it actually overreported the number of uninsured.
That is why we need to know the facts inside and out, and beat them on the intellectual battlefield.
4. Medicare is a failure.
What liberals want with single payer and the public option is a program that is like Medicare for all. Medicare currently is $36 TRILLION in debt, according to the nonpartisan CBO. They are marginally more efficient than the private insurers (by about 1% over the past 10 years), but they also are not self sustainable; they require regular influxes of cash. Additionally, every decade or so they go broke, and Congress reduces benefits and increases premiums. The simple truth is that Medicare is no better than private insurance, and no worse…it has the exact same problems. Don’t get me wrong: Medicare is just as much a failure as the private insurance industry, no more, no less.
5. This is a Democrat Civil War.
The huge deficits were the start. Moderate Democrats saw that number, and freaked. And that is when this fight started. It was middle of July when the townhalls erupted…that corresponds precisely to the moment that the Blue Dogs fought back. Even now, remember, Republicans can stop NOTHING. If Democrats want something they can pass it at a moment’s notice. The Republicans don’t even have votes to filibuster. The problem is, Democrats are fighting among themselves. If Obama can’t convince his own party members, what chance does he have with the other half of the country.
Liberals can yell and scream all they want about how unfair it is. But until they are willing to confront the elephant in the room, they have no one to blame but themselves.
6. Ultimately, this is about cost.
This is Barack Obama’s biggest failure. The CBO started this dog fight, when they stated what we all know: that Obamacare DOESN”T REDUCE COST. Now, I am unsure if the CBO has scored any of the conservative plans, but it is unlikely since none were allowed to come to a vote. But every Democrat plan that is out there has about a $1 trillion deficit over the first 10 years, which balloons after that. The House bill, from year 5-15, has a $2 trillion deficit, and that is with new tax increases.
This is the hardest part to solve…so I was willing to give the President some leeway. But clearly, after months of debate, Mr. Obama has no solutions either. That is just sad.
Keep your heads up. Keep in the debate. Ignore the mainstream media. Read as much as you can about the truths about health care, get involved with discussions around the dinner table and with friends and family, and be able to show people, beyond a reasonable doubt, that your facts are correct and your opinions are based on intellectualism. That is the way we win this fight.
Congress Shakes Down the Health Insurance Industry – Two powerful House Democrats (Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) have sent a letter to insurance companies asking them to provide detailed information about their conferences and retreats, executive pay, and other business practices.
Taxpayers Should Shake Down Congressman and Senators
We agree, we need some reforms and we need some oversight. We must also demand reform and oversight of our “public servants”. We must begin to push back on the government assault on free enterprise and we must demand personal accountability, personal responsibility, and a personal work ethic for all Americans starting with our elected officials. So, in that light, we the people require the following from the leaders of Congress and the Senate – all of which is easy to obtain public information; but now requires sunlight and accounting:
1) A list of the Member of the House and Senate including their current compensation packages
2) Each congressman and senators total revenue, net income, real estate holdings, etc
3) A total cost of travel and expenses broken out by destination, length of stay, cost to taxpayers and cost adsorbed by the congressman/senator. Use of government vehicles, air craft, secret service, and any other government owned equipment or personnel must be identified and cost quantified.
4) A list of all conferences, retreats or other events attended by or in honor of each congressman and senator, staffs or associates.
5) A list of the number of staff and associated individuals/groups that are assigned to each congressman and senator including the total cost to the tax payers for these staffs including total compensation and other direct costs involved with their positions (i.e., office space, supplies, vehicles, etc.)
6) A list and accounting of any other perks, profits, presents, etc not covered above.
Thanks Neoavatara. This whole healthcare debacle has me horribly scared, for my family and myself (a nurse). I know this is an uphill battle but every once in a while it helps to read some perspective. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for reading.
HI, can we do what is listed above to the congress, make them produce all that information that they are requesting from the health insurance companies. I think that is a great idea and would knock them off their feet. Maybe we could get someone lie Judge Napolitano (from Glenn Beck show) on behalf of the people of the United States to do that. thank you for all the information !!
Thank you for a great review on the truth of where this debate stands! I live in NY State (One of the most “socialized” states in the Union)where our Congresswoman is not even willing to hold Townhall meetings! We are calling, writing letters and getting on local radio so we can expose Obama’s lies about Obamacare. It does not take an intellectual to realize that the more Government controls, the more control Government has over its citizens-period. Healthcare is 1/6 of our economy- if Obamacare passes we will have a Government controlled percentage of the GDP that qualifies our country as Socialist. The cost will bankrupt the U.S. and the taxes we all will pay will be astounding.
Fighting against the current radical left that holds the Whitehouse is tiring and being in NY it is easy to succumb to despair. Thank you for reinvigorating all of your readers- WE WILL NOT GIVE UP OR GIVE IN!!!!!
Obama, Axelrod, Emmanuel and Gibb’s biggest mistake? They never understood that Liberty and Freedom flows in our veins, the “American Dream” is always alive and at the end of the day Americans are not going to quietly give up the life our Founding Fathers bestowed upon us!
P.S.-Unlike our Congresswoman, I have read the House Bill…with the assistance of a lawyer- you cannot lie to someone who has knowledge~~~
Recall, always, this desired Obama plan is simply ‘good enough for us.’
The leadership has something different and better from the President on down. So, it is not good enough for them.
They desire to exempt their friends from it which means if this requires exemptions it is not good enough for their friends (Unions and others) either.
Finally Senator Kennedy, even when facing mortality, is concerned more about the power of his party than anything else in writing a special letter to the leaders of his state to change the laws to make sure no time is wasted in obtaining a new Senate crony. I can’t say I will miss this man when he is gone. I can only wish most of the legislation he has imposed on us could sunset with him…
Guess what Obama said when he was asked if he would sign up for the health care plan? nothing…he didn’t answer the question..
Also, a couple of senators that were proponents for the bill were asked the same and they said they would see..
If they do pass this horrible socialistic bill, then I think everyone should have to go by this plan…no exceptions…
Say it ain’t so: I’m so glad there are other people that entertained the idea that you proposed. That was my first reaction. These guys are so out of touch with their constituents and real America I don’t think they even realize their own hypocricy when they do these types of things… or they could care less because they are entrenched and feel untouchable. Maybe we could add one more category: “Please provide a list of active congress and cabinet members, their party affiliation, that have been or are currently under ethics violations, indictment for criminal activity,and the legal costs to taxpayers for the investigations and defense of said individuals.”
I am sick and tired of the bickering on the Left, what about the bickering from the Right. Eight years I suffered under a dumb president. I know better and at least the Climate Change is finally an issue that needs to be addressed or do I have to show slides of what the earth could look like years without technology?
My point health care is very sensitive material. I am the one who suffers every day from the right winged talk show radio hosts for e.g. Rush Limb-bah. Lou Dobbs from CNN. I want free health care with a public option. No public option, eight years more of the same. I liked when the air was cleaner and people paid attention.
I haven’t seen a doctor in months in CA (California) because the costs are sky high, I could not possibly see a doctor for years. One year I had staph infection on my right foot and I went 10 rounds of Antibiotics. I still suffer from it with super staph which is ten times harder to get rid of. So Public option NOW NOW NOW!
Reform…how’s this for reform, people:
Look what’s hidden amongst all the gobble-de-gook:
The Obama health care bill has a new snitch network built right into it, allowing social workers to gain access to YOUR home under the pretext of checking on your new baby or soon-to-be-born baby. It will result in thousands of children being ‘kidnapped’ by Child Protective Services. The bill will allow for this to occur, legally!
On page 838 of the bill, in Section 1904, we find the “Home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children.” This section provides (via grants to states) for home visitation programs that educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills. Woohoo! So what does this mean, and how do we really translate this into REAL English?
First, the program is voluntary. However, so are income taxes! Any of you ‘volunteer’ to pay them, lately?
Here is how it will work: After your first appointment with your OB/GYN to confirm a pregnancy, the doctor will be ‘required’ to report it. Then, social workers will ‘pressure you’ to allow them to come “voluntarily” into your house.
Anyone know what happens when you don’t allow them to do so? Can you say ‘ticking time bomb’? These people are so-called “mandated reporters”, who ‘must’ report any abuse or neglect. Once inside your home, they will look around and find something, anything, to call abuse or neglect. That’s their job! You see, their jobs depend on it, because they make money from removing your children…and lots of it which goes toward their agencies. Anyway, after they gain access, they will open a case and give you “services”, whether you want them or not. These services are set up in an attempt to gather evidence, so that they can bring a court case against YOU.
In cases the agencies judge to be more serious, such as ‘home schoolers’, ‘religious people’, or ‘other enemies of the state’, they will likely ask their legal department to bring a court case and REMOVE the children, YOUR CHILDREN. It doesn’t matter if you’ve done something wrong or not. It’s all about the money they receive.
This is a back-door means of gaining entrance to homes without having ANY suspicion of abuse or neglect — a long time goal of child-protective agencies, who believe that the government is a far more proper parent than ANY of YOU. Believe it or not, several agency heads actually stated this in public interviews!
This is a drastic violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and most state constitutions. The numbers of children taken from families, as well as those who will ‘have to’ endure weekly or monthly visits from a Hillary-like social worker will increase many fold. This is not speculative, as it is the whole reason for mandating these visits to homes with children. If they did not expect to kidnap more children and open many more administrative cases, this law would not have been there.
Can you say…INVASION OF PRIVACY?
The public option is NOT FREE>
Nick without a ‘C’; we all could say the same about the 8 years of Clinton and what assaults on our freedom he made on us. There needs to be dialogue. However, as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Post Office among the other organizations of incompetence, put together by the thieves in DC, all claim to be going broke and have massive debt: Do you really want yet another debacle? These are the programs that have been broken and have been ignored.
Let us go one step further. You are asking us ‘stupid people’ to pay for it. To be honest we would have to be stupid to willingly foot any more bills. Try being a bit nicer and just a tad more grateful when you ask someone else to foot your bills…
Climate change: I don’t give a rats tail about pictures you can show as I have never seen the convincing science that makes me believe what you do. I can morph photos to show the world heading to death too… lah dee dah. I have seen the conniving science and in that I am less than not impressed.
There is no free in any of this. In fact there are debts outstanding that will ruin the futures of our children if these squanderings are not cut back.