Death of a Salesman
The more Obama talks about healthcare, the lower his ratings will go.
Look at what he said on Wednesday night:
First he made an honest comment about Medicare - "our healthcare system is placing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers" and "we will eventually be spending more on Medicare than every other government program combined".
So why would he use insolvency of a government program as a justification for ANOTHER health-care entitlement? Certainly justifiable for people to doubt the success of the "public option".
He also pledges to finance this without adding "one dime to the deficit, now or in the future". But there's no way this health-care plan will be "self-financing" - it's both false and irrelevant. It is false because the proposed tax increases will produce much less revenue than is assumed in the budget calculations. It is also irrelevant because the proposed tax increases having nothing to do with healthcare and could be used instead to reduce other projected deficits.
He says that we will cut "waste and abuse" from Medicare. I guess this is the same waste and abuse that Congresses of both parties have targeted dozens of times without ever cutting it.
He also told seniors not to listen to the "demagoguery and distortion" about Medicare cuts and told seniors they'd get the "benefits you've been promised". So no cuts for anyone, except of course for the the seniors who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage. Subsidy cuts are probably warranted and the program could be better designed. But it's entirely reasonable for senior to fear cuts in their coverage because of the budget cuts for Advantage.
The President called for "civility" in debate and that means, to me, that BOTH sides should stop using the words "lies" or "myths" and start listening to the other one with some more humility. That includes the President.
