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.
Ok so you say it's a myth. So let's see some facts to back it up not just opinion.
Some facts to keep in mind.
We are looking for approx 90 billion dollars a year to finance the reforms as proposed. Also keep mind that back in 2007 medicare fraud was an estimated $60 billion dollars a year.
Proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage, not sure it can really be called a cut as opposed to a renegotiation of payments:
If we let the Bush tax cuts expire on top earners (above $225,000): estimated revenue increase over ten years: $350 billion. If we let all the Bush tax cuts expire $850 billion.
This is from the non partisan Tax Policy Center.
If we are finally out of Iraq the savings will be approx $104 billion per year. We get out of Afghanistan and it obviously goes up substantially.
September 11, 2009 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
The title of this blog caught me off guard because I know it is sure to bring out the howlers saying you are calling for violence or something. I was glad to see the substance of the piece a little more even-keeled, so maybe a title like "Cost of Goods Sold" might make the point a little more gently.
At any rate, I mostly agree that the president is side-stepping the tough choices that will need to be made on Medicare, though I think it is because he doesn't view this effort as a Medicare reform effort as much as a health insurance reform effort. That is why I suspect any notion of a whole new government program will be ditched in favor of using the "public option" as the only real way to reform Medicare into something that is sustainable and fair to competing private insurers.
Both public and private should operate under the same set of rules as laid out in this initial reform effort. That means a massive overhaul of all the government medical programs. Personally, I hope they bring them all under one banner and run it a little bit more like Kaiser Permanente. That would certainly lead to lower costs and better services. In some places, the only hospital around for miles might be the one on a military base. We pay for it already, but can't use it.
Point being, I agree that there is a way to frame the reform effort in a way that clearly shows you are listening the half of the country that is fiscally conservative and then design solutions to prove you weren't just blowing smoke up our nether regions.
September 11, 2009 9:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Initial polling indicates Obama is getting a nice boost in health care poll questions. Whether that continues remains to be seen but so far you're wrong.
Yes there is waste and abuse in both government and the private sector. I totally understand why you believe government can't deal with that problem since whenever republicans get leadership power they do such a terrible job. But the reality is good government can be quite effective in dealing with abuse. When Bush and his republican corporate lackeys got kicked out the Obama team quickly got to work on it. Pzifer To Pay $2.3 Billion In Medicare/Medicaid Fraud Settlement "The Obama administration announced a landmark $2.3 billion health care fraud settlement with Pfizer, Inc."
As for calling republican lies, "lies," well they are such obvious and egregeous lies there's not much else to call them. The idea that any of the health care bills out now would create death panels to kill grandma is laughable. I don't see how any self respecting person with any integrity can defend them. As Obama said, "It is a lie, plain and simple." Really bill there's not much chance of rational dialog if you're unwilling to honestly confront the republican lies and stop defending them.
September 11, 2009 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I call lies lies. So does anyone else honest about "death panels" and the rest of the right-wing lies. Sorry that rocks your world.
September 13, 2009 11:27 PM | Reply | Permalink