What's wrong with the GOP's attack on President Obama's health care plan? Plenty.

POLITICO (Washington) - As President Barack Obama tried to sell the American Medical Association today on his health care overhaul, the top Senate Republicans launched a familiar line of attack.

They warned of rationed medical care, lack of patient control and government bureaucracy.

"The American people will not stand for rationed health care," Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl said Monday. "We believe that a one size fits all approach is the wrong approach."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a floor speech scheduled for this afternoon warned that what Americans "don't want is a Washington takeover of health care along the lines of what we've already seen with banks, insurance companies, and the auto industry. Americans don't want a government-run system that puts bureaucrats between patients and doctors."

Kyl and McConnell introduced a bill today that would bar the federal government from using "comparative effectiveness research" -- which, Kyl charged in a news conference timed to coincide with Obama's AMA speech in Chicago, would lead to rationing of care.

Kyl said that the research would result in the delaying of health care treatment to a patient based on cost, which he believes would weaken the quality of care.

"I don't want America to begin rationing care to their citizens in the way these other countries do," Kyl said.

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Senate GOP Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) predicted that Americans would begin to sour on President Barack Obama's call for a public option.

"Washington takeover are two words we've been hearing a lot from the Obama Administration these days," said Alexander. "That's a different direction that Republicans want to go."

Alexander vowed that Republicans would stay on offense on the issue.

"We intend to be players," he said.

The problems with the GOP's attack begin with the party's continued reliance on false choices. For now why don't we call these false choices "lies."

Lie #1: The president's plan will result in rationing of health care.

The Truth: Health care in the U.S. already is rationed. The GOP leadership is able to put this lie over on their party only because Republicans don't notice the rationing. They are universally rich and immune from rationing. They never sit for hours in a doctor's waiting room; they have their servants sit there for them. Nor do they ever have to wait for an appointment; they can get their doctor into the office just by veering the cart off the golf course. Most important of all, Republicans never have trouble being seen because either a) they are all insured by Lloyd's of London, or b) they can simply pay for face transplants and heart lifts with their lunch money.

Lie #2: The president's plan will take medical care out of the patient's control.

The Truth: Okay, this one's true. As everyone knows, American patients are always happy with their care and always involved in the decision-making. Doctors typically spend half an hour per visit explaining each patient's diagnosis, options and the best route from their office to the shopping mall. Under Obama's health care plan, Iranian clerics would decide if you live or die.

Lie #3: The president's plan will result in more bureaucracy and denial of care.

The Truth: The system already is controlled by a massive and unresponsive for-profit bureaucracy. In shorthand, let's call it "the insurance industry." If you've had a problem being denied care, welcome to private-sector health insurance. If your premiums keep going up while your care declines, again, thank the current system. Under Medicare, only 3 percent of costs go to administrative overhead. The private sector typically skims off 25 percent of revenue.

Finally, if Republicans are concerned that a public health care plan would siphon away 70 percent of the people currently insured by the private sector, let them stay in the 30 percent. The rest of us will muddle through somehow, just as we always have. Only this time, we'll be muddling through as volunteers, not as guinea pigs for a system that places profits above care.