White House Plans to Assail As ‘Politics’ Another GOP Senator’s Remarks About Health Care Reform Fight

And does Obama think that Americans are so dumb as to believe that every move he makes is not scripted and political?

Oh good heavens.
Wait until Obama has every opposing party Senator and Congressman who voted for a war start renouncing their votes so they can run for reelection or higher office.
Then he’ll know what nasty opposition politics look like.
What do we call it when Obama goes to high dollar fundraisers to talk about how much he wants a health reform bill/stimulus bill/cap and trade bill and how horrible the GOP is for opposing it? Is that political?
He realizes people are going to run for reelection on this issue, right? His guys and the GOP both.

its Offical..Obama… the racist in chief, is grasping at straws to save his doomed and failing administration

“When you tell people that the mortality rate in Canada is 25% higher for breast cancer . . . they say ‘Why in the world would we emulate a system like that?’ Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla
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Yes, when you lie to people you can scare them away from anything.
Breast Cancer Death (per 100,000 people)
Canada: 18.4
U.S.A: 21.5
Source: J. Ferlay, F. Bray, P. Pisani and D.M. Parkin. GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide. IARC CancerBase No. 5, version 2.0. IARCPress, Lyon, 2004.

A lot of doctors are not very pleased that there’s no foundation yet for the “best practices” portion of the proposed reform. This issue shouldn’t be rushed this way. This is high-pressure sales, exactly what people are warned to beware of. Obama is selling more snake oil, folks. Only this stuff will kill you!

Didn’t Obama once promise an “Era of Responsibility”?
During the presidential debate with McCain, Obama promised to use a “scalpel” to carefully cut government waste as opposed to McCain’s approach, which largely involved a government-wide spending freeze.
Back in October, Obama called for “a new ethic of responsibility.” The nation’s economic troubles, he said, occurred partly because “everyone was living beyond their means,” including politicians who “spent money they didn’t have.” In his inaugural address Obama regretted “our collective failure to make hard choices” and heralded “a new era of responsibility.”
Since taking office, Obama has quadrupled the deficit and signed thousands of earmarks into law. We have so much debt now, we can’t possibly ever pay it off. Our dollar is increasingly at risk of collapse.
Didn’t Obama promise “transparency”?
“Let me say it as simply as I can: transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”
Obama promised to post all bills sent to his desk online for 5 days for public scrutiny and comment before signing them.
That never happened. In fact, the bills aren’t even read by Congress before they vote on them.
Didn’t Obama promise no lobbyists in his administration?
“I don’t take a dime of their [lobbyist] money, and when I am president, they won’t find a job in my White House.”
He now has several lobbyists in his administration.
Didn’t Obama promise that unemployment wouldn’t exceed 7.9% if Congress passed the “stimulus” bill?
It’s now 9.5% (16.5% including underemployment) and rising. In fact, it accelerated in June.
And, now, Obama promises “you’ll save money” with his healthcare reform. And you should trust him because, after all, he’s been so honest with Americans about everything else.

Conservative Woman . . .
And there certainly is no 25% difference as the Republican politician claims – not by your numbers.
So you’ve proven Republican Jim Inhofe a liar. Interesting.

Rasmussen (7/22):
The health care reform legislation working its way through Congress has lost support over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 44% of U.S. voters are at least somewhat in favor of the reform effort while 53% are at least somewhat opposed.
Today’s 44% level of support is down from 46% two weeks ago, and 50% in late June.
Opposition has grown from 45% in late June to 49% two weeks ago and 53% today.
One reason for the decline in support may be the legislative emphasis on universal coverage rather than cost controls. Voters see cost, not universal coverage, as the biggest health care concern. Also, 78% believe that health care reform is likely to lead to middle class tax hikes. Figuring out how to pay for the trillion dollar-plus plan has presented a significant challenge for congressional Democrats working on the legislation.
Another factor that may be playing a role is underlying public skepticism about the legislative process. Americans, by a two-to-one margin, believe that no matter how bad things are, Congress can always make it worse.

And the president will attend two fundraisers tonight, where I am sure he would never do anything so “politics as usual” as rail against the opposing party and use someone like jim DeMint as a tool for fundraising.
I know that presidents do a lot of fundraising, and I used to sigh heavily when Bush would travel somewhere, do an appearance, and then work in a fundraiser. Clinton did it a lot, too, and I used to assume he started the practice. But maybe I just didn’t notice as much under previous presidents.
But this is the FIRST year of the Obama administration. Now we don’t get ANY time off from campaigning and fundraising? It never stops? There is just way too much money in the political system (that’s not a knock at Obama in particular, but at politics in general). This is crazy. McCain-Feingold did not seem to stop the insanity, and that’s a shame.
Do wish the Dems could do their fundraising without their top draw. It just seems unpresidential to be fundraising in year one of your administration. But I know the president is the one who draws the crowds, so I am not surprised. Everyone is in perpetual campaign mode and always on the look-out for someone on the other side to demonize for fundraising purposes– “show Rush Limbaugh we won’t fail– send $50″ “Show David LEtterman we won’t stand for people insulting Sarah’s children— send $50″ Sheesh!

Jacksmith, Thanks for the handy list. NOw I’ll know where to send my campaign contributions– to the folks on your list.
Really, if you are going to try to fire up the troops, you need better opening lines. That tired old “We have the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed world” has been discussed to death on this site. I have written lots of comments about how the WHO study on which the statistic is based is badly skewed and not terribly accurate. If you really want to believe the QUALITY of our health care is that bad, suit yourself. Me, I look around, think of my own experience, talk to friends from other countries, watch the news, read widely, and I am content that the best medical care in the world is located in the US and that when I am ill, I can access it. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Re: “Voters see cost, not universal coverage, as the biggest health care concern.”
I see the end of life rationing, forcing a elderly, sick patient to meet with an end of life counselor as one of the biggest issues. Secondly, I do not like that so-called independent board that will oversee the medicare funds without any accountability to voters.
They will say that we need this “independent group” to contain costs, but I think that board might steal that Medicare money like Wall St is taking our money through the so-called bailout. It has been my experience that “reform” means “get rid of it.”

“It never stops?”
No, because the Republicans never sleep. And they never have any trouble getting money, they just have trouble getting votes at times.

andylancaster | Jul 23, 2009 10:54:22 PM
Just because Obama disagrees with the CBO and this Kaiser foundation does not make his statements lies. And what does an average of 6000 have to do with the difference in the next highest figure? It’s time for baloneycheck.org.

yes. who is anyone to question obama’s facts? certainly not bipartisan organizations whose goal is the truth.
go ahead. eat it up.

right. the closing of ge lightbulb factories continues. as for the economy overall…hold on to your crumbs. lose millions of jobs, but celebrate 1100. green shoots!!

“right. the closing of ge lightbulb factories continues. as for the economy overall…hold on to your crumbs. lose millions of jobs, but celebrate 1100. green shoots!!”
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Again, andylancaster . .. it is not news that the american economy (and the world economy) is in terrible, terrible shape – we all know that.
It is news that some small indicators are showing that the fall might have slowed and that things might begin to turn around.

Did you know that in Canada the private medical care business is booming? Why would Canadians, already paying through taxes for “free” health care dig into their pockets and buy private health care for themselves. Why not just use the free stuff?

Danita,
Why were so critical of Halliburton contracts (which are still going on under Mr. Obama) and yet you tout GE which is receiving so much money from the Government? Don’t you think the relationship of GE with the Obama administration is a little too cozy?

Imagine that, President Obama’s initiatives actually bringing jobs back from China.
More to come . . .
Posted by: danita | Jul 23, 2009 10:54:51 PM
________________________________
Well the 10 million dollars in tax incentives certainly didn’t hurt and there are other support structures in play.
Sounded like the starting pay is lower and the wages are frozen until contract ends in 2011 – but it’s better than being unemployed – and it’s good to see the union making some concessions and playing ball for a change. Jobs are jobs. That’s how it’s supposed to work in a free market society.
I do wonder if Obama made a few calls to Kentucky, though, on behalf of one his staunch supporters Imelt. I won’t knowingly buy a GE product because of him.

“It is news that some small indicators are showing that the fall might have slowed and that things might begin to turn around.”
Nah.
The new higher minimum wage going into effect tomorrow will accelerate job losses for the people who can least afford to be laid off. Just watch. It’s a real lesson in basic economic principles.
“Most noneconomists believe that minimum wage laws protect workers from exploitation by employers and reduce poverty,” says Econlib.org’s Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. “Most economists believe that minimum wage laws cause unnecessary hardship for the very people they are supposed to help. The reason is simple: although minimum wage laws can set wages, they cannot guarantee jobs. In practice they often price low-skilled workers out of the labor market.”

“all i see is 9.5% and growing”
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Again, this is not news andy – we’ve all known for quite some time the american and world economies crashed.
You seem as if you’re just waking up to this fact. Surprise!
I look around to see signs that things might be turning around in ANY PART OF THE WORLD – this has been a global meltdown. And I see signs in various countries that things are at least beginning to level off.
If you’ve got a suggestion for getting light bulbs manufactured in the United States rather than China – bring it on.

Terry:”Did you know that in Canada the private medical care business is booming? Why would Canadians, already paying through taxes for “free” health care dig into their pockets and buy private health care for themselves. Why not just use the free stuff?”
Thank you for pointing out that the Republicans’ claim that a public plan option would eliminate private insurance is an obvious lie.
And what do you mean by booming, exactly? Since private insurance was literally illegal until a 2005 court ruling, what does it take for you to exaggerate it up to a boom?

I think the good part for all of the posters on here is that some type of major health care reform is definitely going to pass.
That will mean you’ll be able to move on to another issue… like the President taking his children for ice cream. Some other reason to attack him.

“Why do we keep talking about Canada’s coverage?”
I thought you could tell me. It seemed to me that the opponents of a public option targeted Canada as an example of a failed single-payer system because of wait times etc.

Doh! Should be hear not here.

So, Danita, you proved a very good point. When you said the ELITE that had a LOT of money in Canada could pay for their own private health care, you have just proven why government health care is garbage. Only those with big money can afford really good health care in Canada! And the rest are stuck with a crappy government plan!
So the President says that we get to keep private insurers. But only the ELITE with a LOT of money will be able to afford it. And the rest of us get stuck with crappy government health care. Won’t be many private insurers left though. So, that cost is going to go even HIGHER. Should make you happy knowing that even the rich won’t be able to afford health care in the U.S. if this takeover happens. But that’s what you want, right? The rich to suffer along with everyone else? That’s the whole socialist plan. No success. Just bring those who have worked hard all their lives, down to the levels of deadbeats.
Our current healthcare system needs tweaks, but no more government control. They need to get out of Medicaid and Medicare. May take time, but savings for the people is the answer. You want a solution, then here it is. Same with social security. Anyone wants to do it has my vote. Bold and beautiful, and a way back to the Republic.
Get your damn greedy government hands out of the private sector, and let capitalism work.

No not at all. Where would you get that idea?

clint:”Only those with big money can afford really good health care in Canada! And the rest are stuck with a crappy government plan!”
What are you ranting about? Up until 2005, the government plan was the only option by law. And the ‘crappy’ government plan is well accepted as providing excellent service, resulting in a life expectancy considerably higher than in the states (80 years versus 78 years). (See how I use verifiable facts to support my argument – you should try it).

andy . . .
If you’ve got a suggestion for getting light bulbs manufactured in the United States rather than China – bring it on.

Hi jhw539
You said: “And what do you mean by booming, exactly? Since private insurance was literally illegal until a 2005 court ruling, what does it take for you to exaggerate it up to a boom?”
You mean it was illegal in Canada to pay for care privately when the government system was not providing what you need?
Is that what you are planning for the US? It is, isn’t it.
So if the Canadian system is so great, why did they legalize people paying out of their own pocket for care?
Why do so many Canadians come to the US to buy health care out of their own pockets?
Why don’t more Americans travel to Canada to get free health care?
Above all, don’t grow older, you may get the “pain pill” instead of the hip replacement.

If environmentally ill and global warming hoaxers stop this bull of the spiral lightbulb full of mercury, then maybe we could still make REAL lightbulbs in this country. But this is all about more government control..That’s why these jobs are going to China. Nobody here is going to make a mercury-filled light bulb. Are you nuts? But yet Obama is going to demand it. Hence, the jobs go to China.
10 trillion dollars in deficit this year, stimulus bill that does not create jobs, printing money, borrowing money. Where are the jobs, Obama? Anyone that has any economic sense, knows that everything Obama has done, or is doing, is destroying us. Biden says look around you, we need to spend money to get out of this recession.
This is obviously an attempt to destroy capitalism, and put in a new government in place. Obama has made no bones about it in the past. People have tried to warn Americans about it. Now it is happening. And the American people are starting to finally see it. I hope it is not too late.
American greatness was built by the people, sustained by the people. Not by slavery of a government.

clint . . .
Economically Canada is doing way better than the U.S. right now. Check out the news – their economy is beginning to come out of recession. I don’t know why this is, but like every other industrial country they have a stimulus plan currently in place.

The Democrats have the votes to pass any legislation without any Republican votes and Obama is afraid of a dissenting Republican voice?
Sounds like to me Obama is trying blame someone else for his failure to lead his fellow Democrats to vote for his plans.

“Only those with big money can afford really good health care in Canada! And the rest are stuck with a crappy government plan!”
The mother of a friend of mine is battling cancer in Costa Rica (which also offers socialized/government healthcare). When she visits the doctor (at public clinic/hospital) it is not unusual for her to be advised by the physician to visit him/her in their private office in order for her to receive the care she needs (that the government does not cover). This is not profiteering on the part of physicians (contrary to what The One may believe); the physicians are truly interested in her health and have to work around the system accordingly.
If The One were truly interested in reforming healthcare he would (a) institute significant TORT REFORM, (b) fix Medicare, VA, Medicaid, Indian Health Service FIRST before inserting government as a competitor to private insurance, (c.) make insurance portable and allow increased competition across state lines.

Oh please. Everything is about winning seats in the Congress. Dems do it and Republicans do it.

tjp612 | Jul 24, 2009 7:22:12 AM
Another blatant attempt to blame the current state of our economy on Obama instead of Bush and the Republicans and their do nothing style of government which really brought it about. It’s continuously apparent why Obama critics desperately want us to forget about them.

Everyone makes a mistake by trying to make this Democrats vs Republicans. Wake up people.

Skip,
“Another blatant attempt to blame the current state of our economy on Obama instead of Bush and the Republicans and their do nothing style of government which really brought it about. It’s continuously apparent why Obama critics desperately want us to forget about them.”
Bush & Republicans = Very Bad
Obama & Democrats = Worse
Before you respond, you may want to compare non-partisan CBO’s projections of deficits 2009 – 2019 (based on Obama’s proposed spending). None are any better than Bush’s in his WORST year (which occurred in 2008 when Dems controlled Congress).

What a two faced low life. This is the Obama’s idea of reform, which brought Michelle a big chunk of change in the hundreds of thousands of dollars by way of a pay increase .
The media is covering up the patient dumping scandal orchestrated by Michelle Obama as VP of University of Chicago Medical center, with the assistance of, you guessed it, two Obama advisors David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett.
They told them it would result in better care for the patients, just like they are lying and telling us that Universal care is better,
Democrat Bobby Rush is outraged with the program and speaking out.
Even a child mauled by a pitbull was turned away after receiving only a shot, following discovery by the staff that he was on public insurance.
The child went to an ER and hour away and had surgery.
THIS IS OBAMA’S IDEA OF REFORM.
YOO HOO MEDIA, DO TODAYS MARCHING ORDERS CALL FOR DENUNCIATION OF THE CRITICS OR SIMPLY TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS MASSIVE SCANDAL!

jhw wrote, “Or if they have a grasp of reality, they say, “Gee, I wonder why Canadian’s live on average 2 years longer than Americans? How are they living longer than us but dying at such a high rate from cancer, the second leading cause of death (and four times more common than the third leading cause, strokes)?”
Hey, I have an answer to that question. Canadians are far less likely to die through accidents or violence (particularly gun violence), and those deaths are higher among the younger cohorts of our population. The Canadian who does not die of a gunshot wound at age 23 is more likely than the American who also did not die of a gunshot wound at 23 to die of breast cancer. The health care reform does not, nor should it or could it, impact the obscenely high death rate from gun violence and automobile accidents in this country.
Jhw’s conclusion was, “And then they realize Inohofe is a Republican so of course he’s cherry picking statistics and borderline lying in their presentation to mislead the gullible from reality.” Gee, I haven’t seen any cherry-picking going on around here. How shocking that a republican would do such a thing. He should be like the dems and footnote every statement and fill it with caveats. They don’t do that either? Oh, well, never mind.
As long as people are going to cite, say, the WHO study (the one that purports to establish the US as 37th in the world in quality of health care) without explaining the methodology used in it and acknowledging the biases inherent in the way the figures were derived, then those people have no standing to complain about someone using a different source and similarly not festooning his or her remarks with caveats and hedges. I’m in academia, I know how many studies and reports we churn out every year. ANyone involved in the health care debate can probably find a study that will support a claim being made as well as a competing study that undercuts the claim.

Danita you are confusing. Blame Bush for not regulating but say political failure that his legislation for more regulation was rejected by congress. You do know that we have 3 branches of government, right?

“(The) costliest part(of the Obama healthcare bill) will be the physician’s rate cut,” said an aide of Rep. Paul Tonko, D-NY. Lots of political capital is going to be spent to get that through.
And, for the crowning glory, the aide feels that “probably the best part of the bill is the increase in Hospice care which will solve the prolonging of life issue.”
Hmmm… counseling every five years for end of life decisions and an increase in Hospice.
Sounds like the government wants to determine who lives and who dies.

“The Canadian who does not die of a gunshot wound at age 23 is more likely than the American who also did not die of a gunshot wound at 23 to die of breast cancer.”
Its an 82% breast cancer survival rate (5 years) in Canada vs an 83% rate in the United States.

I don’t know why the Republicans are so eager to bring up how they killed health care reform back in 1993. Everyone knows that the version of health care reform THEY came up with after they defeated Clinton’s reform efforts was to do absolutely nothing — for FIFTEEN years. If they and their blue dog Democrat allies succeed again, we’ll get more of what we got after 1993, maybe for another 15 years.
With the way health care costs are rising under our current Republican health care system, by 2024 only the very wealthy will be able to afford any health care at all.

Timmy, I am not sure the 5-year end-of-life counseling interpretation you are using is necessarily correct. I have seen numerous accounts about what this passage actually means, and I am fairly persuaded that it is instead simply an attempt to provide Medicare payments for such counsel, with the limit of once per 5-year-period or when you develop a serious disease or enter a nursing home. The passage is confusing, esp. because it is one of those “strike this at such-and-such a place and insert that at someplace else” sort of statements that will amend existing regulations rather that create a whole new one.
If they are simply saying that if you want such a discussion, the government will pay to let you have it with a trained health care professional, then I have no problem with that. If, as others have interpreted it, it means you must have such a meeting, of course that’s another story. But I really think that this is a misunderstanding that has gotten amplified, rather than a true uncovering of a nefarious new program.
But it does remind people that the bills being written are complex things that need to be circulated, studied, and debated before they are passed. I want my Congressional representatives’ staffs to know all the details (a Senator does not have to break down every jot and tiddle for him/herself, but someone on his/her staff should have checked out every detail). I want outside experts (not Olbermann and Hannity, but actual health care experts) to be able to study it and explain it to the general public. I want doctors, hospital administrators, research scientists, nursing home directors, etc., to be able to look at it and comment on it.
Then I want the House of Representatives and the Senate to debate it on the floor, where people can tune in to C-SPAN and watch, and after a thorough but civil debate, I want them to vote on the measure. There should be amendments, but all amendments should be germane to the core ideas of health care reform (no attaching measures to change the aid package to Turkmenistan or to revive the F-22 or to regulate the sales of soda pop at junior high schools, thanks).
I realize the house and senate bills will be reconciled in a conference committee, and that’s part of the system– I have no problems with that. But when people suggest that they just hurry and pass something, anything, and then let the reconciliation iron out all the kinks, I am disappointed. The time to make major changes and to determine whether or not the basic framework of the bill is what the american people want is before we get to the conference stage, not after.

2 people set things in motion to create the mess we have today.
Google CRA Lawsuit and see who forced banks into making loans to unqualified borrowers. The second was the guy that deregulated the mortgage industry. Yes 2 weeks before leaving office Bill Clinton deregulated the mortgage industry.
Obamas plan hinges on bankrupting the country so the government will quit and Communists can just walk in and take over.
That happened 6 months ago to Iceland. Funny the American press never mentioned a democratic country falling to Communism.
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