by Smitty
Here is a ~2 minute summary of the major low-lights in ObamaCare. Brief and bitter, like a mugging:
Category: Health Care
Charles Krauthammer Is Wrong About The Main Argument Against ObamaCare
by Smitty
From Fox News All Stars, via the Corner
The main argument against this Obamacare is it’s going to destroy our economy. All the numbers in it are phony. It’s going to create a huge amount of debt.
That may be the proximal cause, Mr. Krauthammer. The main argument is that We The People never gave DC the leave to interfere with us. Progressivism, that overflowing river of crypto-Marxism, has sought to route its way around the Constitutional blocks meant to contain the Federal effluent. Quite successfully this last century, in fact. The flood of debt in which we drown is directly related to the inability to shore up those blocks in a pre-Information Age.
Now, as the POTUS hauls his legislative colostomy-bag-of-tricks around the country on his Time For Talking Over You Is Now tour, the bean counters can begin to do the work they should have before. And yes, a huge amount of debt will be created. The POTUS is either naïve or diabolical, which question is more simply left unresolved.
The main argument against the sheer idiocy of this is that, even if they can find sharks who will support the letter of all this nonsense, the simple truth is that the spirit of responsible government has been thoroughly raped by all this. And precious little, if anything, is discussed about actually fixing the situation. The time is here, and the time is now, to join the struggle against Federal over-reach. The next opportunity will be after the end of the Soviet-style collapse.
Gee, ObamaCare Is Still Unpopular!
Rassmussen Reports: 55% Favor Repeal of Health Care Bill.
Quinnipiac: Obama Gets Small Bounce From Health Care Win.
Do you recall somebody being very skeptical of that Gallup/USA Today “turnaround” claim? And do you recall somebody writing this?
A lot of things have changed in seven months, but amid all the changes, ObamaCare has been reliably unpopular. . . .
Democrats seeking a forecast for Nov. 2 would be wise to ignore the cheerleading from their media friends and instead take a closer look at the poll numbers.
Speaking of numbers, Ed Morrissey notices that the administration is tinkering with unemployment statistics, perhaps trying to make unemployed people think they’ve actually still got jobs, just like Democrats spent months trying to convince people that ObamaCare would be a bargain:
Democrats dragged themselves over the health-care finish line in part by repeating that voters would like the plan once it passed. Let’s see what they think when they learn their insurance costs will jump right away.
Democrats have succumbed to David Axelrod’s approach of treating every problem as a public-relations problem. Unfortunately for Democrats, sooner or later, economic reality is immune to spin.
Allow Valley Of The Shadow To Retort
by Smitty
We’ve heard enough Lefty sob stories, with occasional factual basis, to last a lifetime. VotS has a multi-part, personal series.
Peering into the future, my guess is that we will discover that socialized medicine is the ecological fallacy writ large. What do I mean? That humans ultimately remain individuals, and the one-size-fits-all approach, which may not be as bad in smaller populations, is likely to suck much pond water by the time DC is done wrecking it.
As I was trying to avoid discussing it in detail with colleagues, in the name of workplace peace, I said that it would be great if history supported experiments, and there was a way to let the nationalization of RomneyCare play out, without destroying the nation.
VotS promises to offer an interesting datum, alongside the other 3.14×10^7 data points, on why Americans must increase the political resistance against this awful idea.
Questions Regarding Tuesday’s 20 Pen Marathon
by Smitty
Cassy has a bravo zulu post* about Obamacare, specifically, the GOP Senate strategy:
It’s not just a game. It’s strategy, and it was a brilliant move by Senate Republicans. Think about it: if the reconciliation bill is changed in any way, it has to go back to the House for yet another vote. And the Democrats want this passed right now. However, this amendment puts them in a sticky situation: vote against it, and you’ve just said that you want to give Viagra to kiddie rapists. The campaign ads would practically write themselves.
OK, so, Tuesday’s deed was an act of legislatus interruptus. The proper Article I motion of law has been altered here. BHO has signed what should be a final product. As Congress does this reconciliation dance, and another bill emerges, what does it mean?
- Will there be another score of pens expended to re-sign the dastardly document?
- What if a poison pill were inserted, such that BHO felt compelled to veto the thing? Would the veto cover the full monty, or just the edits after Tuedsay?
- Can Congress hold the Executive accountable for details in the bill that differ after the first signing, or are they as meaningful as the Stupak EO?
The Constitution and the relatively known process were good enough. The collaboration of the 111th Congress and Obama Administration on creative, hyper-partisan, ultra-pragmatic work-arounds for the established process are indicators of a process in dire need of re-affirmation.
Nancy And The Nancy
by Smitty
In response to the exit question on Sunday’s post, the wonderful Sheer Politics provides clarification.
Via Insty, a question from Kaus:
Who’s the guy assigned to keep Obama’s ego in check? … Tip: Start by reminding Obama that he won the vote in part by leveraging his weakness–pleading with Democratic Congressmen to save his Presidency.
Progressivism is a virulent cancer of the Constitution. Respectfully refuse to give an inch to the POTUS on his victory lap.
‘The News Slows, People Forget’
Yesterday, everybody was talking about a poll so ludicrously positive for ObamaCare that even Allahpundit was skeptical. The irrationality of post-passage spin is the topic of my latest American Spectator column:
Seven months is a long time in politics. Seven months ago, in August 2009, Democrats still held the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey. Rep. Parker Griffith was still a Democrat, Rep. Eric Massa was still a member of Congress in good standing, and Sen. Evan Bayh hadn’t announced his retirement. Seven months ago, it had not yet been reported that unemployment had reached a 26-year high of 9.7 percent. Ted Kennedy was still alive and even those who knew that “the liberal lions of the Senate” was at death’s door had no inkling he would soon be replaced by a truck-driving Republican from Wrentham.
A lot of things have changed in seven months, but amid all the changes, ObamaCare has been reliably unpopular. In August 2009, 53 percent of likely voters surveyed by Rasmussen Reports opposed it, whereas 54 percent opposed it last week in the final Rasmussen survey before Nancy Pelosi rammed a “reconciliation” version of the bill through the House on a party-line vote.
Seven months and one week before Election Day, Democrats have begun declaring loudly that the one constant of the past seven months will change dramatically between now and Nov. 2. Unpopular as a legislative proposal, ObamaCare will be enthusiastically embraced by voters, we are assured by Democrats and their media friends, now that it is a fait accompli. . . .
Please read the whole thing. And, yeah, the title of this post is a lyric from the Who:
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter Remains A Favorite
by Smitty
via Power Line, Michael Ramirez lays it down:
“We the Government”
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, via Gateway Pundit, expands on this wonderfully:
…the most dangerous special interest is big government and President Obama is its lobbyist.
McCotter sure is a lot more fun when he isn’t speaking through contained fury.
Update: Trifecta talks about something topical.