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Health Care Is a Right, Not a Privilege

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Whitney
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« Reply #60 on: July 20, 2009, 04:33:54 pm »

Sam Stein
stein@huffingtonpost.com | HuffPost Reporting


Steele Calls Obama Health Care Socialism, Agrees This His Waterloo



First Posted: 07-20-09 10:19 AM | Updated: 07-20-09 01:48 PM


Asked on Monday whether President Barack Obama's plan for health care reform represented socialism, RNC Chairman Michael Steele didn't waste words.
"Yes," he declared, "next question."
In a speech that even he admitted was meant to be more about politics than policy, Steele issued a whole host of similar accusations, with the type of rhetorical flourishes for which he is well known. At the end of the address he was asked by the Huffington Post whether he agreed with Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) assessment that health care reform could be Obama's Waterloo -- a chance for the Republican Party to break the president politically. "I think that's a good way to put it," he responded.
Earlier in the address he was equally biting. "This is unprecedented government intrusion into the private sector," Steele said. "Period. And you can sweeten that anyway you want but it still tastes bitter."
"Mr. President, you are putting your party's entire big-government wish list on America's credit card," he offered at an earlier point, "But that card comes with a bill. It is more debt our children will have to pay because this reckless administration has an unrestrainable urge to splurge."
Roughly thirty times in his half-hour speech, Steele accused Obama of "experimenting" with America's health care, pursuing a government-dominated approach that would bankrupt the country without reforming the system. The RNC Chairman also announced a new website -- www.barackobamaexperiment.com -- and a new advertising campaign that the committee is launching on Monday.
The president wasn't the only target. Democratic leadership also found itself on the receiving end of acid-tongued Steele sound bite.
"We all remember Harry and Louise," the RNC Chairman said. "Harry and Louise helped save us from Hillary Clinton's health care experiment in 1994. This year, Harry and Louise have been replaced by another couple -- [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid and [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi. Harry and Nancy aren't really doctors...but they are playing doctor in Washington, experimenting with health care, insisting on a big government takeover."

Even the Blue Dog Democrats -- who have been publicly skeptical of the president's health care proposals and could be the lawmakers who help Republicans derail reform in the House -- found themselves besieged by the RNC Chair.
"Back in 1994, when Hillary Clinton tried to jam a massive health care bill down Congress' throat, Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, a highly respected Democrat, gave a speech on the Senate floor in which he flatly stated that he would not vote for a bill, which did not have Republican support," Steele said. "I am waiting for a Democrat--any Democrat--to show that sort of courage today. And please do not mention the Blue Dogs to me. Their press releases may talk about fiscal responsibility but, in the end, they have been Nancy Pelosi's most reliable voting bloc."
Speaking before a half-empty room at the National Press Club, Steele, at times, treated the event as if it were a presidential campaign rally, even flipping Obama's main slogan on him. "Candidate Obama promised change," he said. "President Obama is conducting an experiment."
But his address was short on details. Pressed repeatedly during the question and answer session why the GOP had not actually released its plan for health care reform -- and then on specific policy proposals -- Steele demurred to his GOP colleagues in Congress.
"Look I don't do policy," he said. "I'm not a legislator. My point in coming here was to establish a tone."
He even grew a bit snippy with the press when he was asked whether the health care reform debate had already been "litigated" in the 2008 election. "Yeah, we lost the last election so that means we shut up?" he asked. "That's a serious question?" he added, somewhat incredulously.
In the end, the majority of scorn was saved for the president, who Steele accused of playing "Russian roulette" with the American economy. The White House is ignoring the greatness of the current health care system, the RNC Chair insisted. The president was operating blind in trying to craft reform. And he wasn't making the serious efforts at bipartisanship that were promised during the election.
"We like coming down to the White House and having a beer and watching a game," Steele said, "but someone is going to lose a health care opportunity if we don't do this right."
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Whitney
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« Reply #61 on: July 20, 2009, 04:34:44 pm »

Bill Kristol: This Is The Week To Kill Health Care



The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner


At the Weekly Standard, editor Bill Kristol has declared war on health care reform, telling Republicans now is the time to "go for the kill."
With Obamacare on the ropes, there will be a temptation for opponents to let up on their criticism, and to try to appear constructive, or at least responsible. There will be a tendency to want to let the Democrats' plans sink of their own weight, to emphasize that the critics have been pushing sound reform ideas all along and suggest it's not too late for a bipartisan compromise over the next couple of weeks or months. [...]

[T]his is not the time to let them off the ropes. This is the week to highlight every problem, every terrible provision, in the Democratic bills: from taxes and spending to government control and rationing to federal funding for abortion and government-required death-with-dignity counseling sessions for the elderly. Throw the kitchen sink at the legislation now on the table, drive a stake through its heart (I apologize for the mixed metaphors), and kill it.
Kristol sang the same tune in 1994 -- only then he was more blunt, telling Republicans to forget the policy implications and kill the bill to keep Democrats down. It worked then. But as Joe Klein writes at Time, "That was then. The conservative tide was still flowing strong. It's ebbing now, although many Congressional Democrats haven't figured that out yet."
Kristol isn't the only conservative media figure to go all out against reform. Media Matter has compiled a video of right-wing pundits and talk show hosts throwing the kitchen sink at health care legislation:

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Whitney
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« Reply #62 on: July 20, 2009, 04:35:32 pm »

Obama Urges Action On Health Care Reform: "We've Talked This Problem To Death"



AP/Huffington Post
First Posted: 07-20-09 01:44 PM | Updated: 07-20-09 03:01 PM
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says it is time for the country to take action on his proposed health care overhaul because "we've talked this problem to death."
Obama said that out-of-pocket costs for Americans are spiraling while health insurance companies have reaped record profits. He also said families are spending more for less care.
Obama visited a children's hospital Monday and spoke with doctors and nurses about the shortcomings of the health care system. He said hey are forced to work in a system that favors drug companies and insurance companies, not care.
The president responded directly to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who said last week that health care reform could be the president's "Waterloo."
"Now, there are some in this town who are content to perpetuate the status quo, are in fact fighting reform on behalf of powerful special interests," Obama said. "There are others who recognize the problem, but believe -- or perhaps, hope -- that we can put off the hard work of insurance reform for another day, another year, another decade.
"Just the other day," he continued, "one Republican senator said -- and I'm quoting him now -- 'If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.' Think about that. This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses, and breaking America's economy."
Obama said the need for change is urgent and indisputable. He says those who oppose him want to preserve the status quo. He says changing the system is more important than politics or his personal reputation.


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Whitney
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« Reply #63 on: July 20, 2009, 04:39:41 pm »

What a bunch of bastards. 

These rich a**hole Republicans are all ready to torpedo health care reform anyway just so they can to keep the greedy, profit hungry insurance monsters in business.

Wise up, America!  This is your last chance to get health care that you can afford where you won't need to go BANKRUPT just because you get a major illness. 70% of all bankruptices are due to MEDICAL BILLS. 

Don't let these Republican/Bluedog Democrat Neocons rob you of your chance to have a better quality of life, like most of the rest of the industrialized world has. 
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Fawn Aberkorn
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« Reply #64 on: July 21, 2009, 11:14:03 am »

We have a Congress filled with paid whores, all bought and paid for by the insurance companies.
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« Reply #65 on: July 21, 2009, 11:26:07 am »

Drug industry, Pfizer lead in health lobbying
ALAN FRAM | 07/21/09 12:02 AM | 


WASHINGTON — The drug industry's trade group and one of the nation's biggest pharmaceutical companies reported spending more money than other health care organizations on lobbying in the second quarter of this year.

With the fight over President Barack Obama's effort to revamp the nation's health care system escalating, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said it spent $6.2 million lobbying in April, May and June, according to reports to Congress due Monday. Pfizer Inc., the New York-based producer of numerous drugs, ranked second in the health care sector at $5.6 million.

In reports filed by 11 p.m. Monday, 22 health-related associations and companies had reported spending at least $1 million each lobbying during the quarter.

The stakes are huge for the health industry. Congressional Democrats are pushing legislation that could cost roughly $1 trillion over the coming decade, paid for in part by cuts in federal health care programs such as Medicare. Lobbyists have been flooding Capitol Hill for months, and many interest groups have already invested millions of dollars in ad campaigns favoring or opposing various portions of the emerging bills.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, the health sector reported spending $127 million in lobbying during the first three months of this year, more than any other area.

It can take many days for all the reports to be filed. In the second quarter of 2008, 28 health care concerns reported spending at least $1 million lobbying.

Of the thousands of reports filed by Monday evening covering lobbying on all subjects, only three organizations reported spending more during the second quarter than PhRMA, the drug industry trade group. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity reported spending $11.3 million lobbying at a time when Congress is considering energy legislation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business group, reported spending $7.4 million, and the General Electric Co. reported $7.2 million in lobbying expenditures.

Including its latest report, PhRMA has now spent $13.1 million lobbying so far this year. Pfizer has reported $11.7 million in lobbying expenses for 2009.

Other top lobbying spenders among health-related organizations for this year's second quarter included the American Medical Association, $4 million; Eli Lilly and Co., $3.6 million; the American Hospital Association, $3.5 million, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, $2.8 million.

Also, GlaxoSmithKline, $2.3 million; CVS Caremark Inc., $2 million; Bayer Corp. and America's Health Insurance Plans, representing the health insurance industry, $1.9 million each; Novartis and the Biotechnology Industry Organization, each $1.8 million, and Metlife Group Inc., $1.7 million.

Also, Sanofi-Aventis U.S. Inc. reported spending $1.6 million in the second quarter; Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. $1.6 million; Merck & Co. Inc. $1.5 million; F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd. and its affiliates, $1.5 million; the American College of Radiology Association, Wellpoint Inc. and Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, each $1.2 million, and Siemens Corp. and UnitedHealth Group Inc., $1 million each.
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« Reply #66 on: July 21, 2009, 11:26:30 am »

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/21/phrma-pfizer-lead-in-heal_n_241702.html
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Harconen
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« Reply #67 on: July 22, 2009, 08:49:46 pm »

Obama vows healthcare reform this year

President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday to push affordable healthcare reform through this year and keep it from swelling the US deficit in a fresh bid to convince Americans to back his ambitious plan.

“We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year,” he said, according to prepared remarks released by the White House.

The excerpts were released ahead of a prime-time press conference, as Obama, battling slumping poll numbers, seeks to counter growing criticism of his economic and health policies.

“I have also pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade — and I mean it,” he said, adding that spiraling healthcare expenses must be brought under control.

“If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit.”

But a USA Today/Gallup poll earlier showed his approval ratings have fallen to 55 percent and his disapproval ratings were up 16 points to 41 percent.

The downturn in Obama’s once stratospheric poll numbers parallels the decline in the US economy, as Americans grow more pessimistic about how long it will take for the recession to end.

Critically, the survey also found that 50 percent of the US public disapproved of the president’s healthcare policy, with 44 percent in support.

While questions on Iraq and tensions with Israel may also get some play at the news conference starting at 8:00 pm (0000 GMT Thursday), domestic issues were set to top the agenda.

Against the backdrop of mounting deficits and ever-rising unemployment, healthcare reform looks set to be Obama’s biggest test yet.

His far-reaching plans to bring affordable health insurance to all Americans have left many worrying who will foot the bill, and many players within his own Democratic Party remain skeptical.

But Obama warned: “If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day.

“These are the consequences of inaction. These are the stakes of the debate we’re having right now,” Obama said in the remarks.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that some Republicans were working with Democrats to draft legislation to provide health insurance for all, including the 46 million Americans who currently have no coverage.

But he conceded: “I don’t doubt that there are some that have philosophical differences. I also think there are some, as we enumerated yesterday, that are intent on playing political games.”

Healthcare reform has bedeviled many administrations, including that of former president Bill Clinton who tried, and very publicly failed, to change the system.

And Republicans are loudly fretting over the cost of Obama’s plans.

The “Democrats’ reforms are designed to push an ever-increasing number of Americans into a government-run health care plan,” Republican Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal wrote in The Wall Street Journal Wednesday.

He added the reforms could hurt private health care providers and lead them to be “driven out of business,” warning that could lead to higher costs for all and a decline in the overall quality of health care.

Obama has received support in some Republican quarters however, including from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said reform was needed “right away.”

“I would support him 100 percent in health care reform, because I think it’s necessary,” Schwarzenegger told ABC television, adding it was “inexcusable” that so many people remained uninsured.

http://rawstory.com/08/afp/2009/07/22/obama-vows-healthcare-reform-this-year/
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Kaitlyn
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« Reply #68 on: July 23, 2009, 12:46:48 am »

Dig deeper and people aren't so much unhappy with Obama's handling of health care, they are pissed that he isn't fighting harder for it! 

We have the worst health care system in the industrial world, bar none. 

And Bush actually still gets the blame for the poor economy.
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« Reply #69 on: July 23, 2009, 09:40:50 am »

I can't believe Americans wouldn't want health care.  And I don't know why the drug companies would be upset, they would still have all the business.  Health Care doesn't cover the cost of medicine, unless it's an extended health care plan, such as a person gets through their employment.  What it does pay for is all your visits to the Dr., it pays for hospital stays, it pays for operations and for physio and home care after an operation. 

I think it's pretty obvious how the drug companies have been ripping and gouging you people if they're willing to spend so much money on lobbying against health care.  They've got you all brainwashed that you can't afford it.  Ha!  You can't afford not to have it.
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Logic rules.

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Harconen
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« Reply #70 on: July 23, 2009, 10:26:42 am »

I can't believe Americans wouldn't want health care.  And I don't know why the drug companies would be upset, they would still have all the business.  Health Care doesn't cover the cost of medicine, unless it's an extended health care plan, such as a person gets through their employment.  What it does pay for is all your visits to the Dr., it pays for hospital stays, it pays for operations and for physio and home care after an operation. 

I think it's pretty obvious how the drug companies have been ripping and gouging you people if they're willing to spend so much money on lobbying against health care.  They've got you all brainwashed that you can't afford it.  Ha!  You can't afford not to have it.

Yes Qoais, you make a point.
It is just a greed for more and more money from people.I was living in a country with a better health care than in U.S. , and it wasn't so rich and powerful like U.S. .State was paying all costs of any kind of medical treatment you need.
People in the U.S. really are brainwashed.
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Luke Hodiak
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« Reply #71 on: July 23, 2009, 11:21:42 am »

I agree, the hold up is the lobbying.  The insurance and pharmaceutical industries pay millions to the politicians' poltical campaigns, so consequentially, laws are written for the benefits of big corportations, not the people.

Any complaints about your Canadian system, Qoais?  There is all sorts of misinformation in the U.S. about it here.
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« Reply #72 on: July 23, 2009, 01:53:43 pm »

Obama press conference: Evasions and lies on plan to slash health care for workers

By Patrick Martin
23 July 2009


President Obama’s press conference Wednesday night was an hour-long effort to conceal from the American people the sweeping impact of the cuts in medical benefits that will be imposed in his administration’s planned restructuring of the US health care system.

With major health care bills proceeding through both the House and the Senate, and the White House engaged in detailed negotiations with congressional Democrats and Republicans, Obama focused his opening statement on the issue and nearly every question from the White House press corps followed suit.

The opening statement made only one mention of the 47 million people now without health insurance, and did not repeat Obama’s election campaign promises of universal coverage. Instead, he spoke almost exclusively about the need to slash spending on medical care, particularly on the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs which underwrite health care for the elderly, the disabled and the poor.

“The biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid,” he said. “So let me be clear: If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit.”

“I have also pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade, and I mean it,” he added, pointing to a plan to “create an independent group of doctors and medical experts who are empowered to eliminate waste and inefficiency in Medicare on an annual basis.”

As always is the case in a US presidential press conference, Obama was addressing two basic audiences—the ruling elite and the general population. But rarely have the messages being delivered been so fundamentally at odds. Obama combined vague promises of improvements in health care for the American people with direct pledges to the financial aristocracy that his plan would cut health care spending.

Obama repeatedly stressed that his number one priority was to slash spending on medical care, both by corporate America and by the federal government. At one point he declared that unless costs are reduced, “Medicare and Medicaid will break the federal budget.” No such considerations have restrained his administration’s open-ended bailout of Wall Street—at a direct cost of $4.7 trillion, with another $19 trillion in guarantees—or the spending of trillions on continuing and escalating the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To working people, Obama offered examples of the abuses inflicted by private insurance companies—cutting off benefits, arbitrary rate increases, refusal to pay for life-saving procedures—making a show of sympathy with the victims of medicine-for-profit, even as he pushes ahead with plans to make these conditions even worse.

In response to reporters’ questions about the sacrifices he was prepared to ask of ordinary people, Obama was careful to disguise the real implications of the measures now being prepared. One reporter asked if he would support a list of cost-cutting measures—fewer tests, fewer choices, less end-of-life care. Obama evaded the issue with a glib phrase, saying he would ask people only to “give up paying for things that don’t make you healthier.”

Another reporter asked the US president to detail “specifically what kind of pain and sacrifice” he was prepared to demand of current or future Medicare beneficiaries. Here Obama simply lied, saying that he “won’t reduce Medicare benefits” but would “make delivery more efficient.”

The final questioner along these lines asked Obama to guarantee that under the public insurance option proposed as part of his plan the government would not reduce benefits or coverage for anyone. Obama first made a diversion, defending the public option against Republican criticism and citing record insurance company profits. Then he gave an evasive answer, saying he “can’t guarantee there will be no changes in the health care delivery system.”

Given the opportunity to promise there would be no reductions in benefits or coverage under his health care plan, Obama refused to do so—a much clearer indication of the real direction of government policy than all his pretended empathy for working class families facing the loss of jobs, health insurance and their homes.

At one point, asked about his bottom-line requirements for a health care bill, Obama said that he would not sign a bill that increased the federal deficit or failed to cut health care costs. He made no such pledge to reject a bill that failed to cover the uninsured or imposed cuts in the availability of medical procedures, tests or drugs.

Obama said that he did not want the additional tax revenues required under his plan to be “completely shouldered” by middle-class families, an indication that a substantial portion of the costs will be imposed on working families.

No reporter, in line with the general media coverage of the health care issue, raised the simple fact that it is impossible to combine expanded benefits and drastically reduced spending, or improve health care for masses of people on the basis of a plan supported by the giant pharmaceutical and insurance companies. In fact, Obama’s drive to restructure health care represents a frontal assault on the social conditions of the working class.

His talk about eliminating “inefficiencies” and cutting the “quantity but not the quality” of health care can only mean, within the framework of a for-profit health care system based on the capitalist market, an attack on both the quantity and quality of health care for broad masses of people.

The dimensions of the coming assault are suggested by two figures cited by Obama. He pointed to the projected $7.1 trillion in federal deficits over the next decade, declaring that his health care plan was an essential part of cutting that deficit. And he noted that the annual average cost of health care in the United States was $6,500 more per person than in other industrialized countries—a gap that puts American corporations at a disadvantage against their international rivals.

The class character of Obama health care plan is demonstrated by the process through which the plan has been put together.

The last few days have seen extensive press reporting on the millions in campaign contributions from the health profiteers to leading congressional Democrats like Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. At the same time, the Obama administration has refused to release the names of top health care company CEOs and lobbyists who have been visiting the White House to ensure the legislation is drafted to their satisfaction.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, health care companies gave a staggering $170 million to congressional candidates in 2007 and 2008 combined, 54 percent of that total to Democrats. This spending spree is accelerating. According to the Washington Post, “The industry already set records from January to March, when health care firms and their lobbyists spent money at the rate of $1.4 million a day.”

The horror stories about insurance company abuses cited by Obama in his press conference could be multiplied endlessly. It is no exaggeration to say that thousands die needless deaths every year and millions are condemned to suffering because the health care system is driven not by human needs, but by the profit interests of drug and medical equipment manufacturers, hospital chains and insurance companies.

It is precisely these corporate interests that are working in close collaboration with the White House and Congress to write the Obama health care plan, whose aim is precisely to deny tests, medicines, procedures and treatments to working class people and restructure the health care system more directly and openly along class lines. The outcome will be cut-rate, third-class care for the vast majority, while the affluent few will have access to the best care available.
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« Reply #73 on: July 23, 2009, 03:33:54 pm »




                                                       
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« Reply #74 on: July 23, 2009, 04:14:01 pm »

Thursday, July 23, 2009
Obama health-care claims disputed

S.A. Miller

Even as President Obama delivered a prime-time sales pitch for his embattled health care reform plan Wednesday, basic facts about coverage, cost and who foots the bills remain in dispute and many of the president's favorite talking points are challenged not only by Republicans but also by independent fact-checkers.

For example, Mr. Obama promises that people who are happy with their current health insurance can keep it. That's a claim contradicted by Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.

The group found that while the government would not require people to change their health insurance, proposals by Senate Democrats would result in some people losing health care benefits from employers, either because it would become too expensive or because workers would be able to get a better deal elsewhere.

Such inconsistencies between the rhetoric and the reality cloud much of the health care debate as Mr. Obama retools some of his claims to fend off criticism and adjusts positions he staked out on the campaign trail.

One of the more startling shifts since the campaign was the dropping of Mr. Obama's oft-stated promise to provide universal health care coverage. The House bill leaves about 17 million off the insurance rolls, and one of the Senate bills leaves out about 34 million.

The administration says it is a matter of how you define "universal" and that some people were always expected to slip through the cracks.

Mr. Obama also changed his tune on requiring individuals to buy insurance or pay a fine. He opposed that idea on the campaign trail but has warmed to the idea as it became an element of the package being drafted by Congress.

Then there is the money.

Striving to calm concerns in his own party about the plan's budget-busting $1 trillion price tag, Mr. Obama pledges that the overhaul will be "deficit neutral" and funded, in part, with savings from "bending the curve" of skyrocketing health care costs.

But the Congressional Budget Office, Congress' nonpartisan accountant, last week said the bills taking shape on Capitol Hill would not lower costs and would drive up government spending at an unsustainable pace.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, insisted the bills are a work in progress and there are more savings to come. She also claimed the CBO analysis did not accurately account for savings from preventive and wellness measures that will spawn a population that is healthier and less expensive to treat.

Mr. Obama reportedly summoned CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf to a closed-door meeting Monday at the White House - an unusual move for a president that drew sharp criticism from Republicans.

"This reeks of the type of Chicago-style politics that Americans were warned about," said Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee. "The CBO was created to be independent and nonpartisan. To spoil that with political dealings in the West Wing only adds to American cynicism about the presidents misguided health care plan."

White House officials said there was nothing underhanded about meeting.

"The president invited Mr. Elmendorf to the White House to discuss strategies for bringing down health care costs," White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said. "He's committed to getting costs under control, and he'll continue to seek opinions from experts on the best ways to do so."

Factcheck.org has challenged other assertions by Mr. Obama:

• The president claimed that the cost of treating uninsured people raises the cost of health care for the rest of Americans by $1,000 per family. The Web site pointed to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation that showed the $1,000 figure is "clearly an exaggeration."

According to the foundation, the amount of costs that care providers can shift to the privately insured is only about $8 billion, which Factcheck.org calculated comes to about $200 per family per year.

Mr. Obama tweaked the claim in a speech to the American Medical Association in June, saying higher premiums, higher taxes and higher health care costs attributable to the uninsured result in families paying $1,000 more a year. The Web site said the change in language largely supported the $1,000 figure.

• Mr. Obama claims that nearly 46 million people in the U.S. are uninsured, but that includes about 6 million illegal immigrants and about 14 million with high enough incomes - more than $75,000 year - that they likely could afford insurance, according to Factcheck.org.

The Web site notes, however, that just because you can afford insurance doesn't mean you can get it. About 28 percent of applications for insurance are rejected for medical or nonmedical reasons, and about 11 percent who get insurance pay more than they requested, according to a study by American Health Insurance Plans.

Reply 1 - Posted by: Skipalong, 7/23/2009 4:49:30 AM     (No. 5711190)

He stood there reading his teleprompter and spinning for an hour. What a nut!

Reply 2 - Posted by: OceanLover, 7/23/2009 4:51:51 AM     (No. 5711194)

Of course the Hussein claims are untrue. If you are elderly and on Medicare you will be denied life-saving treatments, such a prostate surgery in favor of younger men. This will cause you to die a terrible painful death from bone invading metastases. This is the choice African-Americans so joyfully make now in support of the African-not-American they love so much. Blacks have the highest rates of prostate cancer in case you did not know.

Reply 3 - Posted by: Beamer, 7/23/2009 5:18:50 AM     (No. 5711214)

But Oboma means well. Hey who would buy this piece of dung if he told the truth about it? I can't understand how the media lets his lies go unchallenged? They just say, wasn't that speech peachy? Isn't he the one?
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