First off, this is what the White House considers a ‘dialogue:’
…the rest of us, of course, would call it a “lecture.” One of the funny things about dialogues is that it’s more or less assumed that both sides are prepared to change their minds if necessary.
Moving along, Ed Morrissey highlighted what he calls a “Michael Dukakis moment“:
EXCLUSIVE: President Obama Defends Right to Choose Best Care
Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn’t seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he’s proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.
The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if “it’s my family member, if it’s my wife, if it’s my children, if it’s my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.
Video of the exchange here; as Ed commented, “If ObamaCare isn’t good enough for Sasha, Malia, or Michelle, then it’s not good enough for America.” Mind you, there’s not a chance at all that any of those people – or, indeed, the loved ones of any major politician in America – are ever going to have less than the best of health care. Which may frankly be the problem; democracies are sometimes too good at cushioning its elected officials from the consequences of their domestic policy positions.
And then there’s the health care tax issue Via Instapundit:
Obama not closing door on possible health care tax
WASHINGTON (AP) — With lawmakers trying to crunch the numbers on a $1 trillion health care overhaul, President Barack Obama is leaving the door open to a new tax on employer-provided health care benefits.
Senior senators said Wednesday the benefits tax could be essential for the complex plan to be fully financed.
“I don’t want to prejudge what they’re doing,” Obama said, referring to proposals in the Senate to tax workers who get expensive insurance policies. Obama, who campaigned against the tax when he ran for president, drew a quick rebuff from organized labor.
This is an example of how he “campaigned against the tax:”
…and I noted these shenanigans from the Democrats in Congress last month. What’s different now is that the White House is testing the waters in breaking yet another campaign promise, and never mind organized labor. The President of AFSCME responded:
Gerald W. McEntee, president of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said in an interview that union leaders believe Obama is “a person of his word.”
…which will come to a bit of a surprise to gay rights activists, transparency advocates, the antiwar movement, and pretty much every type of libertarian that exists. Soon to be added, apparently: the elderly, the working class, and college graduates just entering the workplace. It really is a comprehensive health care plan, isn’t it? Just perhaps not in the way that the White House intends.
Moe Lane
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Dan McLaughlin
Great synopsis.
jenest2001 Thursday, June 25th at 12:04PM EST (link)Thank you for the post. Hopefully this goes down in flames once the public realizes what it means to each person in this country. If we can only figure how to get them to stop watching the Today Show, Oprah and Ellen.
Obama's achilles heel
texas214 (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 12:13PM EST (link)It appears that Obama’s achilles heel is his speaking, not speach making, but speaking. Everytime he is without the teleprompter, “the smartest man in the world!!!” tends to let his guard down and the REAL Obama comes out. We’ve now heard about fairness with Joe the plumber, and now we’ve heard how it’s cheaper to let older Americans just die and that he wouldn’t subject his own family to the plan.
Let’s just give the egotistical narcissist a camera and a microphone, sans teleprompter, and let everyone know what he really thinks.
Ha Ha, for your amusement
djemi (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 12:21PM EST (link)President Obama’s town hall meeting on health care delivered a sickly rating Wednesday evening.
The one-hour ABC News special “Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America” (4.7 million viewers, 1.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) had the fewest viewers in the 10 p.m. hour. The special tied some 8 p.m. comedy repeats as the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network.
Looks like poeple voted with their fingers, BO must be losing his wow factor
“If I can’t shoot rabbits,then I can’t shoot fascist”
“With age, comes Wisdom, but only if you are paying Attention, son” my ‘Old Man’
RS Help files (h/t JLenardDetroit) Grassroots in Michigan
Moes Strategy
Since the "di" in "dialog" means "two"...
Paul_In_Houston Thursday, June 25th at 12:36PM EST (link)… he interprets it as “I speak, you listen”.
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Maybe it's called a "unialog" in this case?
bk (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 12:43PM EST (link)I believe the correct term would be "farce"
The_Gadfly (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 12:51PM EST (link)except The Big 0 and his cronies missed that a properly staged farce is supposed to be funny (as in humorous, not the sense of adding ‘money’ to it).
That would be a "monologue" (n/t)
youthgrunt (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 12:57PM EST (link).
yikes why didn't I think of this
bk (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 1:43PM EST (link)We would prefer a polylogue instead.
And what inexplicably keeps getting left out of the debate
bk (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 12:42PM EST (link)is that Obama repeatedly during the campaign promised people their health care costs would go down $2,500 per year per family under his plan. That NEVER gets mentioned any more. The GOP needs to be all over that, with ads broadcasting that promise and “regular” people asking, “Where’s my $2,500 saving in your plan?” This is NOT some vague thing that the average person won’t get – They WILL understand that he promised them a couple hundred a month in their pockets and has reneged completely on it.
Geraghty -nt-
Lammo (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 2:19PM EST (link)Don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out. (John Corapi, The Black Sheep Dog)
Are you obama and the Unions going to be in the same Healthcare Plan
bobojake (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 12:54PM EST (link)That you are trying to force on me.
obama you know that is a resounding NO so NO WAY HOSEA we don’t want your foney fraudulent Healthcare plan obama. You are a foney LIAR.
Remember the Bush informercial on Social Security reform?
NotSoBlueStater (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 1:08PM EST (link)I don’t either.
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The Conservative creed has never offered a life of ease without effort. Democracy is not for such people. Self-government is for those men and women who have learned to govern themselves. – Margaret Thatcher
(flashes back to The Incredibles)
Finrod (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 1:22PM EST (link)“You got me monologueing!”
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. How much for the ape?
Is that a cape The One is wearing?
Lammo (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 2:33PM EST (link)I certainly hope so.
Don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out. (John Corapi, The Black Sheep Dog)
Thanks Moe, great article!
louisiana (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 1:42PM EST (link)I was too much of a coward to watch the “program”. Obama literally turns
my stomach when he speaks. If we had smellavision, I imagine we all
would have smelled sulfur. I did watch several clips of the infomercial on
Fox. Two words come to mind: Sham Wow!
I have a remedy for that...
Cheryl (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 2:05PM EST (link)Everytime Obama comes on for whatever switch it over to the western channel. For instance, right now as he’s talking about energy legislation and I’m watching “Buck and the Preacher”.
“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America, than the whole force of the common enemy.” –Samuel Adams
“The administrative state has inserted its big paws into our houses, from the toilet bowl to the light socket. Now if it would just stretch those paws from the one to the other at the same time, we might begin to recapture the spirit of ’76.” –Scott Johnson, Powerlineblog.com
Fairness Doctrine
jenest2001 Thursday, June 25th at 2:24PM EST (link)Interesting comparison…when they start howling about the Fairness Doctrine again, we can point to this fabulous infomercial!
What is left out of the debate is motive & intent
izoneguy (Diary) Thursday, June 25th at 2:03PM EST (link)ABC is owned by Disney…
Disney is a huge corporate entity that employs 150,000 people
more or less….
So Disney would have a huge incentive to let the Feds provide Health Care. So why not use our little broadcaster to help Obummer sell out America for the sake of more corporate profits?
Type Public (NYSE: DIS)
Founded Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
(October 16, 1923)
Founder(s) Walt Disney and Roy Disney
Headquarters The Walt Disney Studios
Burbank, California, U.S.
Key people Robert A. “Bob” Iger
President & CEO
John E. Pepper, Jr.
Chairman
Roy E. Disney
Director Emeritus
Steve Jobs
Chief Shareholder
Anne Sweeney
President, Disney-ABC Television Group & Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks
Industry Media and Entertainment
Revenue ? US$ 37.843 billion (2008)[2]
Operating income ? US$ 7.402 billion (2008)[2]
Net income ? US$ 4.427 billion (2008)[2]
Total assets ? US$ 62.497 billion (2008)[2]
Total equity ? US$ 54.878 billion (2008)[2]
Employees 150,000 (2008)[2]
Divisions Walt Disney Studio Entertainment, Disney-ABC Television Group, Disney Interactive Media Group, Walt Disney Consumer Products, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney Interactive Studios
Website Disney.com
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
"Better Put Some Ice On That"
popdaddy Thursday, June 25th at 10:12PM EST (link)Bill Clinton
“A pain pill should do”
Barry Obama
Just say NO to any healthcare plan that does not include union management / members, Congress, Executive Branch and Judiciary!
Does Everybody Love Medicare, Obama?
Spartan4Life (Diary) Friday, June 26th at 9:23AM EST (link)He keeps citing this as a great example of what a “Public” plan can do. My parents are on Medicare and it seems to me to be just another government run ponzi scheme that is heading for bankruptcy.
The way it works is that the government dictates to providers what they will and won’t pay for and, more importantly, how much they will pay for various procedures. So, it is great for Medicare recipients. Like my parents will say, “We love Medicare!”. Where it kind of comes apart is that Doctors and Hospitals can’t make money based on the reimbursements they get from the government. So they have to limit the number of Medicare patients they can take(typically must be below 25% of their total patients). As a result, if you are on Medicare you can’t find a doctor. Furthermore, the costs of providing Medicare coverage are passed along to private insurers, thereby raising rates for everyone and one of the reasons costs for private insurance are rising so fast.
All it is at the end of the day is price fixing which never works. Who is going to pick up the tab when all the private insurers go out of business?
government run ponzi scheme
mom2oneson (Diary) Friday, June 26th at 9:34AM EST (link)love it!
I think all insurances dictates how much they will pay for procedures, it changes from company to company, they get different rates in contracts. DRGs and the reimbursement process should be looked at it as a reason for losing revenue too not just how much the gov pays. I would be surprised at that 25% figure hospitals are full of elderly people on medicare (they compete for them) and ped floors are full of patients on medicaid. So many children are on medicaid now most peds accept it.