In the face of criticism from Democrats about his incompetent implementation of ObamaCare, President Obama co-opted Mother’s Day in his latest campaign to sell ObamaCare.
Obama used a Mother’s Day-themed event to kick off another campaign-style effort to get people to sign up for the so-called Affordable Care Act. In a statement dripping with condescension Obama tried to blame misinformation for his health care troubles:
So precisely because there’re been so much misinformation, sometimes people may not have a sense of what the law actually does. And that misinformation will continue -– at least through the next Election Day.
[. . .]
And we’re going to need everybody out there to make sure –get the right information. Don’t just read a blog — (laughter) — or some commentary from some pundit that has a political agenda. Make sure you know what the actual facts are . . . . Don’t let people confuse you. Don’t let them run the okiedoke on you. (Laughter.) Don’t be bamboozled. (Laughter.)
Obama seems to have forgotten that a lot of misinformation about ObamaCare results from his statements. For example, it was Obama who repeatedly assured Americans they would be able to keep their health insurance plan:
- Obama promised, “If you like your doctor, you’re going to be able to keep your doctor. If you like your plan, keep your plan.”
- Obama said, “Second, Americans must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and health care plan they have…”
- Obama wrote, “The plans you are discussing embody my core belief that Americans should have better choices for health insurance, building on the principle that if they like the coverage they have now, they can keep it, …”
- Obama said, “There’s no doubt that we have to preserve what’s best in the health care system, and that means allowing Americans who like their doctor and like their health care plan to keep their plan. And that’s going to be a priority for us.”
- Obama said, “I know a lot of Americans who are satisfied with their health care right now are wondering what reform would mean for them, so let me be clear: If you like your doctor or health care provider, you can keep them. If you like your health care plan, you can keep that too.”
- Obama said, “Those who oppose reform will also tell you that under our plan, you won’t get to choose your doctor, that some bureaucrat will choose for you. That’s also not true. Michelle and I don’t want anyone telling us who our family’s doctor should be, and no one should decide that for you either. Under our proposals, if you like your doctor, you keep your doctor. If you like your current insurance, you keep that insurance. Period. End of story.”
- Obama said, “If you like your current plan, you will be able to keep it. Let me repeat that: If you like your plan, you’ll be able to keep it.”
Less than a year after the ever unpopular ObamaCare became law, there was warning after warning that Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster admitted to the House Budget Committee that it was not true that under the ObamaCare law, it was “not true in all cases” that people would get to keep their coverage if they liked it.
Shortly after Foster’s admission, Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) warned a House subcommittee that about a million fewer people would not obtain health coverage through their employer during the period 2019 through 2021 than would have been the case if ObamaCare was not enacted.
In June 2011, Grace Marie-Turner warned a McKinsey study suggested that as many as 78 million Americans could lose their health coverage due to a dramatic decline of employer-provided health insurance under ObamaCare.
In October 2011, the nation’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart, announced that new part-time employees who work less than an average of 24 hours a week would no longer get health insurance from the company.
In November 2011, Gallup reported that governments and businesses have and will continue to cut back and/or reform their health coverage offerings due in part to the requirements ObamaCare:
“Employer-based health insurance has declined since 2008, falling from 49.8% in the first quarter of that year to 44.5% in the third quarter of 2011. If Wal-Mart’s decision is a precursor of how employers intend to manage their healthcare costs, the downward trend in employer-based healthcare will likely continue.
At the same time, the percentage of Americans who are uninsured is on the rise again after remaining fairly steady throughout 2010.”
Last year the nonpartisan CBO, found that ObamaCare could cause as many as 20 million Americans to lose their employer-provided healthcare.
As noted by the Associated Press article, the administration’s hope that the Mother’s Day co-option event would draw widespread attention was crushed by the double-barreled revelations about the Benghazi cover up and the political abuse of the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Conservative groups. This all but garauntee that the upcoming midterm elections will be as passionate as the 2010 elections.
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