Archive for July, 2009
President Obama’s Polls Go Down After His Last Presser
Saturday, July 25th, 2009The strategy for any dip in Obama poll numbers has been to put his most glorious mug everywhere and feel the polls (but not, so far, the oceans) rise. Alas, the strategy is fizzling. At least this time, for health care, the strategy fizzled.
What happened? Besides the distraction of putting his foot in his mouth over the Gates arrest, Obama said nothing new or even particularly interesting on Wednesday night about health care. The only really new statement made by Obama was that he would approve tax hikes on the middle class as long as they didn’t primarily pay for the reform bill. Until July 22nd, only Robert Gibbs had hinted at middle-class tax hikes for health-care reform.
President Obama’s Broken Tax Promises
Saturday, July 25th, 2009I still don’t know how Barack Obama could say, with a straight face, that 95% of people would not see any form of tax increases. And I still don’t understand how people could believe him. But they did. And so, with his credibility on this issue gone, how can they believe him when he talks about a “deficit neutral” health care plan when the Congressional Budget Office says that the plan would add 1 trillion in debt? It requires an astonishing suspension of disbelief….
Democrats Censor Speech: Don’t Say “Government Run Health Care”
Friday, July 24th, 2009Evidently, the term “Government Run Health Care” doesn’t poll so well. I know it’s the only term I use for the health care debate because “Obamacare” sounds snipey and non-descriptive. So this is what is being reported by Human Events’ Connie Hair:
Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), the secretary of the House Republican Conference and a former District Court Judge, is having his messages to constituents censored by Democrats on the Franking Commission. Republicans are no longer allowed to use the words “government run health care” in the communications to their constituents.
Carter received an email from the Franking Commission informing him of the censorship.
“It came to me from the Franking Commission and I have the email from the Franking Commission here if you’d like to see it,” Carter said. “We held a telephone town-hall… When you hold telephone town-halls you have a recorded message that introduces the town-hall and the subject matter you’re going to be talking about. You have to now submit that language to the Franking Commission.
True censorship is when the Government filters what can and cannot be said. This is the government filtering what can and cannot be said. It’s unconstitutional and it’s wrong.
The fact is, the Democrats don’t want accurate words used because that will derail their plans–in this case for the government to run health care. The words are accurate and descriptive and don’t play well with people, so they want to mangle words and meanings to deceive the American people.
President Obama: The Buck Stops There, But Not Here
Friday, July 24th, 2009Evidently, the President’s remarks about the Henry Gates arrest are the media’s fault. A Fox News reporter spoke off-camera with press Secretary Robert Gibbs who felt the media blew up the remarks about the arrest:
Says Patrick Hynes, “So the cops are stupid and it’s all the media’s fault. Got it.” [Video courtesy Patrick.]
And don’t forget that doctors are greedy and Republicans are obstructionist and on and on. It is never President Obama’s fault. I suspect that should the President start getting less-than-favorable press (as in, not being actively helped), his disposition will change and not for the better.
Running Against The President
Friday, July 24th, 2009Republicans remember how the last election was made into a referendum on President George W. Bush. It looks like the same thing might happen with President Obama. Far from the uniter he campaigned on being, his words and deeds while delivered in a measured way, have proven to be very divisive:
Podcast 24: President Obama, Sarah Palin, 2012 Contenders & The Future of the Right Online
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Hi guys, Dan Riehl of Riehl World View and my co-blogger John Hawkins join me. We discuss the news of the day. The third segment might be interesting to those who wonder about the future of the Right online. Why don’t we have a Kos on the Right? That question and more gets answered there.
Melissa’s show can also be found on RFC Radio every Monday and Wednesday night at 10:00 pm Eastern.
To subscribe on iTunes, just click here!
When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
Notably Absent From The Presidents Address: The Scourge Of Trial Lawyers
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009In the 1960′s, the popular surgery was to remove tonsils (sometimes, as in my mom’s case, it was even necessary). In the 1970′s, the popular surgery was to have perfectly functioning ovaries and uteri removed. In the 1980′s, the popular surgery was to have a knee “scoped”. And, at one time, bloodletting and frontal lobotomies were also en vogue. Clearly, medicine is not always evidence based. Often, doctors are slow to change their prejudices. Doctors are not pure-hearted creatures unmotivated by such base things as financial reward.
All that being said, the real scourge to modern American medicine is not doctors unnecessarily removing tonsils, as President Obama implied during his press conference. The real scourge lurks behind every patient and hangs over every procedure and is terrifying to doctors because their existence can be a living nightmare during one small mistake. The real scourge, trial lawyers, drive most unnecessary procedures these days and President Obama said not one word about them.
Duane Lester writes about this important topic today. He says:
It’s interesting that President Obama discusses unnecessary operations as one of the causes of high health care costs. Do you know what the most often performed operation is in the United States? With heart disease being the number one killer in America, you might think it would be related to that, perhaps bypass surgery or angioplasty.
It’s cesarean section. In 1965, only 4.5 percent of children were delivered via c-section. Today, 31 percent are. That’s a huge increase for a procedure that was once reserved to emergency situations. And as the Los Angeles Times notes, it has resulted in “an explosion in medical bills, an increase in complications — and a reconsideration of the cesarean as a sometimes unnecessary risk.”
What is the reason for the increase? Is it greedy doctors looking for a new summer home? No, it’s something far worse.
John Edwards.
Please go read the whole thing and then come back. It is not hyperbole to indict John Edwards for this problem. He started the problem in the case of C-sections. But for every one John Edwards, there’s ten other trial lawyers suing doctors for some other malady. You see the advertisements on TV. “Have you been wronged? Did you take this drug? Are you experiencing THIS SYMPTOM?!! Call NOW! And get what is rightfully yours!”
Every medicine, procedure, surgery and consultation a doctor must consider from a legal standpoint. Does malpractice occur? Yes. Do unnecessary surgeries and procedures occur? Absolutely. But oftentimes, doctors are doing procedures and taking actions to avoid a lawsuit–that might mean ordering extra tests to “be sure”, doing a procedure “just in case” and performing a surgery “so we don’t miss something.”
In Texas, where the state passed Tort reform, malpractice insurance has dropped and doctors have flooded into the state. That’s a good thing because the population has increased dramatically so Texans need more doctors.
Some patients have been wronged by a doctor’s negligence, so malpractice insurance will be a continued fact of life. And lawyers will need to represent the patient.
Still, lawsuits force doctors to make medical choices that often are more expensive and unnecessary than they otherwise would. And that is the hidden cost of health care the President didn’t talk about.
President Obama: The Black President Rather Than The American President Who Happens To Be Black
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Lynn Sweet’s question about the Henry Gate’s arrest (white officers arrested a black Harvard scholar breaking into his own home) at the press conference seemed coordinated and purposeful and at first glance, strange. The press conference was regarding nationalized health care, why would a reporter talk about the Henry Gate’s arrest? As Yuri says over at the National Review, normally, a president would say:
It’s the kind of question to which a president would normally reply with something like: “That’s a local police matter, I don’t know the details and I know it will be worked out responsibly,” and move along. Obama gave a lengthy review of the facts, called the police officers involved stupid, and implied they are also liars. Very odd behavior for a president.
My take was that President Obama wanted to talk about race in a grand way. He wanted to remind the country that his presidency was historic and historic changes (i.e. health care legislation that is a human right like racial equality is a human right) needed to happen for a historic time. While I believe the president choosing to talk about this was an error in judgment, I certainly don’t believe the topic was accidental or a simple “gaffe”.
The Politico’s Ben Smith sees a pattern but I think he missed the big idea that Obama was trying to convey:
His dryness was all the more striking by contrast with the press conference’s conclusion, when he suddenly re-engaged with a question that he’s spent much of his life mulling — race, in the form of the arrest of a black Harvard professor.
The appearance was striking by its absence of a move that’s long characterized Obama’s political career: When in trouble, go big. Faced with a crisis of confidence or with a political furor, he’s repeatedly shown an ability to rise above the storm and to broaden the playing field, as when he turned a flap over his pastor into a meditation on race in America.
Now, facing his hardest test as president, Obama chose to go small.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25320.html#ixzz0M5sZOcek
President Obama intended for this last question to be big and general and capture a huge theme. I’m quite sure the president wanted to start a discussion of race. I’m quite sure President Obama is furious about what he perceives as systemic injustice–both with regards to race and to health care.
Americans are not fully realized. Fully realized and civilized people recognize that socialized health care is a right, just as fully realized and civilized people recognize that all people are equal regardless of skin color. He’s making the juxtaposition but it was an oblique one because most people don’t view health care as a birth right. They view it as a benefit. They view health care as a pain to deal with that needs to be fixed–not some grand human rights issue.
President Obama also took the opportunity to focus on race specifically before knowing the facts. Clearly, he was affronted by what he perceived was a wrong that happened to his friend. Evidently, he hadn’t read the police report now scrubbed from the Boston Globe. It seemed a strange diversion at the end of a health care conversation to be talking about race, but for another professor, it was a teaching moment.
When all the facts are revealed, the event could well be a racially-motivated. Moe Lane comments:
But the encounter is anything but over. Some of Gates’s outraged colleagues said the run-in proves that even in a liberal enclave like Harvard Square, even with someone of Gates’s accomplishments, a black man is a suspect before he is a resident.
Bolding mine, and there to highlight my sardonic observation: what do you mean, “even?” Not to be rude about it, but there ain’t no racist like a Bostonian racist*. Which is not necessarily a knock on the cop; it’s a knock on the neighbor who called the cops on Prof. Gates in the first place.
Does racism exist? Yes. Does elitism exist? Yes. (As in, “Do you know who I AM?!”)
But that all didn’t seem to be the point of President Obama’s answer. It was a broader answer,”We have lots of work to do.” That is, America is still rather a stupid place that needs to be made better by smart people. And when the smart people are listened to, racism will magically go away and health care will be perceived as a civil right and America will finally be a place to believe in.
The unintended consequence of the President’s answer to the question was that he framed himself as the black man who is President rather than the President who happens to be black, talking about health care. He started the press conference saying, “this isn’t about me” and in the end, made it all about him. And worse, made it, again, about how America is a bad place for men like him.
Liveblogging The Obama Address Tonight
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009Overall impression: I agree with Krauthammer: President Obama talked for an hour about selling a program that will save money, make government more efficient and better, only the evil rich will be soaked, etc. As Krauthammer said, “None of the questions nicked him.” Well, maybe the transparency one, but that wasn’t really about the specifics of health care. Basically the president delivered platitudes, outright prevaricated and wasn’t called on it, just like I expected.
I expect a poll bounce from this. The American people will have been soothed yet again and reassured that it will be good for them. He looked radiant, confident, reasonable, and if you’re not paying attention to details, he sounded like everyone will benefit and the rich, who deserve to get screwed, will be. A win-win!
For those who watched, do you agree?
8:53 PM Good grief, the last question by Lynn Sweet is about race relations? Because, let’s be clear: America is still a bad place–even with a black president. Ugh.
8:51 PM “Evidenced based” means that a bureaucrat makes the decision NOT the doctor. He wants science and experts to decide what a doctor should do. Cites an unnecessary tonsil removal.
8:48 PM “Public option will help keep insurance companies honest.” The government doesn’t have profit motives…so now he’s going after insurance companies for making “record profits”. “Where’s the constraint on that?” he asks. He wants to take away one of the few money making industries out there in this economy.
8:44 PM Oh good grief,….now financial regulatory reform. Not even done talking about health care. Or is he done talking about health care? Does anyone believe a word he’s saying? “If shame does not work, at least shareholders should know what executives receive in compensation.” You know, it occurs to me that if something can be said in two words, he uses ten. It’s like he’s just using up time and sounds like he’s saying nothing and yet, when you actually listen, it’s horrifying. The actual content.
I think people just tuned out when he was campaigning because he just lulls you to sleep but WHAT he is saying is so important. It’s insane.
8:42 PM “Things would be worse today, if those steps hadn’t been taken” re: TARP. Question about whether banks have “changed their behavior”. Obama says, “We have seen a stabilization in the banking system.”
8:39 PM: Oooh, good questions on transparency: “Are you fulfilling your promises on health care?” “My understanding is that there are photos you can see who was there.” ” Meetings on C-SPAN,……I would welcome it.” LOL YES! I would welcome it too! I would love to see what these yahoos talk about behind closed doors.
8:36 PM: “Health Care Reform isn’t designed to increase the deficit, it’s designed to reduce it.” Breathtaking.
“Change how those benefits are delivered so they’re more efficient.” Translation: Capitation. Denial of care.
8:30 PM: Steve Green is also Drunk blogging.
It will require “discriminating consumers”. I cannot believe how this man spins lies. I’m sorry, I cannot even say that he’s being disingenuous. He’s blatantly lying.
Here comes professor mode. Now he’s lecturing us on definitions. Deficits. He’s wandering all over.
8:26 PM: Oh please, a person will have a nutritionist and “save all of us”.
OHHHHHHH, and he’s not blaming Republicans. And he praises Olympia Snowe. Uh oh. What does that mean? And the Republicans are contributing? “If they’ve got a good idea we’ll still take it.” How condescending.
8:24 PM: “I want to cover everybody”. Me. Me. Me. “If we just redesign and get rid of waste, in the short term and the long term.”
8:21 PM: Aren’t health care workers Americans?
How can anyone take this guy seriously on cutting costs when the deficit is bigger than at any time in history.
8:19 PM: Question: Why the rush? The letters. The poor people.
8:17 PM EST Sorry guys, my Satellite TV is out and CBS’s live feed wasn’t working. I’m watching now on YouTube here. Translation so far, “Not my fault, deficit neutral,”
“We’ve become so cynical about what government can accomplish.” LOL No, people know exactly what government can accomplish and that’s what scares them.
7:31 Watch this at PJTV ahead of time.
Because, as your blog hostess, I aim to please, I’ll be liveblogging the doublespeak. To get a taste of the future:
And let me be clear, ain’t nothing about this that’s about anything but you. It sure isn’t about what’s good for the people. They have yet to see a real bill yet and if you have your way, Mr. President, they won’t.
I’ll also be blogging over at RightWingNews.com and tweeting, too. And afterward, listen to the Radio Show where John Hawkins and Dan Riehl and I talk about President Obama, polls, etc.
Suddenly, “Bipartisan” Is The Health Care Word Of The Day
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009What, did the “reform” word stop working on the mindless rubes? The socialization of medicine in America is not a “reform”, it’s a structural change from the bottom up that doesn’t address the problems in the current system, pays off key constituencies, costs too much, and will harm patients. But other than that, all the plans being put forward by Democrats are just benign reforms meant to help average Americans. /Sarcasm off. You must be a bad person to not like reform and to not want to help average Americans. What is wrong with you?
At the top of Memeorandum today the word is “BIPARTISAN”. Even though the bills being discussed have not had one iota of Republican involvement, the key word is “bipartisan”. Even though the Executive branch, and House and Senate are owned by Democrats, the key word is “bipartisan”. Any bill that gets passed this summer would be partisan. These stinky, fetid pieces of legislation are bought, paid for, crated by and made for Democrat special interests and have nothing to do with helping patients or helping those who need health care but can’t get it.
Any Republican in Congress that jumps into the fray and tries to save the Democrats from themselves should be drawn and quartered. Just sit by and watch, Republicans, and continue to give your notions of true reform. Continue explaining the truth to the American people. Do more of this and this:
[Note: Remember how I told you that the press would be giving a full court press on behalf of Obama. Well, you have to give Lauer serious Obama brownie points. This kind of oral servicing usually means money has exchanged hands. Oh wait....]
Oh, and this [Even Allah likes it!]:
Yes, the health care bill is horrible. Yes, President Obama is on the ropes. Yes, this is all about Him. Yes, the press is still making it all about him (and them). Yes, the bill is about paying off key constituencies like lawyers, unions and big business and, interestingly, illegal aliens.
It is not a reform bill and the bill is most certainly not bipartisan. The bill needs to be killed.
Would the Democrats be willing to scrap it and start over? I doubt it. President Obama’s ego rests on this thing. The only way health care is going to happen with Democrats in charge is for it to get, in the inimitable words of Chris Matthews, “rammed through”. Been a lot of ramming lately. Seems the American people are sick of taking it.
