Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge

Speech to Congress contains a variety of oversimplifications and omissions Video Obama: 'We will provide you with a choice' Sept. 19: Addressing a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama calls for action on health care reform. "Our collective failure to meet this challenge ... has led us to a breaking point," said President Obama. msnbc tv INTERACTIVE Dose of reality Do health care reform headlines leave you saying “huh?” Visit msnbc.com's guide to health reform and send us claims you'd like fact-checked. Health care videos Obama’s plan, the right RX for doctors? Sept. 10: Polls show Americans trust their doctors more than President Barack Obama when it comes to health care reform, so what does the American Medical Association want to see in a reform plan and how do doctors feel about a public option? AMA’s Dr. Jeremy Lazarus discusses. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hoyer: Speech ‘focused the American public’ Rep. Cantor: Speech didn’t assuage ‘fear’ McCaskill: Obama ‘began to fill in the details’ No option on public option? INTERACTIVE Have your say on health care reform As the government ponders health care reform, what are your top concerns? INTERACTIVE Health care: How a bill becomes a law As Congress works on an overhaul of health insurance, here's how the process will work. NBC News ANALYSIS updated 10:13 p.m. CT, Wed., Sept . 9, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama used only-in-Washington accounting Wednesday when he promised to overhaul the nation's health care system without adding "one dime" to the deficit. By conventional arithmetic, Democratic plans would drive up the deficit by billions of dollars.

I had to pinch myself -- THIS ON MSNBC. The entire article is an amazing analysis. I only disagree with one thing in the Illegal Immigrant coverage. The currently proposed plan would allow the immigrant the latitude to prove his/her legality with proof of his/her own choosing -- like a Social Security number -- which we all know can be fraudulently presented. Without a specific bill to exclude health care for those who do not have a specific proof of legality (e-verify or something like it), they will still be able to obtain health care fraudulently.

Well, the other myth is that you will be able to keep your insurance if you like it — like it? You get the best deal your employer can negotiate and you either open an HSA or take the “deal” they negotiated for you and them. With the “government program” what's the incentive to do any more than pay the fine and let you twist?

It's not about keeping it if you lose your employment. You can keep it now for the price of your first born. It never was about keeping it — it was about being able to pay for it.

Additionally, the “deals” your employer negotiates include all the “drop them when they get too old, too sick or to fat to employ them.” This stupid plan (or multiple plans) solve nothing. The only thing it will solve is coverage for those with pre-existing conditions at a much higher cost to all of us.

How the heck the guy could deliver (or any of them) deliver on a promise to “protect your benefits” is nonsense — sheer nonsense. If you don't have a job, you can't pay for the insurance and you certainly can't pay a fine. It's utter fantasy.

Fix the parts that are broken. High risk insurance for those with pre-existing conditions. Caps on awards for malpractice, caps on charges for prosecution of a claim (and for both for defense and plaintiff's legal representation [I promise you, John Edwards became accustomed to his lifestyle from the contingency fees he gleaned from the huge settlements awarded to his clients {who I SWEAR to you are not living in the same manner}), no illegal immigrant coverage, allow individuals and companies to buy across state lines so that all pay a fair amount, have inexpensive basic catastrophic plans for the youth, young adults and poor and nix all the wellness programs — they don't need them, they don't prevent ANYTHING and the are clogging our health care system with ridiculous defensive medicine, and STOP USING EMERGENCY CARE FOR EVERYTHING FROM ACNE TO TOOTHACHES.

E.R.s use EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE equipment, facilities and professional care to achieve nothing more than a cold compress and an aspirin. Figure it out. Keep a clean house, clean kids, eat a healthy diet and avoid extremes in all things. If you get a bug, call a doctor or use a clinic — not the E.R., unless you need an IV — AND DOCTORS NEED TO STOP ADVISING PEOPLE TO USE THE EMERGENCY FACILITIES FOR THE USUAL BUMPS AND BRUISES OF LIFE.

I admire your honesty, but deplore the analogy. Had the Congressman been “a little boy,” I would have used the old proverb, “Out of the mouth of babes...”. As it is, if the guy is old enough to be in the House of Representatives, he's old enough to know when to use his “inside voice” and his “company manners.”

I can't commend poor breeding. As I've said elsewhere, my favorite poster was hand-written by a Vietnam Vet — “Push it down our throats in 2009, and we'll shove it up your A$$ in 2010,” but I wouldn't display it at a Joint Session of Congress.

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