Bachmann Accuses Obama of Secret Medicare Plan

NYT ^ | 6/17/2011 | JEFF ZELENY

[Qbert]

NEW ORLEANS — Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, the latest candidate to join the Republican presidential campaign, suggested Friday that President Obama secretly wanted Medicare to go bankrupt so retirees would be forced to enroll in the new national health care law.

“This hasn’t been talked about very much – the president’s plan for senior citizens is Obamacare,” Ms. Bachmann told party activists here. She added, “I think very likely what the president intends is that Medicare will go broke and ultimately that answer will be Obamacare for senior citizens.”

In a speech to the Republican Leadership Conference, Ms. Bachmann recounted how she attended a closed-door meeting at the White House and said the president was asked three times to produce his plan to address the financial burdens facing the Medicare program. She said the president’s “gift to senior citizens is to steal from them $500 billion out of Medicare.”

The anecdote, which Ms. Bachmann did not explain in detail or offer additional corroboration, was the latest example of a red-meat, crowd-pleasing declaration that has become a theme of her political rise – whether or not the statements withstand scrutiny. She drew enthusiastic applause as she pledged that her top priority – should she reach the White House – would be repealing the health care law.

[Qbert]

"Ms. Bachmann recounted how she attended a closed-door meeting at the White House and said the president was asked three times to produce his plan to address the financial burdens facing the Medicare program. She said the president’s “gift to senior citizens is to steal from them $500 billion out of Medicare.”

The anecdote, which Ms. Bachmann did not explain in detail or offer additional corroboration, was the latest example of a red-meat, crowd-pleasing declaration that has become a theme of her political rise – whether or not the statements withstand scrutiny. "

- Well there, NYT- what exactly *is* Obama's plan?...

[tips up]

If the Dems got what they wanted, a single payer system, wouldn’t it be a government run program like Medicare?

[HiTech RedNeck]

Ooh, her first dart as a candidate. IMHO she drew blood. And the NYT should know better than to tangle with this tax lawyer about her comments about Congress’ (and Obama’s) financial legerdemain which does, in effect, exactly that. Of course the Rats are trying to subvert the system into a communistic/socialistic wet dream, not trying to mold it into something that actually WORKS.

PAlin/BACHmann: Payback.

[C. Edmund Wright]

Oh my, this will get’em stirred up on the left. Will probably upset Ed Rollins and Jon Huntsman too.

[Qbert]

“If the Dems got what they wanted, a single payer system, wouldn’t it be a government run program like Medicare?”

Yep. In fact, the whole plan for Obamacare as passed was to have it gradually evolve into a single payer system (as companies start dropping coverage for their employees, etc.)

[ASA Vet]

Michele Bachmann

born April 6, 1956 in Waterloo, IA (Meets the Jus Soli Requirement)

Parents were
David John Amble, born in MN
Jean Johnson, born in IA

Both parents were US Citizens at the time of her birth (Meets the Jus sanguinis Requirement)

Michele Bachmann is a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN

Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama ISN'T!

[GailA]

It’s Ryancare’s plan too.

Google URL on Bachman’s plans for our Veterans
These articles CANNOT BE POSTED due to copy right issues.

Bachmann plan would cut veterans benefits

http://www.google.com/search?sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=Bachmann+plan+would+cut+veterans+benefits&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

[tips up]

I agree. That’s what didn’t make sense from the article that Barry wanted to end Medicare to replace it with Obamacare. Actually it is the opposite. He wants to bankrupt private insurance through guaranteed coverage for all and limits on premiums to cover this unlimited coverage. Big insurance becomes insolvent, gets bailed out (as in financials, auto, etc) and then the government owns them. Then it’s Medicare (or Medicaid) for all.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The Federal system is vastly overpromised as it is, but if Bachmann is frank and fair about overall belt tightening to get through the crisis, she’ll be respected. Most vets didn’t do it for the money, though those wounded in service should never have backs turned on them.

[Terry Mross]

A government run program that EVERYONE is forced to join is what he and his liberal friends want. And it’s what most of those who voted for him want. What I don’t understand is are they going to force doctors to become a part of it? Or are they going to bring more and more Pakistani doctors into the country?

[Qbert]

“Ooh, her first dart as a candidate. IMHO she drew blood. And the NYT should know better than to tangle with this tax lawyer about her comments about Congress’ (and Obama’s) financial legerdemain which does, in effect, exactly that.”

Yep, there’s some real blood in the water on this (and the Slimes knows it).

[Brilliant]

It will go bust, so accusing him of wanting it to go bankrupt is not much of a stretch.

[Qbert]

“Oh my, this will get’em stirred up on the left.”

Exactly. A bunch of lefty blogs are already freaking out about this.

[GlockThe Vote]

Bump.

[Jim Scott]

Of course the Democrats want to phase out Medicare and 'evolve' it into a government-run medical/health insurance program that 'insures' everyone in America with no options but what the government plan offers at whatever they choose to charge and with whatever restrictions they choose to impose. 'Death panels', anyone?

I like Michele Bachmann's attack on the Democrat plan to get rid of Medicare. About time someone on the right started hitting back at the Democrat's lies about the House Republican plan to reform Medicare and put them on the defensive, for a change. Obama should be asked about HIS plans for Medicare at every press conference. O.K., I'm dreaming but the fact remains that Republicans have to fight the Democrat's lies and not allow them to set the parameters for debate or misrepresent Republican's positions. Michele Bachmann has done that and I applaud her for doing so.

If Sarah Palin, my choice for the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, decides not to run, I may still be able to switch my support to Bachmann, although I'm not quite there, yet, following the debacle with her campaign manager, Ed Rollins, gratuitously dissing Sarah Palin while Michele said virtually nothing. That still rankles - but if Palin is not going to run, Michele Bachmann sure beats Mitt Romney.

[muawiyah]

All you need to do is go back to HillaryKKKare from the early 1990s. There the idea was absurdly simple ~ they'd simply build a pool of existing government medical expenditures:

Medicare

VA

Champus

Medicaid

Cancer Research

Hospital construction matching funds

Active duty military medical costs

Government employees

Government retirees

etc.

That POOL was thought to be large enough to cover all the people already covered plus another 20 million uninsured (whether they wanted it or not).

HillaryKKKare's idea was that by pooling all that money and operating the system rationally (standards of service boards, et al) they could do it and nobody would really notice.

I don't think the Democrats ever deviated from that model ~ but they couldn't get it through a Democrat Congress.

It was essentially a parallel "single payer" system to be operated in a country still operating according to older standards with insurance companies, HMOs and the like.

ObamaKKKare is different. It's got more standards of service boards than you can shake a stick at AND it's punitive. If you don't go along with "them" or your needs don't fit in the government dictated standards, you just die. It's very brutal compared to HillaryKKKare.

What has happened is the beast has gotten hungry. Eventually we will need to slay the beast ~ and the way to do that is to DE NATIONALIZE all medical care and medical research. Toss the whole turkey to the private sector to carve up as needed.

[Logical me]

I'm hoping Palin runs.

My thought is Palin/Bachmann. Palin with Bachmann as a hard hitting VP to attack Democrats with her experience would deliver a crushing blow to the communists/Democrats. Those two would destroy corrupt Washington as it is now. Can you imagine what a VP hit squad would be able to do and with Palin cleaning up things, WOW! WOW!

[HiTech RedNeck]

She could do worse than to lose Rollins. This isn’t the time for (tom) catty remarks about Sarah Palin.

[Qbert]

In all honesty, I don’t think doctor shortages is viewed as a problem to the left.

In fact, it’s actually a positive thing in a perverse way because they feel it makes people more dependent on the Federal government- which is the goal, of course.

[Psalm 144]

Interesting reader comment #10 - hard to decide if it is true or a troll. Very tangled logic either way, but perhaps a portion of the Romney base? :

---

“Michelle is a wild-card, but a cool wild-card. She’s ten times as smart as Palin. And easily as smart as Obama.

She’d make a good VP for Romney. I am a liberal Democrat who worked for Obama in 2007, before the Iowa caucuses, but he sold us down the river in favor of his banker fans.

Anybody but Obma in 2012. It’d be hilarious to see Romney & Bachman send Obama & Biden back into the arms of the bankers they love so much.”