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The Convenient Fantasies of President Obama (health care plans "no chance of passing the Senate")
Washington Examiner ^ | 09/09/09 | Michael Barone

Posted on 09/09/2009 6:49:44 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

The resignation over the Labor Day weekend of White House "green jobs" czar Van Jones tells you some interesting things about the Obama administration. One of them is that a man who proclaimed himself a "communist" in the 1990s and signed 9/11 "truther" petitions suggesting Bush administration complicity in the Sept. 11 attacks was considered fit for a White House appointment. Liberal columnists have been attacking Republicans because some of their voters are "birthers," believers in the absurd charge that President Obama was not born in Hawaii and thus is not a natural-born U.S. citizen. But they have failed to identify any "birther" who occupied a position in the Republican firmament comparable to that of "truther" Van Jones in the Obama administration.

Another interesting thing about Jones is that the administration seems enamored of his "green jobs" concept. There's an understandable political reason. Legislation to restrict carbon emissions that is supported by the administration would undoubtedly kill a large number of jobs by increasing the cost of energy, and so you can see why its advocates might want to argue that there will be a compensating number of "green jobs" created -- at least if the government spends a lot of money on them.

But this sounds like fantasy. If there were money to be made in green jobs, private investors would be creating them already. In fact big corporations like General Electric are scrambling to position themselves as green companies, gaming legislation and regulations so they can make profits by doing so. Big business is ready to create green jobs -- if government subsidizes them. But the idea that green jobs will replace all the lost carbon-emitting jobs is magical thinking.

Obama's approach to health care legislation, unless he makes a major course correction in his speech to the joint session of Congress tonight, is of a piece with his hiring of Van Jones. By ceding the task of writing legislation to congressional Democratic leaders and committee chairmen, he has been following a "no enemies to the left" strategy.

By refusing to rule out the government option -- which its architects see as the road to a single-payer government insurance system -- Obama has prevented the emergence of a set of policies that have a chance of passing the Senate. The Senate Republicans in the "gang of six" who have been negotiating with Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus are not going to agree on a bill without assurance from the White House that they won't get rolled by hard-left House Democrats in conference committee.

Yesterday Baucus came out with his own plan, which includes a tax on high-value health insurance policies. But this is likely to be rejected by the Left, by labor unions that have negotiated such benefits from employers, and by members of Congress from states like New York, where, because of state policies, almost all health insurance costs that much.

There is an element of convenient fantasy as well in Obama's health care statements to date. We are going to save money by spending money. We are going to solve our fiscal problems with a program that will increase the national debt by $1,000,000,000,000 over a decade. We are going to guarantee you can keep your current insurance with a bill that encourages your employer to stop offering it.

The list goes on. We are going to improve health care for seniors by cutting $500,000,000,000 from Medicare. We aren't going to insure illegal aliens, except that we won't have any verification provisions to see that they can't apply and get benefits.

Most politicians like to promise voters all good things at once. Democrats got in the habit of doing this over the past 14 years when they could not pass legislation by themselves. Van Jones' moment in the White House is over. Exposure of his record in conservative media made him politically unacceptable, even though mainstream outlets like the New York Times ignored the issue entirely.

The Democrats' health insurance bills remain under consideration, and with large majorities in both houses, passage of some bill cannot be ruled out. But August town hall meetings and national polls have put the Democrats on the defensive. No-enemies-to-the-left and convenient fantasies may work in Chicago. They don't work so well when your constituency is the whole United States.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: healthcare; obama; socializedmedicine
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1 posted on 09/09/2009 6:49:44 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
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To: rabscuttle; Mr. Silverback; Liz

Ping.


2 posted on 09/09/2009 6:50:19 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle (http://www.conservatives4palin.com/)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

decent article though i take issue with the statement,”mainstream outlets like the New York Times”


3 posted on 09/09/2009 6:55:06 AM PDT by wiggen (Never in the history of our great country have the people had less representation than they do today)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
(health care plans "no chance of passing the Senate")

Please Lord, let it be true. Let us not be so stupid as a nation that we will throw away lives and wondrous health for the fantasies of a dishonest man.

4 posted on 09/09/2009 6:55:23 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback (We need free market care, not Kopechnecare.)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Senate Dems to use Nuclear Option if Necessary
5 posted on 09/09/2009 7:00:57 AM PDT by TADSLOS (Proud FR Mobster)
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To: TADSLOS

Saw it. Unsourced. Don’t believe it. ;)


6 posted on 09/09/2009 7:04:17 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle (http://www.conservatives4palin.com/)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle; Condor51; rabscuttle; Mr. Silverback; stephenjohnbanker; maggief; ...
Obama's approach to health care legislation is to cede the task of writing legislation to Democratic leaders and committee chairmen....then saying he wound up writing his own bill.

(Scoff) ObamaCare has more sequels than Bela Lugosi. Will be voted into law when Dracula sees daylight.

Tonight, Obama will sound very, VERY conservative....Ronald Reagan incarnate---might even invoke the "shining city on the hill," and other Reaganisms.

Like all sociopaths---Obama lives in the moment----doing and saying anything necessary to cover his ***. EVERYTHING he says has an expiration date.

7 posted on 09/09/2009 7:11:49 AM PDT by Liz (When people fear govt, we have tyranny; when govt fears the people, we have freedom.)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

If this plan is so great why are congress and the unions EXEMPT


8 posted on 09/09/2009 7:21:38 AM PDT by uncbob
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To: Liz

“Tonight, Obama will sound very, VERY conservative....Ronald Reagan incarnate-”

The difference being that Obama will lie like a rug.


9 posted on 09/09/2009 7:22:29 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (Pray for, and support our troops(heroes) !! And vote out the RINO's!!)
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To: Liz
Tonight, Obama will sound very, VERY conservative....Ronald Reagan incarnate---might even invoke the "shining city on the hill," and other Reaganisms.

I'll bet you're right.

10 posted on 09/09/2009 7:23:31 AM PDT by GOPJ (Who received the Van Jones FBI reports and who over-ruled the findings? fr:thouworm)
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To: Liz
Tonight, Obama will sound very, VERY conservative

This is sooooooooooooooo correct. He probably hired a conservative speechwriter to write it for him, like he probably did for yesterday's school speech.

That lying, manipulative POS.

11 posted on 09/09/2009 7:25:48 AM PDT by paulycy (Screw the RACErs.)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

Fred Barnes was on Fox’s evening news panel and spoke about a recent column that the authro dubedd Obama’s “Tinkerbell”
syndrome. Tinkerbell, the little fairy that perched on Peter Pan’s shoulder, encouraged everyone to ‘wish real hard’ and that would be enough to make their dreams come true.

Obama is a lightwieght, never ready for the big chair.

Tinkerbell syndrome indeed. (although the image of the ballerina, Rahm Emmanuel,flitting about the corridors of the WH fits, too.)


12 posted on 09/09/2009 7:32:52 AM PDT by SueRae
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To: SueRae

;)

13 posted on 09/09/2009 7:36:28 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle (http://www.conservatives4palin.com/)
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To: wiggen
decent article though i take issue with the statement,”mainstream outlets like the New York Times”

Good point.

Calling the NYT a mainstream outlet is like proclaiming the biggest part of the sewer system to be the "mainstream outlet."

14 posted on 09/09/2009 7:49:14 AM PDT by N. Theknow (Kennedys: Can't fly, can't ski, can't drive, can't skipper a boat, but they know what's best.)
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To: Liz
Like all sociopaths---Obama lives in the moment----doing and saying anything necessary to cover his ***. EVERYTHING he says has an expiration date.

Sociopath is right.
The difference between Obama and God is -- God doesn't think he's Obama.

15 posted on 09/09/2009 8:16:23 AM PDT by Condor51 (The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits)
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To: paulycy; KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle; Condor51; rabscuttle; Mr. Silverback; stephenjohnbanker; ...
To sound conservative tonight, Ohaha probably hired a conservative speechwriter to write his speech......like he probably did for yesterday's school speech.

The school speech he delivered yesterday was A FAR CRY from the one he/Rahm originally prepared.....the one he wanted to give.....to brainwash all the little kiddies into his agenda.

Once again, grassroots furor threw him off his game.

Tonight he thinks he's got the answers.

Too bad he's gonna find out he's wrong.....again.

16 posted on 09/09/2009 8:25:53 AM PDT by Liz (When people fear govt, we have tyranny; when govt fears the people, we have freedom.)
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To: Condor51
The difference between Obama and God -- God doesn't think he's Obama.

We gotta get that on a tee shirt.

17 posted on 09/09/2009 8:30:23 AM PDT by Liz (When people fear govt, we have tyranny; when govt fears the people, we have freedom.)
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To: Liz

Wow, Michael Barone kicks some serious ass in this column!
Bravo!


18 posted on 09/09/2009 8:49:28 AM PDT by steven33442
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To: AuntB; Tennessee Nana; TADSLOS; raybbr; stephenjohnbanker; Condor51; maggief; GOPJ
BARONE: "ObamaCare is not going to insure illegal aliens, except that they don't have verification provisions to see that illegals can't apply and get benefits." Obama surely knows the courts have ruled repeatedly that hospitals cannot turn illegals away from emergency rooms.(And besides, illegals will have full amnesty by the time OC kicks in.)

==================================================

IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For Failure
Paying The Price For Illegal Care

IBD Editorials | August 21, 2009
FR Posted by Kaslin

Democrats are right that uncompensated emergency care for the uninsured is driving up costs. What they don't say is it's illegal immigrants who are bankrupting ERs, and the federal government is encouraging them.

Last decade, the Clinton administration added teeth to a little-known Health and Human Services Department regulation mandating that hospitals provide emergency treatment even to illegals.

Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, hospitals can't even ask for a patient's immigration status or ability to pay prior to delivering treatment. They also can't keep such uninsured patients waiting, even if their problem isn't an emergency. Nor can they discharge them until they're fully stabilized and have safe transportation. More, hospitals must post EMTALA signs in Spanish and English.

The law isn't limited to ERs. Hospitals must accept illegals at any facility on campus — including outpatient clinics and doctor's offices — located within 250 yards of the main buildings.

Hospitals end up treating uninsured illegals for the sniffles and other nonurgent care, and pass that exorbitant cost on to the insured, the Government Accountability Office has found. Resulting overcrowding leads to delays in "care for patients with true emergency needs." (Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com .....

19 posted on 09/09/2009 9:15:28 AM PDT by Liz (When people fear govt, we have tyranny; when govt fears the people, we have freedom.)
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To: Liz

“(And besides, illegals will have full amnesty by the time OC kicks in.)

The HELL they will! I never liked or trusted Barone. He is a defeatist, and a limp wristed Republican. He may be defeated in his little world, but the rest of us aren’t.


20 posted on 09/09/2009 9:56:53 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (Pray for, and support our troops(heroes) !! And vote out the RINO's!!)
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