Why you shouldn’t believe the “public option may be off the table” spin

Michelle Malkin’s got a good link round-up on the back and forth that went on over the weekend about whether or not the “public option” part of ObamaCare was now officially or even unofficially off the table, and she explains why ObamaCare opponents shouldn’t get their hopes up over the discussion because what’s this strategy really is all about is floating a “trial balloon” to see how nuts the far left goes over the idea of ditching the public option. With key Senate races picking up steam, the WH is trying to figure out whether or not they can dump the public option – for now – and still maintain the magic 60 number.

President Obama laughably claimed over the weekend that ObamaCare was “not about politics.” As Ed Morrissey explained yesterday, it most certainly is:

It’s not about politics? Barack Obama wants to impose a sweeping takeover of the health-care industry by the federal government, and he has the audacity to claim that politics has nothing to do with this? It has everything to do with it. Any government program has politics at its basis by definition.

Government will mandate comparative effectiveness models to influence treatment by government-funded providers. Those decisions will get made not by doctors or patients, but by elected officials who primarily are lawyers, not physicians. Does anyone believe that politics has nothing to do with the imposition of this kind of rationing?

Democrats have tried a number of strategies to sell ObamaCare to an increasingly skeptical and angry public. At first, they tried insisting that everyone hated their own status quo, until Gallup polls showed that 83% of people were satisfied with their current coverage. After that, they tried demonizing insurance executives. Does that sound as though politics has nothing to do with this proposal?

Up to 10% of medical costs in the US relate to lawsuits. Providers overuse resources in order to practice defensive medicine to protect themselves from predatory and abusive lawsuits. Yet not one sentence in the ObamaCare proposals in Congress deal with tort reform, which would immediately cut costs in the health-care industry. Trial lawyers, not coincidentally, heavily contribute to the Democratic Party currently writing all these bills. Are we to believe that’s not all about politics?

This is all about politics, which is why Obama had to write the op-ed in today’s Times. If he loses this battle, he’s wounded politically, and the rest of his agenda will be in deep trouble.

And don’t forget – it “isn’t about me [Obama]” either, even though a Dem Congressman quoted the President last month as saying if ObamaCare didn’t pass that it would “destroy” his presidency. So I guess the answer is to destroy healthcare in order to save his presidency. If he thinks that’s going to solve his problems, he’s got another thing coming.

Cross-posted to the Public Secrets blog, where I am guestblogging for the vacationing Anthony.

15 Responses to "Why you shouldn’t believe the “public option may be off the table” spin"

Looks Like West Los Angeles Is Another Hot Bed for ACORN-Union Thuggery Against ObamaCare Protesters « Frugal Café Blog Zone says:

August 17, 2009 at 10:38 am

[…] Obama’s Bus National Post: Debate in U.S. more than just about health care Sister Toldjah: Why you shouldn’t believe the “public option may be off the table” spin Temple of Mut: Sweet Tea! Tea Party Victory! Huzzah! The Barton Bulletin: Could There Be A Peasant […]
Tom TB says:

August 17, 2009 at 11:12 am

I wish someone could tell me what the Obamas have ever done except milk the system.
Bear1909 says:

August 17, 2009 at 11:47 am

The Obamas… are on their way out. Just give it time and keep contacting your elected representatives and say no to cap and rape and Obamacare and Shamnesty Part Deux.

Kill this Presidency (not the president mind you) in its infancy. And send the Democratic party back into the stone age never to be heard from again.

He is not eligible to be President. I dont care what kind of vitriol left and right heap on those of us who smell a rate named Obama in the white house.

Bear1909 out.
Tango says:

August 17, 2009 at 12:32 pm

….yes, but what is REALLY important to remember is that da Panters take on the Giants this evening!
The Substratum says:

August 17, 2009 at 1:33 pm

RHINOCare – The Senate Finance Committee Puts Lipstick On A Pig. Rush Limbaugh And Other Concerned Parties Are Counting On The Blue Dogs And Ignoring The Elephant In The Room…

Note: This post has been made sticky, ensuring the important information it contains is available to anyone visiting the Home page of this site. If you are on the Home page, look below this post for new material. Thank you.
Memorize and repeat the f…
Larry Sheldon says:

August 17, 2009 at 5:22 pm

For a long time I have said “I don’t believe anything I read and only about half of what I see.”

For the last year or so I have changed–I am really skeptical now.
Brontefan says:

August 17, 2009 at 6:18 pm

OB is a bright young man of color–no, his disconnect at the very expensive prep school in Hawaii had nothing to do with race or color!–who is eloquent and polished and wanted to be a SuperStar. As a means to an ends, OB found anti-American sentiment, racials issues, the Chicago political machine, and ACORN. His real talent as a community organizer has to do with dividing and creating outrage. As President, he is campagining for his ObamaCare while his czars or whomever runs the country. He neutralized Hillary by making her Secretary of State–removing her from the Senate and a possible opposition force–and then promptly slicing away the territories and assigning them to others. I have never in my lifetime every seen a Prez who absolutely MUST be on television or on camera every single day and cannot accept the slightest bit of criticism. His ego won’t allow it! NO, I don’t trust anything he says. And with a Congress that signs bills they don’t bother to read—we had all better be suspicious of any promises he makes.
Ron Russell says:

August 17, 2009 at 7:52 pm

I’m not so sure the Public Option is completely off the table—I don’t trust those in Congress and the guy in the White House is certainly not to be trusted. I want to see the tombstone entitled “Public Option” RIP on it.
DaveinPhoenix says:

August 17, 2009 at 9:28 pm

10% of medical costs – lawsuits
25% of medical costs – drug/ alcohol abuse
30% of medical costs – obesity

Maybe if America could take responsibility for their own bodies, we wouldn’t be in this sinking boat.
Carlos says:

August 17, 2009 at 11:15 pm

The only “option” that will work is to kill anything the jackasses (both donkey and jackass-lite elephants) had anything to do with. Kill it, don’t even give it a burial, let the ACORN and SEIU vultures pick it to pieces in the comfort of their own vacant minds, but kill it.

When our glorious leader and his over-botoxed House sycophant and Senate lackey are willing to have a dialogue with America, and are willing to understand that they work for us, that we don’t take orders from them, and they’re willing to actually listen to this pathetic mob of Nazis, THEN maybe we can sit down and have a discussion about what’s really wrong with health care and the health delivery system in our country.

Until then, like our glorious leader said, just shut up.
Jo says:

August 18, 2009 at 8:07 am

Be careful–you will find yourselves on the flag@WH list, in an internment camp, subscribed to the WH updates (I was without my consent) or being beaten up by an AFL-CIO or ACORN thug. DO NOT dissent to whatever the over-exposed, under-achieved, thin-skinned little Messiah wants–go along. Our new mantra: He is our Dear Leader. He is out Dear Leader. . . . And remember, if you’re not producing, under Obamacare, you’ll be out of here. Euthanasia for everyone! It’s a good thing!
Kate says:

August 18, 2009 at 9:19 am

Point well taken Dave….personal responsibility is what every doctor in the country would like to see from his patients before they come into his office with a health issue that usually is directly related to his patient’s lack of personal attention to his basic health i.e. diet, exercise, etc.

The public option is far from being taken off the table. Those in power are now in stealth mode and will try to covertly put the one payer/universal care into another bill dressed up like something else, you know, the CO-OP business is the new test balloon that they are putting out there. With billions of “government” dollars to get it started, again no real plan and not much thought. Once that fails, oh dear, the government will most definitely have to step in and take over. Keep your eyes focused on the issue, folk. Don’t let the Houdini’s in congress redirect your eyes from the end game of socializing medicine.
Obama is the worst posible sort: a profoundly vain ignoramus « docweaselblog says:

August 18, 2009 at 11:03 am

[…] Sister Toldjah: Why you shouldn’t believe the “public option may be off the table” spin […]
Brontefan says:

August 18, 2009 at 11:57 am

There’s no open thread when you need one!

Fred Solop, a Northern Arizona University political scientist, said the incidents in New Hampshire and Arizona could signal the beginning of a disturbing trend.

LINK

Someone had an assault rifle when the President spoke in Phoenix. I wonder if this is any different that when people arriving at the polls to vote found a Black Panther standing there with a night stick? They can intimidate but we can’t?
Carlos says:

August 19, 2009 at 6:58 am

Brontefan: Yes.

And, as it turns out, the “public option” never was off the table. My guess is that Sebelius and other scumbots floated a balloon, His Hollowness got too much heat from the 13% or so that really want it (like Soros & Co.), so the balloon was popped quickly and we still have that fight on our hands.

Two points to make during all these “town hall” “debates”: 1) Is the congressman willing to put himself, all federal workers and the unions under the same “health care” insurance rules the rest of us will have to follow, and 2) will Congress get around to trying to “fix” the problems of affordability sometime before this obamabortion is voted on?

(Note: Of course, whenever Congress tries to “fix” a problem it always has to revisit the problem and try to “fix” the “fix”, and always at deca-multiples of cost to the taxpayers which, naturally, doesn’t include multiple millions of illegals and societal leeches.)

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