Growing Opposition to “Obamacare” Makes the White House Retaliate

Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House Health Reform Office, must have long and tiring days searching for all of those “scary chain emails and videos” that she claims surface when health care reform is on the table in Washington. She also makes the assumption that the people responsible for making these videos and emails have quite a bit of time on their hands. She must not be familiar with the convenience of modern technology, as a simple search can produce results in a matter of minutes. At least the taxpayers are not paying for these scary videos. Instead, they are paying a White House official to spend time searching the internet for scary emails and videos. A wise use of scarce tax dollars, isn’t it?

Douglass Video Response

View the “scary video” here if you dare!

In the beginning of her response, she quipped that the video did not show the President reassuring the American people that they would be able to retain their employer coverage if they wish to keep it. However, if she took the time to watch the scary video (she could have kept the lights on if necessary), she would have seen that the video opens with a clip from President Obama’s recent speech to the American Medical Association that shows him addressing an “illegitimate concern.” The illegitimate concern he addressed was his opponents’ criticism that his plan will lead to a single-payer system. The “scary” video then moves on to play clips from speeches that Obama gave at the SEIU Health Care Forum in 2007 and to the AFL-CIO Civil, Human and Women’s Right Conference in 2003 in which he CLEARLY stated his position that he is in favor of a single-payer system. How is it scary to use Obama’s own words? The only thing scary is that it reveals the hidden truth that is becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

Perhaps viewers could dismiss his claims as pandering to his base. All politicians make promises to their base that they know they cannot keep. However, the next person to show up in this video is Barney Frank, and he confirms the suspicion that opponents to President Obama’s health care plan have. Frank asserts that if a good public option is passed, it could lead to a single-payer system. He also goes on to say that this approach is the best way to reach the ultimate goal of a single-payer system. This clip was taken from a left-wing organization called “singlepayeraction.org.” (View here) Do they make “scary” videos as well? At least Ms. Douglass is even handed!

Frustration continues to grow due to the fact that the Obama Administration continues to insult people’s intelligence. It is no secret that the Obama Administration and Congressional leaders who represent the far-left wing of the Democratic Party want a single-payer system, and they know they don’t have the votes for the plan. The only approach is to lure people into the public option so the private option will either be eliminated completely or only be available to the very wealthy over time.

Perhaps Ms. Douglass could take a more constructive approach to her job and refute the following claims:

1) How does a private company compete with a public plan when a) the government heavily regulates insurance coverage and b) the public option has access to blank U.S. Treasury checks?

2) Why will employers provide private insurance coverage when a public option is available? The current proposal in the Senate does impose fines on employers with 25 or more employees for failure to provide insurance coverage; however, there is no specific mandate that employers must provide PRIVATE insurance. Therefore, businesses will provide assistance for the public option. The public option will be offered at a lower cost initially to drive out the private option.

Ms. Douglass could also make better use of her time by giving specifics rather than encouraging people to report these “scary” videos. Giving specifics on policy proposals is not something this Administration does well, nor does it respond well to criticism. Recently, I wrote a three-part piece that constructively criticized “Obamacare” and explained how a free-market solution would work. Hopefully, my columns didn’t qualify as “scary,” although it would be an honor to be on Ms. Douglass’ watch list as one of those “scary” people. This can only mean that my work challenges people to think!

August is going to be a difficult month for Congressional leaders who will face their angry constituents. The following list of “scary” videos is a preview of coming attractions. Beware! You may run into these scary people at your local grocery store:

Arlen Specter and Kathleen Sebilius – Pennsylvania Town Hall (Specter actually states single-payer should be on the table)

Tim Bishop – Setauket, NY

Lloyd Doggett – South Austin Texas

Protesters are also showing up at the President’s Town Hall Meetings, possibly because they are not being let in to politely discuss the issues! The motorcade had to drive through a protest four blocks long.

Republicans are not off the hook by any means. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs may call the dissent of these protesters “manufactured anger” because this Administration will never admit that these are grassroots groups comprised of ordinary Americans of ALL political affiliations. If these protests are staged by “right-wing extremists,” Gresham Barrett (R - SC) would beg to differ. He faced a much more hostile crowd than most of his Democrat counterparts. (View here)

I’ve written extensively about bad economic policy for over a decade, not because I have too much time on my hands, rather it is an issue too important for me not to donate some of my limited free time. For the people who voted for “hope” and “change” last November and those who were blind to the Republican Party’s faults, it is never too late to see the light. I encourage people to speak their mind because, eventually, someone will listen. After all, “facts are stubborn things.”