Late Night Health Care Catechism - Got it straight now?

Well, we all listened to the professor who had his teleprompter in one hand and his verbal yardstick for whacking recalcitrant children in the other. His talk was long on promises and short on specifics. What I found baffling was the claim that health care would be paid for with savings from cleaning up Medicare and Medicaid waste. Hey, if there's that much waste, why isn't he cleaning it up already? And when exactly is Medicare scheduled to be bankrupt?

Obama is a web spinner and he certainly was spinning tonight with the help of all the little spiders jumping up and down at every applause line. Most of what the president said didn't make any sense, especially his claims about how all the increased coverage will be financed. And he won't increase the deficit? A man who's doubled it since taking office? Please!

Everyone will get all the care they want. No one will ever be denied anything. Everyone will be able to get all the prescription drugs they need. Millions of currently uncovered folks will be added to the rolls and (TA DA - Drum roll) IT WILL COST LESS THAN IT DOES NOW! Wow!

How do you do that magic trick, Mr. President? Oh right...all the savings from Medicare and Medicaid. But where do those savings come from, Mr. President? Seems like something's gotta give and I'd say, reducing benefits is an inevitable part of the plan and rationing which is why seniors just don't trust you. Your promises are too good to be true.

In his response to the president's speech, Congressman Dr. Charles Boustany pointed out that the current bill proposal adds 53 new federal bureaucracies to manage the health care program. Ummm...how exactly does increasing the bureaucracy reduce costs and increase the efficiency of health care? I haven't noticed the cost of stamps going down, but the post office is talking about cutting Saturday delivery. What kind of health care delivery will be cut?

Nothing in this lecture added up. But it wasn't about adding up, it was about the Obama magic. As the Democrats jumped up and down like the little toys on a string, with loud extended applause I couldn't help being amused. I suppose the liberals really do love the man. Well they have the votes to give him everything he wants -- if they dare. Unfortunately, they all desire reelection. If only they didn't have to worry about that pesky little snag they could give Obama the country on a platter tomorrow.

One other thing I noticed was the Alinsky tactic of identifying an enemy. It was there again in the attack on those greedy, profit-motivated insurance companies. The attack was a little less strident than usual as he pointed out that insurance companies employ a lot of people, but it was still there. Obama never misses a chance to demonize a business or company that dares to make a profit. Class warfare: create an enemy. But why, may I ask, would anybody work if he couldn't make any money or better his lives by doing it? Please stop treating us like retarded children, Mr. President.

I sincerely doubt Obama will get much of a jump in the polls over this. At many times in the talk he sounded condescending and put out and there was too much of an "I" won't tolerate it tone. He hasn't figured out yet that he's supposed to be a servant of the people not a dicatator to be served by the people. The speech ended on a note that, I suppose, was meant to sound strong, but just sounded negative and petulant to me. It's an unfortunate tone to say, "...and God bless the United States of America."