Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Issue of Trust

I did not listen to the last speech the President gave to a Joint Secession of Congress. I did listen to a lot of the discussion regarding what he did say and I have heard many excerpts. Plenty clips on U-tube etc.

I did pick up on one item where he has changed what he is saying. In the past the PresBO was out on the stump saying "if you like your Doctor, You can keep him. If you like your Insurance plan, You can keep it." There is a pretty clear message in that statement, what they call unequivocal. What you and I would say is unambiguous, absolute or even clear and unmistakable.

Well this was designed to speak to the 85% of Americans who have health coverage and if you believe such polling the vast majority of those, are satisfied with their insurance. It was also designed to sell this to the many seniors out there that their Medicare Supplemental Plans that a majority of seniors buy, is safe. That they can keep these plans their Doctors and their coverage.

This is unambiguous, absolute, clear and unmistakable. We can't have that.

In the Wednesday night's speech he changed this to: "nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have."

And because he likes repeating himself, he reiterates the statement with: "Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have."

How is this different? The wording change is designed to protect the PresBO from yet another "Joe Wilson" moment, it is designed to give him coverage or in the words most favored by the Political speech writers, it is designed to obfuscate. To confuse, bewilder or to muddle.

What you and I call lying?

This is because of the actual provisions written into HR3200 most assuredly guaranteeing the migration of no fewer than 90 million Americans into the "Health Care Exchange" or more notability the "Public Option". Section 102 of that Bill euphemistically titled: "Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage"

Yeah, it says that right there on page 16. But when you read the provisions of this section you find that your current insurance provider cannot change its plan coverage to you or the cost to you in any substantial way or by federal law your plan and coverage gets cancelled and you then automatically fall into the "Health Care Exchange". This applies to your Employer as well, oh by the way. And 'substantial' in this is defined as even one percentage point of additional cost over the first 5-years of the start of the new Health Care Choices Act. And if even one additional benefit is added or deleted you will be similarly terminated. Section 102 states that it is for Grandfathering however it speaks only of how people and insurance providers are thrown from what they have now to the government run plan.

Now, is the president lying?

Look, there is a reason he has not penned even one line in the 1017 pages of HR3200. This monstrosity was inked in whole by the House (or at least Friends of Nancy Pelosi and Ugliest Man in Congress (that being Harry Waxman)) and not the White House. This is why the PresBO was able to go around for so long saying that we could keep what we have if we liked it, he did not know the House had this all encompassing plan to kill the private insurance business.

If he writes it and goes out and says something that is different than what is in the Bill then he is a liar. In the way where the House puts out the Bill than he can pretty much say what he likes, in fact during this very speech he referenced "His Plan" or "His package of reform" yet never once referring to HR3200.

This is the Bill that IS the health care debate. I say this because right now, that is the only game in town. The House has put this package, all 1017 pages out there, nothing from the Senate and absolutely nothing but hot air from the White House.

You know what they say, his lips are moving…….

BT: Jimmy T sends.

Text of Speech from 10 September http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/us/politics/10obama.text.html

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