President Obama stood before the joint Congress this evening and said everyone who has read the actual words of HR 3200 were succumbing to “bogus claims”. From his speech:
Some of people’s concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Such a charge would be laughable if it weren’t so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple.
There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up – under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.
My health care proposal has also been attacked by some who oppose reform as a “government takeover” of the entire health care system. As proof, critics point to a provision in our plan that allows the uninsured and small businesses to choose a publicly-sponsored insurance option, administered by the government just like Medicaid or Medicare.
I won’t dissect each of these issues as it’s been done numerous times across the net.
The only thing I learned during tonight’s speech is that it’s not a good idea to play a drinking game where you drink each time Nancy Pelosi blinks. It’s a good think I was already home! Obama could have saved us all a bunch of time and just told us to reread HR 3200.
For the past several weeks, each time President Obama attempted to refute provisions of the plan, favorability ratings for both himself and support of the plan dropped. I’m left with just one question after tonight’s speech: After calling more than half of America liars, is it possible to have a favorability rating less than zero?
