ObamaCare's September Surprise

Via The Politico:

The White House and its allies know they’ve been beaten in every previous round of Obamacare messaging, never more devastatingly than in 2010. And they know the results this November could hinge in large part on whether that happens again.

How badly have they been beaten? The RealClearPolitics average approval rating for Obamacare is 40.4% for and 54.3% against. The American people’s low opinion on the ill-gotten law hasn’t budged much since it was first foisted upon us in March of 2010.

In preparation for the state insurance hikes, the White House propaganda machine (or what Politico likes to call “the White House’s internal health care enrollment outreach apparatus”) has kicked into high gear – “immediately redirected into a rapid-response, blocking-and-tackling research and press operation geared toward preempting GOP attacks on the issue.”

In other words, the same folks who brought you, “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan”, “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”,  “families will see an average reduction of $2,500 in insurance costs”, “it won’t add one dime to the deficit”, “it will lower costs overall”, “illegal immigrants won’t be covered”, “abortions won’t be covered”, “it’s affordable care”,  and “ObamaCare horror stories are all untrue,” are reaching for new heights of shameless mendacity in order to avoid a bloodbath in November. 

In what aides say is a sign of a changed approach within the White House — but also heightened concerns around the midterms — they’re even coordinating with Hill Democrats, funneling localized background analysis and talking points to each state’s delegation through Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. They’ve also relied on California Rep. Henry Waxman’s staff at the Energy and Commerce Committee to produce rebuttal reports, often in advance, on GOP claims about insurance.

“One of the lessons we’ve learned in implementing health care is to stay on it,” said Tara McGuinness, the White House senior communications adviser who has been spearheading the effort for the West Wing, reflecting on previous run-ins. “We are not going to let anyone distort the debate.”

High-falootin’ talk for someone whose boss has been lying non-stop about the issue for six years.

The agreed upon talking points are, “the initial bids won’t necessarily be the final rate; the announced averages are misleading because they give equal weight to larger and smaller insurers; rates have gone up at a lower rate than would likely have happened otherwise; and subsidies are built into the law to compensate for some of those increases as well as potential end-of-year rebates for inordinate hikes.”

Pretty weak tea to offer people who’ve been hurt by the law. The Grima Wormtongues of the Democrat party can whisper sweet lies about how rates would have gone up at a faster pace without their precious O-Care – but voters will have tangible proof that ObamaCare isn’t helping them, coming in the mail. The response to “the White House’s internal health care enrollment outreach apparatus” should come in the form of another midterm shellacking on election day.