Building on Real Clear Politics observation by Tom Bevan:
There’s been a remarkable amount of coverage of President Obama’s appearance at the House Republican retreat today, but I haven’t seen anyone focus on the President’s rather stunning admission about the Democrats’ health care legislation:
President Obama stated at the GOP retreat in Baltimore:
“The last thing I will say, though — let me say this about health care and the health care debate, because I think it also bears on a whole lot of other issues. If you look at the package that we’ve presented — and there’s some stray cats and dogs that got in there that we were eliminating, we were in the process of eliminating. For example, we said from the start that it was going to be important for us to be consistent in saying to people if you can have your — if you want to keep the health insurance you got, you can keep it, that you’re not going to have anybody getting in between you and your doctor in your decision making. And I think that some of the provisions that got snuck in might have violated that pledge.”
Bevan continues his analysis of Obama’s statements:
If we take this statement at face value, President Obama is admitting the the health care bills passed by either the House or Senate (or both) contained provisions which were “snuck in” – presumably by Democratic members and perhaps on behalf of certain lobbyists – that would have in fact prevented people from keeping their current insurance and/or choosing the doctor they want.
Let’s re-read Obama’s statement:
“If you look at the package that we’ve presented — and there’s some stray cats and dogs that got in there that we were eliminating, we were in the process of eliminating.”
The words “we’ve” and “we” further emphasizes the fact that Obama has shut the Republicans out of all of the healthcare negotiations. It’s also a violation of this–outlined on in the Obama-Biden plan detailed on the website Change.gov.
Additionally, serious matters seem to be minimalized by this president, further exemplified by the verbiage “stray cats and dogs”–is that what Obama calls the deliberate language in the legislation that would allow for a government takeover of 1/6 of the US economy, strip Americans of their current insurance, and limit our doctor choices. Is that the cat? Are the dogs the payoffs and bribes used to secure the votes needed?
Reflecting on the 2008 campaign, we heard so many speeches with so much rhetoric, and were promised a new era of government based on the premise of Obama’s vision of “hope and change.” Americans were captivated. Americans trusted this vibrant candidate, elected him president, and based on that trust ushered in a Democrat supermajority along with him.
Americans also trusted the campaign promises regarding healthcare. They voted for reform, not a government takeover of 1/6 of the US economy. This is what was promised and what Americans who voted for Obama believed would take place:
The hope and change promised during the campaign and further reinforced on Change.gov is a thing of the past and a voter’s worst nightmare–the entire Obama campaign was a con and a sting operation on the American people by the radical left. Voter betrayal, indeed.
And Barack Obama has the audacity to go in and scold Republicans for not playing along. Really?
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