Freedom Line Blog

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made headlines this weekend when she signaled that the Obama Administration is open to dropping the so-called “public option” from legislation to overhaul heath care in an effort to reach a compromise.   Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, Sebelius said the public option “is not an essential element” of President Obama’s plan for health care reform.   

Almost immediately, the media’s attention turned its focus to “insurance cooperatives,” or co-ops,  as an alternative to a public option.   Don’t be fooled!

As Michael Tanner at the CATO Institute points out, “Government-run health care is government-run health care no matter what you call it.”  Tanner writes:

The health care “co-op” approach now embraced by the Obama administration will still give the federal government control over one-sixth of the U.S. economy, with a government-appointed board, taxpayer funding, and with bureaucrats setting premiums, benefits, and operating rules.

As much as the White House would like to claim that they are the sole source of facts about health care, President Obama recently made some comments that have little factual support in the actual House bill.

For example:

• The White House claims that if you like your health care plan then you can keep it. However, no one agrees.  Even non-partisan estimates agree that up to 100 million Americans could lose their health coverage. The White House can’t guarantee everyone will keep their current plan, despite the President’s political posturing.
• The White House claims that government control won’t break the budget. False. The Congressional Budget Office even noted that the current version of the bill would increase the federal deficit by at least $239 billion.
• President Obama: “I don’t believe anyone should be in charge of your health care decisions but you and your doctor.” But, even the current House bill establishes a Health Benefits Advisory Committee to make decisions, including cost sharing and benefits.

The White House might claim that  it has a monopoly on the truth, but gap between rhetoric and reality on health care reform is about as large as America’s distrust with government-run health care.

A professional dancer?

WSJ – Chances Dim for Public Option
WSJ – Japan’s Economy Recovers
Club for Growth – Club v. NHS
Chris Cillizza – Creigh Deeds’s Presidential Problem
Politico – Health Care Reform Deadline?
Politico – Rangel Goes After Senate
Cafe Hayek – Protectionist Inconsistency

Federal Debt:  $11.699 trillion

The Associated Press is reporting that the “end of life counseling” provision passed in the HR 3200 will not be included in the Senate bill.  According to the article:

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Thursday that the provision had been dropped from consideration because it could be misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly.

By now, most people have read — or at least heard about — the USA Today column in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer labeled the protesters of Obama’s health care plan “Un-American.”   But apparently the Madam Speaker used to be a big fan of those “angry mobs.”

In a January 2006 town hall event, captured in this video being circulated on the web, Pelosi applauded a group of disruptive, anti-war protesters by stating, “your advocacy is very American and very important.”  She went further in stating, “There is nothing more articulate, more eloquent to a member of Congress than the voice of his or her own constituents.”

Pelosi closed by saying “I am a fan of disruptors!”  I guess she is only “a fan” when it’s convenient for her agenda.

The markets don’t like the odds of President Obama’s health care bill passing by the end of this year.  The market gives it just over a 35% chance of success.

“The Secret Plan to Defeat the Right Forever.” This was yesterday’s panel at Netroots Nation, a gathering of liberal and progressive bloggers.

Their plan: eliminate the secret ballot for union votes.  Not quite sure how that alone will ensure generations of voters to flock to the Democratic Party, but it will undermine current labor laws, increase harassment, and empower large labor unions.

The panel should have been: “How to Enrich Big Labor, Crush Worker Freedom, and Increase Donations to President Obama.”

• 33% of voters say Jimmy Carter is the best living former president.
• President Clinton came in second with 29%.
• Voters now trust the GOP over Dems on the issue of health care, 44% to 41%.
• Just 42% favor President Obama’s health care bill.
• Voters trust Republicans on the issue of taxes, 51% to 35%.

All poll results are courtesy of Rasmussen Reports.

WSJ – Year-to-date Consumer Prices Plunge 2.1%
Political Wire – Six Health Care Lobbyists per Lawmaker
Cafe Hayek – Patriotic Protectionists?
John Stossel – The Day the Lights Went Out
Reason – Government Offering Tasty Cookies?
WSJ – More Problems with Boeing Dreamliner
Today Show – Brad Pitt: Libertarian Mayor of New Orleans?

Federal Debt: $11.688 trillion

There is acknowledgement that the US China trade relationship needs to be rebalanced, but little imagination on how to proceed.  Deep down, our leaders and policymakers have convinced themselves that for all its flaws, the old system was better than anything we are going to think of, and that simply restoring confidence will fix everything, at least for as long as they remain in office.” Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

Former Representative Pat Toomey is leading Senator Arlen Specter 48% to 36%, according to a new Rasmussen poll.  The election is still over a year away but incumbents who poll under 40% eventually have their titled preceded by “former.”

WSJ–First Victory in Health Care Fight
NY Times–Senator Specter’s Town Hall
David Boaz–Media Failure?
John Stossel–Congress to Aid Lawsuit Abuse
Reason-The Fed and Inflation
Politico–The President’s Rhetoric
Politico–Grassley Retreats at Town Halls

Federal Debt-$11.684 trillion

If the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade bill (H.R. 2454) becomes law, U.S. economic growth could be slashed by 2.4 percent and the legislation would cost 2 million jobs by 2030.  This, according to a recent study conducted by the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and released today.

The study, which was commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), assesses the impact of the Waxman-Markey bill on manufacturing, jobs, energy prices and the overall U.S. economy.  According to a summary of the study, “The NAM and ACCF released national data as well as the analysis for 15 industrial states that would be impacted greatly if this or similar legislation is signed into law.  The full report, including the data covering the remaining 35 states will be released in the coming weeks.”

The Senate is expected to take up its version of climate change legislation in September.  This latest study is yet another in a growing list of reasons why it shouldn’t.

Read the full national report here.

Access the analysis of each of the 15 states that have released so far here.

At his town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH yesterday, President Obama again bragged about the AARP’s support of his plan for government-run health care.  The President proudly proclaimed to his hand-picked crowd of supporters:

We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors.

Obama added,

AARP would not be endorsing a bill if it was undermining Medicare.

But hold the phone, folks.  According to the Associated Press and Fox News, AARP’s chief operating officer Tom Nelson moved quickly to correct the record, saying, “indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.”  That forced White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to backtrack, claiming that the President didn’t mean to mislead the American people.

AARP has been under heavy fire for appearing with Obama on numerous occasions in the last several months seemingly in support of the President’s health care plan — and by extension, the various plans being pushed by Congressional Democrats.  But with support among seniors  dwindling, it is no surprise the AARP is now seemingly looking for an out.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey released yesterday shows that a whopping 56% of those over age 65 are opposed, and 46% of senior citizens are strongly opposed.

Read more…

“Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health.  This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health,” John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, writing in today’s Wall Street Journal.