There has been much to admire, and much to criticize about the initial report of the president's debt commission. But just as a camel is a horse put together by a committee, this commission has put together a report that ignores one of the worst excesses of the Obama administration/Reid-Pelosi Congress. There is no minority report, and make no mistake--the Republicans are a clear minority on the commission.
The allegedly non-partisan/bipartisan commission is very political, and the political party most strongly represented is the Democratic Party, by a ratio of 12 to 6. The Democrats have been mouthing the same nonsense as President Obama about not wanting to "re-litigate the health care bill." If November 2nd's election showed us anything, it shows that the American people very much want to re-visit the health care bill, ranging from those who want to make changes to the bill to those who want to scrap it entirely and start over. Litigation is only one of the many methods of attacking the massive takeover of a portion of the American economy. So let's stop the baloney about "re-litigating it." "Re-litigate?" We've only begun to litigate.
Whether the commission believes it or not, the American people believe that Obamacare is a major part of the nation's debt problem. The proposal regarding socialized medicine coming from the commission is the Bowles-Simpson plan. Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson should be ashamed of himself for allowing his name to be connected with a proposal that leaves Obamacare totally untouched. At the same time, commission president Democrat Erskine Bowles joined Simpson in refusing to move Medicare toward a defined contribution program. As a result, the massive Obamacare would be mildly impacted by reductions in Medicare benefits to seniors already stuck in a system that is nothing more than a failed Ponzi scheme.
I can't help thinking of the wry criticism of the debt commission "re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic." There's a huge gash in the ship, it's going down fast by the bow, so let's make sure the silverware is properly laid out in first class. Ignoring Obamacare as a major part of near- and distant-future seas of red ink that will sink the ship of state is tantamount to willful blindness. As they say, "there oughta be a law." Anyone who thinks that a commission is building a bipartisan consensus based on the ultimate partisan government-control measure is certifiably nuts.
One-sixth of the American economy will be devoted to spending on a system that is a proven failure in Great Britain. The lies told about the plan have fallen apart, and even the Obamassiah has admitted a slight miscalculation of a few trillion dollars in what he touted as a deficit-neutral bill. In fact, he early on stated categorically that his socialized medicine would not only be an improvement on the current chaotic system, but in the end would cost less. Are his pants on fire? How long is his nose? And now the members of the deficit commission are joining in the big lie. For shame!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Debt Commission: "Obamacare Not A Problem"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
as i keep hearing/reading the dems sticking to their assessment of our state of affairs and their desperate attempts to get us to swallow their things-are-just-fine-and-dandy spin, i can't help but think that the beating they took at the polls will be nothing compared to what's coming for them in 2012 if they refuse to listen to the american people. they underestimate our will to right the sinking ship. they dismiss our engagement in the fight. but most importantly, they do not think our voices worthy to be considered.
yet, they think us dull enough of mind to believe they can convince us otherwise.
i believe in my fellow americans to see this thru, with or without washington as she stands now.
I'll agree that Obamacare is not a problem on this condition: included in the report is the fact that our new Republican leadership will not allow it to be implemented. Beyond that, I'm calling bull$hit and counting days until election day 2012 (724)
Any "deficit" committee that doesn't understand how destructive ObamaCare will be to the budget is a committee of fools. And if they're buying into the estimates put together by the bills creators, then everything these guys say is worthless.
Good catch Lawhawk.Rush was talking about this the other day, and was spot on in the description of baseline budgeting. They have said in all their grandiose Washington magnanimity, that government spending should not exceed 22-23% of GDP, bearing in mind in a normal year average is 17-18% of GDP. Happily, and with a straight face, these statist bastards increase government 5-6% too accommodate, you guessed it…”Barrycare.” In a 14trillion dollar economy, that’s big money. These fools miss the point, “We The People” want government reduced 5-6% too12-13%, and that’s just a start. The encroaching behemoth, that is the federal government must be stopped. I fear there’ll be more splainin to do (shout out to Ricky Ricardo) in 2012.
IMO, we need to get busy finding our Reagan, too keep statist Washington with the fear of God (the voter) and to rally behind, as austerity is forced on Washington.
Comissions are how they hide what they want to do but still make it sound like they are doing something.
Patti: It's so true that they act like Pollyanna when they ought to be acting like Goldilocks after she discovered grandma wasn't grandma. To carry out the Titanic parallel, I keep thinking of the first class passenger who is supposed to have said "I asked for ice, but this is ridiculous."
Tam: Some portions of the health care act are self-actuating, and must be addressed first. Otherwise, we end up with that perpetual mandate to states with no funding provided. I don't care if the feds get hurt by not funding the federal portions, but they will try to use state inaction as the excuse for their failure.
I have an Obama countdown clock on my living room bookshelf. 724 days to a fundamental reestablishment of the world's greatest republic.
Andrew: It's like building a beautiful race car and not noticing that they forgot to include an engine. How can they ignore that?
"Wow!
What do ya know... another inside straight."
"Yeah, must be your lucky day."
We see he deals from the bottom the deck, know his tells and that the pit bosses are in it.
Just waiting...waiting...
Stan: It's as if they're saying "details, details," because we've dared to notice that a trillion dollars here and a trillion dollars there and pretty soon you're talking serious money.
You're right about us needing to find our new Reagan. The field does seem to be growing, and I think a year from now we'll be looking at some strong possibilities. I've got my eye on several of them. Gov. Pawlenty of Minnesota recently picked up a few points in my estimation by acting publicly and independently of his state's machinery. His state law gives him no power over his attorney general who refused to file an amicus curiae brief opposing Obama health care. So he filed one of his own.
Dane: That's so true. Alan Simpson is too moderate for my tastes, but he's no RINO. And he's known for being blunt and outspoken. This go-along to get-along attitude toward ignoring the devastating financial and social effects of Obamacare has me totally mystified.
Ponderosa: Ya know, I get it that Obama stacked the commission with a 2 to 1 ratio of hand-picked Democrat Keynesians to moderate Republicans. But while he was at it, did he also hypnotize the few token Republican conservatives on the commission? They should be screaming "foul" to the high heavens over this.
If they are not transparent, nobody will give a rats ass about a partisan commission. If Obamacare is not on the table, the Repubs will not play, nor should they. Repeal is precisely what they were elected to do. I doubt that even yet, we have still yet to grasp all the hidden costs.
Maybe too they can dredge up the overused excuse: It's a communication problem. As if none of us can understand their brilliance. Obama admits (finally) a slight miscalculation? If that isn't the world biggest understatement, I don't know what is.
Dane is correct. But it is much worse (see below).
LH, regarding Simpson, by definition, the Republican who accepted the position of co-president was a rube, daft or an egomaniac.
He has been out of office for nearly 14 years, a senator, and is ex-military. All scream compromise and moderation. He just doesn’t possess the capacity and the imagination to comprehend the situation and never will.
My guess - he thought he could 'handle' Obama but was simply out of his depth.
So after it failed in the Senate, BO created this BS Commission via an Executive Order (all the cards):
"…the Commission shall propose recommendations to the President to balance the budget, excluding interest payment on the debt, by 2015.”
Another no win for the GOP.
By using such a narrow timeframe HCR is completely out of the scope of the Commission. Same crap Reid and Pelosi pulled with the CBO.
Sure and as long as I don't have to land, take off, change course, etc…I'm an F-16 fighter pilot.
Back to Simpson, why him in the first place?
He doesn’t bring any truly relevant knowledge or expertise, and certainly nothing current.
BO simply cast a wide net and grabbed any that bit.
Window dressing.
The purpose of the Commission is to protect HCR & the spending increases - basically his first two years. That and raise taxes.
The truly sad thing - I haven't even hit cynical.
Ponderosa: Excellent analysis. While I was concentrating on one glaring omission in the report, you nailed the main problem which is the initial stacked deck. Simpson is no expert, it's true. But what's so sad is that it doesn't take an expert to see the horrendous dishonesty of not including Obamacare in the debt study. I'm afraid his ego and the "honor" of the whole thing caused Simpson to set aside elementary common sense.
WriterX: Obama's "you didn't understand my brilliance" rhetoric was beginning to get stale. I'm afraid this commission report may have given it an undeserved shot in the arm and a new life that is very dangerous for the republic. I hope some of our rising stars jump on this loudly and frequently.
Rep. Ryan could tear this nonsense to shreds without sounding wonkish or negative. He has an amazing ability to explain complicated economic principles in a way that makes them almost exciting.
Tennessee: I studied both accounting and economics in college, and I couldn't agree with you more. This Obamacare mess is so wide and so deep that I know we haven't fathomed all the negative economic effects it will produce. Like so many of our readers, I don't think that there's anything that can be done to fix it, and repeal, however we can manage it, is the only answer. Then we can re-write health care in a meaningful, competitive, business-like, economically-sound, and non-socialist way.
As Democrat Daniel Moynihan put it years back, "we don't have a health care crisis, we have a health care delivery problem." Obamacare ignores that advice entirely and aims to fund and micromanage every facet of health care, rather than "fix" health care delivery and open up the market.
Post a Comment