Obama: Blah, Blah, Blah

By Michael S. Smith II

In his second address before the Congress, President Obama received a standing ovation pursuant to one of his opening remarks in which the president noted he is "determined" to be the last president to address the need for health care reform.

Well of course he did. After all, none of the members of Congress present for the president's address care to deal with another debate like the one that's erupted since the term ObamaCare was coined -- ever again.

America is, according to the president, "The only democracy ... the only wealthy nation on earth that allows such hardship for its people."

What about America's health care system being the envy of England, Canada, France, and so on? Drunk too much of the Kool Aid being served up by Michael Moore, have we?

Really, that zinger was up there with claiming China is surpassing the U.S. as the driving force in the "green revolution," or that the automobile is an American invention, both of which President Obama claimed in a previous nationally televised speech. (See: Data regarding China's role as the leading harvester of coal, which is not exactly a clean fuel; Also See: Germany, when researching the origin of the automobile.)

The president swiftly moved on to demonstrate the persistence of his speech writers' sophomoric rhetorical proclivities, employing the logically fallacious technique of pointing to extremes -- offering a story about a man who was refused treatment for a life-threatening condition because he lost his insurance benefits just before he was scheduled to undergo an operation -- to illustrate just how bad the reality confronting Americans is, that is, according to him. Politics of fear, anyone?

"Put simply: Our health care problem is our deficit problem," President Obama pronounced. (He later stated the policies of the Bush administration represent our deficit problems today.)

Since the health care marketplace represents one-sixth of the U.S. economy, the president said he believes it is best to build on what works, while doing away with what does not. He must be alluding to a plan to do away with those evil doctors who like to remove children's tonsils in the interest of garnering profits -- never mind the trial lawyers and ambulance chasers who have given him so many political contributions.

The president characterized the political atmosphere as one controlled by "Unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope for compromise." Rich again when considering his subsequent exercises in Bush-bashing.

"Now is the season for action," a time, according to president "to bring the best ideas of both parties together." (Ahem, was this to be recorded as a statement, or a question, Mr. President?)

"Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have," he assured insured Americans. What he didn't say: That is, of course, unless your employer discontinues your company's insurance program.

The president then added -- to the delight of many -- insurance companies, meantime, will no longer be allowed to deny coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions.

I'm sure this will give rise to many insurance companies moving their primary offices to places like Bermuda, places where the U.S. federal government will not be able to dictate what they must do in the manner the president clearly intends to.

"No one should go broke because they get sick," Obama exclaimed echoing a sentiment previously expressed by John McCain. The president then added that before his plan kicks in -- in "four years" -- those Americans without coverage will be provided special access to affordable insurance benefits. Will Obama be in office in four years?

Under the president's plan insurance companies will be required to cover preventive care. "That's what Americans who have health insurance can expect from this plan."

What about those who will have to rely on the "public option," Mr. President? Try as you may to convince America you intend to remove a "public option" from your plan, the fine print indicates you're being a bit disingenuous (i.e. Your not-for-profit cooperative exchange will prove tantamount to a public option).

"If you lose your job, or change your job, you'll be able to get coverage" from, as the president put it, a cooperative exchange that will provide various "affordable options."

Mr. President, what about after that timeline? Can you guarantee our nation's creditors won't leave us in financial ruin in lieu of your profligate plans?

The president described the decisions of young people who decide not to purchase insurance as "irresponsible," rather than what is usually reflective of a prudent cost-benefit analysis on their parts. To remedy this issue the president advised he will legally bind all people to purchase insurance, much as (many) states require drivers to do.

Obama waxed Orwellian as he noted "Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part." Of course Americans will all do "their part" -- noncompliance with the president's plan will amount to committing a criminal act!

According to the president, he wants to enact a plan that will not add "one dime to our deficits -- now or into the future." This statement was followed up by the aforementioned, albeit loudly lauded Bush-bashing.

One could then hear the printing presses used to produce dollars crank up as the president claimed "Not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan."

President Obama went on to note "hundreds of billions of dollars" in "wasteful spending" are subsidizing insurance companies' bottom lines. To combat this issue, the president advised "We will create an independent commission ... charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead." Will that commission be tasked with telling the president when he's wasting Americans' time?

Blah, blah, blah ... Something about tax credits ... Something about tort reform not representing a silver bullet  ... Reassurance that illegal immigrants will not, emphasis placed on the word not, enjoy access to government funded health care benefits, followed by the now infamous "You lie" interjections by S.C. Congressman Joe Wilson ...

Forty five minutes after his opening remarks the president's still relatively nonspecific and vainglorious stump speechish second address before Congress concluded.

Despite having watched the speech, this observer is still curious about what the president actually plans to present in the way of finalized policy prescriptions that may be used to reform health care in America. After all, the president spent a great deal of time trying to convince Americans that Republicans and special interests groups are deceiving them when it comes to their portrayals of ObamaCare, but he spent far too little time providing any real specifics of what he intends to propose.

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Copyright © 2009 by Michael S. Smith II and The Free Enterprise Foundation. All rights reserved

About the author: The business manager of a small South Carolina Lowcountry-based private medical practice owned by his wife, a pediatrician, Mr. Smith, age 28, is executive editor of The Ethical Standard: Official Publication of The Free Enterprise Foundation. He is also a contributing editor for SCHotline , a Columbia, S.C.-based conservative-oriented news aggregator site.

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