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Despite all the ruckus concerning town-halls lately, most of which is the ruckus made by liberals upset that conservatives are attending and expressing their opposition to Obamacare, we have been treated to some important, if accidental, moments of honesty and clarity.

For example, while conducting a recent town-hall meeting, Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill attempted to calm constituents upset over the proposed “reform” by asking “Don’t you trust me?”  The resounding “no’s” reverberated throughout the room, along with many boos, which provides us with our moment of honesty.

So why don’t voters trust the government or its representatives to “fix” the problem?  Partially because they’ve gotten a better look at the proposed “solution” over the past few months, and the closer they look, the less they like what they see.  From federally funded abortions (as “health care”), to reduced choices in the free-market, to likely tax increases and health care rationing, there’s plenty to have a problem with.  read more »

Despite the trial balloon floated by Obama and Sebelius over the past few days, leading people to think that they’re really not that set on the "public" option (ie. government run healthcare) that has many people so upset, conservatives could do well not to lay down their arms, so to speak.

So what's going on?  It could mean several things.  It could be an attempt to allay the fears of some conservatives (or just folks in the middle) while town-halls are still going on...perhaps give Democrats some breathing room and reduce the incoming fire.  Maybe an attempt to gin up the liberal side of the debate by scaring them into seeing their dream of government run healthcare not coming to fruition...causing them to get more energized to counter conservatives.  Most likely all of the above.

But what we can rest fairly assuredly that it does NOT mean is that Obama and Company have given up on their objective of government run healthcare and eventually a single-payer system.

What we do know is what's happened since those comments were made.  Liberals (especially those in the House as well as outside groups) have gone berzerk.  They're threatening the White House by saying "no public option" means no bill.  We do know that there's no change to the pending legislation.  And we know Pelosi has indicated there will be votes on at least three bills in September, and they all have some sort of "public option".

And we know that the White House has begun to back-track.

All of which should tell conservatives to keep up the protests.  Keep showing up at the town-hall meetings.  Keep calling your members of Congress and letting them know how you feel in no uncertain terms.  Keep letting them know how you'll be spending your spare time during their re-election campaigns next year.

In other words, don't believe the hype.  And keep up the work.  read more »

The political environment has changed a little since we first put this poll up, so we thought we'd put it out there again.

What do you think will be the result of the fight over health care reform in Washington?  Your options:

• 1) Full blown nationalized/socialized "Obamacare" will become law
• 2) A "compromise" allowing continued free-market insurance along with a "public option" run by the government
• 3) A compromise that places new, heavy regulations on free-market plans, but no "public option"
• 4) Real reform allowing portability, purchase across state lines, expanded choices and maybe some tort reform
• 5) No bill at all, (Obama's "waterloo")

Click here and register your vote and add a comment.

We'll post the results and high-light some of the comments next week.

You just have to love video.  And, if you love video, you really just have to love YouTube, because if a picture's worth a thousand words, well, a video must be worth a few million.

In this case, we have Obama the President, telling Obamacare skeptics that he's not for a single-payer (ie. government run / socialized medicine) health care plan vs. Obama the Senator saying he supports a "single-payer" plan. 

I guess this was some conservative imposter, trying to deceive people about what his real goal would be when he had a chance to be President?  (Those wascawee wepuubwicans!)

There are some veerrrry, very interesting polls out this week which demonstrate that something is afoot when it comes to voters, their attitudes about health care "reform", Obama, the Democrats and Republicans.

Obama's approval numbers are at another new low:

The latest Presidential public approval poll shows 47% of voters saying they at least "somewhat approve" of the job Obama's doing...while 52% disapprove, the lowest level of support for Obama since he took office.  More importantly, the "passion" is with those who disapprove.

The poll shows 29% of voters "strongly approving" of Obama, and 37% "strongly disapproving"...giving him an eight point deficit with the folks that have strong "feelings" about him.

Support for Obamacare is at another new low:

The latest poll on Obama/Pelosi's proposed "reform" shows that support is at a new low.  Just 42% of voters now say they favor the plan, (such as it is), and 53% say they are opposed.  And the trend is pretty clear.  Support is down 5% from two weeks ago, and down 8% from a month and a half a go.  Meanwhile, opposition is up 9% in the same timeframe.  read more »

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Slowly but surely, it seems that the Republicans are getting a little bit of their mojo back.

How?  Simply by saying “no”.  Because, when it comes to Obama’s agenda, it seems that saying “no” is enough for Republicans to gain more support of the American people.

Some recent polling from Rasmussen tells the tale.

By a long-shot, the economy is the number one issue on people’s minds, and they don’t think Obama and the Democrat’s are doing such a good job dealing with it.

Overwhelmingly, they think the government is spending (and borrowing) way too much money, and the national deficit and debt are looming larger in voter’s minds.  Seventy-one percent agree that Obama’s policies have driven up the deficit.

As for Obama’s latest push for bigger government, so-called health care “reform”, it would seem the Democrats aren’t on the same page with voters.  Forty-eight percent rate the US healthcare system as “good” or “excellent”, with only nineteen percent rating it as “poor” – hardly a cry for a radical overhaul of the system.  read more »

From my latest column...

When it comes to legislation, there’s a general rule of thumb that the number of details someone doesn’t want you to see is directly related to how quickly they try to pass it.  The so-called health care “reform” bill is a text-book example.

The reason Obama and liberal Democrats are pushing so fast and furious is because the details, (where the Devil usually hides), are beginning to get out.  And as the details start to sink in, they’re cutting through all of the “yes we can” rhetoric and leading more Americans to say “no you don’t”.

So what’s getting them worked up?  Let’s take a look at some of the details of this “reform”.

Despite Obama’s best efforts, the financial implications are finally becoming more widely appreciated, (so to speak).  According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the proposed legislation would not reduce the overall amount of money spent on health care in America, which undermines Obama's rationale for the massive overhaul in the first place.

They estimate that the “reform” would add between one and one and a half trillion dollars to our national debt, just over the next decade alone.  The result will be a call for massive tax increases and the eventual rationing of care to cover and reduce costs.  And of course this is before we find out how much more it will really cost once it becomes law, as every federal program eventually costs more than initially advertised.

<  read more »

While our fearless leaders in Washington are doing their best to give us what they call national health care "reform" (despite the protests of the "mobs"), which seeks to lay the foundation to a one-size-fits-all, single payer system that that have in more enlightened European countries like France, the french are trying to be more like us.

France claims it long ago achieved much of what today's U.S. health-care overhaul is seeking: It covers everyone, and provides what supporters say is high-quality care. But soaring costs are pushing the system into crisis. The result: As Congress fights over whether America should be more like France, the French government is trying to borrow U.S. tactics.

In recent months, France imposed American-style "co-pays" on patients to try to throttle back prescription-drug costs and forced state hospitals to crack down on expenses. "A hospital doesn't need to be money-losing to provide good-quality treatment," President Nicolas Sarkozy thundered in a recent speech to doctors.

And service cuts...are prompting complaints from patients, doctors and nurses that care is being rationed. That concern echos worries among some Americans that the U.S. changes could lead to rationing. ...

The french have a bigger problem in that, they know the system is financially unsustainable but, thanks to the a government that has given people the impression that 100% free and full coverage health care is some sort of human right, they can't muster the political support to make necessary changes.  read more »

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When it comes to legislation, there’s a general rule of thumb that the number of details someone doesn’t want you to see is directly related to how quickly they try to pass it.  The so-called health care “reform” bill is a text-book example.

The reason Obama and liberal Democrats are pushing so fast and furious is because the details, (where the Devil usually hides), are beginning to get out.  And as the details start to sink in, they’re cutting through all of the “yes we can” rhetoric and leading more Americans to say “no you don’t”.

So what’s getting them worked up?  Let’s take a look at some of the details of this “reform”.

Despite Obama’s best efforts, the financial implications are finally becoming more widely appreciated, (so to speak).  According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the proposed legislation would not reduce the overall amount of money spent on health care in America, which undermines Obama's rationale for the massive overhaul in the first place.  read more »

...from 'round the sphere this morning:

Supply means more demand...then rationing

Dick Morris points out the obvious in his latest column:

"Here's a point that's no surprise except to the "reformers": People with insurance use more healthcare.

"President Barack Obama seeks to cover 50 million new people. Where are the extra doctors, nurses, and so on going to come from? Neither the administration nor anyone on the Hill has proposed anything to add to the supply of medical services even as they plan vastly to increase the demand. "

And of course, this will lead down the road to the "r" word that the Dems don't want to talk about...

The tax man cometh...

If you paid even remote attention to the 2008 presidential campaign, you know that the Bamster went out of his way to avoid being tagged with the big spending, big taxing liberal Democrat label, going so far as to promise - repeatedly - that there would be NO tax increaes on his watch for anyone making under $250,000.  The problem is that the people who work for him keep letting the cat out of the bag...

This past Sunday, his chief White House economist, Larry Summers, when asked about the campaign promise, said: “It is never a good idea to absolutely rule things out no matter what”.  About the same time, one of his fellow Obama administration employees, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was on ABC stating: “We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically. And that’s going to require some very hard choices."  read more »