A year ago, when this whole health care debate started, we were told over and over that if we didn't do something about runaway health care costs – especially with regard to Medicare – they will swamp the ship of state. Today, Obama essentially said: "Forget all that jazz."
"You had 10 years. What happened?" Obama asked at a Glenside, Pa., rally. "We've been talking about health care for nearly a century. ... We talked about it during Democratic administrations and Republican administrations. I've got all my Republican colleagues out there saying, 'Well, no, no, no. We want to focus on things like cost.'"Um, yea-ah. Wasn't that the point of this whole exercise? Or at least a major driving force? Here's President Obama, nine months ago:
When it comes to the cost of health care, this much is clear: the status quo is unsustainable for families, businesses, and government. America spends nearly 50 percent more per person on health care than any other country. Health care premiums have doubled over the last decade, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs have skyrocketed, and many with preexisting conditions are denied coverage. More and more, Americans are being priced out of the care they need.Last week, former Obama adviser Warren Buffett came out and said this legislation does almost nothing to control costs. But now tamping down health care costs is just another ploy by those bad-ole Republicans to derail Obama's signature legislation. And I'm starting to get the impression that the legacy is all Obama cares about when it comes to this legislation.
These costs are also hurting business, as some big businesses are at a competitive disadvantage with their foreign counterparts, and some small businesses are forced to cut benefits, drop coverage, or even lay off workers. Meanwhile, Medicare and Medicaid pose one of the greatest threats to our federal deficit, and could leave our children with a mountain of debt that they cannot pay.
Related - The Boston Globe reports that Virginia is poised to pass the first state legislation stipulating that citizens cannot be forced to purchase health insurance.
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Obama made the claim today that the Health Care bill would cut the deficit by "$1 trillion" over "the next decade," citing the CBO. Unfortunately(for all of us), the CBO actually says deficits would be cut by $162 billion(which in itself is based on accounting trickery). Now, I don't know about you, but a guy who randomly makes claims that are in error to the tune of $868 billion starts to worry me.
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