Month: September 2009

Something the Philadelphia Inquirer didn’t report with regard to President Obama’s health-care speech last night was Sarah Palin’s quite effective rebuttal. She placed it on   Facebook last night  at 9:26.

 Here it is:

After all the rhetoric is put aside, one principle ran through
President Obama’s speech tonight: that increased government involvement
in health care can solve its problems.

Many Americans fundamentally disagree with this idea. We know from long
experience that the creation of a massive new bureaucracy will not
provide us with “more stability and security,” but just the opposite.
It’s hard to believe the President when he says that this time he and
his team of bureaucrats have finally figured out how to do things right
if only we’ll take them at their word.

Our objections to the Democrats’ health care proposals are not mere
“bickering” or “games.” They are not an attempt to “score short term
political points.” And it’s hard to listen to the President lecture us
not to use “scare tactics” when in the next breath he says that “more
will die” if his proposals do not pass.

In his speech the President directly responded to concerns I’ve raised
about unelected bureaucrats being given power to make decisions
affecting life or death health care matters. He called these concerns
“bogus,” “irresponsible,” and “a lie” — so much for civility. After
all the name-calling, though, what he did not do is respond to the
arguments we’ve made, arguments even some of his own supporters have
agreed have merit.

In fact, after promising to “make sure that no government bureaucrat
…. gets between you and the health care you need,” the President
repeated his call for an Independent Medicare Advisory Council — an
unelected, largely unaccountable group of bureaucrats charged with
containing Medicare costs. He did not disavow his own statement that
such a group, working outside of “normal political channels,” should
guide decisions regarding that “huge driver of cost … the chronically
ill and those toward the end of their lives….” He did not disavow the
statements of his health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, and
continuing to pay his salary with taxpayer dollars proves a commitment
to his beliefs. The President can keep making unsupported assertions,
but until he directly responds to the arguments I’ve made, I’m going to
call him out too.

It was heartening to hear the President finally recognize that tort
reform is an important part of any solution. But this concession
shouldn’t lead us to take our eye off the ball: the Democrats’
proposals will not reduce costs, and they will not deliver better
health care. It’s this kind of “healthy skepticism of government” that
truly reflects a “concern and regard for the plight of others.” We
can’t wait to hear the details on that; we look forward to working with
you on tort reform.

Finally, President Obama delivered an offhand applause line tonight
about the cost of the War on Terror. As we approach the anniversary of
the September 11th attacks and honor those who died that day and those
who have died since in the War on Terror, in order to secure our
freedoms, we need to remember their sacrifices and not demonize them as
having had too high a price tag.

Remember, Mr. President, elected officials work for the people. Forcing
a conclusion in order to claim a “victory” is not healthy for our
country. We hear you say government isn’t always the answer; now hear
us — that’s what we’ve been saying all along.