Obama continues health assault- calls insurance companies liars, lobbyists profit seekers

(Scripturelink Voter's Guide; c.f. White House (US Presidency; American; Governmental) 17 / 10 | October / 2009 )


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Editorial Article by Marc Aupiais


In a press release from the White House Press Secretary, dated 17 October 2009, Barack Obama once again has attacked the opponents to his health reform plan.

Many of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) member Bishops, have raised serious concerns over the health reform's seeming funding for universal abortion. Alarms at special interests allegedly held by those fronting the bill, were also raised: by the refusal of Obama's party to place any provision or amendment in the bill to remove universal coverage of abortion.

Others, opposed to the passing of this bill have raised concerns over care for the elderly, as well as over the inefficiency of similar systems to the proposed US one, which have been implemented in Canada, and in Great Britain. The press release also does not attempt to counter any claims of big government, or socialisism, thrown against this bill, by opposition members and nay sayers. Rather, the free press, and the industry the bill will affect most are attacked directly by Obama, who claims that he is fighting "big business", a claim not redolent of most capitalist leaders.

The long speech makes no mention of abortion, no mention of Great Britain, no mention of Canada, and no mention of the very real concerns opponents of the plan have voiced. Instead, those opposing the plan are linked by a conspiracy Barack Obama creates, with Health Insurance companies, and studies done are dubbed as deceptive. Barack Obama is known for his association with major abortion firm: Planned parenthood, to whom he made promises during his election campaign, as recorded in the media, which are much more direct than those he made to voters.

Here is a short quote of a summary given by the White House Press Secretary, follow the link (the date is a link) below to see the whole speech:

"WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Calls Hails Progress on Health Insurance Reform Despite Defenders of the Status Quo

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama praised the progress that has been made on health insurance reform, and spoke out against those who defend the status quo in order to score political points and protect their profits. With reform the closest it has ever been to becoming law, the insurance companies are rolling out deceptive ads, paying for misleading studies, and flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists. Now, Washington needs to serve the American people, not the special interests."

(White House (US Presidency; American; Governmental) 17 / 10 | October / 2009 )

Obama has also been accused of attempting to act unilaterally, and of strict control of party ranks, editorially, I think this could be the case:

To give a short section of his long speech, and to demonstrate his attack on media, and all opponents to his bill:

"Of course, like clockwork, we’ve seen folks on cable television who know better, waving these industry-funded studies in the air. We’ve seen industry insiders – and their apologists – citing these studies as proof of claims that just aren’t true. They’ll claim that premiums will go up under reform; but they know that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that reforms will lower premiums in a new insurance exchange while offering consumer protections that will limit out-of-pocket costs and prevent discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. They’ll claim that you’ll have to pay more out of pocket; but they know that this is based on a study that willfully ignores whole sections of the bill, including tax credits and cost savings that will greatly benefit middle class families. Even the authors of one of these studies have now admitted publicly that the insurance companies actually asked them to do an incomplete job.

It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s bogus. And it’s all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, "Take one of these, and call us in a decade." Well, not this time. The fact is, the insurance industry is making this last-ditch effort to stop reform even as costs continue to rise and our health care dollars continue to be poured into their profits, bonuses, and administrative costs that do nothing to make us healthy – that often actually go toward figuring out how to avoid covering people. And they’re earning these profits and bonuses while enjoying a privileged exception from our anti-trust laws, a matter that Congress is rightfully reviewing.

Now, I welcome a good debate. I welcome the chance to defend our proposals and to test our ideas in the fires of this democracy. But what I will not abide are those who would bend the truth – or break it – to score political points and stop our progress as a country. And what we all must oppose are the same old cynical Washington games that have been played for decades even as our problems have grown and our challenges have mounted."

(White House (US Presidency; American; Governmental) 17 / 10 | October / 2009 )

As one might have noted, the concerns of the opposition, are not really laid out, and one unnamed study is claimed to be fraudulent, without more information. Much of the opposition, is based on fears involving service, not simply costs, value, not simply price. It is usual for government to consult with industries when they are affected by a law, however, this US administration, has once again bypassed this practice. It is not a good sign either, when a government determines to attack the credibility of those reporting on it.