What is the Public Option?

Liberals doggedly insist that Americans approve of the idea of a "public option" as a part of health care reform. That may be true, but Americans don't even know what the public option is, and they're not ashamed to admit as much.

Asked point blank, "Could you confidently explain what exactly the "public option" is to someone who didn't know," a hefty majority of Americans say, "No."

Two thirds of our respondents say they can't really explain the "public option" when it comes to health care reform. We don't know how many of the over 1000 [2,000] pages of the draft legislation are devoted to it, but knowing our legislative branch's penchant for long, tedious prattling, it's a good bet that our elected officials probably couldn't explain it to the man on the street either.

Only a quarter of Americans say that they could confidently explain the public option. Not knowing what the public option is, can Americans really be in love with the idea?

Via Memeorandum

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Prioritizing The Public Option: Is Lib support decaying?

Does the Public Care About the Public Option?

Poll Shows Clear Majority of Americans Support Public Option When Described as "Magic Pixie Dust"

More libs are asking: "Is The Healthcare Bill As It Now Stands Even Worse Than Nothing?"

Waterloo for Obama and his thuggish Latin American cronies…conservative Porfirio Lobo wins Honduran election. (Background info)

Liberal idiot makes sense for once: America vs. The Narrative

Virginia Couple Who Crashed Obama's State Dinner…Shocking Photos

A Six Trillion Dollar Bill

How much would ObamaCare cost for the first ten years?

Through the power of gimmicks, fabrication and wishful thinking, Congress has generated an illusion of relative fiscal responsibility. Democrats in Congress assure us that their bill will only cost about a trillion dollars for the first decade. But when reality comes home to roost, ObamaCare might result in pandemic sticker shock.

Senator Judd Gregg explains:

What they don't tell the American people is they're not spending anything in the first four or five years of the bill. No. They do raise your taxes throughout the ten-year period. They do cut Medicare throughout the ten-year period. But they don't spend the money. They don't start the spending programs until the year 2014. When this bill is fully phased in, when all these new programs, these massive expansion of entitlements are created, these brand-new entitlements, when all this new spending occurs — this bill will cost $2.5 trillion over that ten-year period.

[emphasis added]

The Democrats have also ignored the burden of ObamaCare on individuals and businesses:

Another gimmick pushes much of the legislation’s costs off the federal budget and onto the private sector by requiring individuals and employers to purchase health insurance. When the bills force somebody to pay $10,000 to the government, the Congressional Budget Office treats that as a tax. When the government then hands that $10,000 to private insurers, the CBO counts that as government spending. But when the bills achieve the exact same outcome by forcing somebody to pay $10,000 directly to a private insurance company, it appears nowhere in the official CBO cost estimates — neither as federal revenues nor federal spending.

So if we account for all of the budget gimmicks and hidden fees (requiring employers to purchase health insurance, the cost of the individual mandate, the burden of Medicaid mandates on state governments, the doc fix, sundry off-budget costs and calendar tricks) how much will ObamaCare cost?

$6.25 trillion. (Give or take a few hundred billion).

Via Left Coast Rebel

Via Memeorandum

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We Pay Them to Lie to Us

Cato: ObamaCare price tag is $6 trillion.

Wouldn't it be great if you could count a whole month's income, but only two weeks' expenditures in your household budget?

Hawaii May Get to Opt Out of ObamaCare, but other states "shouldn't be able to opt out just because they feel like it"

Waterloo in 2010

Even die-hard liberals now admit that the elections of 2010 are likely to decimate the Democrats. The results of a new question added to the DK tracking poll portends doom:

QUESTION: In the 2010 Congressional elections will you definitely vote, probably vote, not likely vote, or definitely will not vote?

Voter Intensity: Voting/NOT Voting

Republican Voters: 81/14

Independent Voters: 65/23

Democratic Voters: 56/40

Delving a little deeper into the numbers, 15% of Democrats say they're definitely not voting, compared to only 5% of Republicans who say the same.

Another thing to keep in mind while looking at these numbers: Lately, as a group, Independents have been drifting further to the right. If these numbers hold up, Democrats will be crushed in 2010.

If the Democrats seem suicidal in their quest to upend the health care system, it's because they are expecting massive losses in 2010 no matter what they do in the interim. They are on a kamikaze mission. Don't expect the Dems to be swayed by concerns about self-preservation.

Via Memeorandum

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Poll Paints Ugly 2010 Picture for Democrats

Apples & Oranges: Don't let the pundits mislead you on ObamaCare polling

Dems' kamikaze mission: Health care by New Year's

Krauthammer: Kill the Bills. Do Health Reform Right

Transcript: Obama's West Point Afghanistan Speech

R. S. McCain: Is Kathleen Parker's Evil Underrated?

The Lost Lesson of Thanksgiving

Have a Happy Thanksgiving...and take a moment to review the most important lesson of the first Thanksgiving in 1623:

Don't redistribute the wealth!

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It's Officially Safe to Criticize Obama

I can't believe I missed this, but I'm so glad to hear it. I no longer have to live in fear:

There's a lot of buzz on Capitol Hill about a new health care memo, by strategist/communicator Frank Luntz, which is filled with advice for opponents of the Democrats' reform legislation. The memo analyzes the public's concerns that national health care will result in lower quality care at higher cost, with an out-of-control deficit to boot, and Luntz recommends language to help critics make the case against the legislation more effectively. For example, he suggests opponents would be better off avoiding the phrase public option; calling it the government option is better.

The new memo updates a similar analysis Luntz wrote last May. Some of the advice is familiar. But one striking difference between the two documents is in the treatment of Barack Obama. Last May, Luntz advised politicians to stay away -- far away -- from criticizing the president. "Your political opponents are the Democrats in Congress and the bureaucrats in Washington, not President Obama," Luntz wrote. "Every time we test language that criticized the president by name, the response was negative -- even among Republicans." He continued: "If you make this debate about Republicans vs. Obama, you lose. But if you make it about Americans vs. politicians, you win." Therefore, the advice was to go after Washington bureaucrats and government health care, but never Obama.

That was then. Now, things are different. "In the spring, we counseled strongly that you should avoid direct confrontation with President Obama," Luntz writes in the new memo. "That has changed." The "thrill is gone" from Obama's relationship with the American people, Luntz writes, and it's now OK to go after the president's proposals with the president's name attached. "There is no change in support for the plan if it is called 'Barack Obama's plan' instead of the plan of 'Democrats in Congress,'" Luntz says. "So long as the attack is grounded in policy and NOT personage, you can talk about opposing 'President Obama's plan.'"

That said, Luntz still doesn't advise doing it. "While you no longer shoot yourself in the foot by criticizing the president, you would do much better to criticize Congress -- which has disapproval ratings that will clearly sink some re-election hopes," Luntz writes. While many Republicans insist on calling health care reform "Obamacare," Luntz says they would do better by attacking "Washington."

[emphasis added]

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Health Care Reform, or Health Care Control?

Medical Ghetto

This is one of the best assessments of government-run health care that I've heard to date. Senator Lamar Alexander likens Medicaid to a "medical ghetto."

This bill is historic in its arrogance, dumping 15 million low-income Americans into a medical ghetto called Medicaid that none of us or any of our families would ever want to be a part of for our health care…

…Moving 15 million low-income Americans into a program called Medicaid which is a medical ghetto is not health care reform.

If the Democrats have their way, the entire American health care system will slowly be transformed into a medical ghetto* as leftoids maliciously chip away at privately owned health care systems. American health care would crumble, becoming another unnecessary example of the "Tragedy of the Commons."

*For the race-baiters, here's the definition of ghetto:

a : an isolated group b : a situation that resembles a ghetto especially in conferring inferior status or limiting opportunity

Etymology: Italian, from Venetian dial. ghèto island where Jews were forced to live, literally, foundry (located on the island), from ghetàr to cast, from Latin jactare to throw

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Excellent: The Democrats' Health Care Delusion

It doesn’t feel like it, but we are winning the fight against ObamaCare.

Obama’s decision: We will send 34,000 troops to Afghanistan while laying the groundwork for defeat.

Rasmussen: Obama drops to lowest approval rating (and the Passion Index is down to -15).

Unpopular, Unconstitutional & Illegitimate

Thomas Jefferson: "The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government..."

Our government only has legitimacy to the extent that it submits to the will of the people...and to the extent that it protects the minority from oppression the by the majority by defending the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Democrats' health care legislation is an affront to our Constitution. The "individual mandate" included in the Democrats' bill forces Americans to purchase government-approved health insurance policies as a condition of lawful residence in the United States. There is no precedent for this requirement, and there is no provision within the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to impose this kind of mandate.

If we allow Congress to impose the individual mandate, to micromanage the health care industry and to imprison those who refuse to comply with the Democrats' schemes, there will no longer be any limit to what the Federal Government can force us to do.

Not surprisingly, the oppressive health care takeover agenda is almost as unpopular as it is unconstitutional. In one of the most recent polls, voters indicated a growing margin disapproval of the health care overhaul passed by the House of Representatives (51% disapprove, 35% approve).

Question: If a piece of legislation is unconstitutional and unpopular, on what basis is it legitimate?

Follow up question: If a piece of legislation is illegitimate, why should we comply with it?

Update:

Rasmussen: Support for ObamaCare support plunges to a new low (38% support, 56% oppose).

Unelected Democrat Vows to Ignore the Wishes of His Constituents

This confirms the thesis of yesterday's post. Democrats in the House and Senate will go for a kamikaze rush to push ObamaCare through Congress as quickly as possible:

A freshman Democratic senator said Sunday that he will support his party’s efforts to pass health care reform legislation even if that means losing his seat in next year’s midterm elections.

“If you get to the final point and you are a critical vote for health care reform and every piece of evidence tells you if you support the bill you will lose your job, would you cast the vote and lose your job?” CNN’s John King asked Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado on Sunday’s State of the Union.

“Yes,” Bennet bluntly and simply replied.

Bennet was appointed by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter to replace Sen. Ken Salazar, who stepped down from the Senate to serve as President Obama’s Interior Secretary. Bennet, who was superintendent of the Denver public school system prior to his appointment, will have to seek election to the seat for the first time in 2010.

I'd like to know more about Mr. Bennet's golden parachute. Is it as nice as Blanche Lincoln's?

via Memeorandum

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Unelected Dem will vote for ObamaCare. Constituents' input is irrelevant.

Will the Left Try a Kamikaze Rush?

ObamaCare is unconstitutional.

Voters strongly disapprove of the health care overhaul passed by the House of Representatives (51% to 35%).

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government...

— Thomas Jefferson

Wake Up Call

It would be comforting to think that Democratic Senators in conservative states will vote in accordance with their constituents wishes in the Senate's crucial vote on the health care bill tomorrow night. If they don't really care what their constituents want, one would hope that Senate Democrats will at least vote to secure their future in the Senate.

Don't count on it:

The trouble is that Obama and the Democrats have no other game plan — their other ideas, like the suicidal Carbon Tax, are even more likely to get them tossed out of office. Obama's power has peaked — and judging by the Clinton backlash of 1994, when the GOP won the House for the first time in forty years, it's downhill from here on out. Nothing in politics is certain, and Obama will certainly try to recover power, as Bill Clinton did in the '90s. But Obama and his dead-enders have to reckon with the likelihood that they will never have more power than right now.

So it's not out of the question that the Democrats in the House and Senate will go for a kamikaze rush to push MediCoup through Congress as quickly as possible. It would not be difficult. Normal Americans think we can defeat the "Blue Dog Democrats" at the polls, and that is true. But Obama just has to pick up the phone and tell the Dogs he will guarantee them jobs even if they are defeated. How about Ambassador to Upper Slobbovia?

And in the meantime, leading congressional Democrats will be making the rounds with their own carrots and sticks.

Threatening to give members of Congress the pink slip won't be enough. If ObamaCare is to be stopped, Congress will need to feel the unbearable pressure of relentless wrath from the voters before the legislation becomes law. Kicking the bums out of office will be cold consolation when the bums are immediately promoted to cushy jobs in the Obama administration...while we're stuck figuring out how to cope with health care oppression for the rest of our lives.

Call, fax, email, blog, tweet. Show up at the Capitol. Do anything and EVERYTHING you can.

Call your senators and then call senators from other states. You can't vote their states, but you can contribute to their opponents. Don't let anybody off the hook...they're trying to micromanage your life from across state lines.

Forget the weekend fun and games.

Show up for the MillionMedMarch tomorrow! It will be all over the country. You don't have to be a health care worker. Show up and let your voice be heard! I will be at the March in Atlanta.

The MillionMedMarch - Nov 21, 2009

Huntsville-AL, 1936 S. Memorial Parkway

Phoenix-AZ, 18th Street & Camelback

Los Angeles-CA, 11000 Wilshire Boulevard

Sacramento-CA, Capitol Building

Miami-FL, Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Boulevard

Orlando-FL, Orlando City Hall

Atlanta-GA, The Capitol, 206 Washington Street

Chicago-IL, Millenium Park

Indianapolis-IN, War Memorial Lawn, 431 N Meridian Street

Baton Rouge-LA, Baton Rouge State Capitol 1928 N 3rd Street

Raleigh-NC, Halifax Mall, 16 W Jones Street

Las Vegas-NV, Ceasar Palace, Flamingo & Las Vegas Strip

Trenton-NJ, Statehouse, 125 West State Street

New York-NY, Central Park, 59th Street and Fifth Avenue

Salem-OR, State Capitol, 900 Court Street

Harrisburg-PA, Capitol Building

Houston-TX, Westside Tennis & Fitness Club

McLean-VA, Intersection Old Dominion & Old Chain Bridge Road

Clayton-MO, County Government Building, 41 South Central

Newport News-VA, 700 Fountain Plaza

Seattle-WA, Occidental Square, Occidental Ave S. & Main Ave S.

All Rallies start between 10 A.M and 3:00 P.M. Local Time

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Doctors, Healthcare Professionals and Patients Rally for Responsible Reform 11.21.09

The New Louisiana Purchase: Landrieu's Vote Purchased With $100 Million

Blanche Lincoln is vulnerable and could pay dearly for a vote for ObamaCare. No problem, Obama could make her Secretary of Agriculture.

The Demcare bribe list: Who's getting what

The Senate Health Bill: Federal Micromanagment of Health Insurance

With Reid Bill, Obama Would Break “No Tax” Pledge

New Polls: Obama Lost His Coattails

Members of Congress who think they can rely on Obama to rescue them from the consequences of their health care vote had better think twice. Obama's approval numbers have dropped to new lows across the board.

In the Gallup's Daily tracking poll, Obama's approval has dropped below 50% for the very first time. It should be noted that Gallup samples all adult Americans in its poll; it does not focus on registered voters or likely voters. Ratings for Obama based on samples of all adults are always several points higher than those based on likely voters. That's because some of the Democrats' most enthusiastic supporters, e.g., young adults, are less likely to turn out to vote.

Obama also dropped below 50% in polling by Quinnipiac University for the first time this week. In their poll of registered voters, Obama's approval is at 48%. Obama’s approval rating was 59 percent in a Quinnipiac survey conducted Feb. 25 to March 2.

Quinnipiac also found that only 47% approve of most of Obama's policies, and voters strongly disapprove of the health care overhaul passed by the House of Representatives which he has endorsed (51% to 35%). Voters also disapprove of Obama's handling of health care 53 - 41 percent.

Obama's numbers have been especially bad this week in Rasmussen's polling. In fact, today’s results match the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for Obama and it’s the third straight day at -14. Prior to these three days, Obama’s presidential ratings had fallen to -14 on only one day since taking office. (Approval Index = strong approval - strong disapproval).

Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Obama's performance. Fifty-two percent (52%) now disapprove.

Obama's approval rating has also hit a new low of 46% in Fox News' polling. Despite the fact that Fox's sample included a slightly higher-than-expected percentage of Republicans, results on approval of ObamaCare (40% approve, 52% disapprove) were similar to those found by Quinnipiac.

h/t: Memeorandum

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CNN Poll: Blame for recession shifting from GOP to Democrats

So What?

How Are Tea Parties Irrelevant? Let the Media Count the Many, Divergent Ways