And the Obama Healthcare Speech is Set to Begin

[Miss Mia]

I'm skipping class tonight, my chest hurts from coughing so much and I need to tidy up around the house a bit.

Still trying to decide if I'm gonna listen to Obama or not. 

John are you here?

[Miss Mia]

Big excitement, Representative Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, yelling out "you lie" when Obama said illegals would not be covered.

I think the follow-up speech by the republicans was lackluster.

[Miss Mia]

Wilson Statement On President Obama’s Joint Address to Congress
WASHINGTON – Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) issued the following statement this evening regarding a comment he made during President Obama’s speech to Congress.

“This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”

link

LOL!  The RNC was probably typing that up while Obama finished talking.  What a dumbass.

[JohnBrowdie]

I slept through it.

I caught the rebroadcast, and it seemed like a speech written by committee.  it was part reform advocacy, part campaign stump speech, part attack speech, part typical obama attempt at uplift, and part (annoyingly enough) economics lecture.

he'll get a temporary bump out of it, but the bills currently in the various committees will continue to lose support in the long run.

[JohnBrowdie]

Big excitement, Representative Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, yelling out "you lie" when Obama said illegals would not be covered.

I think the follow-up speech by the republicans was lackluster.

obama rather buttressed his point when he said that there were 30 million americans without health insurance.  the number was 47 million yesterday.  the conventional wisdom is that the missing 17 million are the illegals that are suddenly not part of the reform plans. 

[JohnBrowdie]

the icing on the cake was when he just flat out said that if his reform doesn't pass, "more people will die".  that will turn out to be as impossible to prove (or disprove, for that matter) as "save or create 3 million jobs" is.

but it was a wonderful piece of demagoguery.

[JohnBrowdie]

and the slap at sarah palin was a bit tough to figure out.  if she is the brain dead barbie doll that the dems and the MSM are making her out to be, then she, and by extension, her opinions and writings, are dismissible.

if you buy into the media caricature of her, then mentioning her views during a speech to a joint session of congress is a blunder simply because it pays to much respect to her and her opinions.

[Miss Mia]

and the slap at sarah palin was a bit tough to figure out.  if she is the brain dead barbie doll that the dems and the MSM are making her out to be, then she, and by extension, her opinions and writings, are dismissible.

if you buy into the media caricature of her, then mentioning her views during a speech to a joint session of congress is a blunder simply because it pays to much respect to her and her opinions.

She's not the only one out there repeating this "death panel" nonsense.  

If anything, considering how some insurance companies deny care, like that lady that needed the liver transplant and they said it was "experimental" treatment until it was too late and she died.  That's a death panel.  Or even in Texas, signed by George W Bush, a hospital can refuse to treat you if there's basically "no hope."  Terry Schiavo would have been dead a lot sooner if she had been in Texas. 

[Miss Mia]

the icing on the cake was when he just flat out said that if his reform doesn't pass, "more people will die".  that will turn out to be as impossible to prove (or disprove, for that matter) as "save or create 3 million jobs" is.

but it was a wonderful piece of demagoguery.

I agree, that is an "emotional" point, not something you can really prove.

[JohnBrowdie]

She's not the only one out there repeating this "death panel" nonsense. 

If anything, considering how some insurance companies deny care, like that lady that needed the liver transplant and they said it was "experimental" treatment until it was too late and she died.  That's a death panel.  Or even in Texas, signed by George W Bush, a hospital can refuse to treat you if there's basically "no hope."  Terry Schiavo would have been dead a lot sooner if she had been in Texas. 

palin was the first to make the death panel accusation.  or, she was at least the first that anyone took notice of.  that's pretty generally accepted.

I suppose supporters of the healthcare revolution are going to beat the Nataline Starkisyan story to death, even though the facts are actually against them in that particular case.  but the larger point is, assuming that was a "death panel", do you think that obamacare is going to make them go away?  or do you think that the central government (for Christ's sake) will be better at it?  the decision was ultimately reversed.  do you think HUD (or whatever department is created) is going to reverse a decision? do you think that a federal agency can become convinced that it is wrong?  do you really want to appeal to your congressman for a liver transplant that the government beancounter denied to you?  and do you really think that giving the federal government another trillion dollars to spend WON'T result in a twisted system that is rife with loopholes and exceptions that lobbyists have purchased from lawmakers? 

the point of the democrats is NOT "improved" health care.  that's part of the "big lie".  it is EQUAL health care.  of necessity, many more will see the quality of their healthcare dramatically decrease than those that will see their healthcare improve.  they don't give a damn if you live or die, they just don't want people that are financially better off to have an increased benefit.  even if it's just because they worked harder to get it.

but even more abstractly, I don't think healthcare reform advocates want to even start the argument about cases that private insurance have bungled.  the horror stories of government bureaucrats killing people in canada and great britain are legion.  that's an argument that the reformers are going to lose.  big.

 

[JohnBrowdie]

I agree, that is an "emotional" point, not something you can really prove.

it was a shameless attempt at public manipulation, and it had no place coming out of the mouth of the president of the united states, especially in an address to a joint session of congress.  it's a standard equation with this president;  do what I say, or disaster will result.  we saw it with the stimulus, the auto bailout, cap and trade, his budget, and everything else that he has touched.  200 or so days into his presidency, he has already played the ultimate card;  "do what I say or you will die".

whatever else I thought about obama, I thought he was probably above that.

[JohnBrowdie]

I slept through it.

I caught the rebroadcast, and it seemed like a speech written by committee.  it was part reform advocacy, part campaign stump speech, part attack speech, part typical obama attempt at uplift, and part (annoyingly enough) economics lecture.

he'll get a temporary bump out of it, but the bills currently in the various committees will continue to lose support in the long run.

relative to public opinion, the speech has already become a non-event.  aside from the mountain that the dems are making out of the joe wilson molehill, it's as though the speech never happened.

Health Care Reform
Support for Health Care Plan Falls Back To Pre-Speech Levels

Following President Obama’s speech to Congress last week, support for his health care reform plan increased steadily to a peak of 51% yesterday. However, the bounce appears to be over. The latest daily tracking shows that support has fallen all the way back to pre-speech levels.

Forty-five percent (45%) of all voters nationwide now favor the plan while 52% are opposed. A week ago, 44% supported the proposal and 53% were opposed. (see day-by-day numbers).

The latest figures show that 23% Strongly Favor the plan and 41% are Strongly Opposed. In late August, 23% were strongly in favor of the plan and 43% were strongly opposed.

More

[Wretched Excess]

two possible explanations for the disappearing bounce.  americans have either stopped listening to him, or don't believe him any more.  at least on health care.

and both of those possible explanations would be very, very unfortunate developments for team obama.

they can blame george bush, misinformation, sunspots, george bush, or little green men from mars.  the point is that they have hige majorities in both houses of congress ans they still blew it.  they screwed this pooch all by themselves.