Yesterday I turned on the TV while eating and caught a segment of Face The Nation. That is the Sunday "news" show with host Bob Schieffer. In this segment, he interviewed a Democrat and then a Republican about the sanctions on Iran and Obamacare. It was the way that the Obamacare part of this interview rolled out that left me wondering this: What is going on????
Here is the commentary from the Face The Nation transcripts. I have removed the commentary on Iran and any bold or italics are mine. It helps you hit the highlights when you skim:)
SCHIEFFER: Well, if it works, it will be some needed good news on the
political front for the White House, because with every day there just
seems to be some new mind boggling development about the problems with
Obamacare. Just this week, administration officials testified the
computer system still had about 40 percent to go before its done.
There's now evidence that people in the White House, including the
president, were briefed months before the program started that there
were some flaws here. What happens here? Are they going to have to just take this thing down and start over?
HOYER (Democrat, Majority Leader):
The
process has been terrible. And we're all very disappointed, those
of us who support the Affordable Care Act. But the Affordable Care Act,
Bob, the majority of the American public says, look, we need to
fix it,
not repeal it. And what they mean by that is, they know they need
affordable quality health care access. And as a result, the necessity is
that we fix this access to it. And I think
over time the American
public are going to see it works well. I had woman who talked to
me the other day whose son was involved in an automobile accident some
two-and-a-half years ago, very serious automobile accident. He was on
her policy because of the Affordable Care Act. He's now over 26 with a
preexisting condition and the only reason he can get health care is
because of the Affordable Care Act. She came up to me and thanked me.
So I think millions of people have already been helped -- seniors, young people. people who went over their annual limit.
SCHIEFFER:
But still 61 percent of Americans now oppose it. You know, I've got to
say after the government shut down I thought the Republicans had dug
themselves into such a hole they would never get out of it. But that
seems to be washed away now by
this failure of Obamacare.
HOYER: I don't
think Obamacare has failed. Access to Obamacare has been a failure at
this point in time. And it needs to be fixed. So from that
standpoint, the substance of Obamacare is yet to be tested.
And to the
extent it has been tested, it's been a success for millions of people.
SCHIEFFER:
Would you at this point, if there was nothing else to do would you just
be
willing to shut the thing down and start over?
HOYER: No, not at this point in time. We don't need to start over. And
Bob,
I don't think the American people want to start over. They want a
system that works. We all do. And the Republicans have offered no
alternative at this point in time simply repeal. And with all due
respect to your figure
I don't think the American public and a number of
recent polls support that objective.
SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, Mr. Majority Leader, thanks for being with us.
Let's
get the other side of this now from the assistant House majority
leader, the Republican, Kevin McCarthy. He is in his district in
Bakersfield, California, this morning.
(Iran stuff redacted.)
SCHIEFFER: Let me shift to the other big news, and
that is the Republican strategy now on Obamacare. What will you all do
now?
A Republican that I was talking to on one of these airplane trips
this weekend said, you know what our talking points are now? Our talking
points are don't talk, just let this thing continue to roll out. What is your advice now on what to do about this?
MCCARTHY:
Well, first, you have got to see how this is rolling out. It's coming
in
three different failed waves. The first waves was the website. The
president, it failed from the very beginning. They knew that it would
fail and they rolled forward. And it's supposed to be fixed by less than
a week from now. And you know that will not happen. The
second
wave started where it says if you have your healthcare and
you like it
you can keep it. Well, we know that is not true. Now for every one
person who signed up for Obamacare, 44 Americans have gotten a letter
saying they can't keep their health care. Then
the third most
powerful wave is going to hit January 1:
the cost. You know what, on
average, the latest report says
41 percent premium increase throughout
the nation. And in five states, the premiums have gone up 100 percent. Then
you won't even -- the deductibles. And then whether you can keep your
doctor. I do not believe you can fix this law to lower the cost and
increase access.
We have to scrap it and start anew and get a bipartisan
consensus that actually puts the patient first and lowers the premiums.
Now Republicans have had many ideas on this.
SCHIEFFER: But what
would you do to get bipartisan approach?
I must say, haven't seen many
bipartisan approaches so far in all of this.
MCCARTHY: Well, I
think what the latest polling that you've even shown, where
more than 60
percent of Americans are opposed to this, I think it would move both
parties to come together. And one thing I would see is a couple of
different things. The number one raising cost of health care is
the
lack of tort reform, malpractice reform, the studies have shown
that.
Going across state lines for insurance. You can do that with car
insurance, but you can't do it with health insurance? The idea of
small
business able to pool together to get greater costs, greater ability to
lower the costs. These have all been scored by the Congressional
Budget Office, ideas from Republicans, and it That
it lowers the premiums from
10 to 8 percent.s a direction different than what Obamacare in
raising your cost.
*** end of interview
When the media stops supporting everything the President does and actually appears to practice the long-forgotten art of journalism, my skeptical eyebrow raises. Even though the polls indicate that the people are unhappy with Obamacare (to the tune of over 60%), the little guy is getting a notice that his insurance has been cancelled, and the website is so glitchy that it is nigh near impossible to get the Exchange to work for you, why would the press do an about-face???
Is it possible that they are preparing to throw Obamacare under the bus in the media? If so, what do you think will happen from there? Is a repeal of this law in our future OR do you think that this is just precursor to rolling out a single payer system run by the government?
The Huffington Post published an article on the benefits of the single payer system three days ago. Here is a quote:
"None of these single-payer advocates has given up hope that their goal
will one day be achieved, despite the struggles of Obamacare. Sanders's
home state of Vermont is using authority created by the Affordable Care
Act to enact its own single-payer program, which is slated to be in place in 2017."
Who was for the single payer system back in 2008?
Hillary Clinton.
Chances are Mrs. Clinton will run on the single payer system again in 2016. If Obamacare is broken and MOST people don't have insurance (thanks to Obamacare), will this government-run solution now be embraced by a hurting public? People with full-time jobs are getting cancellation notices because their company comes out ahead paying the fine rather than providing insurance for their employees.
With that in mind... was the single payer system the goal all along? Is Obamacare simply the mechanism of pain chosen to push everyone where The Powers That Be wanted them all along? Answer: Government-controlled single payer system.
The government has been so good at running the country. I know I want them making my health decisions, too. And I definitely want them deciding who qualifies for an operation and who doesn't. I am sure the elderly will benefit immensely in this deal. And there will be millions crying when the government says mom or grandma is just "too old" to qualify for a life-saving operation. Having looked at the Cost-Benefits, elderly people just aren't worth saving. Or the sick for that matter. Bring on the single payer system... the plan that makes all of the animals on the farm equal. Of course, some will always be "more equal than others."
