Obama’s Health Care Failure – Why the Message is Failing to Change Minds
Obama’s Health Care Failure – Why the Message is Failing to Change Minds
If Democrats thought that the nightmare of townhall meetings was over, the President announced yesterday that He will be delivering a speech on heath care next week. After the drubbing congressional lefties took over the past several weeks as a result of Obama’s handling of the issue, this speech should only re-ignite resistance. After all, the President doesn’t offer specifics on how it all will work. That is a job for little people. In the end though, there really isn’t much the President can say that would soften the anti-Democrat mood.
But why did the resistance to health care legislation hit such a fevered pitch in the first place? Here are the top ten reasons the Obama communication plan that pushed the health care debate – has utterly failed.
10. Believing that Health Care is “All About Obama” – As evidenced by the school-video issue, the President’s team believes that He only has to set the policy direction for the country and His will “be done.” The difficult part about this is that Obama has never held a real job and doesn’t understand that even though leadership makes decisions, carrying them out has consequences. American seniors have figured out some of these consequences and they don’t like any of them.
9. Economic Dishonesty - Obama’s reluctance to discuss the source of cost savings only contributes to distrust. Cutting billions from Medicare to redistribute elsewhere has only one consequence – rationing of care. Rationing of care is the ONLY way that any cost savings will be achieved. Seniors in particular understand street-level economics and also understand that enjoyment of their later years will be severely hurt by any of the health care bills currently being considered.
8. Lies - Democrats always seem surprised when voters don’t accept their positions. Not discussing specific issues such as rationing and ultimate cost leaves constituents feeling that they are being lied to. And if Arelen Specter is doing the talking – they are. Lying to one’s voters is a sure ticket to political unemployment.
7. SEIU – Union thugs sent to intimidate seniors makes really bad news coverage. As most Americans know, if you have to send out bullies to rally for a cause, the cause is probably disastrous to your interests. It is curious though that the big guys in purple shirts can’t intimidate Grandma and Grandpa from attending the town halls and making their feelings known.
6. Charlie Rangel – Although not directly related to health care legislation, it was revealed yesterday that the congressman may have ‘forgotten’ to declare something like half of his income on his tax filings. As a leading Democrat, Rangel only brings the spotlight to Democrats’ ‘do as I say, not as I do’ method of running the government. This is just another reason to not trust the Democrat leadership.
5. Jobless Claims – If Obama’s Stimulus program is working so well, why are so many still out of work? The public isn’t buying the argument that Obama inherited the recession from GWB any more. Belief is setting in that the Stimulus and federal spending are making the economic problems worse. Jobs are still being shed by the hundreds of thousands and it is more apparent that Obama and the Democrats have no idea why their plan isn’t working. If the Stimulus isn’t creating jobs, why should the public believe they should be trusted to write health care legislation?
4. Taxation – Democrats typically villify the ‘rich’ as the ones who should be penalized and pay for benefits to the rest of us. Unfortunately, the ‘rich’ are the ones who do the hiring and provide job creation. With the failure of the Stimulus causing an already disastrous jobs situation, Americans now understand that any additional taxation – regardless of whom the tax is levied against – will ony make matters worse.
3. Taxation II – Obama has been clear about receiving a health care legislation package that would be “deficit neutral.” Unfortunately, now that Democrats have had to publicly acknowledge that the proposal would be hugely expensive, even after rationing of care to seniors, the public is highy distrustful of anything the Democrats have to say regarding the federal budget. These were the folks that in just a few short months have managed to misjudge the defict by a total of two trillion dollars.
2. Dishonesty II – Statements that individuals can keep the health care plan they have if they are happy with it are simply untrue. As any senior or anyone who has balanced a checkbook understands, offering a cheaper alternative with a government option will cause businesses to cease providing health benefits to their workers. To maintain a competitive cost structure, businesses will HAVE to throw their workers onto the government plan. So the health care plan that you would be able to keep – simply will not be available. The problem for Democrats is that there are far too many people in America that have run businesses and organizations that fully understand that a government option will be an unparalelled disaster for those that already have good health services.
1. Cancelling ‘Freedom of Choice’ – This term usually refers to those wishing to make the abortion procedure available to all based on the patient’s right to privacy. Now however, the Obama administration along with congressional Democrats is restricting ‘choice’ as it applies to senior citizens nearing the end of their lives. If certain medical procedures will be allowed only according to a government formula, seniors will no longer have ‘choice’ in how they continue to live their lives. And even though the President has decreed that this will not happen, He has not presented a single reason that restricted treatment options will not occur.