false claims about lowering health care costs echo debate over bailouts for wall street bank
A new analysis by the Obama Administration confirms today that President Obama was dead wrong when he claimed that his government-run health care plan would lower costs, giving Americans even more reason to doubt his claim that his financial regulation bill would "end the bailouts."
As the Associated Press reported last night:
|
"[T]he analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 years. That increase could get bigger, since Medicare cuts in the law may be unrealistic and unsustainable, the report warned. "It's a worrisome assessment for Democrats. In particular, concerns about Medicare could become a major political liability in the midterm elections. The report projected that Medicare cuts could drive about 15 percent of hospitals and other institutional providers into the red, "possibly jeopardizing access" to care for seniors." |
With the passage of ObamaCare, out-of-touch Washington Democrats failed - spectacularly - to address the cost of health coverage, the public's number one concern on health care. Now, as the Senate debates its financial bailout bill, the President's favorite talking point is that "a vote for reform is a vote to put a stop to taxpayer-funded bailouts." In fact, the President charged in his speech at Cooper Union yesterday that "What is not legitimate is to suggest that we're enabling or encouraging future taxpayer bailouts, as some have claimed."
The facts say otherwise, however, as NPR reported this morning:
|
"We couldn't find any who fully endorse the reforms backed by President Obama and Democrats in Congress. Everyone thinks the reforms just aren't enough to solve the problem. Take, for example, 'too big to fail' - the idea that if one of the largest banks in the country gets into trouble, the government will save it with taxpayer money.... "I cannot find any experts - of any party - who are willing to agree with Obama on this one. 'We're not seeing a very forceful step on the too-big-to-fail-problem,' said Carmen Reinhart, an economist at the University of Maryland. 'If there's any doubt that the crisis may be systemic, we will bail out again.'" |
The similarities between the health care debate and the financial regulatory reform debate are striking. Democrats seem intent on ramming another thousand-page bill down the throats of the American people, while making popular claims that are simply false.
The similarities don't end there. The Democrats' 1,400 page bank bailout bill is simply the latest ploy to insert government bureaucrats into virtually every facet of American life. Democrats don't want to "reform" the financial sector (if they did, they'd target Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) - they want to turn it into a wholly owned subsidiary of the federal government, a-la their government takeover of health care and student lending.
As the Wall Street Journal editorialized today:
| "While the details matter a great deal, the essence of the exercise is to transfer more control over credit allocation and the financial industry to the federal government. The industry was heavily regulated before-not that it stopped the mania and panic-but if anything close to the current bills pass, the biggest banks will become the equivalent of utilities." |
Democrats just can't seem to help themselves. First it was a government takeover of health care and student loans. Now, they're seeking to give the federal government the authority to take over every aspect of our economy and our businesses no matter how large or small. As the old saying goes, "watch what they do, not what they say."
SOURCE:
REPUBLICAN LEADER PRESS OFFICE
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH)
H-204, THE CAPITOL
(202) 225-4000 | GOPLEADER.GOV
