Is Obama selling snake oil?

I watched every word of president Obama's prime time address to congress, where he went all in, on trying to sell his health care plan. there are several points that raised my eyebrows and made me gasp. First off, the speech was unusually partisan, singling out Sarah Palin's death panel phrase for special rebuke. Usually when you consider someone irrelevant, you ignore them. He also accused many opposed to his plan, of using fear tactics, and then went on to say, and I quote,"Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficits will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it most. And more WILL DIE as a result." Talk about fear tactics! He actually called, and raised, Sarah Palin's death panel phrase.

Secondly, he sounded like an old time snake oil salesman, making outlandish claims, with no basis for support. He stated that we will provide coverage, one way or another, to the thirty million who are currently uninsured, without rationing. Notice the number has dropped from the 47 million we heard all summer. Probably to make us believe illegals won't be covered. Where are all these extra health care workers coming from, that will make it possible to absorb those extra patients. Wait, I've got it. Those 17 million illegals, must be doctors, nurses, hospital executives, and administrators!

He also stated that most of the cost for this new Obama care bill will come from a savings in medicare. 500 billion in savings, without cutting care. It's simply a matter of waste and inefficiencies, that his administration is going to magically remove from the system. Ok, why didn't I think of that. If the messiah can feed 5 thousand with a loaf and two fish, of course the new messiah can save 500 billion from medicare without cutting care. Don't worry Gramps and Granny, Sarah Palin was just engaging in a rhetorical flourish that went awry, ala Sonia Sotomayor.

So what can we gain from this highly anticipated and overblown prime time speech. Well, according to our president, the sky will fall if we don't pass Obama care. But, if we buy the pitch of a snake oil salesman, just like days of yore, our pockets will be picked clean, and our bones will still ache.


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