Could there be more convincing proof that President Obama is more concerned about himself than he is about the Americans he is supposed to serve than his Monday morning speech defending the disastrous Obamacare rollout rather than apologizing for it?
Could there be more compelling evidence that he is first and foremost a Saul Alinsky agitator than the fact that he took the offense and attacked Republicans for fighting him on the budget -- a fight that in no way caused any rollout problems -- rather than humbly admit these inexcusable and humiliating problems?
Democrats and the liberal media savaged President George W. Bush for allegedly never admitting a policy mistake. Can you fantasize them expressing disenchantment with Obama on these grounds, with far more justification?
Obama will never apologize for anything. Instead, he pretends everything he touches is golden, as if to say, "Don't believe your lying eyes, and especially don't believe partisan Republicans, who simply want to embarrass me."
But even some of the liberal media are not buying into his propaganda on Obamacare. They're acknowledging that more than glitches are involved. USA Today described Obama's remarks as "defiant." National Journal's Ron Fournier said that "Obama should be freaked out over Obamacare," that "it reflects poorly on the president" and that "it's worse than we know, this is the easy part, and millions of Americans could be hurt."
But Obama must not show weakness, except when dealing with foreign governments. More to the point, it's not just that he won't show weakness; it's that the failure of his policies doesn't even register with him. He's an incorrigible ideologue whose perception of his failed policies is that they actually are working because the liberal academics' chalkboard predicted they would work -- so they do. It can't be otherwise. Apparent failures are an illusion, mostly created by intractable Republicans.
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So what was Obama's reaction? Did he engage in deep reflection and promise to do better? No, he took to the podium along with a handful of hapless people he recruited as props to pretend the rollout is mostly satisfactory. As Sen. Ted Cruz said, Obama's speech was designed to "draw the media's attention to a handful of persons who have applied for Obamacare while ignoring the untold number of Americans who are losing the plans they liked because of Obamacare." Exactly so.
Obama insisted that "the essence of the law -- the health insurance that's available to people -- is working just fine. In some cases, actually, it's exceeding expectations. The prices are lower than we expected; the choice is greater than we expected."
Excuse me, but everyone paying attention knows that is crazy talk. The prices to consumers are consistently higher -- much higher -- on average and in most places. The overall cost to the government may be as much as three times greater than he promised when he was hoodwinking the Congressional Budget Office into scoring this monstrosity as revenue-neutral.
Choices greater than expected? Well, I would say they must not have expected much, because choices are demonstrably diminishing. But we know better. He promised to expand our choices.
He acknowledged there have been technical problems with the rollout, but he appears to have downgraded them from minor "glitches" to almost imperceptible "kinks." Give these people credit for semantic ingenuity.
But his misrepresentations only got worse. He said: "So here's the bottom line: The product -- the health insurance -- is good. The prices are good. It is a good deal. People don't just want it; they're showing up to buy it." I won't insult your intelligence by adducing evidence to refute those obvious fabrications.
And worse still: "Once the kinks in the website have been ironed out, it will be even smoother and even easier." Doesn't the use of the term "even" suggest that it has been smooth and easy so far? Are you kidding me?
Before concluding, like clockwork, Obama turned his sights on Republicans, whom he accused of playing politics with Obamacare. Nice try, Mr. President, but you are the one playing politics, in a cynical effort to deflect much-earned condemnation for this disaster.
Indeed, his press secretary, Jay Carney, said Obama is "frustrated" with the rollout -- a Clintonesque way of pretending that Obama is a mere observer and thus avoiding personal responsibility, another example of the Limbaugh theorem at work.
So what are we to do?
Well, if we want any relief from this, we're not going to get it by working with Obama, who is willfully blind to his failures. He and his party keep saying that Republicans are waiting until the last minute and governing by crisis.
Fine, let the GOP begin today and continue every week until the next continuing resolution and budget ceiling debate and pass measure after measure repealing Obamacare and instituting market reforms. Let it take to the airwaves every day and shine the disinfecting spotlight on this law and Obama's other disastrous fiscal policies.
Seeing as this president is mainly about propaganda and phony optics, we have to answer him effectively and unceasingly. Moderate Republicans say they won't join us in brinkmanship; then how about they join us in timely, constructive efforts to undo Obama's mess and counter his distortions?
Isn't it about time?
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