We The People

Out of Bounds: Obama White House Gives Its Opposition A Taste of Chicago
GOP Leader: "This Chicago-style politics is shutting the American people out and demonizing their opponents."

Washington, Oct 23 - One political observer of the Democratic Party wrote in his most recent book, “I believe any attempt by Democrats to pursue a more sharply partisan and ideological strategy misapprehends the moment we’re in. I am convinced that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose.” The author was then-Sen. Barack Obama, and the book was titled The Audacity of Hope.

What a difference an economic program that isn’t working and a government takeover of health care that’s sputtering makes. This week, the White House’s strategy of “working systematically to marginalize” members of the Republican party and “conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds” by “setting loose top White House officials” was exposed for “clearly exacerbating partisan tensions” at a time when unemployment is nearing 10 percent and out-of-work families struggling to make ends meet are asking, “where are the jobs?”

As reported by Fox News’ On The Record, House Republican Leader John Boehner addressed the Obama Administration’s ‘Chicago-style politics’ at his weekly press briefing yesterday:

CLICK TO PLAY

TRANSCRIPT FROM FOX NEWS’ ON THE RECORD:

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: “First, fighting words from House Minority Leader John Boehner. His target, Democrats and the White House.”

REPUBLICAN LEADER JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH): “This Chicago-style politics is shutting the American people out and demonizing their opponents. They're writing a health care bill in secret, even though the president called for all of this to be out on an open table and have C-SPAN cameras in the room. Instead, Democrats are targeting those who don't fall immediately in line -- the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, doctors, Fox News. The Administration promised during the campaign that they were going to usher in an era of post-partisanship here in Washington, but what they're doing is really flat-out despicable.”

WHAT ‘CHICAGO-STYLE POLITICS’ LOOKS LIKE: “WHITE HOUSE TURNS ITS GUNS ON” CRITICS, “SETTING LOOSE TOP WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS,” “CLEARLY EXACERBATING PARTISAN TENSIONS:”

“Obama strategy: Marginalize most powerful critics. President Obama is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds. … The campaign underscores how deeply political the Obama White House is in its daily operations… It’s too early to tell if the campaign is working, but it’s clearly exacerbating partisan tensions in Washington.” (Politico, 10/21/09)

“White House Turns Its Guns On The Chamber Of Commerce.” “The White House is moving aggressively to remove the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from its traditional Washington role as the chief representative for big business, the latest sign of a public feud ignited by disagreement over the administration's effort to overhaul the health-care system.” (Huffington Post, 10/19/09;The Washington Post, 10/20/09)

“White House Escalates War of Words With Fox News. ‘Calling Fox News ‘a wing of the Republican Party,’ the Obama administration on Sunday escalated its war of words against the channel, even as observers questioned the wisdom of a White House war on a news organization. … In recent weeks, the White House has begun using its government blog to directly attack what it called ‘Fox lies.’ ” (Fox News, 10/12/09)

REMEMBER WHEN? PROMISES OF POST-PARTISANSHIP:

“On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.” (President Obama, Inaugural Address)

"And I think what's going on is people are very hungry for something new. I think they are interested in being called to be a part of something larger than the sort of small, petty, slash-and-burn politics that we have been seeing over the last several years. To some degree, I think I'm a stand-in for that desire on the part of the country." (Sen. Barack Obama, Los Angeles Times, 12/11/06)

“Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.” (President-Elect Barack Obama, Election Night Remarks, 11/4/08)

Health Care

COMMON-SENSE HEALTH CARE REFORMS OUR NATION CAN AFFORD

"It’s time to start over on a common-sense, bipartisan plan focused on lowering the cost of health care while improving quality. That’s what I heard over the past several months in talking to thousands of my constituents. Replacing your family’s current health care with government-run health care is not the answer. We can do better, with a targeted approach that tackles the biggest problems."
– Rep. Charles Boustany, Jr. , MD, September 9, 2009

The American people have spoken. They oppose government-run health care. Republicans are on the side of the American people.

What Americans want are common-sense, responsible solutions that address the rising cost of health care and other major problems. In the Republican address following President Obama's speech to a Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday, September 9, 2009, Dr. Charles Boustany (R-LA) outlined a series of such solutions:

"We do need medical liability reform, and it needs to be real reform. We need to establish tough liability reform standards, encourage speedy resolution of claims, and deter junk lawsuits that drive up the cost of care."
"Let's also talk about letting families and businesses buy insurance across state lines. I and many other Republicans believe that will provide real choice and competition to lower the cost of health insurance."
"All individuals should have access to coverage, regardless of preexisting conditions."
"Individuals, small businesses and other groups should be able to join together to get health insurance at lower prices, the same way large businesses and labor unions do."
"We can provide assistance to those who still cannot access a doctor."
"[I]nsurers should be able to offer incentives for wellness care and prevention – something particularly important to me. I operated on too many people who could have avoided surgery if they’d simply made healthier choices earlier in life."

For more information about these and some of the other common-sense health care reforms proposed by Republicans, please visit these links:

House GOP Health Care Solutions Group Plan (Unveiled June 17, 2009)
Empowering Patients First Act (Republican Study Group Health Care Reform Bill, unveiled July 30, 2009)
Improving Health Care for All Americans Act (Shadegg Health Care Reform Bill, introduced July 14, 2009)
Patients’ Choice Act (Ryan-Nunes Health Care Reform Bill, introduced May 20, 2009)
Medical Rights & Reform Act (Kirk-Dent Health Care Reform Bill, introduced June 16, 2009)
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act (Gingrey medical liability reform bill, introduced June 6, 2009)
Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2009 (Johnson small business health plans bill, introduced May 21, 2009)
31 Common-Sense Changes Republicans Offered to Improve Democrats’ Health Care Bill (GOP Leader Alert, July 28, 2009)
House Republican Leaders’ Letter to President Obama [PDF] Outlining Areas for Common Ground on Health Care Reform (May 13, 2009)

Democrats have proposed the establishment of a public-option government-run health plan. Some of the consequences of this government take over of health care include higher costs, lower quality and fewer choices.

Government Control:
Government programs constitute nearly half of all health care spending, and further increasing government's clout may well limit patient care as a way to contain costs. The federal government already imposes price controls on doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Controls on patient procedures are likely to follow.

Spending and Tax Increases:
Democrats proposed more than $850 billion in tax increases on small businesses and middle class families to pay for their health care reform plan. Health spending will jump from 16.6% to 17.6% of GDP this year alone. House Democrats are calling for an additional $1.6 trillion in new health spending - on top of the more than $150 billion in health spending in the "stimulus" bill.

Massive, Forced Dislocation of Currently Insured Individuals:
Analysis by actuaries at the independent Lewin Group found that nearly 114 million individuals could involuntarily lose their private coverage due to a government-run plan, and be forced into the public plan.

Reduced Revenue for Providers:
Other analysis by the Lewin Group found that a government-run plan reimbursing at Medicare rates would cause hospitals' total revenue to drop by nearly 5% ($36.5 billion), and physicians' total revenue to decline by nearly 7% ($36.4 billion).

Poorer Coverage and Access:
CBO Director Doug Elmendorf recently testified that traditional Medicare provides a benefit package 15% lower than the standard employer-sponsored plan which is one reason why more than four in five Medicare beneficiaries rely on supplemental health coverage. In Medicaid, low provider participation rates often lead to long waits for care, such that low-income Americans would prefer private insurance coverage to Medicaid by a more than two-to-one margin.

Fraud:
Reports by the Government Accountability Office and other watchdog groups have highlighted persistent problems with fraud in government-run Medicare - estimating tens of billions per year, at taxpayer expense.

For more information about the Democrats' government-run plan, please visit these links: