Lies, Damn Lies, and Obamacare Scott Wheeler Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber has been caught on video saying what we all have known for years that Obamacare was based on a foundation of outright lies. Grubers reference to the stupidity of voters only applies to Democrat voters, not Republican voters. We agree with Grubers assessment of Democrat voters. Who can argue with it? Unfortunately, we are all forced to pay for their stupidity. The Obama administration is now trying to distance itself from Gruber, claiming that he is wrong, but there were many other lies, including outright lies that Obama himself stated over and over in the run up to the passage of Obamacare. This column documented many of those lies in real time. This is an excerpt from my column published March 25, 2010: During his year-long pitch for his so-called health insurance reform, President Obama repeatedly exaggerated problems, obfuscated facts, and manufactured lies about Americas insurance companies. It was all part of a conscious and calculated effort to sow fear among the populace; if not exactly the politics as usual that he derides at every opportunity, then certainly something even far more sinister. In a speech at George Mason University last Friday, President Obama told a captive crowd that health-care reform will henceforth mean insurance companies cant cancel an insureds coverage when they have a claim. This year, they will be banned from dropping your coverage when you get sick. Those practices will end, he declared. Pretty bold stuff. Also, an outright lie. According to attorney Richard Giller, a leading expert on insurance coverage, it is currently illegal in all fifty American states to cancel an insureds coverage for getting sick. In fact, this column spoke with an actuary for a state insurance commission. Requesting anonymity, the government actuary stated unequivocally that Obamas claim was completely untrue. These policies cannot be cancelled, they are guaranteed renewable and have been for over twenty years. Guaranteed renewable means the insurance company cant cancel the coverage for anything except nonpayment of premiums. President Obama wove his Americans-are-pathetic-victims narrative with abandon: They will continue to jack up premiums 40% or 50% or 60%, as they have in the last few weeks without any accountability whatsoever. Mr. Giller also informs this column that in more than half the states, insurance companies are strictly accountable to the government of the state in which they operate, forbidden from raising rates without specific approval. Furthermore, insurance companies are barred from raising one persons health insurance policy premium without first raising the premium for the entire underwriting category to which that person belongs. Additionally, most states review all rate increases according to the loss ratio standards, (which means that the state not only reviews to make sure the rate is not too high, but also to ensure that the rate is high enough to pay the expected claims), confirms this government actuary. Because if this vote fails, the insurance industry will continue to run wild in America, said Mr. Obama. But the reality is that the insurance industry is among the most regulated business sectors in America. The only species running wild in this country currently is the Democrats in Washington, so intoxicated with power, so consumed with their own importance, so recklessly devoted to their far left agenda that they believe they are accountable to no one. And so far, they havent been held accountable; very few in the press corps have been willing to request supportive evidence of their outlandish claims. Obama also accused insurance companies of doing what he, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid have been doing all along - engaging in fear mongering. Thats why their lobbyists are stalking the halls of Congress as we speak. Thats why theyre pouring millions of dollars into negative ads. Thats why theyre doing everything they can to kill this bill. No, they werent. This health-care bill is forcing millions to buy health insurance from the very companies Obama says dont want the bill. Among the other outrageous claims by Obama is that there is half a trillion dollars lost in waste, fraud and abuse of Medicare. But if there really is half a trillion dollars of waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare, then why didnt Obama find it last year and use those funds instead of the piles of taxpayer cash that were consumed by his failed stimulus bill? Obamas health-care bill includes funding for over sixteen thousand new Internal Revenue Service agents to make sure everyone is covered. Think about that for a moment. Seem a little strange to you? If Americans really needed his brand of health-care reform, why does Obama think he would need the IRS to enforce it? At the time, no one in the media would touch these lies that Obama was telling. In fact, I attended a luncheon with several of my former journalist colleagues not long after that column came out and asked them directly why they refused to hold Obama accountable, or even ask him to back up his outrageous claims. Not one of them had a good answer. Whether or not any of these so-called journalists, other than Fox News, decide to seriously report these new revelations remains to be seen, but if they continue to ignore Democrat corruption they will soon be as irrelevant as Nancy Pelosi.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 21:34:46 +0000
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