Obama's Healthcare Speech

First and foremost it has to be said that President Obama is a tremendous orator. He gives a great speech. Second it has to be said that I agree with him in that the "devil is in the details". And there were lots of devils in his speech last night.

For example - in one part of the speech he talked about how people who pay for their health insurance are paying a hidden tax by subsidizing the emergency room treatment of people who do not have health insurance. In another part of the speech though he states unequivocally that no federal funding will go to subsidize healthcare for illegal immigrants.

Any person who has ever worked in an emergency room can tell you that a large percentage of people without healthcare who come into the hospital are illegal immigrants. Was President Obama suggesting that we now turn away the kid with a broken leg or the old woman with pneumonia who cannot prove citizenship? If he wasn't advocating anything so harsh - then how can he guarantee that no federal funds would be spent on illegals getting healthcare in this country? The reality of the situation and the rhetoric do not match up.

There is an old saying that states, "Fool me once - shame on you. Fool me twice - shame on me." President Obama earlier told us that a massive stimulus plan had to be passed right away otherwise the unemployment rate would soar to 9% if we did nothing. He also promised that no pork spending would be part of the package. How did those promises work out?

Now he's saying explicitly to "trust him" that the plan he puts into place will not cost one dime over what we are paying today. And some people wonder why his credibility is questioned?

What scares me is that President Obama seems not to be calling for solutions but instead wants an over-arching plan. When he says we cannot afford to do nothing what he actually seems to be saying is that we must do everything.

For example - President Obama spoke about how 90% of the citizens of Alabama have a single choice for health insurance. Overnight a bill could be passed that allowed the citizens of Alabama the right to sign up for health insurance from providers in Alabama or from providers in Georgia, Mississippi or any other state. Over night the citizens would have not just more choices but more affordable choices and at no cost whatsoever to the American taxpayer.

That would be a common sense solution though and it seems that solutions are not whats going to be forced upon us. The President doesn't want solutions. He wants a "plan". He wants his plan.

Frankly - I don't trust him.