Opinion: Obama full of rhetoric
By Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
The Obamacare website doesn’t work. Hundreds of thousands of insured Americans are seeing their plans summarily terminated. Millions more face the same prospect next year. Confronted with a crisis of governance, how does President Obama respond?
He campaigns.
“I’ve got one more campaign in me,” he told grass-roots supporters — a series of speeches and rallies, explains the New York Times, “to make sure his signature health care law works.”
Charles Krauthammer
Campaigning to make something work? How does that work? Presidential sweet-talk persuades the nonfunctional Web portal to function?
This odd belief that rhetoric trumps reality leads to strange scenes. Like the ShamWow pitch, Obama’s nationally televised address trying to resell Obamacare. Don’t worry about the website, he said. I’ll get it fixed. And besides, there are alternatives, such as an 800 number he promptly gave out. Twice.
You half expected him to offer a ShamWow special: Add the mop and get a free year of Obamacare! But the 800 number was more than bad form. It was bad substance. Turns out you can give all the information you want to the person at the other end of the line — or to your friendly community “navigator” — but that person must enter your data into the very same nonfunctioning website.
Thanks Kae for including some conservative thought.
Did anyone see the Fox special on how he broke his neck while in med school?
Calamity of Incompetence
The people that have brought this on us have to be held to account.
Obama and many in his administration have committed a fraud on the American People.
The evidence is overwhelming.
Dr. Krauthammer is an amazing man. I didn’t see the special you mention, but his columns are available in several publications. I don’t always agree with him, but his perspective is always interesting. And he has a new book out that tells about his life-changing accident, and his conversion from left thought to right.
Whether or not you agree with his politics, he is a remarkable man.
Sadly, Dr. Krauthammer’s intellect and brilliance is wasted on sophistry. If “conservatives” have all the answers, where are they? A fine mind like, Dr. Krauthammer’s could form an intelligent argument and propose some ideas, but instead chooses to compare the President of the United States to a TV pitchman? A perfect demonstration of why I can’t support this version of “conservatism”. Does anyone see a guy like Wiliam F. Buckley writing comparisons like this? We need intelligent discourse and answers, not absurd criticism without alternatives.
All societies are born, grow and die. The lack of respect of a society for its leader is an obvious symptom of a dying society.
It is okay to disagree with our leader and it is okay to argue with our leader, but it must always be done with respect. We are one nation, we are one people. Those who work to fragment the people of our nation may be guilty of treason.
Much of the website fiasco is also a result of individual states refusing to do their part in assisting a new national program become operational. The focus is now on the failure of the web page. Fortunately here in California webpage is up and running and best yet, you can peruse it without setting up an account to find out what is available and what it costs. Even better, give your insurance agent a call. We have agents here in town that have completed extensive training and you can go in, set down face to face and discuss what plan might be right for you.
The ACA was long over due. Like it or not, it or something like it is here to stay. Change never comes easy but continuing to steer the course is not going to encourage change for the better. There is going to be problems (not to mention dissenters) no matter how change comes about. Best to get on board now and discover how it works then share your input with your providers, media and politicians. If enough common input shows faults, perhaps another more favorable change will happen sooner than you think.
Worldcycle,
That is hogwash. pure hogwash.
Team Obama spent a half billion dollars, to a Canadian firm run by a crony and they delivered this mess.
You are full of it.
Thanks McCoy, point taken. But not in your favor.
Yes, of course healthcare is bad and fun to complain about.
Thanks for the info.
Next
As a Harvard trained Psychiatrist who prides himself on linear thinking, Dr. Krauthammer was unable to reconcile his logical thought processes with the purely emotional approach to life and policies which comprises liberal dogma, so he changed parties. Cogito ergo sum… conservative.
I wonder if neo-con Dr. Krauthammer’s next book will explain how his conversion from left thought to wrong was a product of his tragic accident or that his unbending support for failed economic theories and bloodthirsty warmongering came from his bloated ego.
So what are the conservatives propsing we do about paying far more than anyone else for health care, and having the worst results?
Still waiting.
It is a major problem that we need to solve, and they offer nothing.
Their supports, dawg, cj, etc, deny the facts that there is even a problem.
Bleed 5% GDP that we don’t need to every year, that should be unacceptable for (fiscal) conservatives.
But they seem to think that is OK.
It isn’t.
In order to get the Obama Care law passed Obama, Reid, Pelosi and the Administration lied repeatedly to the American people.
If it were the private sector these people would be indicted for fraud.
Period.
Is ACA any “better” or is it just more expensive and different? Change for the sake of change may be glamorous and dramatic but it is inefficient, and needlessly drains finite resources. Can’t systems be altered to improve them without throwing the baby out with the bathwater?