Obama Gets an Earful at Kabuki Summit

THE ONE figured he’d lure Republicans into this meeting, dominate the debate and come away with a victory for government-owned ObamaCare. As demonstrated by the dressing down he got, things didn’t quite go as planned.

David Gergen sums it up quite nicely:

CNN’s DAVID GERGEN: “The folks in the White House just must be kicking themselves right now. They thought that coming out of Baltimore when the President went in and was mesmerizing and commanding in front of the House Republicans that he could do that again here today. That would revive health care and would change the public opinion about their health care bill and they can go on to victory. Just the opposite has happened.”
(CNN’s “Live,” 2/25/10)

Hat Tip to The rightscoop.
http://www.therightscoop.com/paul-ryan-slams-the-health-care-bill-obama-has-no-answer/
Paul Ryan, Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, and a ranking member of the Congressional Budget Committee, hit Obama right between the eyes with the campaign promises he made, and the reality of spending, the debt, and the deficit.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V_kSMKKZFw&feature=]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V_kSMKKZFw&feature=

Ryan quoted facts from the Congressional Budget Office which state quite effectively, that ObamaCare will not control costs, or reduce deficits. Ryan tells the Dems to their faces, that their bill is little more than ‘gimmicks, smoke and mirrors’. Then he proceeds to explain, in detail, just how the Dems are crunching numbers, and moving money around to make it look as if they’re accomplishing something. He drives the point home by saying:

“The Senate Budget Committee chairman said that this is a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Maddoff proud…”When you strip out the double counting and what I would call these gimmicks, the full 10 year cost of this bill has a $460 billion deficit. The second 10 year cost of this bill has a $1.4 trillion deficit.”

He goes on to describe more of the bill’s flaws, breaking down the costs and the problems with the way the bill handles Social Security and Medicare. He finishes up by saying what’s on the minds of the American public:

“There really is a difference between us….and it’s basically this: we don’t think the government should be in control of all of this. We want people to be in control. We agree that the status quo is unsustainable. It’s got to get fixed. It’s bankrupting families. It’s bankrupting our government. It’s hurting families with pre-existing conditions….but we don’t think this is the answer…and all the analysis we get proves that point….We all do townhall meetings, we all talk to our constituents, and I’ve got to tell you, the American people are engaged. And if you think they want a government takeover of health care, I would respectfully submit you’re not listening to them.”

Observe the expression on Obama’s face the whole time Rep. Ryan tries to make him understand just how fucked up ObamaCare will be.
So, what was Obama’s response?:

“Uh…I’m gonna call on Xavier Becerra (D-CA)…but I just want to call off on a couple of points…uh…um…there’s a couple of strong disagreements on the numbers involved but uh…I don’t want to get too bogged down…”

Becerra, by the way is Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means; the entity responsible for formulating the nation’s tax, Social Security, Medicare, trade and income security laws. And of course, he supports H.R. 3200; a clusterfuck of tax increases, cost increases, government bureaucracy, and a forced exchange of private health insurance for a mandated government-run “option”:
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/the-devil-in-the-details-of-the-obamacare-bill/

Obama doesn’t want to get bogged down in these numbers, either:
59% of Americans say the bill should be scrapped. His overall approval rating is now just 47%.
http://centristnetblog.com/daily-news/fox-poll-59-say-scrap-bill-if-no-deal-with-gop-56-disapprove-of-obama-on-health-care/

The jackass can ignore and dismiss public opinion if he wants, but come November, there will be less Democrats in office to bolster what’s left of his crumbling socialist agenda.