ObamaCare update ... aftermath of Congressional speech

So, a Congressman called O a liar. That's nothing compared to what they did to GWB.


Obama's Lies Matter, Too [Jonah Goldberg]

Matt Welch:

“It is telling that so many people who claim to be speaking on the side of Truth, Justice, and the American Way of Journalism have consistently focused their outrage-o-meters at individual townhall attendees, political broadcast entertainers, and the lesser lights of a lame (if resurgent-by-default) opposition party, while letting walk nearly fact-check-free the non-irrelevant occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. If calling out lies and misrepresentations about a significant policy proposal is such pressing journalistic business—and it should be!—you’d think the watchdogs might start with the guy doing the proposing.”

Ramesh's extended dissection of the president's dishonesty can be found here.


Obama Poisoning the Well [Jonah Goldberg]

From Outside the Beltway:

The president was deliberately poisoning the well, claiming that his opponents are dishonorable and ill-intentioned. And, as AllahPundit and Mark Tapscott point out, the bill will of course cover illegal aliens. Even the Congressional Research Service says so.

“Under H.R. 3200, a ‘Health Insurance Exchange’ would begin operation in 2013 and would offer private plans alongside a public option…H.R. 3200 does not contain any restrictions on noncitzens—whether legally or illegally present, or in the United States temporarily or permanently—participating in the Exchange.”

CRS also notes that the bill has no provision for requiring those seeking coverage or services to provided proof of citizenship.Indeed, as an Obama official interviewed on NPR this morning admits, the administration has moved the ball in the other direction, removing existing restrictions requiring people to provide proof of citizenship to get various federal benefits on the grounds that they were too onerous and causing those legitimately eligible to give up or be denied. That may well be the right thing to do (I don’t know the specifics well enough to render definitive judgment) but it nonetheless vitiates the claim that there’s some magic wall to prevent the twelve million-odd illegal aliens from gaining access.Beyond that, simple logic tells you that illegal aliens will be covered under any system of universal coverage. Aside from the plain meaning of the word universal, we have laws in this country requiring unquestioned treatment at emergency rooms for anyone who shows up. The Supreme Court ruled more than a quarter century ago in Pyler v. Doe that the Equal Protection Clause requires that children of known illegal aliens be given free elementary and secondary education in public schools. It’s hard to justify a rationale that requires paying to educate children while denying them health care.


On to the Next Speech [Mark Steyn]

For what it's worth, I didn't think the president helped himself last night. He reminded me of the smart kid who feels he doesn't need to prepare. The speech was very inconsistent in tone, from don't-frighten-the-horses utilitarianism to the grandiosity he finds so hard to resist (the this-is-the-moment stuff*) to the petulant imputations of bad faith to anyone who disagrees with him (which is at least as unbecoming as what that no-name Congressman did).

I don't think he was served by the setting and the unearned ovations that come with it: There's a reason why joint sessions have mostly been reserved for foreign policy. The ritual suits affairs of state. But health care is an affair of you and your body — that's why his numbers tanked over August, as people realized it wasn't just about helping "the uninsured" but about potentially dramatic changes to their own health care. The parliamentary frippery subliminally underlines what increasing numbers of voters don't like about it — that your hip replacement is now in the care of Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank.

So I don't think it'll help. On the other hand, how much help does he need? If I were Obama, I'd be planning on ramming something — anything — through and relying on my charisma, the media, and GOP clubfootedness to see me over the rough patch. Not saying that'll work, but, given the extraordinary complacency of the speech, evidently the president and his courtiers still feel they've got it all over anybody else.