Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, spoke on July 20 at the National Press Club. AP reported the same day that when Steele was asked if President Barack Obama’s plan for healthcare reform represented socialism, Steele answered: “Yes. Next question.”
Steele didn’t pull any punches as he verbally worked over President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Henry Waxman (D-Calif.). “Obama-Pelosi want to start building a colossal, closed health care system where Washington decides,” Steele said. “Republicans want and support an open health care system where patients and doctors make the decisions.” He added that “many Democrats outside of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid-Waxman cabal know that voters won’t stand for these kinds of foolish prescriptions for our health care. We do too. That’s why Republicans will stop at nothing to remind voters about the risky experimentation going on in Washington.”
In order to reinforce Steele’s theme of government experimentation with taxpayer money, the Republican Party will sponsor a television ad opposing government-run healthcare. The 30-second spot is called “Grand Experiment” and will start running on July 20 in select markets in Arkansas, Nevada and North Dakota.
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While the video can be seen directly below this paragraph, factual information supporting the ad can be found at the GOP website. The Congressional Budget Office, various news sources, and industry experts are all quoted there, making the case against Obama’s reform plans much more compelling than the TV ad alone. Also related is a separate GOP website about “The Obama Experiment,” which currently features the TV ad and what looks to be a transcript of Steele’s remarks at the National Press Club. The site is worth a visit.
The contradiction between what President Obama says and what he does gives Steele plenty of ammunition to make the charges of reckless experimentation stick: “The president tells us, he doesn’t want to spend more than we have, he doesn’t want the deficit to go up, he doesn’t want to live off borrowed money. But he also told us he didn’t want to run an auto company.” The president basically claims that “the devil made him do it. He doesn’t want to spend trillions we can’t afford, but he says he just can’t help it.” And “even though Washington is on fire with spending, he says he is compelled to conduct this experiment with reckless spending and pour more gasoline on the flames.”
In the final analysis, Americans have to be wise enough to look at both the Republican and Democratic reform plans with a critical eye. A constitutional perspective, like the one offered by Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), is required to correctly evaluate the changes that are needed. Watch this real doctor prescribe a cure in a July 16 video interview with Yahoo! Finance’s Tech Ticker. A transcript is also available at RonPaul.com.
By combining the facts Steele and the Republicans are bringing up with the constitutional outlook espoused by Dr. Paul, Americans will find that getting government completely out of healthcare is the best answer.
