Signs are emerging that the wheels might be coming off the President’s legislative juggernaut. After successfully guiding SCHIP (reauthorizing children’s health care legislation) and the $787 billion Stimulus Package through both houses of Congress and more recently the cap and trade energy “tax” bill through the House, it appeared that President Obama’s proposal for a government takeover of health care would cruise through both houses as well.

The President has a lot going for his reform plan. The Democrats have a majority in both houses of Congress, including a filibuster-proof majority of 60 in the Senate. Health  care reform was the signature issue of President Obama’s winning presidential campaign. Polls in 2008 and early 2009 showed a majority of Americans wanted health care reform. In early July Obama ordered the House and Senate to approve health care reform bills based on his overhaul proposal before the August recess. Congressional leadership in both houses snapped to and pledged to pass health care overhaul legislation before the August break.

Then in mid-July signs of pushback against Obama’s plan for a government takeover of health care began to emerge. It’s too early to tell whether the health care legislation will be slowed enough to miss the August recess deadline. And, it’s way too early to tell whether Obama’s health care proposal will be permanently derailed for this year. If some Democrats defect from backing Obama's plan, another major uncertainty is just how much some Republicans might be willing to compromise and help the Democrats to put health care on the path to a completely government-run health care system, meanwhile protesting all the time that they oppose such a government takeover, of course.

Meanwhile, I just can’t help putting together and posting this list of the “Top Ten Reasons Why Obama’s Government Takeover of Health Care Is Bogging Down,” even as the President is on TV promoting his proposal. I can’t say these top ten reasons are listed in any order of importance. And, I can’t guarantee these videos and articles are really playing an important role in slowing down the health care legislation. Nonetheless, I’m publishing this list to provide some tools for that growing number of Americans that oppose a government takeover of our health care system to use in mobilizing opposition to the House and Senate versions of Obama’s health care legislation.

The ultimate goal, of course, is not only to stop Obama’s health care proposal, but to restore true health care freedom by ending the federal government’s funding of and control over our health care system. Here’s a good statement of what our health care system should look like in this recent interview with Ron Paul:



Now, back to our list of reasons why Obama’s plan is losing momentum.

Top 10 Reasons Why Obama’s Government Takeover of Health Care Is Bogging Down

10. “53% Now Oppose Congressional Health Care Reform,” Rasmussen Poll, July 22. “Opposition has grown from 45% in late June to 49% two weeks ago and 53% today.”

9. “Can GOP block Obama’s health care plan?” Interview with Senator Jim DeMint on July 22.

8. “Obama may have to wait until fall for health care vote.” AP, July 22. “They're known as Blue Dogs and they're barking about the cost of a health care overhaul, though mostly behind closed doors.”

7. “U.S. Bailouts Could Cost $23.6 Trillion, Inspector General Says.” TheNewAmerican.com, July 21. We learn from this article that at the same time as Obama would like to add a trillion dollars or more over the next ten years (and remember these estimates of the future cost of entitlement programs have always been notoriously lower than reality) for his health care overhaul, our government has committed U.S. taxpayers to make good on up to $23.6 trillion dollars in bailout guarantees over the past couple years.

6. On July 20 health care forum audience laughs when Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO) refers to savings from Obama’s health care plan. YouTube video.

5. “The Stealth Single-Payer Agenda,” by George F. Will, Washington Post, June 21.

To dissect today's health-care debate, the crux of which concerns a "public option," use the mind's equivalent of a surgeon's scalpel, Occam's razor, a principle of intellectual parsimony: In solving a puzzle, start with the simplest explanatory theory.

The puzzle is: Why does the president, who says that were America "starting from scratch" he would favor a "single-payer" -- government-run -- system, insist that health-care reform include a government insurance plan that competes with private insurers? The simplest answer is that such a plan will lead to a single-payer system.

4. “Governors Fear Medicaid Costs in Health Plan.” New York Times, July 19. “The governors’ backlash creates yet another health care headache for the Obama administration, which has tried to recruit state leaders to pressure members of Congress to wrap up their fitful negotiations.”

3. Obama’s Presidential Approval Index has gone negative. Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll, July 22.



2. “Durbin says August deadline not possible.” Politico.com, July 22. “Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said for the first time Wednesday that its no longer possible for the Senate to pass a health-reform bill before leaving for the August recess – which would defy President Barack Obama’s wish that both houses approve the legislation before summer break.”

1. “Senator DeMint Speaks Against President's Government Takeover of Health Care,” speech by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) in U.S. Senate, July 20. See video below:

“The last time the President made grand promises and demanded passage of a bill before it could be reviewed, we ended up with the colossal stimulus failure and unemployment near 10 percent,” said Senator DeMint.

“Now the President wants Americans to trust him again, but he can't back up the utopian promises he's making about a government takeover of health care. He insists his health care plan won't add to our nation's deficit despite the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office saying exactly the opposite. And today we learn that the President is refusing to release a critical report on the state of our economy, which contains facts essential to this debate. What is he hiding?

"If the actual legislation came close to matching the President's rhetoric, he would have no problem passing this bill with huge Democrat majorities in both chambers. But Americans aren’t being fooled and are discovering the truth about his plan which includes rationed care, trillions in new costs, high taxes and penalties that will destroy jobs, and even government-funded abortions.

“Let’s be clear, there is no one in this debate advocating that we do nothing despite the President's constant straw man arguments. Republicans have offered comprehensive health care reform solutions that cover millions of the uninsured without exploding costs, raising taxes, or rationing care. We can give every American access to a health plan they can own, afford and keep without a government takeover."

Want to Keep Up With Breaking News About This Government Takeover?

If you’d like to follow the latest reasons why Obama’s government takeover of health care is bogging down, click here or on the image below of a Twitter search for “government takeover.” You’ll be treated to real-time “Tweets” (microblogs) giving you links for fast-breaking news about Obama’s government takeover plans.

What Can You Do?

1. Contact your representative and senators in vigorous opposition to the health care reform legislation proposed by President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders. Click here to take immediate action to send an email to your representative and senators. Be sure to follow up with phone calls and, if possible, personal visits to their offices in DC and in your state. Activate your networks of like-minded friends and organizations and get them involved in stopping this dangerous legislation.



2. Help build the constitutionalist grassroots movement to a size where Congress is forced to begin voting constitutionally and where the political atmosphere becomes conducive to electing a majority of constitutionalists to Congress. A good place to start is by joining the JBS Community at JBS.org.
 

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PoetsPain (Ian Erickson) said:

Great piece! Every aspect utterly true and if the public wises up we can remove the disscussion of government takeover of our health care all together from the halls of congress. The discussion should not be more government involved in our medical choices but how to get them out of those decissions the best we can. Free up the market, allow competition and this will drive down medical costs drastically. There will be no more 250 dollar Tylenol during hospital stays or 12,000 dollars to attend to a broken thumb. This is paramount to walking into a pharmacy to buy a box of tylenol and being charged 1000 dollars. Free market dictates that I go to the pharmacy next down the road and buy the 5 dollar box of Tylenol. I think private catastrophic health insurance is a viable option in emergancies, (just like any other type of insurance, it is used only when urgent and the need presents itself from auto, to home insurance) however to use insurance if you have the sniffles is absurd. Would you use auto insurance for an oil change? Of course not. The whole concept of on demand health insurance is counterproductive. Doctors attempt to maximize each claim while insurance private or public supported attempts to minimize the payout. This is a conflict of interests when it comes to the consumer (being you and I) and revolves around rationing health care on the insurance companies end and maximizing profit on the doctors end. A health care spending account is a brilliant concept that I personally utilize however until a major overhaul allows the market to drive down prices I am stuck with an insurance plan in addition to my spending account.

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July 22, 2009 | url
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PoetsPain (Ian Erickson) said:

... My uncle owns a physical rehabilitation center in NJ and refuses to take insurance. His costs are low and has a 3 month waiting list. His business is very successful and it is without the interference of any third party. Essentially the debate needs to be turned upside down as I said earlier and constructed around how we expel the government out of health care and allow for the free market to work as it does in every other industry

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July 22, 2009 | url
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Jane F said:

	Read the Health Care Bill for yourself http://big.assets.huffingtonpo...071409.pdf
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July 22, 2009
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SCHNORCHEL said:

	Karl Marx at work This is Health Care program is another example of the Marxist dictum: "From each according to his ability to each according to his need." It again exemplifies that Obama is a Marxist. [BUT WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY SO, ARE WE?]
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July 24, 2009
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MarkGlen said:

	Ron Paul Ron Paul's diction was very much inproved in the above video. He must keep up the good work.
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July 24, 2009 | url
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