He thinks we’re idiots. Well, we did elect him.

Barry continues to garner TV time with a formula that, so far, has kept him in the public eye and on the airwaves. His preferred method seems to be to apologize while on foreign soil for our alleged past misdeeds, and to plain flat-out lie whilst on his home turf. And why wouldn’t he? It’s working out well, so far. At today’s presser, he told lies about how outrageously outraged and decisively decisive he has been regarding the Iranian election debacle, actual facts on the matter notwithstanding. He told us how forceful he has been from the beginning, where the reality is that he was nothing of the kind until he was practically baited into it by, of all people, Juan McCain and his pet poodle Lindsay Graham. However, that is not the subject of this post. Let’s discuss his health care proposals. From the AP,

A government-run health insurance option is needed “to discipline insurance companies,” he said, part of his rallying cry for comprehensive health care overhaul. If they can’t compete, it’s probably their fault

Sure. We all know that if you want something to run smoothly, efficiently in a fiscally responsible manner, then gubmint is always the answer. Look how well they run Medicaid, Medicare and the VA. Then he proceeds with the canard that somehow he will be able to save money on administration costs better than the private sector is capable of. In what alternate universe does this make any sense, at all? Then he taunts the reporters with this twisted piece of pretzel logic,

“Why would it drive private insurance out of business?” he said of the proposed public option. If private insurers “tell us that they’re offering a good deal, then why is it that the government, which they say can’t run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That’s not logical.”

Barry, do you really think we are that stupid? The government will in no way be constrained by the free market and will hide their bloated costs behind secret appropriations and committees that will not be held accountable to the public. With his propensity for firing Inspectors General, I doubt whether the system would be accountable to anyone. Eventually, private insurers will be driven out and the true costs of national health care will be revealed. Not necessarily with higher premiums, but more likely with higher taxes. I wrote recently that Barry alleged his plan would actually give consumers more choice, even as his backers were publicly proclaiming their goal was to drive out private insurance companies, with video to back it up. Read it here. Also, here where Barry blames our current financial crisis on health care decisions made in the past, and therefore the fault of…[drum roll] George Bush. Natch! There is video there also, but it is designed to cheer you up, not further depress you. Check it out.

Then he drags out the old chestnut,

Obama’s top legislative priority is to provide coverage to nearly 50 million uninsured Americans

Well isn’t that special? In the world of government stats the truth is not a necessary component. Used to be 45 million, but I guess it went up. The only stat that seems to remain constant is the 12 million illegal aliens in our midst. A number that has remained unchanged for years despite our non-existent border. I digress. For a breakdown of the uninsured I refer to Keith Hennessy’s blog, which does excellent work on the subject. look at this chart.

As you can see, some folks are enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid and think they are not insured, some are young folk who feel that insurance is unwarranted at their age [they are also going to be mandatorily enrolled by Barry in order to keep the costs down], some maybe shouldn’t be here at all and some need a little help. Remember, 50 million uninsured means that we have 250 million who are insured. No mean feat. For more complete analysis go to Keithhennessy.com. Apparently, 80% of us with insurance are happy with our coverage, to which Barry states,

He went so far as to suggest that Americans don’t know their own minds when they praise their insurance providers

He’s so much smarter than us. We are so dumb. As I said in the title, we did elect him, so maybe he is right.

Hot Air has the video of Mr Snippy’s press conference. He does not like to be challenged. More over at Patterico’s