Obama Tackled in the End Zone

It’s one thing to spike the football when you actually score a touchdown, but why is Obama celebrating in the end zone when he just got tackled for a safety?

What on earth is this man boasting about? Boasting is obnoxious enough when the braggart in question has accomplished something, but how many people do you know who brag when they’ve hurt millions?

Under the goal posts in the Rose Garden, Obama said: Obamacare “is doing what it’s supposed to do; it’s working. … The debate over repealing this law is over; the Affordable Care Act is here to stay. … I’ve got to admit, I don’t get it. Why are folks working so hard for people not to have health insurance? Why are they so mad about the idea of folks having health insurance?”

This is outrageous, even for him.

If Obamacare is doing what it’s supposed to do, then it was supposed to create chaos in the health care industry, increase our premiums, cause people to lose their doctors, reduce the quality of care and cost the government unconscionable sums of money.

Is that what Obama means by “it’s working”? Is this what he envisioned that Obamacare would do?

If not, then why is he all puffed up? Why aren’t Democrats sharing in his triumphant bliss? Why is he attacking those who are rightly criticizing this policy?

Obama looked us in the eye and said 7.1 million people have signed up for Obamacare, which is apparently close to the projected number of enrollees necessary to fund this boondoggle. But for that number to work – even if you assume it is legitimate – it has to be a net number.

What Obama didn’t tell us is that this figure, in the abstract, means nothing. By throwing out 7.1 million as if it means the administration has met its goal, he is deliberately and brazenly deceiving the American people, because he knows it has not come close. The fact that he would take no questions on this matter is proof that he has something to hide.

It’s as if Obama and his advisers were sitting around the table – or the putting green – and he told them, “Hey, we’ve almost reached the magic number of sign-ups.” One of his advisers might have said, “Yes, but we’re miles away from our goal.” And Obama might have said: “Who cares? This is enough for a sound bite. This is enough for a press conference. This is enough to dupe the American people. Don’t question me. Schedule that press conference. I’m the president.”

In order for Obamacare to work, it needed some 7 million net new enrollees, at least 38 percent of whom would be young and healthy enough to subsidize the others, according to liberal projections.

But what did he get?

Well, he allegedly got 7.1 million enrollees on paper, but let’s look at the myriad ways that number is reduced.

National Journal reports that an estimated 15 to 20 percent of these enrollees haven’t paid their premiums, which means they won’t be covered. So right off the bat, you have to reduce the number to between 5.7 million and 6 million, which means the figures already won’t work.

Instead of 38 percent of these enrollees being in the young and healthy category, Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute reports that less than 30 percent of enrollees are younger than 35.

Also, RAND Corp. estimates that only about one-third of the new enrollees were previously uninsured, which means that two-thirds of the 5.7 million or 6 million cannot properly be counted in these figures. So we have fewer than 2 million net new enrollees. But we’re still not finished.

In addition to this, RAND estimates that nearly a million more people lost their plan because of Obamacare and couldn’t afford to replace it because Obamacare mandates coverage of additional risks and causes premiums to increase.

Does that mean we are actually down to about 1 million net new enrollees?

Not to destroy your day further, but on top of all this, Obamacare is projected to cost the government – meaning taxpayers – $2 trillion over the next decade, which isn’t even being factored in here. And how many believe that number isn’t grossly underestimated? Also, Obamacare is going to cause cuts to Medicare Advantage, which will reduce benefits or increase premiums for people by an estimated $35 to $75 per month.

As you can see, Obama is giving you only a fraction of the information you need to understand this picture and imparting the false impression that Obamacare is working now, and when premiums skyrocket next year, he can scapegoat the insurance companies and proceed to his beloved single-payer, full-blown statist scenario.

Obama must be still counting on the fact that he can fool enough of the people enough of the time – Election Day every two years – to continue his sinister plan to fundamentally transform this nation.

The polls are screaming that he’s finally run out of juice. Pray it is so.

The Patriot Post® · Obama Tackled in the End Zone