Obamacare lies

Lesson 27.

When an official report says something other than what you want it to say, make sure to twist it into something more favorable to you and bad for your opponent.

Example: The Congressional Budget Office said that because of Obamacare, people who stayed in jobs solely for the insurance were now free to pursue other things. They could now get rid of that second job, stay at home with the kids, or even start their own business. Approximately 2.5 million people would be taking advantage of this, which will mean that 2.5 million jobs will soon be available for the unemployed to get. The unemployment rate will fall, and perhaps even more small businesses will be formed.

Question: How do you translate this news into Republican?

Analysis: This is a difficult one, because clearly these are Republican goals. Reducing unemployment, encouraging parents to stay at home, and helping small businesses form are all traditional Republican ideals. However, to acknowledge this would be to not only admit that Obamacare might have some good points, but also allow the Democrats to claim that. Clearly, any admission of any gains at all would be improper.

Solution: Lie. The best way to get around a truth you dislike is to lie. Try one of these whoppers:

“Obamacare is a disincentive to work!” This one isn’t bad. It implies that staying in a terrible job you hate just for the insurance is preferable to taking your life into your own hands and doing what you want. But it’s still slightly true, albeit misleading. you can do better.

“Obamacare will destroy 2.5 million jobs!” There’s the winner. A complete lie, absolutely not what the CBO said, and sure to be bought by a clueless media who doesn’t want to have to actually do the reading to realize that it’s complete bullshit. Even if it was true, it’s offset by the fact that Obamacare has added 8.1 million new jobs. But of course, you will never mention that.

Summary: As we have seen from every other lesson, the answer is always to lie. You can never go wrong that way if you want to learn how to speak Republican fluently.

I have absolutely no problem with debating whether Obamacare is a good idea or not. We can discuss whether the government should be providing this care or if it should be left to the private market; we can compare the advantages and disadvantages of it; we can even argue over the moral implications.

Just don’t lie.

Seriously, once you start lying in order to support your argument, you’ve lost. When you continue to lie even after being corrected (I’m looking at you, Sarah Palin) then it’s clear you’re either too evil to care or too stupid to realize. Either way, you’re not worth debating any more.

Here now are the biggest lies about Obamacare. The fact that someone said them on Fox News doesn’t make them true. Click the links if that helps.

There will be government Death Panels that decide who gets care! No, there won’t be. This one has no foundation in fact, but this one is a favorite of Sarah Palin.

Obamacare is socialism. This one is said by people whose entire knowledge of political science appears to be “socialism is bad.” It’s not socialism. It’s forced captialism. And, just to reiterate, it’s a Republican idea that was once part of the Republican platform. It only became evil socialism when Obama endorsed it.

Obamacare is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court, which is the last word on what is constitutional, said that it is. There’s nothing wrong with saying, “In my opinion, the Supreme Court was wrong” (I do that all the time), but then to declare that your opinion equals a fact is just dishonest. That’s like saying “Marijuana is legal everywhere” just because you want it to be.

Congress is exempt from Obamacare. People still repeat this, despite it being absolutely false. Congress is not exempt. Some people say “Congress should have the same plan the rest of us have!” which, of course, was the idea of the Public Option, so we could buy into the federal health care system. Not surprisingly, the same people who fought against the Public Option are often the same ones complaining that we can’t get the same plan as Congress.

Muslims are exempt from Obamacare. This one also ties into the “Muslims are evil and Obama is a secret Muslim” mindset of the loonies. Muslims are not exempt.

Obamacare cuts $716 billion from Medicare. This is one of my favorite lies, because it’s so damned hypocritical and so blatant. Obamcare saved $716 billion; nothing was taken away from anyone’s benefits. (But why is this important to Republicans, who have vowed to dismantle medicare? Don’t they want to defund it? It’s hilarious how they can argue both ways.) Republicans are still repeating this one even after it was blown away in the Presidential debates.

Illegal immigrants will now get free health care! Well, no. No one is getting free health care. That’s the point.

Doctors who went to American Schools will not accept Obamacare. This whopper was said by Ann Coulter, so that alone should let you know it’s not true. Also, Obamacare isn’t a program a doctor opts out of. It doesn’t affect doctors at all; it just makes you have insurance.

The government will be allowed to do warrantless home searches because of Obamacare. This is just another of the tin-foil hat crowd’s paranoia at work. Clearly not true.

Obamacare requires us to have microchip tracking implants installed. Apparently so we can eventually be made a part of the matrix. More loony paranoia.

Babies aren’t covered! Sure they are. This one was based on a Tea Party liar who claimed his child wasn’t covered after he “forgot” to list the child on his application.

There are more, of course. The lies never stop. Do some searches, and find unbiased sources to check these lies before you foolishly accept them.