President Barack Obama pulled a fast one on the American people. On September 20, 2009, Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that the mandate in his health care law was “absolutely not a tax.” And during the 2008 campaign, he promised no one making under $250,000 would see a tax increase under his administration. It turns out that when Pelosi said we needed to pass the president’s health care law to see what was in it, she was right.
The president’s signature legislative achievement, passed by an “any means necessary” strategy, deepened partisan rifts and signaled that the president’s campaign promises were as empty as his slogans. Out of all the smoke and mirrors comes the biggest tax increase this country has ever seen. Obama had enough trouble getting the bill passed initially, even after cutting backdoor deals. There was no way he could have sold it as a tax increase, so instead he deceived and manipulated the American people and even his own base.
The president’s health care plan has been controversial and divisive from the beginning. It was passed without bipartisan support, amidst widespread public opposition. Soon after the plan became law, even more citizens realized that the president’s promises were not true and opposition increased. President Obama repeatedly said that under his plan, Americans could keep their health care plans if they liked them. He said the plan would cut health care costs and would not add to the nation’s debt. Those promises turned out to be false.
Even more disturbing to Americans was the concern that under Obama’s health care law they would lose control over their health care decisions. The law created IPAB, the Independent Payment Advisory Board, consisting of 15 unelected bureaucrats charged with making a wide range of health care decisions. The board was granted the authority to approve or deny treatments recommended by doctors. In other words, Washington bureaucrats could ration care by overruling treatment decisions made by doctors in consultation with their patients.
Many people who support health care reform do not welcome the president’s health care law because they know we need to take a different approach. They want affordable health care that honors the doctor-patient relationship. Americans, rightly, never supported the president’s law because they knew it would increase their health care costs, delay their care and put their health care decisions in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.
It would be one thing if the American people asked for this, but we did not. We were sold hope, change and a prosperous vision for America. Instead, the president delivered taxes, control and deceit. He played us like a fiddle, but the most important thing my mother ever taught me was that you reap what you sow. Obama planted deception. This November will be the harvest.
Sam Bain is the state chairman of the Ohio College Republican Federation. He is a Fox Nation contributor.