Why The President Doesn’t Want to Negotiate

The United States remains stuck in political gridlock. As I mentioned last week, this is actually better than just sailing off a fiscal cliff without the possibility of changing course. Why?

Because the essence of courage and patriotism is resisting wrong in all its forms.

However, we are stuck in this painful and embarrassing situation because President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid keep telling us they won’t negotiate with the other side.

But all good leaders negotiate. So why the tough stance?

It all boils down to the truth about lies.

It would be helpful to remind ourselves that there is a vast difference between the God of the Universe who is the epitome of truth (Psalm 108:4, John 14:6), and the god of this world–Satan–who “was a liar from the beginning and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

This is why most epic stories or films are built around the concept of good and evil, truth and falsehood. And most of us cheer and feel good when truth wins out. We were created with a desire to love and affirm truth and resist and reject error.

A society is the most civil, free, and prosperous when it embraces and lives out the truth about God, human beings, and their God-given rights and responsibilities. The genius of “America” is not found in our geography or natural resources, but in our personal, social and political commitment to “In God We Trust.”

This is another way of saying that we believe in truth–and we find that truth in God and His Word. No wonder, one of our national songs is the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” which exalts the fact that “His truth is marching on.”

We Americans believe in the goodness of truth-telling.

But there is a devil and he is very good at lying. The entire human race is fallen because he told our First Parents a lie, they believed it, and everything changed (you find that dramatic story in Genesis 3).

Thus, much of human history is the tug of war between God’s truth (redemptive) and Satan’s lies (destructive). The destiny of nations can hinge upon whether they believe the lies or seek to live out the truth.

Which brings us to the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, and the current struggle between Congress and the Administration. What is becoming painfully clear is that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), once touted to bring freedom and blessing to America, is based on a number of lies.

Here are my Top Ten.

1. The Affordable Care Act will make health care “affordable” to all.  But as people like me get on the exchanges and try to find policies, we are realizing that ACA makes health insurance more expensive for the majority of Americans. This is a major reason why so few are signing up and the government is actually embarrassed to report the dearth of sign-ups to date.

2. You can keep our own doctor. That was a falsehood from the beginning. Millions are set to lose their own personal care–and that includes our family– which was booted from our former coverage and doctor because of the demands of ACA.

3. You can keep your present insurance if we like. Again, countless families and individuals are finding this untrue as the regulations of ACA put some insurance companies out of business, cause employers to drop employees, and force others out of their present plans.

4. ACA will save the average family $2500 a year. On the contrary, a recent Congressional Budget Office Report (CBO – non-partisan) clarified that ACA will raise the average family’s insurance premiums  nearly $7500–which makes this a $10,000 fib.

5. Government-led health care will cover all the uninsured. This number is usually estimated at 30 million. But, now the same CBO tells us that even with ACA, probably 30 million people will still be uninsured. So why are we giving the government control over one-sixth of the American economy for no change in coverage?

6. ACA will improve health services and options. The data so far indicates exactly the opposite–that the ACA will lead to a doctor shortage (due to controls and regulations on private practice), to health care rationizing (just like in other countires with government-entrenched health care), and even the “death panels” of Sarah Palin lore. The inefficiency of government and the restraints on private medicine will lead to people die needlessly.

7. The new health care law will cost 900 billion dollars. Do government programs EVER cost what they say in the beginning? The most recent estimate is that ACA will cost three times that much–at least. And why is that so? Because when the government runs or controls commerce, then competition and personal incentives which keep costs down, are lost.

8. “You can’t change the ACA because it’s the law of the land.” This is one of the current excuses of  proponents. But it’s wrong. Human laws change all the time. They come, they go. They’re implemented, they’re altered. Prohibition was a bad law. It was chucked. Slavery was evil. It was banished. And by the way–you can’t have it both ways. The other current law of the land is the debt ceiling–a long established law that goes back to 1917. The president now wants to “change it” (increase the debt). Out of one side of his mouth he says you can’t change ACA, but out of the other side he demands it. And here’s another inconsistency: the president has already changed seventeen different implemental aspects of ACA himself. And now he bellows that Congress CAN’T change others–like delaying the individual mandate for a year?

9. “It was approved by the Supreme Court.” Yes, but the Supremes make bad decisions just like all human beings. Think Dred Scott and slavery (Dred Scott vs. Sandford – 1857) and abortion on demand (Roe v. Wade – 1973). Dred Scott was repealed because it was a terrible verdict. Roe v. Wade will also be rescinded one day due to its evil nature and convoluted reasoning. The ACA decision–thanks to John Roberts–has been soundly castigated by other members of the Court and various legal scholars.

 10. ACA is not a tax. That’s how this onerous bill was sold to the Congress and nation. Unthinking people believed it. Then John Roberts said it really was a tax. Well, that’s debatable. But here’s something that’s not: ACA subverts the Commerce Clause by forcing Americans to buy a product they don’t want. And it penalizes them for not doing so (IRS-style).

This is a small listing of the lies involved in the ACA.  Should a wise society base a major change in their health care delivery on such widespread deception?

I say no–and believe we should fight with all our might.

Here’s another truthful word from Neil Cavuto. In a TV commentary on September 19, after President Obama publicly blamed Fox News for the unpopularity of his law, Cavuto responded:

“Mr. President, Fox News isn’t what’s making Americans sick about your healthcare law. Your healthcare law is.  And excuse this departure from form. It’s time we set some things straight.”

“Mr. President, we at Fox News are not the problem. I hate to break it to you, sir. You are. Your words are. Your promises are. We didn’t sell this healthcare law. Sir, you did.

“Remember this, President Barack Obama?: ‘If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period.'”

“Mr. President, tell that to tens of thousands of retirees at IBM and Time Warner and dozens of others, who’ve been dumped from their coverage and told to find their own coverage. Fox News didn’t break that news to them, Mr. President. Their companies did.”

“Fox News didn’t push more of those firms to hire part-time workers. Your healthcare law did. Fox News didn’t incentivize fast food restaurants to scale back their benefits. Your healthcare law did. Fox News didn’t make doctors want to opt out. Your healthcare law did. Fox News didn’t make insurance premiums sky rocket. Your healthcare law did. Just like Fox News didn’t grant hundreds of exemptions to companies that needed them. You did. And Fox News didn’t delay one key provision after another, including online enrollment for those small business exchanges. You did.”

“Just like it wasn’t Fox News that said we had to pass this to see what was in this. You did. Or was that Nancy Pelosi? Sometimes I’m confused. But of this I am not. Fox News didn’t re-do basic math. Sir, you did. Fox News didn’t say you can cover 30 million more Americans and not see a hit in premiums. You did. Fox News didn’t say you could throw in those with pre-existing conditions and not have to pay for it. You did. Fox News didn’t all but say you could get something for nothing. You did. Fox News didn’t come back years later and say, oh yea, we did raise some taxes. You did.”

“Here’s where you are right about Fox News, however, Mr. President. We can do math. And did. You cannot. And did not. We said it, and proved it. You didn’t. And we’re all suffering for it. Take it from the numbers guy at Fox. Numbers don’t lie. The number of Americans working part-time are nervous. The number of retirees days away from being dumped on exchanges are anxious. The number of company bosses with any news to pass along on those exchanges, but still clueless. The number of doctors who want out. The number of congressmen now opting out. No, Mr. President, none of those numbers lie.”

“But with all due respect sir, I can only conclude you do know; I know, I know you hate us at Fox. But please take a look in a mirror, and fast. You think we’re the skunk at your picnic. But that doesn’t mean we’re the ones that stink. Because that smell isn’t coming from the folks reporting on your law. Mr. President, that smell is your law.”

Very well said–and completely true.

So why won’t progressives negotiate a repealing, defunding or delaying or modifying of the Affordable Care Act? Don’t they see the problems and dangers? Do they really want what’s best for America?

Maybe some do. Only God knows. But even if motives are sincere, the truth is that this government takeover of the American health care system is bad public policy. It’s about power not compassion and will lead to economic ruin.

It’s also a house of cards. Lies always are. And once you admit it, the house collapses.

That’s why the president does not want to negotiate.