Back In The Game

When Solicitor General Donald Verrilli ineffectively argued the case for the constitutionality of Obamacare before the Supreme Court last spring, leftist commentators blasted his supposed incompetence. What they didn't understand/overlooked/ignored (choose one) was that Verrilli had no case to argue. There is nothing in the Constitution that gives Congress the power to compel a person to purchase a product. As Charles Krauthammer pointed out, Clarence Darrow would have fared no better than Verrilli trying to convince thoughtful (aka, conservative) justices otherwise. Only John Roberts' weakness in the face of left wing pressure, his misreading of the bill's text and his obtuse understanding of taxation saved the obnoxious thing (at least temporarily).

Mitt Romney's debate victory Wednesday night came about not because of President Obama's poor attitude, his lack of preparation, a weak moderator, or the rare air in Denver (Al Gore's interpretation - exactly what one would expect from that clown). It happened because Obama had, and continues to have, no case. He's been a terrible president and the results are obvious, or should be, to anyone paying attention. He's lied about Romney's proposals and his own (e.g. - $4 trillion to be cut from the deficit) and aided by a compliant press, gotten away with it. In the debate, Romney exposed those lies. On top of that, Obama's vaunted intelligence and talent for communication have been grossly overestimated. "Obama is the single most overrated politician of my lifetime," is how Jonah Goldberg put it. Without a teleprompter on which to prop his empty thoughts, Obama is lost. The most revealing line of the night was Obama's desperate appeal to moderator Jim Lehrer, “You may want to move on to another topic.” How about the Nationals' playoff chances. Anything but taxes.

Romney remains the underdog. This is still a popularity contest with judges whose qualifications are suspect. But at least we're back in the game. Next up - The better half of the ticket, Mr. Ryan, gets his turn to dispel myths, lies and misconceptions.

Mona Charen has an excellent column (NRO) on the debate and how Romney made the articulate case that conservatives have long been waiting for.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/329470/romney-s-debate-victory-mona-charen

Also, speaking of Obamacare, a column in today's WSJ by Heather R. Higgins and Hadley Heath reports that in a survey, independents became much less likely to support the bill when they were presented with information they had been previously unaware of.
An excerpt follows - (Support for Romney/Obama is used as a proxy for support for Obamacare. IWV refers to Independent Women's Voice, the group that conducted the survey).

The change was startling. The numbers moved a net +14 points, from 44%-42% in favor of Mr. Romney among the control group (which had received no IWV messaging) to 50%-34% in favor of Mr. Romney among the test group (which had received the IWV messaging).

Just what were the little-known facts about ObamaCare that the 24,000 independent households found so persuasive? You can find them, and their sources, at HealthReformQuestions.com, but here are a few examples:

• Americans know that ObamaCare requires insurance companies to allow families to keep adult children up to age 26 on their parents' policy. They are less likely to know that the provision increased the average family premium—even for families that didn't add adult dependents—by $150-$450 in 2011.

• The average family's health-insurance premiums are already up $1,300.

• Young workers who buy their own insurance will see a 19%-30% increase in premiums as a result of ObamaCare.

• Remember the 700,000 people whom the Congressional Budget Office predicted would make use of ObamaCare's federal high-risk program? Just 78,000 people have enrolled. As a result, each person in the program costs taxpayers millions of allocated dollars. Americans, when they hear this, know instinctively that there must be a better way to address the problem.

• ObamaCare was sold as the solution to covering the 47 million uninsured in America, but 10 years after the law is implemented, 30 million Americans will still be uninsured. What problem, exactly, is ObamaCare solving again?

• Americans are also generally familiar with Medicaid's problems, among them the refusal by many doctors to accept Medicaid patients. What most people don't know is that approximately 10 million of those who gain insurance under ObamaCare will just be dumped into the already cash-strapped Medicaid system.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444004704578032162895356162.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop