Issue #93

by Art Kelly

1. An astounding 63% of voters now want to repeal Obamacare, according to the latest poll from Rasmussen Reports.

This is the highest level yet recorded for repeal of the President’s new health care law. Only 32% of the people want to keep Obamacare, while 5% are undecided.

In measuring intensity of feelings, 46% strongly favor repeal of Obamacare, while just 25% strongly want to retain it.

2. CNSNews.com reports that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has pledged that Republicans will repeal Obamacare if they win back majority control of Congress in the 2010 elections.

Boehner said they would replace the government-run health care plan “with common sense reforms that will lower the cost of health insurance and help save American jobs.”

3. To counteract the overwhelming public opposition, the Obama Administration is sending out, at taxpayers’ expense, a propaganda mailing to all seniors to try to convince them that the new heath care law will be beneficial.

Marilyn Tavenner, Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), claims in a government press release:

“The new law not only strengthens Medicare, but also ensures the guaranteed benefits that beneficiaries have come to rely upon don’t change. CMS is viewed by beneficiaries as the official and trusted source of information, so it is critical that we reach out quickly to ensure beneficiaries understand their Medicare coverage and how it will improve.”

Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), the ranking minority member on the House Ways and Means Committee, produced a refutation of the CMS propaganda, Obama Medicare Mailer to Seniors Heavy on Rhetoric, Light on Facts.

The report pointed out that “the Obama Administration failed to tell seniors that their Medicare program would be cut by more than one-half Trillion dollars over the next 10 years. Also absent from this mailer is any reference to the more than one-half Trillion in tax increases, including new taxes on retirement income.”

Responding to the false information in the CMS mailing, Camp states in part:

MYTH: The new health care law “will provide you and your family with greater savings and increased quality health care.”

FACT: The Democrats’ health overall jeopardizes seniors’ access to providers and eliminates Medicare health plans for millions of seniors.

MYTH: Because of the new health law, “you will see new benefits and cost savings” and “Medicare will continue to cover your health costs the way it always has.”

FACT: According to the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Medicare’s own actuaries, seniors…will see their benefits cut and costs increase…

MYTH: “More Affordable Prescription Drugs"

FACT: CBO predicts that Medicare Part D premiums will increase…

It appears this inaccurate Obama Administration mailer should have been paid for by the Democratic National Committee, rather than the taxpayers.

4. Legendary entertainer Art Linkletter has died at age 97.

The host of the popular radio and television programs, House Party and People Are Funny, passed away at his home in Bel-Air, California. The famous segment, Kids Say the Darnest Things, was later adapted to become a best-selling book.

Linkletter was appointed as Ambassador to Australia by President Reagan. In later years, he was the spokesman for United Seniors Association, a conservative organization that crusaded for tax relief for the elderly and against the raid of the Social Security Trust Fund.

Linkletter won two EMMY awards and a GRAMMY. He is the author of 28 books, including his Old Age is Not for Sissies and How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life.

More details of Linkletter’s life are in articles from the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Associated Press.