Democrats abandon claim that ObamaCare will reduce cost and deficit

Abandon ship! Abandon ship! That claim that ObamaCare will save on cost that was made by double-counting medicare, cutting it by $500 million, giving only 6 years of benefits for 10 years of taxes, the doctor fix, and I could go on and on - all to show a fictitious savings from the boondoggle is now being abandoned by Democrats. The people know better. You simply can't add $30 some odd million people to a program and claim it will reduce cost, especially when the perception of something as 'free' will incentivize people to abuse the system. From Ben Smith's blog via memeorandum: New Dem message: 'Improve' health care, don't talk cost

Key White House allies are dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit and instead stressing a promise to "improve it."

The messaging shift was circulated this afternoon on a conference call and PowerPoint presentation organized by Families USA — one of the central groups in the push for the initial legislation. The call was led by a staffer for the Herndon Alliance, which includes leading labor groups and other health care allies. It was based on polling from three top Democratic pollsters: John Anzalone, Celinda Lake and Stan Greenberg.

The confidential presentation, available in full here and provided to POLITICO by a source on the call, suggests that Democrats are acknowledging the failure of their predictions that the health care legislation would grow more popular after its passage, as its benefits became clear and rhetoric cooled. Instead, the presentation is designed to win over a skeptical public, and to defend the legislation — and in particular the individual mandate — from a push for repeal. 

Uh - the individual mandate is patently unconstitutional. There is no need to repeal it because it will get struck down assuming our judges still follow the US Constitution.

The presentation concedes that groups typically supportive of Democratic causes — people under 40, non-college-educated women and Hispanic voters — have not been won over by the plan. ...

...The presentation also concedes that the fiscal and economic arguments that were the White House's first and most aggressive sales pitch have essentially failed. 

"Many don't believe health care reform will help the economy," says one slide. 

The presentation's final page of "Don'ts" counsels against claiming "the law will reduce costs and deficit."

Here's that final slide:

You won't be surprised by the list of "partners"here: AARP, AFL-CIO, SEIU, Health Care for America Now, MoveOn and the National Council of La Raza, among "many others." Natch. More from Sweetness & Light, Weekly Standard, Erick's blog, Scared Monkeys, Wizbang, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain, YID With LID, Right Wing News, GayPatriot and Reason Hit & Run 

http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2010/08/democrats-abandon-claim-that-obamacare.html