The Burden of Proof is On the President, Guys

A New York Times editorial takes the GOP to task for scaring the crap out of senior citizens. Thanks to the darn GOP, only 15% of Americans now think Medicare would be improved under the Obama plan.

This is just typical NYT-picking. Okay, the editors admit that 10 million elderly Americans would probably get screwed, but a lot of people would benefit, too—at least, according to whichever proposal it is that the President is endorsing. He still has yet to indicate which it is, and the public does not know either as the Democrats have no intention of posting the proposed legislation on line.

The President had his shot to convince the American public, and he failed to do it.But the editors insist in theory (because they lack specifics just as we do) the new proposal will clearly improve Medicare. But the editors seem to forget that the President requires the reforms to pay for themselves, which no proposal has been able to guarantee or at the very least convince. Just as the editors accuse the Republicans of not admitting the realities behind their objections, the editors fail to acknowledge the failures of the current plans.

But the Republicans have done far too good a job at obscuring and twisting the facts and spreading unwarranted fear. It is time to call them to account. President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have to make the case forcefully that health care reform will overwhelmingly benefit Americans—including the millions of older Americans who participate in Medicare.

Incorrect, Times. It is time to call the President and the Democrats to account for this reform nonsense: why the urgency to pass a bill that seems unable to reach its own goals and is destined to invert financially? Why the inability to post the bill online for total public transparency? The burden of proof, you lazy bastards, is not on the GOP to prove anything. The burden of proof rests on the Democrats to explain the benefits and disprove the accusations. They have consistently done neither.

And you also forget—the President had his shot to convince the American public, and he failed to do it. Check the polls: although some undecided moderates switched to supporting the bill, the vast majority of Americans remain opposed to the bill and these numbers are increasing steadily. But wait—your poll concludes that two-thirds of the country want the President’s plan in place. Odd, that, because more thoroughly conducted polls show the opposite. Perhaps future Time polls should include non-subscribers as well.