Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was actually prophetic during the run-up to the Obamacare vote when she said, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Obamacare was sold as a false bill of goods to the American people and now we are seeing how it will negatively impact all of our lives. Just last week more Obamacare myths were exposed during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.
Obamacare’s head cheerleader, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, looked lost at the hearing when she was asked by Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) about the waivers her office has given out. Below is a transcript from the hearing – it is shocking how inept Secretary Sebelius is in explaining or understanding Obamacare (emphasis added):
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JOHNSON: … Now, we’ve granted quite a few waivers – about 1,200 to 1,700 waivers – on about 4 million Americans, correct?
SEBELIUS: I’ve no idea what waivers you’re talking about or–
JOHNSON: Well, those are waivers–
SEBELIUS: On doctors and health plans, is that…I–
JOHNSON: Just waivers from having to implement portions of the healthcare law that probably would have allowed those – or forced those workers – off their employer-sponsored care.
SEBELIUS: Again, I’d be happy to answer these questions, but I have no idea what waivers you’re talking about–
JOHNSON: The waivers that HHS has granted to employers not–
SEBELIUS: Which do what?
JOHNSON: Not having implemented sections of the healthcare law.
SEBELIUS: There have been waivers granted to employers, yes.
JOHNSON: And had those waivers not been granted, chances are, those employees probably would have lost their employer-sponsored care, correct?
SEBELIUS: I have no idea. I mean, I’m happy to answer those one at a time and look at the waivers and see what–
JOHNSON: Unfortunately, I’m pretty short on time.
If Secretary Sebelius has “no idea” and was not prepared to answer important questions about Obamacare at a Senate hearing – how can such an unknowledgeable person be in charge of implementing Obamacare, which is one of the largest and most complicated expansions of government in history? Senator Johnson should be lauded for exposing Secretary Sebelius’ incompetency. Obamacare was a flawed bill right from the start and needs to be repealed, not least because the bureaucrats in charge of it have no idea what they’re doing.
Predictably, little of what President Obama said about Obamacare has turned out to be true. The President promised that Obamacare would cut the deficit by $143 billion over ten years, but that promise has not held water. Sen. Johnson pointed out at the hearing that “instead of saving $143 billion, we are adding $54 billion to our deficit,” which Secretary Sebelius neglected to dispute.
President Obama pledged that health care costs would go down by $2,500 for every American family. That this is not reality was also confirmed in Secretary Sebelius’ hearing. Senator Johnson cited a Kaiser Family Foundation study that said the average cost has already increased by $2,200 for family health care plans.
President Obama also said that Obamacare would “only” cost about $900 billion over 10 years. This week, the Congressional Budget Office said the gross cost between 2012-2022 would be $1.762 trillion. As America’s $15 trillion debt continues to climb, it seems Obamacare will rocket us way past $16 trillion and I suspect that will only grow in the future.
Hopefully, the U.S. Supreme Court will confirm that Obamacare is unconstitutional this term so we can dismantle this ticking time bomb. America cannot afford a Big Government handout that will put our country on the path towards bankruptcy. The giant behemoth that is Obamacare must be stopped now because, as we have seen with the testimony from Secretary Sebelius last week, nobody has a clue what the real impact on our country will be in the long run – not even those in charge.
