Reality vs. Obama’s Reality on Competing Health Care Debate Ideas

Healthcare Horserace has obtained possession of the talking points memo the Obama White House is sending out to Congressional Democrats in preview of his big speech next Wednesday. As Ellen Carmichael correctly assesses:

Critics of President Obama’s health care reform agenda argue that the White House will again prove during next week’s press conference that they are relying upon vague platitudes instead of concrete proposals.

But there’s also one specific talking point that demonstrates to me that the President is either willfully, stubbornly ignorant, or just so arrogant as to believe that most of America isn’t paying attention to the debate. The White House memo says:

· After this speech, opponents of health reform will need to either propose their own plan or explain why they think it is best to do nothing while premiums crush American families and thousands lose their coverage every day.

Umm, okay. Here are a few prominent proposals they can’t possibly have missed, by:

• Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
• Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan
• Whole Foods CEO John Mackey

This is just a sampling, too. If the Obama administration thinks the only way they can expand government interference into your health care is by continuing to pretend that their only argument is with the status quo, that looks to me like pathetic desperation writ large.

And for one of the clearest explanations of what’s wrong with Obama Care, as well as thoughtfully-defended proposals that parallel many of the ideas presented in the above three plans, check out Cato Institute health care expert Michael Cannon’s new interview with National Review‘s Ramesh Ponnuru.

There’s reality, then there’s Obama’s reality.