Money Can’t Buy ObamaCare Love

May 29, 2012

Dems Use Taxpayer Dollars to Hire a PR Firm for ObamaCare While Their Special Interest Allies Admit the Law is a Tough Sell

Democrats recently unveiled a $20 million public relations campaign paid for with taxpayer dollars to sell their unpopular government healthcare takeover.
The fact remains that after three years in the public eye and more than two years since becoming law, ObamaCare is as unpopular as ever and Democrats are struggling to figure out how to talk about their healthcare disaster.
Even the Democrats’ special interest allies admit that Democrats have an uphill challenge to change views on ObamaCare given its effects on rising healthcare costs and premiums, its Medicare cuts and its trillion dollar price tag.

Democrats recently unveiled a $20 million public relations campaign paid for with taxpayer dollars to sell their unpopular government healthcare takeover:

OBAMA’S HHS SPENDING $20 MILLION TAXPAYER DOLLARS ON TO “EDUCATE” PUBLIC ABOUT OBAMACARE: “PRWeek magazine announced this week that the federal Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, had signed a $20 million contract with the public relations firm Porter Novelli to ‘educate’ the public about Obamacare. This means that if you pay taxes, President Obama is using your own money to propagandize you and your family, in an election year, in favor of the unpopular health care law that probably cost his party its majority control of Congress in the last election.”(Editorial, “No Taxpayer Money for ObamaCare Propaganda,” The Washington Examiner , 5/24/2012)

IT’S NOT THE FIRST TIME, EITHER: “This isn’t the first time Obama has spent your tax dollars promoting his political agenda. His $831 billion stimulus package contained more than $33.5 million for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, including $17.9 million for a ‘publicity center’ promoting HHS products. During the 2010 election season, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services spent $3.1 million on television ads in which Andy Griffith reassured seniors that Obamacare‘guaranteed Medicare benefits will remain the same.’ At the time, FactCheck.org noted that ‘the words in this ad ring hollow,’ and that it contained ‘weasel words’ to ‘mislead’ seniors.”(Editorial, “No Taxpayer Money for ObamaCare Propaganda,” The Washington Examiner , 5/24/2012)

The fact remains that after three years in the public eye and more than two years since becoming law, ObamaCare is as unpopular as ever and Democrats are struggling to figure out how to talk about their healthcare disaster:

OBAMA SPOKESMAN CLAIMS WHITE HOUSE SPENT “MORE THAN TWO YEARS NOW IN AN EFFORT TO EDUCATE” AMERICANS “ABOUT THE BENEFITS” OF OBAMACARE: “The administration has been involved for more than two years now in an effort to educate the American public about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.”(Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest en Route to Richmond, VA, The White House , March 9, 2012)

56% SUPPORT OBAMACARE REPEAL, 37% OPPOSE: (“Health Care Law,” Rasmussen Reports , 5/14/2012)

52% OF INDEPENDENTS WOULD BE HAPPY IF OBAMCARE IS RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL: “A growing number of Americans, 59 percent, believe the Supreme Court will find President Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment unconstitutional, and a majority of independents, 52 percent, would be happy if that happened.”(Conn Carroll, “Majority of Independents Want ObamaCare Overturned,” The Washington Examiner , 4/24/12)

Even the Democrats’ special interest allies admit that Democrats have an uphill challenge to change views on ObamaCare given its effects on rising healthcare costs and premiums, its Medicare cuts and its trillion dollar price tag:

LEFT-WING GROUP: “VOTERS CLEARLY HAVE A HARD TIME BEING PERSUADED” TO SUPPORT OBAMACARE MANDATE: “That said, the individual mandate was the one aspect of the ACA where none of our responses outperformed the attack. While the mandate may not be driving concern over the ACA, voters clearly have a hard time being persuaded of its merits.”(“Responding to Attacks on the Affordable Care Act,” Herndon Alliance , 5/17/2012)

MORE: OBAMACARE’S “TRILLION DOLLAR PRICE TAG, THE POTENTIAL FOR HIGHER PREMIUMS AND THE CUTS TO MEDICARE” ARE OF HUGE CONCERN TO VOTERS: “Although the individual mandate is certainly opposed by voters, our research shows that it is less of a concern to them than other aspects of the law, such as the trillion dollar price tag, the potential for higher premiums and the cuts to Medicare.”(“Responding to Attacks on the Affordable Care Act,” Herndon Alliance , 5/17/2012)

“VOTERS ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BELIEVE THAT [OBAMACARE] WILL INCREASE HEALTHCARE COSTS RATHER THAN LOWER THEM.” (“Responding to Attacks on the Affordable Care Act,” Herndon Alliance , 5/17/2012)

RISING PREMIUMS:

BROKEN: FAMILY HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS ROSE 9% IN 2011, WITH OBAMACARE PLAYING A ROLE: (Julie Appleby, “Cost of Employer Insurance Plans Surge in 2011,” Kaiser Health News , 9/27/2011)

EMPLOYEES’ SHARE OF PREMIUM COSTS HAS ALREADY INCREASED 9.3% FROM 2011 TO 2012, $235 PER PERSON: “Employees’ share of premium costs increased 9.3% between 2011 and 2012, with the dollar burden rising from $2,529 to $2,764.”(“Performance in an Era of Uncertainty,” Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Healthcare , March 2012)

MEDICARE CUTS:

DEMS CUTS $500 BILLION FROM MEDICARE TO PAY FOR OBAMACARE: “It would cut an additional $60 billion from Medicare, bringing total cuts to the program to more than $500 billion over the next 10 years.”(Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, “With Senate ‘Fixes’ Bill, GOP Sees Last Chance to Change Health-Care Reform,” The Washington Post , 3/24/2012)

OBAMACARE EXPLODES THE DEFICIT:

MEDICARE TRUSTEE: OBAMACARE TO ADD AT LEAST $340 BILLION TO THE DEFICIT: (Lori Montgomery, “Health-care Law Will Add $340 Billion to Deficit, New Study Finds,” The Washington Post , 4/9/2012)

OBAMACARE TO COST $1.76 TRILLION OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS: (Phillip Klein, “CBO: ObamaCare to Cost $1.76 Trillion Over 10 Years,” The Washington Examiner , 3/13/2012)

TOTAL COSTS FOR OBAMACARE: $2.6 TRILLION: (“ObamaCare: A Budget-Busting, Job-Killing Healthcare Law,” Speaker of the House John Boehner , 1/6/2011)