In his rebuttal of Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, Louisiana’s Rep. Charles Boustany should focus on the following four points:
First, Boustany needs to categorically reject the unfair and altogether unacceptable accusation, lobbed at Republicans by the president, that their opposition to the president’s health-care reform is predicated on “lies.” The truth is that Republicans’ concerns over the health-care bill are completely valid and include, among others, (a) that a public option, competing on unequal grounds, would crowd out private insurance; (b) that the proposed health-care reform will be extremely costly; and (c) that under some proposals, government bureaucrats would be placed in charge of making decisions about permitted treatments and procedures.
Second, Boustany needs to emphasize that for all of the president’s talk about fiscal responsibility, his proposed health-care reform will dramatically increase the expenditures of the federal government. There is simply no getting around that inconvenient fact. The CBO has estimated that the president’s health-care reform will cost around $1 trillion, and even the so-called Baucus compromise would cost $800–$900 billion. This at a time when budget deficits are already soaring to unprecedented and unsustainable levels because of the stimulus, the bailouts, and the president’s budget. Until the federal government is able to get these deficits under control, it is completely irresponsible for the president to propose yet another costly federal expenditure.
Third, Boustany needs to tell the American people that, contrary to the president’s mischaracterizations, Republicans have a plan for how to reform health care that would reduce costs and preserve or enhance the quality of care. That plan would be predicated upon enhancing competition. Republicans would break down the barriers that currently prevent Americans from purchasing health insurance across state lines; implement a tax structure that would incentivize individuals to purchase insurance on their own, rather than through their employer, so that individuals have more meaningful choice and insurance companies are forced to tailor the plans to appeal to consumers; and, through a combination of mandates and vouchers, ensure that everybody has a private health insurance plan. On top of that, Republicans would lower the cost of health care through tort reform.
Finally, Boustany needs to fault the president for focusing so singularly on health care while the war in Afghanistan spirals out of control. During the campaign, the president often complained that his predecessor took his eye off the ball when he launched the Iraq War before the job was complete in Afghanistan. Today, it is President Obama himself who is taking his eye off the ball in Afghanistan. Our counterinsurgency in Afghanistan is proving ineffective, our diplomatic relationship with the Afghan government is fraying, and President Karzai stands accused of presiding over a fraudulent election. In that context, and two days before the eighth anniversary of 9/11, it is almost an abdication of his responsibility as president for Obama to deliver a major address to a joint session of Congress and devote almost the entire speech to health-care reform.
— Alexander Benard, a New York attorney, is a frequent contributor to National Review Online.