Love for Life

Dirty Secret No. 2 In Obamacare
By Chuck Norris
www.townhall.com

18th August 2009

I've read on several blogs that if my tears can cure cancer, I should take care of universal health care. Cute.

The real fact is that neither I nor Obamacare (in its present form, the 1,000-plus-page H.R. 3200) can provide the remedy.

In my column last week, I explained that dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is that the House bill would grant government the authority to come into homes and usurp parental rights over child care and development.

I have a few more secrets to share over these hot August political nights.

Dirty secret No. 2 is that Obama is not the leader of Obamacare. And neither is Congress. The one who has been spearheading the initiative behind the scenes is one who goes under the misnomer "adviser" to the Obama administration, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a bioethicist and breast oncologist and brother of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. And his bible for health care reform is his book "Healthcare, Guaranteed."

Dr. Emanuel has served as special adviser to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget for health policy as far back as February, when he confessed to the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times that he was "working on (the) health care reform effort." The first draft of Obamacare?

If you want to know the future of America's universal health care, then you must understand the health care principles and plans of Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel. I find it far more than a coincidence how much Emanuel's book parallels Obamacare's philosophy, strategy and proposed legislation.

First, Emanuel rejects any attempts at incremental change or reform to our health care system (Page 185). What's needed, he concludes in his book (Page 171), is an immediate and totally comprehensive reconstruction of health care as we know it. That, of course, describes the vision of Obamacare to a T.

Second, in the chapter "Opening the Door to Comprehensive Change," starting on Page 171 (which reads more like a political and mass-manipulating strategy than a health care manual), Emanuel drives home "a key political lesson: the need to rush the legislation through." (Seen this methodology being used lately?!)

Third, as Obama crusades around the country pitching Obamacare, he continues to avoid giving virtually any specific details of the program. That, too, is a strategy of Emanuel's: "Americans need to avoid the policy weeds. Focusing on details will only distract and create tangles and traps (Page 183)." So "details" of health care reform are "weeds"? That is why we continue to hear only warm and fuzzy generalities from Obama, such as,"If you've already got health care, the only thing we're going to do for you is we're going to reform the insurance companies so that they can't cheat you."

Fourth, Emanuel describes a comprehensive government health care program that is run completely by a national health board and 12 regional health boards ("modeled on the Federal Reserve System" -- Page 83). Critics would say, "But that is not the national board as described in Obamacare or H.R. 3200." Not yet, anyway. Does anyone doubt that the duties and power of the national "Health Benefits Advisory Committee" will morph and grow over time? And what power will it wield when it is like the Federal Reserve?

Fifth, Emanuel believes in the "phasing out of Medicare (and) Medicaid (pages 88-89 and 94-95)." Could their eventual termination be the reason Obama's administration won't merely reform those programs to accommodate its universal health care desires?

Sixth, Emanuel believes in ending employer-based health care (pages 109-112). As any businessman knows, why would a company pay the exorbitant costs for employees' private health insurance when it can benefit big-time from a free ticket for government health care coverage? Some have even proposed that provisions in the House's health care legislation, under the titles "Limitation on new enrollment" and "Limitation on changes in terms or conditions" (Page 16 of H.R. 3200), could essentially make individual private medical insurance illegal.

Seventh, Emanuel believes a universal health care program could be paid for by phasing out Medicare and Medicaid, adopting a value-added tax of at least 10 percent, etc., and then allowing Americans themselves to "pay extra with after-tax dollars" (Page 100) for additional medical benefits (beyond the government program). The truth is that whether the money comes from higher corporate taxes, taxing employer-provided health insurance, eliminating health savings accounts or flexible spending accounts, limiting the deductibility of medical expenses, increasing taxes on selective consumptives or the middle class, etc., or all the above, trust me; sooner or later, we all will pay.

Eighth, enough has been written lately about Emanuel's end-of-life counsel and consultation, including withholding his advice from The Hastings Center Report (in 1996) that medical care should be withheld from those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens. ... An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia."

I find it striking that Obama's ethics similarly have allowed him already to pass more laws increasing the terminations of life in the womb than any administration since Roe v. Wade. To add insult to injury, Congress repeatedly has rejected amendments to this universal health care bill that would prevent federal funds from being used for abortions.

In short, whether in title or not, Emanuel is Obama's health care czar. Obamacare is a junior version of Emanuelcare. Or should I say the beginning stage of Emanuelcare? What's almost eerie is how they both could be juxtaposed to intersect in full bloom sometime in America's future.

One last thing: Someone once said to me, "If two people think so much alike, you can bet that one person is not thinking." Think about it.

About The Author: Chuck Norris is a columnist and impossible to kill.

Link to this article: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/18/dirty_secret_no_2_...

View all comments to this article here: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/18/dirty_secret_no_2_...

Sept 1, 2009: Dirty Secret No. 4 in Obamacare: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/09/01/dirty_secret_no_4_...

Aug 25, 2009: Dirty Secret No. 3 in Obamacare: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/25/dirty_secret_no_3_...

Aug 18, 2009: Dirty Secret No. 2 in Obamacare: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/18/dirty_secret_no_2_...

Aug 11, 2009: Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/11/dirty_secret_no_1_...

Other articles by Chuck Norris: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris?bio=t

Chuck Norris' Biography

Chuck Norris is one of the most enduringly popular actors in the world. Chuck Norris has starred in more than 20 major motion pictures. Chuck Norris's television series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which completed its run in April 2001 after eight full seasons, is the most successful Saturday night series on CBS since “Gunsmoke.” It is seen in more than 80 countries worldwide, ranking as one of the top U.S. shows in both sales and audience.

A New York Times best-selling author of two books, including the 2004 autobiographical “Against All Odds,” Chuck Norris also has penned two books of fiction. Set in the Old West, the most recent installment of this series, “A Threat to Justice,” was published in September 2007. In 2006, Chuck Norris added the title of columnist to his illustrious list of credits with the launch of his popular Internet column on the independent news site WorldNetDaily.com. Norris’ commentaries have become so widely read that he was signed recently by Los Angeles-based Creators Syndicate to market his column to newspapers across the country. Among the leading commentators Creators Syndicate represents are Robert Novak, Mike Luckovich and Bill O'Reilly.

Chuck Norris first made his mark as a renowned teacher of martial arts and was a six-time undefeated world middleweight karate champion. Chuck Norris is the first man from the Western Hemisphere in the more than 4,500-year tradition of tae kwon do to be awarded an eighth-degree black belt grand master ranking. By the 1970s, Norris had completely revolutionized martial arts in the United States and was in the process of taking this exciting individual sport to a new level by transitioning it into a team event, when he was faced with a career choice: continue to build upon the team combat martial arts format he had pioneered or commit himself to a film acting career.

After starring in films such as “Delta Force” and “Missing in Action,” as well as writing the original screenplays for a number of his box-office hits, it is clear acting, writing and producing was the right choice.

Fortunately for martial arts enthusiasts, Chuck Norris did not forsake his vision of elevating his sport to a regional competitive team event like the NBA or NFL. In 2005, he launched the World Combat League. This professional combat martial arts league currently consists of eight teams representing two divisions, and it is now in its second season. It airs on the Versus television network.

Chuck Norris is a man of deep religious convictions and a giving spirit. Among his more rewarding accomplishments is the creation in of his KICKSTART program in 1992, which began in Houston, teaching 150 at-risk children martial arts as part of the physical education curriculum. Since that time, this program, which instills discipline and respect and raises self-esteem, serves more than 5,000 youngsters year round at 35 schools in Dallas and Houston. To date, KICKSTART has served more than 40,000 students, with many going on to college and becoming successful in their own right. Proceeds from his books, as well as his World Combat League, go to support this life-skills nonprofit foundation.

An in-demand public speaker, Chuck Norris has served as a spokesman for agencies such as the United Way and Veterans Affairs. Additional honors include Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Celebrity Wish Granter of the Year, the Veteran Foundation’s Veteran of the Year Award and the Jewish Humanitarian Man of the Year Award. In April 2007, Marine Gen. James T. Conway named Norris an honorary member of the Marine Corps, in recognition of his two “handshake” tours of our troops in Iraq within a one-year period. Also this year, leading strategic brand-licensing firm Brand Sense Partners will release a line of clothing called “C Force,” chronicling the legendary star and humanitarian’s remarkable career. Among the firm’s other clients are Dodge, Electronic Arts, MGM and Sheryl Crow.

A genuine Internet phenomenon, Chuck Norris has become the subject of countless Paul Bunyan-type fictional “facts” of his exploits, submitted by fans. There are currently more than 600,000 such “facts” floating around the Internet, with one “fact”-generating site receiving as many as 18 million visits a month. The larger-than-life image of Chuck Norris, based on his latest form of popularity, also has been featured in commercials for Mountain Dew and Honda.

Chuck Norris and his wife, Gena, have a home in Dallas and a ranch near Houston, where they divide their time, along with their 6-year-old twins, Dakota and Dani Lee.

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