THE TRUTH BEHIND THE OBAMANIA INFOMERCIAL

The following was provided by the AP and Factcheck.org. I will be honest and say that I did not watch the commercial last night, so I can not provide my spin on it at all. I'll let the AP guys do it for me. Although I will place my thoughts throughout the article in blue text.

THE SPIN: "That's why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year."

THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount (Nor does he state as to how he will accomplish the $2,500 decrease.). Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money (He hopes, but it's hard to fathom spending $50 billion in the hopes of reaching his $2,500 goal per family ... oh and where do we get that $ 50 billion.). He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it's not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums. (This proposal is nothing more than a play on words. Obama is banking on what he cannot see and that is in the total overall savings being passed down to consuners. A whole lot of factors governing the profit margins in health care will likely dictate the overall savings per family.)

THE SPIN: "I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care."

THE FACTS: That belief should not be confused with a guarantee of health coverage for all. He makes no such promise. (Again here is another play on words. No one person or government entity can ensure coverage for every person in America, as he has promised. Too many factors dictate the insured's eligibility. The only way that this is possible is to create one federal health care and coverage system. Quite honestly that option is strictly not a feasible on in a free market enterprise system.) Obama hinted as much in the ad when he said about the problem of the uninsured: "I want to start doing something about it." He would mandate coverage for children but not adults. His program is aimed at making insurance more affordable by offering the choice of government-subsidized coverage similar to that in a plan for federal employees (And who would pay for this option? Taxpayers. Like we currently do for every goverment worker.) and other steps, including requiring larger employers to share costs of insuring workers.

THE SPIN: "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost."

THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama's policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years -- and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says: "Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years." The analysis goes on to say: "Neither candidate's plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified."

THE SPIN: "Here's what I'll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year (Wasn't it $250,000.00 just yesterday? ... I know it was when he was ribbing Joe the Plumber, last week.). Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we'll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. "

THE FACTS: His proposals -- the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more -- cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged -- although not in his commercial -- that: "The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals."

The address of his policies and agendas in this format is not a bad idea. It does get his message out. The problem is that, the message is, in every sense of the word, ideological. Every person in the US wants affordable health care. We all want to cut our taxes. We all need and want economic stability to ensure our own futures. Obama has been riding on the grey areas of every proposal that he has layed out on the table, never really getting across how he is actually going to get it all done. We as Americans should be very wary about any politican that says "change, change change", but never assertains how to create change effectively.

Jordan Fleck