[I'm going to leave this sticky for another day, since it's the centerpiece of the FKD's PR strategy to keep the health insurance companies in the business of denying us care for profit. -- lambert]

Here is the full text of Obama's remarks yesterday on the health insurance companies vague proposal to promise to reduce their take by 1.5% a year for the next decade in exchange for no public option and as long as there's no enforcement mechanism. I've added some helpful annotations:

Hello, everyone [except single payer advocates]. All right. Well, I just concluded a extraordinarily productive meeting with organizations and associations that are going to be essential [unlike single payer advocates] to the work of health care reform in this country -- groups that represent everyone [except single payer advocates] from union members to insurance companies, from doctors and hospitals to pharmaceutical companies. It was a meeting that focused largely on one of the central challenges that we must confront as we seek to achieve comprehensive [but not single payer] reform and lay a new foundation for our economy -- and that is, the spiraling cost [that's my framing, and I'm sticking to it] of health care in this country.

They're here because they recognize one clear, indisputable fact: When it comes to health care spending, we are on an unsustainable course that threatens the financial stability of families, businesses and government itself [and kills people who are denied care when the health care system is driven by profit].

This is not news to the American people, who, over the last decade, have seen their out-of-pocket expenses soar, health care costs rise, and premiums double at a rate four times faster than their wages [and are being denied care by the insurance companies].

Today, half of all personal bankruptcies stem from medical expenses. And too many Americans are skipping that check-up they know they should get, or going without that prescription that would make them feel better [note minimization; the prescription could, just possibly, be medically necessary], or finding some other way to scrimp and save on their health care expenses.

What is a growing crisis for the American people is also becoming an untenable burden for America's businesses. Rising health care costs are commanding more and more of the money that our companies could be using to innovate and to grow, making it harder for them to compete around the world. [Which is why, to make GM profitable again, I'm advocating Medicare for All for all autoworkers, with coverage equal to their current plans. Oh, wait.... ] These costs are leading the small businesses that are responsible for half of all private sector jobs to drop coverage for their workers at an alarming rate.

And, finally, the explosion in health care costs has put our federal budget on a disastrous path. This is largely due to what we're spending on Medicare and Medicaid -- entitlement [right wing frame] programs whose costs are expected to continue climbing in the years ahead as baby boomers grow older and come to rely more and more on our health care system. That's why I've said repeatedly that getting health care costs under control is essential to reducing budget deficits, restoring fiscal discipline, and putting our economy on a path towards sustainable growth and shared prosperity [which is why, since single payer costs 3% administratively, as opposed to 30% for the insurance companies, I'm advocating it. Single payer can be put in place as quickly as Medicare was, when we didn't even have computers: In six months. Taking advantage of that $350 billion dollars a year we're leaving on the table is the only fiscally prudent course of action. Oh, wait...]

We, as a nation, are now spending a far larger share of our national wealth on health care than we were a generation ago. At the rate we're going, we are expected to spend one fifth of our economy on health care within a decade. And yet we're getting less for our money. In fact, we're spending more on health care than any other nation on Earth [and, for the money, getting less in quality than any other nation on earth*], even though millions of Americans don't have the affordable, quality care they deserve, and nearly 46 million Americans don't have any health insurance at all.

This problem didn't just appear overnight. For decades, Washington has debated what to do about this. For decades, we've talked about reducing costs, improving care, and providing coverage to uninsured Americans. But all too often, efforts at reform have fallen victim to special interest lobbying aimed at keeping things the way they are; to political point-scoring that sees health care not as a moral issue [and those moral issues would be? We look in vain] or an economic issue, but as a wedge issue; and to a failure on all sides to come together on behalf of the American people.

And that's what makes today's meeting so remarkable -- because it's a meeting that might not have been held just a few years ago [because now the insurance companies are in fear. Will Obama's craving for consensus lead him to cave, or will he be honest, and let everyone, including single payer advocates, have their say?]. The groups [none of whom are single payer advocates] who are here today represent different constituencies [except those advocating for single payer] different sets of interests [but none of them are interested in single payer]. They've not always seen eye to eye with each other [except that single payer is off the table] or with our government on what needs to be done to reform health care in this country [except they all agree, with you, that single payer is off the table]. In fact, some of these groups [none of which include single payer advocates] were among the strongest critics of past plans for comprehensive reform [although by "comprehensive" I most definitely do not mean the single payer that so many other countries have successfully adopted, lowering costs while improving quality.].

But what's brought us all together [except for the single payer advocates, who are over there, under the bus] today is a recognition that we can't continue down the same dangerous road we've been traveling for so many years; that costs are out of control; and that reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait. It's a recognition that the fictional television couple, Harry and Louise, who became the iconic faces of those who opposed health care reform in the '90s [and in the ads that you ran in the Ohio primaries**], desperately need health care reform in 2009 [but not single payer]. And so does America.

And that's why these groups [except, naturally, for the single payer advocates, who, even if they were here, would be censored or arrested] are voluntarily coming together to make an unprecedented commitment. Over the next 10 years -- from 2010 to 2019 -- they are pledging [although without any enforcement mechanism] to cut the rate of growth of national health care spending by 1.5 percentage points each year -- an amount that's equal to over $2 trillion. Two trillion dollars. [See *** here for why Obama repeats that. In any case, single payer single payer would save $3.5 trillion in the same ten years.]

Their efforts will help us take the next and most important step -- comprehensive [but most definitely not single payer] health care reform -- so that we can do what I pledged to do as a candidate and save a typical family an average of $2,500 on their health care costs in the coming years [per year? Over the ten years?]. Let me repeat that point. What they're doing [health care for profit] is complementary to and is going to be completely compatible with a strong, aggressive effort to move health care reform [but most definitely not single payer] through here in Washington with an ultimate result of saving health care costs for families, businesses and the government. That's how we can finally make health care affordable, while putting more money into the pockets of hardworking families each month. These savings can be achieved by standardizing quality care, incentivizing efficiency, investing in proven ways not only to treat illness but to prevent them. [although single payer, which is proven to do all those things isn't on the table].

Lambert here. That means that Obama's proposal is not science-based. Worse, because Obama keeps denying single payer advocates a seat at the table, his program is imposing treatment on the American people without their informed consent: They aren't being given all the treatment options available to them. Even from a political standpoint, that's a little iffy. From a medical ethics standpoint, it's completely unethical and unprincipled.

This is a historic day, a watershed event in the long and elusive quest for health care reform. And as these groups [none of whom, of course, include single payer advocates] take the steps they are outlining [even though, if you look beyond the outline at the detail, there is no enforcement mechanism, and their fiduciary duties to shareholders mean they'll revert to past practices as soon as the spotlight is off], and as we [except, of course, the single payer advocates, over whom my staffers are driving the bus, even as we speak] work with Congress [except, of course, Representative Conyers, who is a single payer advocate] on health care reform [which, to repeat, does not include single payer even as a phrase, let alone a "serious" alternative] legislation, my administration will continue working to reduce health care costs to achieve similar savings. By curbing waste, fraud, and abuse [but most definitely not the 30% in profits, CEO compensation, and admintrative costs that the insurance companies take] and preventing avoidable hospital re-admissions and taking a whole host [more ways to deny care] of other cost-saving steps [except the profits of health insurance companies, which are a right, not an entitlement], we [except for single payer advocates] can save billions of dollars, while delivering better care [no evidence of that] to the American people.

Now, none of these steps can be taken by our federal government or our health care community [which, as I believe I've said, does not include single payer advocates, and most especially those doctors and nurses] acting alone. They'll require all of us [except for the single payer advocates] coming together, as we are today, around a common purpose -- workers, executives, hospitals, nurses, doctors, drug companies, insurance companies, members of Congress[, and not single payer advocates]. It's the kind of broad coalition, everybody with a seat at the table [except for single payer advocates] that I talked about during the campaign, that is required to achieve meaningful health care reform [but not single payer] and that is the kind of coalition which -- to which I am committed [note lack of agency].

So the steps that are being announced today are significant [, certainly from the standpoint of managing the news cycle this week]. But the only way these steps will have an enduring impact is if they are taken not in isolation, but as part of a broader effort to reform our entire health care system [although single payer, the reform so many other countries have successfully adopted, is off the table]. We've already begun making a down payment on that kind of comprehensive reform [which excludes single payer, by definition]. We're extending [the bandaid of] quality health care to millions of children of working families who lack coverage, which means we're going to be preventing long-term problems that are even more expensive to treat down the road. We're providing [the bandaid of] a COBRA subsidy to make health care affordable for 7 million Americans who lose their jobs. And because much [30%] of every health care dollar is spent on [profits, CEO compensation,] billing, overhead, and administration [by the insurance companies, which is why we should reduce costs immediately to 3% under single payer], we are [over the next ten years or so] computerizing medical records in a way [as yet unknown] that will protect our privacy [just like FISA [cough] reform did], and that's a step that will not only eliminate waste and reduce medical errors that cost lives, but also let doctors spend less time doing administrative work and more time caring for patients [and enable health insurance companies to deny people care far more efficiently and rapidly than they do today, especially when the Google's datamining and search capture technologies get going on those pre-existing conditions].

But there's so much more to do [to keep single payer off the table]. In the coming weeks and months, Congress will be engaged in the difficult issue of how best to reform health care in America I'm committed to building a transparent process where all views are welcome [except for single payer advocates, who are not invited to take a seat at the table, censored, or arrested]. But I'm also committed to ensuring that whatever plan we design upholds three basic principles: First, the rising cost of health care must be brought down [which single payer does]; second, Americans must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and health care plan they have [which single payer does], or to choose a new doctor or health care plan if they want it [which single payer does]; and third, all Americans must have quality, affordable health care [which single payer does, even though we must not speak or even think of it].

These are principles that I expect to see upheld in any comprehensive [but not single payer] health care reform bill that's sent to my desk [and I don't want to see single payer in that bill, at all] -- I mentioned it to the groups [except for single payer advocates] that were here today [and not to those who weren't here, like single payer advocates]. It's reform that is an imperative for America's economic future, and reform that is a pillar of the new foundation we seek to build for our economy [which most definitely will include the health insurance companies, and not single payer]; reform that we can, must, and will achieve by the end of this year [and in which, if I haven't said it already, single payer advocates can, will, and must play no role, and single payer will not even be considered as a policy option].

Ultimately, the debate [in which single payer not merely cannot, will not, and must not be mentioned] about reducing costs -- and the larger debate [-- a debate that cannot, will not, and must not ever be large enough to include single payer as long as I draw breath --] about health care reform itself -- is not just about numbers; it's not just about forms or systems; it's about our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. And I understand that. As I've mentioned before during the course of the campaign, my mother[****] passed away from ovarian cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills [which the non-band-aid of single payer would heal]. So I know what it's like to see a loved one who is suffering, but also having to deal with a broken health care system [which will never be fixed with single payer, even though that's the proven, science-based solution]. I know that pain is shared by millions of Americans all across this country [which makes a non-scienced based approach, an approach that refused to put all the options on the table, even while preening about transparency and openness, all the more shameful and dishonest.]

And that's why I was committed [note lack of agency] to health care reform [but not single payer, and not even the individual mandate] as a presidential candidate; that's why health care reform [but not single payer] is a key priority to this presidency; that's why I will not rest until the dream of health care reform reform [but not single payer] is finally achieved in the United States of America. And that's why I'm thrilled to have such a broad, diverse group of individuals from all across the health care spectrum [except for those single payer folks, over there under the bus, upon whom my staffers are busily throwing gasoline while searching for a match] representing every constituency [except single payer advocates] and every political predisposition [except single payer advocates] who feel that same sense of urgency [to avoid single payer and give the model of health care for profit a few more years of life] and are committing themselves to work diligently to bring down costs so we can achieve the reforms [but not single payer] that we [but not single payer advocates] seek.

So thank you very much to all of you [, at least those who were here,] for being here [and no thanks at all to those who weren't here, because their policy views are off the table, despite my preening on transparecny]. Thank you very much everybody [and fuck you, single payer advocates].

END

Indeed.

Here's the attendee list.

NOTE * Obama's laser-like focus on costs is amazing. He ignores that all other major industrialized countries, including those with single payer systems, have better health outcomes. That's the medical science, here! And that's what Obama consistently ignores. It's amazing!

NOTE **, **** Does the man have no shame?

NOTE *** A back of the envelope calculation shows this number is far less impressive than it appears when repeated in oratory: