Over the weekend, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that the public health care option is not essential. That means the secretary was signaling the White House may be backing away from government-run health care.
However, within 24 hours, the White House said Ms. Sebelius had "misspoke." Whenever you hear that, you know there's trouble. Ms. Sebelius is not the type of person to misspeak. She is almost robotic in her presentation.
What likely happened is that hardcore liberals like Howard Dean and Paul Krugman heard Sebelius and went nuts because the far left fervently wants the federal government to run the nation's health care system. That's because the feds can then redistribute income much easier, shifting resources to the poor and away from corporations and the affluent.
It is important that you understand the whole controversy. It is not really about health care. It is about socialism, and Dean and Krugman are the poster boys for that.
"Talking Points" watched President Obama in Colorado on Saturday, and once again I had no idea what the president was talking about. He went on and on about all kinds of stuff that seemingly only he understands. It's kind of like a poltergeist. He can see it; nobody else can.
So here's the deal. If President Obama wants more fairness in the health care industry, he has to come up with five bullet points that even I can understand. Five things that clearly tell us what Obamacare would do.
And I'll tell you what. He can forget about the public option. It is not going to happen, even a liberal Congress will not pass a huge federal entitlement when the country is on the verge of bankruptcy.
In addition, a new Gallup poll out today says 57 percent of Americans do not believe the stimulus package is working. And a new FOX News poll says 72 percent of Americans want unused stimulus money back. That is a powerful one-two punch to Mr. Obama's vision. Most Americans are apparently fearful about health care and the economy.
Unlike some others, I do not think Barack Obama is an evil man bent on destroying America. I just think he's lost control of the process. The rap on Obama from the jump was that he had little policy experience. Are we not seeing that now?
This health care initiative is a fiasco, and most clear-thinking Americans know it. It's time for the White House to regroup, rethink and wise up.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter is heading for the Hall of Fame. He now has more hits than any shortstop in Major League history, but it is Jeter's demeanor that separates him from many athletes. He is a hardworking, responsible man who does a lot of charitable work and is an excellent role model for children. Because of that, and not his playing skills, Derek Jeter is a patriot.
On the pinhead front, socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders — and he admits he's a socialist, unlike Howard Dean — is not a big fan of FOX News:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT.: We need to do grassroots organizing and I'll tell you what else we need to do. We need to understand that it is very, very hard for the president or anybody else to take on not just the Republican Party — that's the easy part — to take on all of right-wing talk radio, which covers 90 percent of talk show hosts, a whole FOX network, which is nothing more than an arm of the Republican Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Of course, that's false, and Sen. Sanders is a pinhead. He also has refused to come on "The Factor" for awhile, another pinhead move.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox