President Obama Declares War on Health Insurance Industry

The president has settled on one very simple point to promote Obamacare: the health insurance companies are not your friend.

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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We can't have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people. Every year, insurance companies deny more people coverage because they've got pre-existing conditions. Every year, they drop more people's coverage when they get sick, right when they need it most. Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher and higher.

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And that's true. Blue Cross in California recently announced it wants an almost 40 percent rate hike. Millions of Americans simply cannot afford health insurance.

The president has seized on a clear strategy to try to get his very murky health care bill passed. If you dislike the insurance companies, you are much more likely to support Obamacare.

On Tuesday, about 2,000 folks demonstrated against some health insurance executives who were conferencing in Washington. These protesters are not everyday folks. They are activists. Far-left guy Howard Dean showed up to egg them on.

Now, I buy my own health insurance and often the company gives me big-time jazz when I submit a legitimate claim, and my premiums rise almost every year. So there are legit beefs against the industry.

The question then becomes: Can the feds run the health care industry better? Opinions abound but the truth is it is impossible to know.

The latest Rasmussen poll says 57 percent of Americans believe Obamacare will hurt the overall economy, and a whopping 81 percent say it is likely to cost more than the president is telling us. Also, 78 percent of voters believe Obamacare will lead to higher taxes for the middle class.

So the only chance Mr. Obama has in the court of public opinion is to demonize the insurance companies, make them even more loathsome than the federal intrusion.

The whole health care controversy is a no-win situation for we the people. The insurance companies will not control prices on their own, but Obamacare could lead to even more chaos and expense. To be fair, experts like Harvard professor David Cutler say the feds could well succeed in controlling health care costs.

But again, "Talking Points" believes nobody knows for sure.

So the best plan is to institute strict government oversight on the health insurance industry, mandate more interstate competition among companies and print medical price guidelines on the Net so we know when we're getting fleeced. Those things cost very little, and America should try them before going to a massive Obamacare plan.

And that's "The Memo."

Pinheads & Patriots

On Monday night, we began our weeklong auction for the Wounded Warrior Project. If you go to BillOReilly.com, you can bid on this "Bold Fresh" tour poster signed by Glenn Beck and me. We are auctioning off five of them.

The winner Monday night was Al Klerlein of Chesapeake City, Maryland, who bid $4,500! Mr. Klerlein is a patriot, and I will match his winning bid. We hope you go to BillOReilly.com and bid on the second poster.

Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!

On the pinhead front, listen to Dan Rather on President Obama:

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DAN RATHER, FORMER ANCHOR, CBS NEWS: Part of the undertow in the coming election is going to be President Obama's leadership. And the Republicans will make a case, and a lot of independents will buy this argument, listen, he just hasn't learned — look at the health care bill. It was his No. 1 priority, and it took him forever to get it through and he had to compromise it to death. And a version of, listen, he's a nice person. He's very articulate. This will be used against him. But he couldn't sell watermelons to...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, wait...

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Now if I had said watermelon within a hundred mile radius of President Obama, I would have been hammered beyond belief by the liberal press. But not a word about Mr. Rather, who didn't really mean anything derogatory in my opinion. But you can decide if he's a pinhead.