( - promoted by The Big E)
Rep. John Kline, like many Congresspeople, has been issuing a slew of press releases over the last several weeks, highlighting the insanity of Health Care Reform and the havoc it will wreak upon the American people. (linguistic question - can one "wreak" anything but havoc? Can I wreak, say, happiness upon someone?)
Maybe its just me, but there used to be more oomph in them. For a while, he was cranking them out daily and filling them full of the day's talking points, its been hard to keep up. However, now he's settled in to a factually-challenge paragraph-or-two style of Press Releases. On the plus side, its much easier to deconstruct.
Take, for instance, his latest, 142 word, missive.
This bill proves how difficult it will be to 'fix' legislation as fundamentally flawed as the government takeover of health care. With the stroke of a pen, the President is imposing even higher taxes on job creators, even steeper cuts to Medicare that fail to improve the program's solvency, and even more government control over our everyday lives. In short, this bill is no 'fix' at all.
Buried deep within the legislation signed today is a dramatic overhaul of the way Americans pay for college. By replacing a popular student loan model with yet another one-size-fits-all government bureaucracy, the bill sacrifices innovation and competition in student financial assistance while eliminating an estimated 30,000 jobs. Majority leadership is siphoning billions from student lending to help pay for their government takeover of health care, ignoring its consequences for students, schools, and the American economy.
Let's break that down and translate it out of Kline-speak: |
This bill proves how difficult it will be to 'fix' legislation as fundamentally flawed as the government takeover of health care. Um, what? How does it what now? I guess I'll wait for supporting evidence that I'm sure the Press Release will provide.
With the stroke of a pen As is the norm when Presidents sign bills, but this time its somehow more ominous.
the President is imposing even higher taxes on job creators There are job creators? Where? I know a lot of people looking for work. If he actually meant 'employers', that's easily debunked.
even steeper cuts to Medicare that fail to improve the program's solvency Actually, the changes to Medicare don't impact its solvency from what I've read.
and even more government control over our everyday lives Um, paranoid much?
In short, this bill is no 'fix' at all. If you were concerned about fixing the last 3 items, why didn't you do that from 2000-2006 when you were the majority party? You supposedly don't like it, but you didn't fix it, and are now complaining that someone else is.
Buried deep within the legislation (Scary voice)Hidden away... in the inner recesses of some paragraphs... lies a danger that threatens humanity...
Of course, these were also widely publicized. But it sounds more Orwellian to imagine they were snuck in.
dramatic overhaul of the way Americans pay for college Last year I took out loans, this year I will take out loans. So, um, where's the overhaul?
By replacing a popular student loan model Given there's only the one to choose from, its hard to call it 'popular'.
with yet another one-size-fits-all government bureaucracy The current model is a one-size-fits-all model that's subsidized and guaranteed by a government bureaucracy.
the bill sacrifices innovation and competition Innovation? Like what? The concept of giving someone a loan and charging them interest?
while eliminating an estimated 30,000 jobs Per this article, there are only 35,000 people employed in the industry to start with, and the estimates are actually from 300 jobs gained to 4750 jobs lost.
I'm not sure what the argument is here - we should continue a system that pays people to do obsolete jobs?
Majority leadership is siphoning billions from student lending And putting it into, let's see, here it is: lending to students! Wait, that can't be right.
to help pay for their government takeover of health care Aside from the mis-characterization of the bill being a government takeover, the money will go toward the Pell Grant program.
Special mention: "their" in the above section - hey, its YOUR government's takeover, too, now! You can't just say its your government when you like them. If I learned anything from the last decade, it would be that.
ignoring its consequences for students, schools, and the American economy Such as, um, allowing more students to attend better funded schools, thus helping the American economy. "Consequence" somehow doesn't seem the right word.
I miss the old Press Releases, the ones with fewer refutable facts and more loaded language. |
