by Jerry Agar

Today the president sharply confronted Republicans for attacking his health-care plans as radical.  I am not defending Republicans here.  I am merely pointing out that what the president believes and what America believes are two different things.

Obama called his plan, "pretty centrist...We've got to close the gap a little bit between rhetoric and reality.''

Reality Update:  Your plan, Mr. President, is not centrist, it is viewed as favorable by less than 38 percent of Americans, and unfavorable by a clear majority, according to an average of major polls.

The president said, "Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership."  He is implying that anyone who disagrees with him has not come forth with an alternative plan.

Reality Update:  Here is a list of things many people believe will be more effective than a massive, bank-breaking, centrally planned program:  Tort reform - which the CBO says would save $54 billion - health savings accounts, abolishing government mandates, allow the purchase of policies across state lines to increase competition, and eliminate the tax laws that led to employer-provided health care, which disconnected the average person from the reality of health care cost.

You may disagree with some or all of those suggestions, but President Obama won't even talk about them.  He accused his opposition of unfairly characterizing his plan.  "You'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot," he said.

Reality Update:  The Bolsheviks believed in central planning.

Americans do want some sort of action taken on health care.  They do want more people to have access to health insurance.  That is one of the reasons they elected you, Mr. President. 

Reality Update:  The American people will work with him if he will listen to them.  If not, expect more of what we saw recently in the Massachusetts election.