Obamacare Rates to Double In Many Areas, Democrats to Channel Monty Python’s Argument Sketch In Response

In politics, there’s only so much massaging of the truth and flat-out lying that one can do before the headlines catch up with the deceit. Here’s one that ought to scare the hell out of any Democrats who are still hoping that The Charge of the Light Brigade can be an effective electoral strategy for them:

O-Care premiums to skyrocket

That’s from The Hill, and it is attached to a story that features health-insurance executives expressing frustration at the Obama administration’s increasing tendency to deny obvious reality:

Health industry officials say ObamaCare-related premiums will double in some parts of the country, countering claims recently made by the administration.

The expected rate hikes will be announced in the coming months amid an intense election year, when control of the Senate is up for grabs. The sticker shock would likely bolster the GOP’s prospects in November and hamper ObamaCare insurance enrollment efforts in 2015.

The industry complaints come less than a week after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to downplay concerns about rising premiums in the healthcare sector. She told lawmakers rates would increase in 2015 but grow more slowly than in the past. 

“The increases are far less significant than what they were prior to the Affordable Care Act,” the secretary said in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee.

Her comment baffled insurance officials, who said it runs counter to the industry’s consensus about next year. 

“It’s pretty shortsighted because I think everybody knows that the way the exchange has rolled out … is going to lead to higher costs,” said one senior insurance executive who requested anonymity.

The insurance official, who hails from a populous swing state, said his company expects to triple its rates next year on the ObamaCare exchange. 

The hikes are expected to vary substantially by region, state and carrier. 

One wonders what exactly the Democrats’ plan is here. Of late, Harry Reid, Kathleen Sebelius, and a few of their more committed acolytes have started to resemble the host in Monty Python’s Argument Sketch, a man who just flatly refuses to accept whatever charge is thrown at him:

A:  Obamacare is really hurting people.

B:   No it’s not.

A:   Yes it is. Look at this woman over here. She’s lost her doctor.

B:  She’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with her. Koch Brothers.

A:  She’s not fine. And many of her friends are paying higher premiums.

B:   No they’re not. Karl Rove. Misinformation. Pre-existing conditions.

A: They are. This is a matter of public record.

B: This isn’t the case. This would have happened anyway.

A: If it isn’t the case, how can it have happened anyway?

B: I didn’t say it had.

Etc.

As Monty Python taught us, “an argument isn’t just contradiction” but a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.” An example of an argument would be: “Yes, there are lots of losers with Obamacare, despite our assurance that there would be none, but overall the sector is better than it was before.” Contradiction, on the other hand, is “just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.” And it should be reasonably obvious that this cannot work in an actual election. Why? Well, because people know whether their premiums have gone up or not. They know if they have lost their plan or not. They know if they are better off than they were before. And they know other people, most of whom they trust infinitely more than their representatives.

What’s the slogan? “Obamacare 2014: It Doesn’t Exist”