How Can You Sleep At Nights?

**John Lennon to Paul McCartney amid feud.

No, 22 million Americans with health insurance will not lose their policies because of Obamacare.


No, Obamacare does not add trillions to the national debt. In fact by the year 2021, it will cut $193 billion from the debt.


No, Mitt Romney can not repeal it on his first day of office.


No, it isn't the largest tax increase in history. Of the 21 million uninsured Americans, roughly 4 million might--might--pay a penalty ranging from $625 to $2,000+ depending on their income level. But there is no means to collect such a fine and no coercive power in the law. According to the architect of Romneycare, less than 1% in Massachusetts pay any penalties.


And students should only get the level of education they can afford. Really? Mitt Romney really said that.


Is Mitt Romney actually a serious candidate for President? He has trumpeted his opposition to the healthcare law, which is almost identical to his own in Massachusetts, to the tune of securing $4 million in small contributions to his campaign. But all of this has been done by lying, even bigger lying than anything he has said during the race. Blogger Steve Benen has pioneered the research of Romney's chronic lying but it seems it has gotten worse.


I am distressed that he has gotten away with it so long and so often. The new Romney,unlike the new Nixon, seems to have blended his identification with the .5% and the tea party and embraced the crude and cruel rhetoric of the new Republican Party. The media only eggs him on by not challenging his statements or demanding the concretes of policy. It seems to me that the spin machine of the Republicans still works but there is no evidence of any ability to govern or desire to govern. They have evolved beyond Thomas Franks' The Wrecking Crew. 


Today, the spokesman for the Romney campaign said that Obama was not presidential, when his campaign sold t-shirts saying "Still BFD" referring to healthcare. But the same spokesman encouraged hecklers of presidential rallies and refuses to acknowledge the obnoxious behavior of the Brooks Brothers hoodlums surrounding its campaign. 


That is why the prospects of a Romney victory are rather chilling. There have been few times during the campaign that he showed any empathy for what Americans are going through. Instead, he tries to use economic calamity as a weapon against the President.  And while he boasts America will revive within two years of his election, there are no concrete proposals. There isn't even the release of his tax returns. 


It seems to me that arguing endlessly over Obamacare is beating a dead horse, even if you actually made the horse to begin with. The Republicans will Repeal the Healthcare bill on July 11, knowing full well that it is a meaningless gesture on the par of the contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder. 


Democrats are beginning to again show their own ambivalence about the healthcare reform and looking for conspiracies where there are none such as Judge Roberts writings about the Commerce Clause. Instead, they should be highlighting the absolutely atrocious dissent by Kennedy, Alito, Scalia and Thomas. That is the future if Romney wins the election. 


It seems President Obama is fighting this election with one hand behind his back. It is not up to him to call out Romney on every lie because that will broadcast it even louder. But Democrats after an historic achievement should trumpet this without the usual calls for the public option, lament that the health insurance industry will benefit. And the Democrats can't fall into the usual passive attitude when they are charged with raising taxes. The tax issue is losing its effective clout and they should point out--which they did not in 2010--that President Obama actually cut taxes and that those with health insurance will not pay penalties. 


It is as if the Republicans latched on to the only thing in their defeat yesterday, Justice Roberts calling the penalty a tax. So within minutes people like Senator Lindsey Graham was on television decrying Obamacare as a huge tax increase. Democrats must counter this with insisting on the benefits of the bill to all Americans--including me. They can not allow one of their greatest achievements since Medicare to be framed as a tax issue. On that, they can't allow Romney to get away with the Tea Party lie that Obamacare cuts Medicare by $500 million. I guess Republicans like Rick Scott are nostalgic for the days when they could loot Medicare.


Enough has seeped into our politics recently to show that Americans are remaining level-headed so far. Obama has his largest lead over Romney since April and leads all national polls as of today. The Gallup tracking poll actually has him at 48 to 43. But this is likely to be temporary given future job reports to come.


Democratic operatives have criticized the Obama campaign for its Bain ads but all polls and focus groups show they are working. Another theme that is growing is that Republicans are to blame for obstructing progress made by the President. Polls have shown 50% of Americans are responding to this argument and others show that 42% agree that Republicans are holding up an economic recovery. The Campaign has to keep pounding on this theme.


I was delighted to see today that the White House urged Democrats to start fighting back against the barrage of Republican misinformation. It is about time.