Mark Ambinder urges the media not to boost Palin's credibility by addressing her WSJ op-ed or include her opinion in the debate. Little does he know the White House has already elevated her to equal by specifically addressing her in their talking points. Witness a few selected responses in the comments from Ambinder's Atlantic piece:
Idiots. They took her bait AGAIN.
Agreed, she is going to play them for a fool again. Sheesh, Rahm, wake up!
Palin has officially been legitimized. Bad move, White House.
Read the White House talking points below the jump:
From Politico these are the White House talking points for the health care speech tonight:
When the President is finished speaking tonight, everyone who listens will understand that his plan has at its core two overriding goals: to bring stability and security to Americans who have insurance today, and affordable coverage to those who don't.
The President's plan will bring reforms that will reduce the unsustainable growth in the cost of health care, which has doubled in the last decade and will continue to rise at that untenable pace unless we act.
From the beginning of this process, the President has said that he believes reform should be bipartisan. And the plan he outlines tonight will be consistent with that goal it will contain Republican proposals and Democratic proposals.
So the Republicans will have to decide whether they are genuine in their wish to work in a bipartisan manner, or whether they will continue to vote against proposals they have said are key to reform.
He will clearly lay out what health reform means to Americans both those that have insurance now and those that don't. He will also be clear about health reform doesn't mean clearing up the confusion that has been fomented by the special interests and defenders of the status quo.
He will also answer the big questions about how to move the health reform process forward and make clear exactly what he considers real reform to be.
It is important to recognize how far we have come.
Four of the five House and Senate committees have marked up bills. Today Senator Baucus, who chairs the fifth committee, announced that his committee will move to markup shortly. Among those bills there is, essentially, 80 percent agreement, and each of them is in line with the principles the President has laid out.
We are entering a new phase in the debate.
Now is the time to begin pulling together the various strands of the bills that have been written and the solutions that have been proposed to create a final product that lowers costs, ensures that Americans cannot be denied coverage because they get sick, and provides
access to affordable health care for all.
As the President will say tonight, he is not the first president to take up the cause of health reform but he is determined to be the last.
Members heard a lot from their constituents over August including stories from people who are struggling with the rising cost of health care or who have been denied coverage because they or someone in their family got sick. One thing has became crystal clear to any member who really spent time talking to constituents last month: Doing nothing is not an option.
After this speech, opponents of health reform will need to either propose their own plan or explain why they think it is best to do nothing while health care costs continue to rise 3 times faster than wage, millions of Americans continue to be denied coverage because they got sick, and insecurity continues to grow. In just 2 years, 1 in 3 Americans experienced a gap in coverage. What the President will offer the country is stability and security in our health insurance system.
On Gov. Palin's Attacks
Every non partisan organization that has looked at her claims say they are false. And the ideas in her op-ed are both scary and risky. Eliminating Medicare and giving our seniors vouchers instead is a bad idea that we shouldn't adopt.
UPDATED: Response From Palin on Facebook:
I'm pleased that the White House is finally responding to Republican health care ideas instead of pretending they don't exist.[1] But in doing so President Obama should follow his own sound advice and avoid making "wild misrepresentations".[2] Medicare vouchers would give everyone on Medicare the chance to decide for themselves which health plan to use, rather than leave that decision to government bureaucrats. Such proposals are the kind of health care reform that Republicans stand for: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven.
The White House talking points leave the rest of my arguments unanswered. They don't respond to the idea that all individuals should get the same tax benefits received by those who get coverage through their employers; that we must reform our tort laws; and that we should allow Americans to buy insurance across state lines. The White House also fails to respond to the Nyce/Schieber study indicating that wages will fall if the government expands coverage without reducing health care inflation rates.
One last thing: after President Obama's speech tonight, listen for which pundits use the words "false", "scary", and "risky" in describing the proposals I put forward. That's how you'll be able to tell who the White House counted as "allies" worthy of receiving its talking points.
-Sarah Palin
[1] See http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0909/White_Ho use_talking_points_blast_P alin.html.
[2] See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16obama.ht ml.
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