Strings Attached

It turns out that somebody should have checked Michael Steele for the strings attached to all of his appendages yesterday. You see while Steele was giving his health care speech he was really acting as Republican strategist Alex Castellanos' puppet. The speech was almost verbatim to a messaging memo Castellanos wrote recently in an effort to kill health care reform altogether. So while you might have seen Steele's lips moving, you were actually hearing Castellanos' words.

MediaMatters put together this nifty table to drive home the point.

RNC Chairman, Michael Steele GOP Health Care Strategy,	per Alex Castellanos
"Let's have doctors and hospitals post pricing and outcomes. In this day and age, why aren't the cost of all tests, treatments, procedures and office visits -- as well as effectiveness of treatments posted openly on the Internet. That'll bring down costs."	"We support requiring/incentivizing doctors and hospitals to post pricing and outcomes. In this day and age, why aren't the cost of all tests, treatments, procedures and office visits - as well as effectiveness of treatments posted openly on the Internet?"
"And how about if we make health insurance companies compete with each other with simple, understandable contracts and minimum benefit packages so insurance is simpler, cheaper, and fairer, just like many banks are doing with car or home loans. And simple, one page re-imbursement forms, too. That'll bring down costs."	"We believe health insurance companies should compete with each other with simple, one-page contract/summaries so insurance is simpler, cheaper, and fairer. (Like many banks are doing w/ care or home loans). And how about incentivizing insurance companies to have simple, one page reimbursement forms?"
"And let's protect doctors from frivolous, expensive lawsuits so they can work together with other doctors and patients in their communities to reduce unnecessary and expensive tests, procedures and costs. That'll bring down costs."	"We believe doctors should be protected from frivolous, expensive lawsuits so they can work together with other doctors and patients in their communities to reduce unnecessary and expensive tests and procedures."
"Then we change the law so you can take your health insurance with you if you have to change jobs, eliminating expensive and unnecessary insurance turnover. That'll bring down costs."	"We want to change the law so you can take your health insurance with you if you have to change jobs (eliminating expensive and unnecessary insurance turnover)."
"And we cut out the "Washington health care middle-man", reducing expensive bureaucracy to produce big health care savings. That'll bring costs down."	"We want to cut out the 'Washington health care middle-man,' reducing expensive bureaucracy to produce big health care savings."
"Let's support new paperless, computer-age health care IT systems to reduce the cost of health care management as well as reduce medical mistakes. That'll really bring down costs."	"We support (tax incentives?) new paperless, computer-age health care IT systems to reduce the cost of health care management as well as reduce medical mistakes."
"And let's make sure every American has equal opportunity to get the best value and buy the cheapest insurance no matter where he lives or who he works for. Let's change the law so any American can buy the lowest cost insurance available nationwide, not just in their states -- whether from insurance companies, businesses, church groups, college alumni associations, or groups like AARP, who often provide it less expensively. That'll bring costs down too!"	"Every American should have equal opportunity to get the best value and buy the cheapest insurance no matter where he lives or whom he works for. We want to change the law so any American can buy the lowest cost insurance available nationwide, not just in their states -- whether from insurance companies, businesses, church groups, college alumni associations, or groups like the AARP, who often provide it less expensively."
"And don't you agree that companies like Target are best suited to bring costs down than any politician in Washington? So let's use consumer-buying power and group buying power, not Washington price-controls, to bring health care costs down."	"The Wall-Mart [sic] way to bring costs down is better than the Washington way. So we want to use consumer-buying power, also called 'group buying power,' not Washington price-controls, to bring health care costs down."
"And by the way, let's support a bi-partisan idea, effective prevention, wellness, and disease management programs because they will improve our health. And that'll bring costs down."	"We support effective prevention, wellness, and disease management programs because they will improve our health and save money."
"Let's support bold new incentives for companies to develop new treatments and cures because that is smarter than paying for chronic long-term illnesses we can't cure today. That'll bring costs down."	"We support bold new tax deductions for companies that develop new treatments and cures because that is smarter than paying for chronic long-term illnesses we can't cure today."
"Every American should get a tax credit for their health insurance premiums. That'll bring down your costs. Further, under current law, employees not covered by a health care plan-a group which disproportionately includes the working poor-cannot deduct the cost of insurance premiums. Incredibly, rather than remedying that injustice, the Democrats make it illegal for anyone to purchase a new individual plan.	"We believe in bottom-up health care savings: every American should get a tax deduction for their health insurance premiums."
"We believe in bottom up health care savings for the middle class and the working poor."	"We believe the working poor should get a refundable, advanceable tax credit to help them get health insurance."
"And here is another idea: how about we give small businesses the same cost-saving breaks big businesses get by helping them form small business health plans and small business health co-ops. That'll bring costs down."	"We want to incentivize and expand practical, down-to-earth reforms that are already working and reducing health care costs all across America. Safeway's plan, which gives employees a stake in holding down health care costs, is a model. Instead of cutting care of shifting costs to employees, Safeway has held health care costs flat the last 4 years, while it's up 40% for the rest of corporate America."
"Then let's support tough new penalties against anybody who rips off the health care system, whether they are corrupt big insurance company executives, un-ethical physicians or patients, or government pen pushers. That'll bring costs down."	Here, the message points differ. Castellanos wrote: "We support special 'too much paperwork' tax credits for small businesses, so they don't have to bear the intolerable costs of filling out insurance forms or meeting government mandates and regulations. We want to give small businesses the same cost-saving breaks big businesses get by helping them form small business health plans and small business health co-ops"
"And one more thing: no life-time health care benefits and insurance for Congressmen who leave their jobs...unless and until everybody else in America has the same. That's the right thing to do... and it will bring down costs, too."	"And no lifetime health care benefits and insurance for Congressmen who leave their jobs -- unless and until everybody else in America has the same."
[Chairman Steele Remarks to the National Press Club, 7/20/09, emphasis added]	[GOP Health Care Strategy Memo by Alex Castellanos, 7/7/09, emphasis added]

That pretty much sums up why Michael Steele couldn't competently answer any questions about health care reform just after giving what was supposedly a speech on health care reform.

Man these guys are so 1990s.