Michelle Malkin | Rep. Tsongas tries to explain why Congress is exempt from Obamacare. Fails. «

Rep. Tsongas tries to explain why Congress is exempt from Obamacare. Fails.

By Michelle Malkin • August 10, 2009 07:01 AM

Herein lies the ultimate Achilles’ Heel of Obamacare. Watch as Democrat Rep. Niki Tsongas of Massachussetts attempts to explain why Congress is exempt from the government health care takeover mandates. The exchange starts at 4:00:

Transcript:

CONSTITUENT: My question to you, Congresswoman Tsongas, is that if this is such a great plan, why did you opt out of it when you took the vote [loud applause, standing ovation]?

TSONGAS: People often say why don’t the American people have what those of us in Congress have. [Audience erupts] Let me explain what I have. Let me explain what I have. What I have is a tremendous array — you know, last year when I went to a discussion — what I have is a tremendous array of choices. And I made a choice based on what I was willing to pay for and what made sense in terms of coverage for me and my family. [Audience shouts out: "We want choice! We want choice!] This is essentially what we are creating for the American people. We are creating greater choice.

[Smattering of applause overwhelmed by boos.]

Epic fail. The imperious “Do as I say, not as I do” ways of Washington cannot be packaged as choice-enhancing, no matter how hard Rep. Tsongas tries. Refresher from 5 key freedoms you’ll lose under Obamacare:

In short, the Obama platform would mandate extremely full, expensive, and highly subsidized coverage — including a lot of benefits people would never pay for with their own money — but deliver it through a highly restrictive, HMO-style plan that will determine what care and tests you can and can’t have. It’s a revolution, all right, but in the wrong direction.

More than 150,000 have signed GOP Rep. John Fleming’s petition telling Congress to live under the health care mandates it forces on the rest of the country.

If the Democrats can’t come up with a better answer than Tsongas (and they can’t), Obamacare is toast.