We all know that there's no such thing as a free lunch, but, according to President Obama, there is such a thing as free birth control. And the mainstream media seem to believe him.
When Obama announced on Friday that the insurers of religious employers--and not the religious employers themselves--would pay for the full price of all abortive and contraceptive drugs, many in the mainstream media credulously reported the announcement as a significant shift in policy. But the mainstream media, for the most part, failed to ask the basic questions: Is this a substantive change in policy? Is a deal a compromise just because it pleased both Planned Parenthood and liberal Catholics who supported Obamacare? Many journalists simply accepted the premise of the White House's spin that the president had " compromised."
I know you're opposed to the compromise the president announced this week on this contraception coverage, but do you have the votes in the House to block it?
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-Wis.): Absolutely, we do. Look, to paraphrase the bishops' letter, this thing is a distinction without a difference. It's an accounting gimmick or a fig leaf. It's not a compromise. The president's double -down.
What I see here in this whole episode, George, is it's a real teachable moment for America in two ways. Number one, they're treating our constitutional First Amendment rights as revocable privileges from our government, not as an inalienable rights from our creator. And number two, if this is what the president's willing to do in a tough election year, imagine what he will do in implementing the rest of his health care law after an election.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you heard Jack Lew right there, this is not going to force the institutions to pay for the coverage, the Catholic institutions to pay for the coverage.
RYAN: It's a distinction without a difference. It's really an accounting trick. It forces the insurance company that they have to pay to do the coverage. So instead of making the institution itself, it reinforces the insurer. And a lot of these Catholic institutions are self-insured, and all insurers under this rule must provide these mandated benefits. So it really is a distinction without a difference. This should be rescinded, not compromised like this, because I would, again, say it's not a compromise. The president's doubling down.
Public figures who know a thing or two about accounting gimmicks in Obamacare-- Yuval Levin, Rep. Paul Ryan, Greg Mankiw, and the Wall Street Journal--explained that Obama
Religion and economics is kryptonite to journalists.