Using the Liar Charge

I haven't been paying a lot of attention to news stuff lately because I'm too busy. Even so, I still can't avoid a continuous drumbeat coming from Democrats about the Republican efforts to overturn the healthcare bill mainly known as "Obamacare".

One thing you can't say about Democrats is that they're unfocused in their messaging. Everywhere I turn this week, I'm hearing a message that goes pretty much like this:

"Republicans are lying when they say (Obamacare) is a government takeover of healthcare".

This is a statement that should be analyzed by itself. Which is true - Obamacare is essentially a government takeover of the healthcare system, or isn't it?

If you are a Democrat, I suppose your perspective comes from the difference between what Obamacare is and what you wish it were. Since the leftward part of the Democrat party wants something they call "Single Payer", I suppose anything that falls short of that goal doesn't qualify as a government takeover.

If the standard for goverment takeover is that all Health Insurance companies go out of business and all healthcare services are paid for directly by the Federal Government, the Obamacare bill certainly fails to meet that standard.

On the other hand, if you're a Republican, the massive regulations and mandates included in Obamacare absolutely represents a government takeover of the system. Just a few components that could be interpreted as "takeover" are these:

Mandating everyone buy health insurance
Mandating what the health insurance has to cover or not cover
Mandating how much each of us must spend for our insurance premiums
Mandating who every state must cover and what they must cover in their Medicaid programs
Giving Kathleen Sebelius full power to create and enforce all healthcare regulations without congressional oversight (or oversight by anybody else)
Giving Kathleen the full power to create a central committee to decide what treatments are covered and not covered for patients based on statistical tables (what Sarah Palin called "Death Panels")
Giving HHS (Sebelius) the full power to decide which drugs are approved and not approved, apparently based on economic considerations and not clinical results.
Mandating what corporations can and can't offer their employees in their health plans
Taxing employers on health plans they provide their employees
Choosing which Insurance Companies will be allowed to participate in the new "Insurance Pools"
Taking away state-based programs and high-risk pools in favor of the Federal system

Is there a liar in this story? Is the liar a Democrat or a Republican? If you think it's me, please demonstrate to me which of the above examples is incorrect (and prove it), and I'll be happy to rescind the example.