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O FOES WIELD HEALTH ‘CLUB’

WASHINGTON — The barbs over health-care reform turned sharp as a scalpel yesterday as Republicans denounced President Obama’s plan as socialism, while the White House lashed back at critics.

More Democrats also grew increasingly squeamish about the huge cost and tax hikes — and one of the world’s most esteemed medical facilities called the proposed legislation a failure.

Finally seizing the political upper hand from Obama, Republicans sharply stepped up their attacks on the proposal.

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“Mr. President, you are putting your party’s entire big-government wish list on America’s credit card — but that card comes with a bill,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said yesterday.

“It is more debt our children will have to pay — because this reckless administration has an unrestrainable urge to splurge,” he added.

Asked if he thinks Obama’s plan for health-care coverage amounted to socialism, Steele quickly responded, “Yes. Next question.”

He said Republicans agree that changes must be made to the health-care system but that more free insurance and a massive government takeover are not the answers.

Democrats “want to start building a colossal, closed health-care system where Washington decides,” he said.

“Republicans want and support an open health-care system where patients and doctors make the decisions.”

Obama, in particular, drew some of his harshest and most specific attacks to date.

“He tells us he doesn’t want to spend more than we have, he doesn’t want the deficit to go up, he doesn’t want to live off borrowed money. But he also told us he didn’t want to run an auto company,” Steele said in a speech at the National Press Club.

“President Obama justifies this spending by saying the devil made him do it. He doesn’t want to spend trillions we can’t afford, but he says he just can’t help it,” Steele said.

Obama’s troubles prompted Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), to tell supporters recently that health care will prove to be Obama’s “Waterloo” — drawing a hot defense from the famously cool Obama.

“This isn’t about me. This isn’t about politics,” Obama insisted yesterday after quoting DeMint’s prediction.

“This is about a health-care system that is breaking America’s families, breaking America’s businesses, and breaking America’s economy,” the president said.

“And we can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time. Not now.”

Obama said he wants “greater competition, choice, savings” and efficiencies to health care.

But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office studied the Democratic legislation and flatly rejected any notion that the bill will lower health-care costs.

“We can — and we must — make all these reforms, and we can do it in a way that does not add to our deficits over the next decade,” Obama said yesterday.

“I’ve said this before. Let me repeat: The bill I sign must reflect my commitment and the commitment of Congress to slow the growth of health-care costs over the long run.”

The congressional health reform plan also was slammed by the famed Mayo Clinic.

“In general, the proposals under discussion are not patient-focused or results-oriented,” the Minnesota-based medical center said on its Health Policy Blog.

“Lawmakers have failed to use a fundamental lever — a change in Medicare payment policy — to help drive necessary improvements in American health care,” the premier cancer-treatment facility said.

“Unless legislators create payment systems that pay for good patient results at reasonable costs, the promise of transformation in American health care will wither.”

The article concluded, “The real losers will be the citizens of the United States.”

For the first time since well before he won the presidency last year, Obama finds himself on the unpopular side of a monumental political issue.

A poll released yesterday by ABC News revealed that since April, the president’s approval rating on the issue of health care has dropped from 57 percent to 49 percent. His disapproval rating on the issue has shot up from 29 percent to 44 percent in three months.

And a new poll by Rasmussen shows Obama in a dead heat at 45 percent each against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney if the two match up in 2012.

churt@nypost.com