The Obama Health Care Speech
It attempted to be not a description of the ideal, but rather one of the doable. As one senior White House official put it a few hours before the speech: "There is a path to get this done. ... The issues that separate us are not insuperable."
After an August in which the health care debate threatened to drive into a ditch, President Obama tried to steer it back into the center lane, if there is such a thing to be found on an endeavor so ambitious as remaking one-sixth of the economy. He defended the public option, and yet downplayed it. The package that he described is about the size of the framework released yesterday by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus--$900 billion, which is the lower limit of what anyone is estimating that it would take over the next decade. And though he is not likely to get more than one or two GOP votes, Obama went out of his way to point out the ideas in his plan that can trace their parentage to the Republicans--including his former adversary, John McCain. He also laid on the table an issue that has been something of the Holy Grail to the right: tort reform.
The White House promised more detail tonight, and in that sense. the speech delivered--if only to make more explicit many of the things that Obama has only tacitly dealt with before. But it was a move that was badly needed at this moment. Within the House Chamber, he has provided the guidance that lawmakers have been begging for. But the real question is this: Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country?
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1
Obama really doesn't need to win "the rest of the country". The people that Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh scare are not going to be convinced.
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It either has to work or it fails. Democrats have to be strong enough in their convictions to either rise or fall on this one. It might make Broder delighted for Obama to attempt to negotiate with Boehner. It ain't happening.
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Pass the best bill that Max Baucus' donors will allow, and live with it. -
2
CNN says support for Obama's plans jumped 14% among those who watched the speech.
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2.1
Read the details of CNNs poll 45% Dems and 18% Repubs were polled. Stop being victimized by manipulated propaganda in the form of polls.
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3
Maybe we shouldn't call what Obama's talking about a "public option." A true public option would be open to all members of the public. This is more just the government filling some holes left by private industry. And that's okay but that's what it is. It isn't a "public option" in any sense. Heck, it's self-financing so it's not even publicly funded.
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3.1
That's an important point that has been lost in much of the debate about the public option: Under some versions of the legislation (and, we learned today, under what President Obama would like to see), it wouldn't be open to the public--only to a relatively small slice of it.
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Of course, Swampland readers already knew that:
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http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/07/02/a-senate-committees-health-reform-bill/
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And here's an important point that is likely to get lost in all the noise: Under the HELP Committee proposal, not everyone would have access to that public plan. If you have employer-provided coverage, as the majority of Americans do, you would not be allowed to opt out of it in favor of the public plan, unless your current coverage were deemed unaffordable (which is defined as costing more than 12.5% of your salary). By comparison, the version that is being drafted by three House committees would allow anyone who wants in to buy into the public plan after five years. (We still don't know what the public plan will look like in the Senate Finance Committee bill, but the betting is that it will be a weaker version than either the HELP bill or the House one.) -
3.2
KT:
Under some versions of the legislation (and, we learned today, under what President Obama would like to see), it wouldn't be open to the public--only to a relatively small slice of it.
As much as it disappoints me to say this, you're right.
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It's not just the HELP committee bill, it's HR 3200.
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I read HR 3200 today after Scherer made the same point.
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Here's what I found and posted in his thread today:
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http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/09/09/the-public-option-in-tonights-speech/comment-page-1/#comment-94329
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Paul Lukasiak says that the bill I spent all of that time reading (just to find out that you were correct) isn't the real bill being sent to conference.
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Can you please clarify that?
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Is HR 3200 the basis for the House's conference negotiations with whatever comes out of the Senate?
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Is HR 3200 the real House bill?
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If that's true, then the public option isn't worth fighting for, because it's a weak, desperately weak public option --almost as bad as a trigger that never pulls.
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4
KT, anyone still against Obama's plan after tonight was never "gettable" to begin with -- whether CongresssCritter or private citizen.
Leave us remember that at the end of GWB's disastrous second term, 30% of the electorate *still* thought he'd been a swell president....
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4.1
What changed with the speech? Cause he sounded good? Let him sell Sham Wow.
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5
Obama said some nice things about some Republicans. That was more than they deserve, and I hope it's all they get. It's not that Obama doesn't need the GOP -- this country doesn't need the GOP. Let them squirm and make their two syllable rebuttals while the rest of Congress does its job.
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5.1
Obama gave a very partisan divisive speech. Out down the Koolaid .
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5.2
Obama gave a very partisan divisive speech. Put down the Koolaid .
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6
Before I return to the classroom, could I make a (novel?) suggestion ... less posts? God, how many today, 15 or more? Less = more (hard to have a conversation when every time one begins a new post is up within minutes).
Or perhaps it's just me--by the time I awake I'm so far behind I can't possibly catch up.
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6.1
Intelligent conversations are unfair to republicans and the corporate whores who love them.
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6.2
Daijobu desu JC-san, it's not you. There seems to be a habit of hasing out topics and then discussing various esoterica in new posts rather than updating the original posts. Now when they cross-refer I can somewhat understand that, but the same one going on the same post over and over violates the less-is-more standard.
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7
@KT: Yeah, we did, thanks to you. And now that I think back on it, I think you were the one who warned us repeatedly that "public option" meant a lot of things to a lot of people. I just wish the language used had been more precise from the beginning. Everyone's not a Swampland reader. Yet.
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7.1
Karen, I also want to thank you for being so informed. Unfortunately, because of 24/7 news and talk radio, the message gets lost.
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8
It will make no difference to the hard Right.
This speech is what I have been hoping for all along... that Obama would strongly and clearly address the issues that have been allowed to fester and rot in the media.This is just the beginning to getting the Health care plan back on track. There is a lot of work to be done. There will be an escalation of “hostilities”... and I expect the usual efforts to downplay his valid points and classify them as part if his gift of oratory, charm and charisma.
Again, I hope the Obama camp is prepared to guard the gains he has made from this speech. Clinton made a great speech and his Health care plan failed. However, Obama sounded more believable than Clinton and very humane. He delivered today but it must be followed by a continuing reiteration of the key issues by his ""Lieutenants".
As for Palin, I suggest she be invited for a debate against someone in the Obama Health care reform team. I would like to see her explain how she managed to extrapolate and come up with “death panels” from the counseling proposal in the plan.
These are good first steps for Obama in rescuing the Healthcare proposal from the August free fall. Now he has to move ahead with more proactive planning ready for the inevitable "Party of Never Agree to anything from Obama" response.
Drum roll... here comes Beck. *Yawn*
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8.1
The only thing that changed in the Obama speech is a reduction of the number of Uninsured Americans from 47 Million to 30 Million. Of course conservatives have said all along the 47 Million Americans was a bogus number that included illegals. Someone lied to you and it wasn't the Right.
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9
And sorry, one last thing I just now read at FDL by tbogg (from Sept 6). Think I changed all the cursewords, but is boner ok?:
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"First of all you have to decide if you really want to win. If you just want to spend your time debating hypotheticals and dreaming of how swell things could be while weaving yourself a safety net of emergency qualifiers in case things don't go the way you planned, go get a job at the f@cking Brookings Institution. But if you're gonna go to ideological war, then go to ideological war. And if you are going to fight this war you have to ask yourself "what would Dick Cheney do?"
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Never apologize.
Never admit weakness.
Never concede points.
Never defend.
Always attack.
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You have to remember that, in the case of the Glenn Beck conservative wing (a group of people who make the Dittoheads look like Quakers), you are dealing with a crazy salad of stupid people (and let's quit excusing them as "low information voters"...they're dumbsh!ts), lunatics, a$sholes, racists, political performance artists, opportunists, and the kind of people who make eugenics seem desirable if not downright necessary.
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These are not the people you need or want. You want the mushy middle and the mushy middle loves people who project strength and power. It makes them feel safe. They like being on the winning team. Power and winning intoxicates them. If they write for the Politico, it gives them boners and they'll write anything you want them to. But these people do not respond in the quite the same way to squishy papering over of defeat."
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http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2009/09/06/what-would-dick-cheney-do/-
9.1
Thanks for this, Oregon JC.
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10
Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country?
Most of the country already supports health care reform, Karen...including having a choice of a public option.
The real question is, "Has Obama provided the reassurance the media needs to start refuting the various lies being told about health care reform?"...'cos, in treating various demagogues like Sarah Palin as honest, legitimate contributors to the policy debate, Big Media is, at best, confusing the debate. At worst, it produces an unenlightened citizenry, which makes for a dysfunctional republic.
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10.1
Better get out of mom's basement more often
When the public debate over health care reform began in earnest in June, 50% of voters nationwide supported the legislative effort and 45% were opposed. By August, support had fallen to 43% and opposition had risen to 53%. Rasmussen Polls
Maybe the MSM will now muster courage to call Obama on his lies.
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10.2
Wow, freeper...the poll I linked to was in August, too! Imagine that.
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But since you mentioned Rasmussen, let's see what else they have poll results for..."Seventy-eight percent (78%) of U.S. voters say every American should be allowed to purchase the same health insurance plan that members of Congress use."
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...Which was one of the points in the speech Obama just gave...
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See, freeper...the public debate didn't begin 'in earnest' in June. What began in June was a decidedly unserious and insincere program of partisan demagoguery against what is literally a life-and-death issue for people. Of course, people such as yourself find more value in winning a debate by any means necessary rather than promote the general welfare...i.e. govern effectively, for the benefit of the American people.
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So, in the coming days, I hope to see more people called out for pushing lies intended to derail necessary legislation. And I hope that, finally, the media will decide to take a more responsible role in the health care debate than it has to this point.
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11
Karen:
Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country?
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What "reassurance" was expected from the speech tonight, Karen?
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Public Option reassurance? Less than 5% of Americans could or would qualify, I do not see that as "reassuring". I do not see this satisfying the Progressives, and I think you will hear them screaming bloody murder that it has been wiped out of this proposed "plan".
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Deficit neutral? "Not one penny"!!! I believe he said. I do remember a time when someone said "No new taxes", and before he was done with his 2nd year as President, that statement went flying out the window WITH the silver spoon which was in his mouth.
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Cut waste?? Cut fraud?? Cut unwarranted treatments?? No way will Obama or his government bean counters ever find 900 BILLION dollars in savings from the current system. The only cut that may bring in enough money to make it 1/2 deficit neutral would be cuts to Medicare. Is that reassuring to the Seniors out in the heartland? Will they stop protesting at townhalls, when they hear him say he will "cut Medicare Advantage profits"??
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People in general do NOT trust Government. We do not trust that what comes out of their mouth, will be the actions they take which will affect our lives for the next 10, 20, 30 and more years. We know this from past legislation they have said it would be this, and it turned out to be that.-
11.1
Rustydog:
No way will Obama or his government bean counters ever find 900 BILLION dollars in savings from the current system.
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To be fair, Obama said this:The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, as well as unwarranted subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies - subsidies that do everything to pad their profits and nothing to improve your care. And we will also create an independent commission of doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead.
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I think it's code for "The commission will set prices, just like the German government's commission."
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...I think.
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But you're right, there's no way they'll ever get $900 billion in savings --unless they really get serious about price controls for drugs, hospital stays, medical procedures and laboratory tests, that is.
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I can't tell with this guy, but it doesn't sound good --especially if he's speaking in code. -
11.2
I agree
If there is so much waste and fraud then force Obama to prove he can eliminate it and return in 6 Months with a report before moving on with this healthcare debate. Has Obama offered any evidence that he ended any Fraud and Abuse in his 8 months as President? No
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12
We know this from past legislation they have said it would be this, and it turned out to be that.
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So just how unhappy ARE you Rusty. You seem to be doing OK for yourself. Not strapped for cash.... plenty of time to spend on message boards. So what is it your so damned afraid of?
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I happen to think that shi^^y Government services are symptom of taxes being too low. Republicans have been pretty much in charge for a decade now. If your unhappy with the way things are going, you have no one to blame but yourself. -
13
They find all the monies needed and more when they look under the 'WHEELCHAIR' that CHENEY used to roll out of the whitehouse. Halliburton's profits... Are you on the PAYOFF LIST, Ol' Rusty Baby???
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14
[...] Karen Tumulty, Time The White House promised more detail tonight, and in that sense. the speech delivered–if only to make more explicit many of the things that Obama has only tacitly dealt with before. But it was a move that was badly needed at this moment. Within the House Chamber, he has provided the guidance that lawmakers have been begging for. But the real question is this: Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country? [...]
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15
"Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country?"
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Yes, I find this formulation problematic as well. Who are these "rest of the country", where have they been (and where were they before) and exactly to where, that's of any importance, can Obama's reassurance "bring" them?
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A majority of the public still approves of reform that's supported by Obama and Progressives but is not supported by Blue Dog Democrats in Congress (and, quite by coincidence, their paymasters in the insurance industry). Why does Obama need to bring the "rest of the country" anywhere? Isn't the fight all about a majority of the public, Obama and congressional progressives against industry and congressional "conservatives' at this point?-
15.1
I have just turned in a story on this point for TIME.com. Basically, it boils down to this: White House officials acknowledge that their own polling shows a slide in public opinion for anything that is labeled an "Obama plan." But when it is described to people in terms of what is in it, they say it's got a margin of support of 20 points are better. Last night was very much an effort to reset the terms of that debate. Will post a link to the story when it's up.
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15.2
Thanks, Karen, I look forward to reading the article.
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I just think it's critically important to keep the story straight about who really opposes reform (and why) and not let people get further confused about some minor public opinion erosion due to misunderstanding, intentionally and dishonestly created by that opposition. This almost a perfect example of a public interests vs. corporate interest story and it would be a real shame if some people missed the forest for a few stray trees. -
15.3
Here's the link. I also did a separate post on it:
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http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1921554,00.html
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16
[...] about it, and one of the things that government can actually do. And Time’s Karen Tumulty notes how he co-opted the other [...]
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17
[...] care plan failed. However, Obama sounded more believable than Clinton and very humane. …original article Share and [...]
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18
[...] “The Obama Health Care Speech,” is a quick take by Karen Tumulty of Time Magazine’s Swampland Blog (9/9/09), concluding with this key question, “Within the House Chamber, he has provided the guidance that lawmakers have been begging for. But the real question is this: Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country?” Tumulty’s Tweet said poignantly, “Grief on Vicki Kennedy’s face is enduring image of this speech.” [...]
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[...] Time’s Karen Tumulty asks, “Within the House Chamber, he has provided the guidance that lawmakers have been begging for. But the real question is this: Has Obama provided the reassurance it will take to bring back the rest of the country?” [...]
- ktumulty New Blog Entry, "Anthem Blue Cross Makes The Case For Health Reform" - http://tinyurl.com/yab3hjs - 1 hour ago
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