“We will call you out”
I jumped into President Obama’s latest healthcare speech in the middle (wife gone, two rowdy boys causing all sorts of trouble), but what I heard was reassuring — assuming, of course, it’s anywhere near accurate. That’s the problem with presidential speeches about Congressional actions: they’re often more idealistic than realistic. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The things the president said he was looking for — greater competition among insurance providers, market-based cost controls, even some malpractice reform — are all things that conservatives (including moderate conservatives with a libertarian bent and liberal nuance, like myself) should applaud. Applaud they did, at least on that last, but something tells me that tomorrow they won’t take Obama’s words on the others at face value. It may have to do with Pelosi (notice how that name is starting to be uttered with the same seething contempt of “Clinton” and “Kennedy” once were?); it may have to do with them cow-towing to a fringe-yet-vocal group among their base who question Obama’s allegiances, birthplace, etc.
But, seriously, I am at an utter loss to see how any of Obama’s notions are anything like “socialism.” Reminds me of liberal college kids, picketing GOP White Houses and screaming “fascist!” with no historical understanding of what that word actually means. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of some of the president’s claims, especially those saying there’ll be “not one dime” added to the federal deficit if a plan passes. But skepticism shouldn’t mean defeatism, nor alarmism, and it stands to reason that a compromise bill is worth a shot, since it can always be changed a couple years down the road if the savings don’t pan out.
Alas, what I just wrote is essentially the GOP’s best argument: Once it’s built, an “entitlement program” (though that’s not really what this would be) is quite hard to tear down. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of our brand of democracy, that a “popular” program that isn’t working (read: Social Security) can never be touched, despite all manner of expert opinion, because pissing off the constituents — even when it’s right — is political disaster. And so, I can understand Republican worries that, if established, the “public option” will become a staple and then a third rail, potentially costing this country trillions more down the line.
And yet, and yet… We can’t continue to allow our politicians to avoid the hard decisions, simply to maintain a status quo and avoid the political risks. Will we ever see term limits?
Tags: healthcare reform, Medicrunk, presidential speech
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 7.31 pm and is filed under politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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September 9th, 2009 at 7.43 pm
I watched, “So You Think You Can Dance?” on Fox. I have no idea what you’re talking about.
September 9th, 2009 at 8.18 pm
Hmmmm…all the waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid will be eliminated to pay for the “900 billion” dollar price tag. Why not eliminate it now because its there, not just to pay for health-care reform? Waste is waste, right? On that note, why not eliminate waste in ALL government entitlement programs, effective immediately?
Math wasn’t my strong subject in school but I noticed that the magic 47 million ininsured suddenly reduced itself tonight to 30 million. I wonder where the other 17 million people went. I feel like I watched another infomercial. To heck with a compromise bill! Scrap the crap and start over.
It seems obvious to me that the institution of a co-op, exchange or public option is a step away from capitalism and a step towards market socialism. By one definition, economic socialism is the transitional phase between capitalism and communism. The tone of his speech was completely totalitarian in nature which is reflective of who he is, totally dismissive of the voice of opposition. He compared (or admitted) that this government action is going to be a “constraint on our freedom” but even so, it is necessary. How dare anyone question the policies of those in power! How’s that hope and change working out for everybody?
Thanks to the author for opening the forum!
September 9th, 2009 at 8.56 pm
@Monica, point by point:
1.) Your point on the waste/fraud in Medicare is spot on; it should be dealt with either way.
2.) You’re pulling the same stuff as the anti-Bush libs on this one… numbers can be made to sound like most anything; the point remains.
3.) I’ve yet to hear a coherent response to the defense that a public option is no more “socialist” than Medicare. Please explain.
And where the president’s tone was “totalitarian”… um, either I’m tone deaf or you are; I doubt we’ll agree on who’s whom.
September 9th, 2009 at 11.06 pm
Yes health care will cost money – no doubt about it. But, if done correctly, it would end up saving soooooo much more.
Best line of the speech came early and went something like – “the health care problem is the deficit problem.”
The horror stories of families losing everything or people being turned down for serious treatment are true and very real and unfortunately, more and more common than we would believe.
Obama was also right when he said that this is the best opportunity to pass real reform in some time. Let’s face it, Republican are never going to pass health care reform that cuts into corporate profit. That will not happen and that’s clearly why Republican administrations never even touch the subject. Many Democratic administrations have tried to do this and have for dating back to the the 1930′s.
I hope this speech was enough to at least get the base on board. Serious health care reform needs to be passed, for everyone’s well-being.
September 10th, 2009 at 4.32 am
Hey Justin, point by point but I’ll skip #1 since we agree:
2)Numbers are what they are. Same as unemployment. Be real, be accurate and do your homework. If people are going to be convinced to go with this, big corporations, individual taxpayers, the wealthiest Americans, the information given by the leader of our government should be accurate, not distorted to further his agenda. By the way, “his plan” I haven’t seen, I’m assuming that he’s defending HR 3200. I happen to be a CFO and if I “fudged” numbers like 17 million and 250 million, I’d lose my job and probably be prosecuted for fraud. So, yes, I don’t think its too much to ask for dollar to dollar, number to number details.
3) Socialism eliminates the freedom of individuals to live their lives by their own means. It attempts to group, classify or categorize people in order to do what’s best for all in the eyes of those in power. It attempts to change the way free-thinking individuals live their lives according to the ideology of those in power. I don’t believe that the government can give me rights. Doing something, like the public option, which he says no one will be forced into (he lies), is exactly that. Once the government runs your healthcare, it will have a window into your everyday life to force or, as the President said, shape your future. Every action you take in your life, amusement parks, skydiving, choosing to drink alcohol or sodas, eating what you want, living where you live, could be subject to consequential recourse from those to whom you are now a liability by being on the public option, the people in power. Yes, I take it to the extreme, but it definately and undeniably opens the door.
Totalitarian: Please. This guy’s feathers are forevered ruffled by anyone who questions his policies. Like I said before, how dare we! Anyone who questions his motives or agendas is public enemy number one. I don’t think he cares at all about the public opinion on this issue or any other issue. He wants those people to shut up, get out of the way and let him “shape our future” according to his ideals. I am not enamoured at all by his speaking, oh how he speaks! How many times has he said “I’m the President!” (emphasis on I)?
You’re probably right though, I’m the tone-deaf one, admittedly.
September 10th, 2009 at 6.44 am
Re: Monica,
Again: How is this so different from President Bush? Or Clinton before him, or Bush Sr. before him? This is how presidents are, how politics is. We expect the president to “lead” the country, and yet we act all offended when he speaks like a leader. This is true of both sides. Does Obama care any more about Republican concerns on health care than W. did of Dems’ concerns over the Patriot Act or the “war on terror”? No, he probably doesn’t. But there’s no way on earth that a Democratic lawmaker could have shouted “you lie!” during a Bush speech and get away with it… he would have been made a posterchild of “liberal hatred” and chased out of Washington.
You misread me if you think I’m “defending” Obama, or even this particular effort to reform the healthcare “system” (which, admittedly, isn’t really a system at all). But in a nation full of shouters and overstaters and ideologues… well, I’m usually going to root for the guy who actually knows about the topics and attempts to find some sort of reasonable course, even if it’s not the course I’d take.
Obama isn’t any more “socialist” than Bush was “fascist”… and what he outlined last night was a world away from the death panel/forced abortion/care rationing horror tale that right-wingers have been slinging. And the fact that Pelosi’s face looked less than enthused at multiple points tells me this is a step in the right direction. I’ve always been a person who disagreed with most everyone… if any one group is too excited about a thing, it’s probably not well-designed.
September 10th, 2009 at 7.35 am
I don’t interpret what you say as defending Obama in any way. I see your point and I don’t disagree that this is any different than the way the libs treated W. I think he was more able to handle it though, without chastizing those who disagree and calling them liars and fear-mongers. That’s conduct unbecoming a President of the United States. Besides, I felt like I was watching someone with multiple personality disorder. Sweet and cunning, outraged and finger-pointing. And Pelosi’s face was cracking me up all throughout the speech. I thought she was going to get whip-lash trying to find the person who dared to speak when the President was speaking!
I beg to differ about the “hackling”, though. George W. was hackled in his speech on SS reform in 05 fervently and no one in the media cared, nor did they call for an apology. I see it as Rep. Wilson calling a spade a spade. Maybe not the proper forum, but I doubt any Republicans get the chance to “sit at the table” with the Pres. No different than what Obama was doing to all Americans, not just lawmakers, who believe that there are serious problems with this public option thing and who, in admittedly loaded terms, labeled this EOL Counseling provision,(I thinks its section 1235 of HR 3200) “death panels”. In essence, the government will be requiring, paying and incentivising doctors to give counseling to those who are elderly or terminally ill. I think living wills are great and if you want one, you should have one but when the government steps in, in the interest of saving money and meeting a budget number, and mandates this counseling take place, it should be questioned and scrutinized. What are the real motives of EOL counseling paid for by Uncle Sam? The house bill mandates this “counseling”, its not optional for families when it comes to discussing someone’s length of time in their golden years. Its not private anymore, its public. The President himself said that maybe pain pills would be the better option vs. life-saving surgery at 75 years old. Tell that to my 77 year old Papaw who still, to this day, is a working and productive member of society, and who recently underwent surgery to remove an aortic aneurism that if it burst, would’ve killed him. Under this provision of the bill, he would’ve been counseled, no doubt with the emphasis on, letting it go and waiting for his time to come. I’m not saying that all options wouldn’t have been presented to him under this requirement but who’s pulling the puppet strings?
Great dialogue!
September 10th, 2009 at 7.40 am
By the way, I answered your question about why I believe that this public option is representative of socialism or a socialist-type agenda. (see point 3) I’m curious as to why you think it doesn’t. I do think Medicare is socialism and I don’t like it. The fact is, it’s here, its broken, full of fraud and abuse, wasteful according to our leader. Why would be take something similar to that and build upon it?
September 10th, 2009 at 8.34 am
I try to keep up with this but find it impossible.
I do have a question, though. And this is seriously out of ignorance and not argument. If, under the proposed reform, individuals would be able to keep their private health care, would they still be obligated to pay heightened taxes for the public health care system? Hence, those straining to pay their private health care bills – yet nevertheless choosing this over the public option – would be further strained to pay for the public system as well?
That’s where I’m confused. In countries where social health care is the norm, they may still have private companies which offer health care, but these are only for the very rich. Your average joe doesn’t have that luxury. Here, your average joe is a little more obstinate/independent and may just not want to take what the government is offering in terms of health care. Is he going to be able to pay both for his own and the rest of the nations?
Is there a clause somewhere in that big document to account for this?
September 10th, 2009 at 9.36 am
Derek,
Your question — “If, under the proposed reform, individuals would be able to keep their private health care, would they still be obligated to pay heightened taxes for the public health care system?” — is a good one. Obama says “no,” that savings from ending fraud and waste in Medicare, coupled with savings in general due to prevention and treatment, would pay the bill. Conservatives are skeptical. Monica raised a good point above, one I intend to examine more closely later today.
Monica,
FactCheck.org says Obama’s right and Wilson’s wrong on the illegal immigrant topic.
September 10th, 2009 at 7.07 pm
Justin – I don’t think factcheck.org accurately analyzes the claim. Section 246 says that this bill doesn’t “allow” federal subsidies to undocumented aliens, (I don’t know why they can’t be called illegal anymore), but it doesn’t provide any means for enforcement of this clause. For example, a person is not specifically required to provide documentation of citizenship in order to apply for subsidies or even paid participation in the public option. If this documentation is not specifically required, how can we believe that people in this country illegally will not participate in this? As it stands now, they can get welfare, food stamps and other government (taxpayer) assistance. It’s easier for illegals (there’s that harsh word again) to get entitlements than it is for them to work in this country and be productive. At least with employment, we’re supposed to require that documentation via the I9 Form. Now, I haven’t been trained by the government to identify authentic documentation vs. fraudulent documentation but I do require every employee to provide documentation on List A, or B&C like the form instructs me to do. Valid or not, I don’t know, but they work and I do my part to confiscate their income through income taxes and send it to the Fed and State to be redistributed to its rightful owners. I know, I know, that’s a whole other subject! On the other hand, I think its wonderful that people from all over the world want to live in this country. That says something about just how great America is and how coveted our freedom and liberties are throughout this world.
By the way, I’ve enjoyed the exchange. It’s nice to have and avenue to discuss events and know that the posters and the respondants will be respectful. I also sent this to my dad. He can barely read email but it’ll be fun if he learns how to blog! (He asked me to get him a “junk” drive today…I’m not looking forward to that training session!)
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