THE DAILY BLADE: Obama’s Healthcare Speech Fails To Close The Deal
With President Barack Hussein Obama’s economic policies being called his Hurricane Katrina, and healthcare reform being called his Bay of Pigs and his Waterloo, he’s starting to get worried. Obama reportedly told one Congressman who warned him that Dems would break ranks if the Senate Finance Committee draft wasn’t revenue neutral, “You’re going to destroy my presidency.”
As workaday Americans are questioning the cost and wondering whether the same pols who made a hash of the economic stimulus can be trusted to fix healthcare, Obama’s decided to get more hands-on instead of continuing to leave the details to Congress – as is his wont, because he doesn’t want to sweat the big stuff.
To that end, he gave a prime-time speech – his fourth since taking office six months ago - and took a few questions from journalists. As has become habitual his first order of business was to blame the previous administration for his foundering administration (“[s]ix months ago, I took office amid the worst recession in half a century”) and to take premature credit for “being able to pull our economy back from the brink” with a stimulus package that “saved jobs and created new ones”). After going off on a tangent about clean energy technology and U.S. graduation rates, Obama then got to the subject at hand:
This is not just about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance. Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job. It's about every small business that has been forced to lay off employees or cut back on their coverage because it became too expensive. And it's about the fact that the biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid.
So let me be clear: if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit. If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. These are the consequences of inaction. These are the stakes of the debate we're having right now.
Then, just like on the campaign trail, Obama made a series of promises that sounded good but did not say how those promises would be kept without adding to the federal deficit or taxing middle class Americans, other than through unspecified provisions to slow the growth of healthcare costs and unspecified steps to eliminate waste and inefficiency in Medicare:
If you already have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will provide you with more security and more stability … giving you the option to keep your insurance if you're happy with it. It will prevent insurance companies from dropping your coverage if you get too sick. It will give you the security of knowing that if you lose your job, move, or change your job, you will still be able to have coverage. It will limit the amount your insurance company can force you to pay for your medical costs out of your own pocket. And it will cover preventive care like check-ups and mammograms that save lives and money.
If you don't have health insurance, or are a small business looking to cover your employees, you'll be able to choose a quality, affordable health plan through a health insurance exchange – a marketplace that promotes choice and competition. Finally, no insurance company will be allowed to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition.
In due course, Obama brought the topic to his favorite subject – himself – by insisting that “this isn’t about me” (“I've heard that one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to "go for the kill." Another Republican Senator said that defeating health reform is about ‘breaking’ me.”).
Short on specifics as always, Obama said nothing to allay the concerns of syndicated columnist and Dem strategist Susan Estrich – and millions of other Americans:
The president is "not familiar" with the bill [explanatory link added by The Stiletto]. No one can explain how it will work yet, as Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., told a contentious town meeting. There are various plans, and negotiations are still in the early stages.
But whatever it is, we should be for it. …
So am I for health care reform? Do I support the House bill, whatever it is, or the Obama plan, which may or may not be the same thing?
Not yet. Not until I know what it is. Not until someone convinces me that whatever it is will do more good than harm, both for the country and for my family. Mother knows best.
Americans have had it with the smooth talk. Now they want straight talk. And once again, Obama did not deliver.
Editorial Note: CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller picked up on a subtle rhetorical shift meant to counter successful Repub efforts to equate “healthcare reform” and “rationing”:
Instead of "health care reform," President Obama made it clear he is really calling for "health insurance reform" at his primetime news conference Wednesday evening.
He used the phrase five times in his opening statement.
"Even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before. And health insurance reform is central to that effort," he said.
The White House clearly thinks that reforming health insurance is an easier concept to sell to Congress and the American people than a massive revamping of the health care system.
Americans hate the idea of government healthcare rationing as much as they hate the idea of heartless health insurance companies.
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