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Obama had a good speach tonight
Thrakk
Member Posts: 1,226
I'm not really concerned that the health care bill will fail (because I don't think it will fail) - or about any sacrifices that people will have to make because of health care reform - those sacrifices are real minor compared to the greater good that health care reform will accomplish. If you would like to discuss the sacrifices vs. the gains feel free to make a chart... the gains definitely outweigh the losses.
But one thing I liked about Obama's speach tonight is how he addressed that the recovery act and a new healh care reform will help our economy.
OBAMA: "to raise a broader issue that I think has colored how we look at health care reform, let me just talk about deficit and debt, because part of what's been happening in this debate is the American people are understandably queasy about the huge deficits and debt that we're facing right now.
And the feeling is, all right, we had the bank bailout, we had the recovery package, we had the supplemental, we've got the budget, we're seeing numbers, trillions here and trillions there. And so I think, legitimately, people are saying, "Look, we're in a recession. I'm cutting back. I'm having to give up things. And yet all I see is government spending more and more money."
And that argument, I think, has been used effectively by people who don't want to change health care to suggest that somehow this is one more government program. So I just want to address that point very quickly.
First of all, let's understand that, when I came in, we had a $1.3 trillion deficit -- annual deficit that we had already inherited. We had to immediately move forward with a stimulus package because the American economy had lost trillions of dollars of wealth. Consumers had lost through their 401(k)s, through home values, you name it, they had lost trillions of dollars. That all just went away.
That was the day I was sworn in; it was already happening. And we had 700,000 jobs that were being lost. So we felt it was very important to put in place a recovery package that would help stabilize the economy.
Then we had to pass a budget by law, and our budget had a 10-year projection. And I just want everybody to be clear about this. If we had done nothing, if you had the same old budget as opposed to the changes we made in our budget, you'd have a $9.3 trillion deficit over the next 10 years. Because of the changes we've made, it's going to be $7.1 trillion.
Now, that's not good, but it's $2.2 trillion less than it would have been if we had the same policies in place when we came in.
So the reason I point this out is to say that the debt and the deficit are deep concerns of mine. I am very worried about federal spending. And the steps that we've taken so far have reduced federal spending over the next 10 years by $2.2 trillion.
It's not enough. But in order for us to do more, we're not only going to have to eliminate waste in the system -- and, by the way, we had a big victory yesterday by eliminating a weapons program, the F- 22, that the Pentagon had repeatedly said we didn't need -- so we're going to have to eliminate waste there.
We're going to have to eliminate no-bid contracts. We're going to have to do all kinds of reforms in our budgeting. But we're also going to have to change health care. Otherwise, we can't change that $7.1 trillion gap in the way that the American people want it to change.
So to all -- everybody who's out there who has been ginned about this idea that the Obama administration wants to spend and spend and spend, the fact of the matter is, is that we inherited an enormous deficit, enormous long-term debt projections. We have not reduced it as much as we need to and as I'd like to.
But health care reform is not going to add to that deficit. It's designed to lower it. That's part of the reason why it's so important to do, and to do now."
BUT BACK TO HEALTH CARE
the real complaints have been that Obama hasn't assigned a way to pay for the last 1/3 of the health care reform. He told the audience his idea:
OBAMA: " The remaining one-third is about what the argument has been about of late. What I've said is that there may be a number of different ways to raise money. I put forward what I thought was the best proposal, which was to limit the deductions, the itemized deductions, for the wealthiest Americans.
People like myself could take the same percentage deduction that middle class families do. And that would raise sufficient funds for that final one-third.
Now so far we haven't seen any of the bills adopt that. There are other ideas that are out there. I continue to think my idea is the best one. But I'm not foreclosing some of these other ideas as the committees are working them through.
The one commitment that I've been clear about is I don't want that final one-third of the cost of health care to be completely shouldered on the backs of middle-class families who are already struggling in a difficult economy.
And so, if I see a proposal that is primarily funded through taxing middle-class families, I'm going to be opposed to that because I think there are better ideas to do it.
Now there are -- you know, I have not yet seen what the Senate Finance Committee is producing. They've got a number of ideas. But we haven't seen a final draft. The House suggested a surcharge on wealthy Americans. And my understanding, although I haven't seen the final versions, is that there has been talk about making that basically only apply to families whose joint income is $1 million.
To me, that meets my principle that it's not being shouldered by families who are already having a tough time.
But what I want do is to see what emerges from these committees, continuing to work to find more savings, because I actually think that it's possible for us to fund even more of this process through identifying waste in the system.
Try to narrow as much as possible the new revenue that's needed on the front end. And then see how we can piece this thing together in a way that's acceptable to both Democrats and I hope some Republicans."
People want Obama just to hurry up and say how he will pay for the last 1/3 of health care reform. But we shouldn't forget that the reform is much better than the status quo.
Comments
I didn't actually hear the speech cause of work, but I agree our health care system needs some kind of reform, whether its the way obama plans or anything.
The President failed to provide any sort-of guarantee of a PUBLIC OPTION. It was an awful speech. The worst ever given by Pres. Obama, in MY view. He did NOT even bother reaching out to the "blue dog" Democrats who are causing so much troubling and preventing REAL reform. And is he going to hold another speech on the issue . . . and if so when?
Frankly, it was disheartening. It was a terrible speech.
I am even less confident now than before.
Politicians never guarantee anything, and they shouldn't. All a guarantee ever does is come back to bite you in the ass. Nobody cares about the guarantee unless it doesn't happen.
Strongly supporting it and saying you believe it to work is the smart thing to do. Speaking in absolutes is always stupid.
The Official God FAQ
Politicians never guarantee anything, and they shouldn't. All a guarantee ever does is come back to bite you in the ass. Nobody cares about the guarantee unless it doesn't happen.
Strongly supporting it and saying you believe it to work is the smart thing to do. Speaking in absolutes is always stupid.
Ordinarily, I'd agree. However, the public option is the key to long term cost reduction. Without a public option the reform bill (whatever form it takes) will not be enough to reduce costs long term. Any bill that doesn't include a public option is unacceptable and Obama should have clearly stated so.
Obama is very good at giving speeches.
unless his teleprompters implode.
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
His speech was just that - a speech. However, his was completely full of lies. Do not take the word of any politician, or even my word, regarding the contents of the bill. Read it yourself. It is only 1,000 pages; however, if you simply remove all the line breaks and bullet points, you would be left with possibly only 500 pages of full text. A 2-3 day read at most.
Here, I think, is an extremely sickening video of a woman telling Obama of her mother receiving a pacemaker at 99 years old (she is now 106) and then her subsequently asking if such coverage would be available for the elderly on the government healthcare plan.
Obama's response, in paraphase, was "We need to understand that this option will not fix everything and we need to eliminate waste. In such an example, counseling would be provided and she could be prescribed pain medication".
In other words, she is too old for coverage and would simply need to be given end of life counseling and take a pill.
www.hyscience.com/archives/2009/07/video_obama_tel.php
And, do not try to say "It was taken out of context!"
No, it was not. She asked a question, he gave an answer.
Sure are a lot of people on the "we need to do SOMETHING" bandwagon, regardless of whether it's good or bad.
"We need to pass this healthcare bill NOW. It will save everyone and fix everything!"
"What's in it?"
"I have no idea, but it needs to pass NOW!"
Same crap Bush and Paulson used for the first bailout. ...which was mainly supported by Democrats, mind you. Republicans at least showed a little semblance of having a pair and saying no.
I think it was Charles Rangle who, after helping to get the non-stimulus bill passed, said something like, "I don't know if it will help at all, but it's a good feeling to know we did SOMETHING." Is the bill good or bad, Charles? He doesn't know. But he sure FEELS good spending your money, controlling your life, and having done SOMETHING.
Obama keeps spending YOUR money, and he keeps putting the blame on Bush. (He mostly sucked, too, btw.) I don't know how anyone can take this guy seriously.
This stuff isn't a Republican vs. Democrat thing. It's a Big Government vs. you and your wallet and your freedom thing.
"The more government spends, the more freedom is lost."
If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait till it's free.
I hope you come down with a nasty case of the bird flu.
Ahhhhh, I get it !!!!
You're trying to make the point that some people want the reward without the effort. You're trying to point out how so many people are willing to lay down their freedoms and liberties for a governmental promise to take care of their life and make everything easy and painless. At the same time you're showing how some American's have no problem taking the rewards of someone else's labor and using them as their own.
What a creative way of participating in this discussion.
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I would re-word what you said to something like... "do not take the word of any politicians...especially if they have not read the Bill they are trying to sell you".
The most ridiculous thing about the speech itself is the fact that Obama admitted he has not read the healthcare bill he's trying to sell everybody. I mean, are you kidding me? All that talk, day after day, and you have not read the bill itself?!
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