Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Instant Thoughts on the President's Healthcare Reform Speech


An absolute home run. He even slipped in an acknowledgement of the necessity for tort reform. The moral argument underlying the need for fundamental reform and a broadening of the safety net and our duty to do more for the poor, the unlucky, the vulnerable was quite powerful, I must say.

14 comments:

Nathan Strange said...

Loved it. And I couldn't believe the purely partisan idiocy from the other side. Unbelievable.

No, it's not perfect, but it's a great big step in the right direction.

Victor Lazaron said...

I completely agree. The absolute strongest parts of the speech are these parts where he points out the simple truths that the system we have now fails the basic needs of the American people - our friends, families, and neighbors. Not only the uninsured, but everyone who could easily lose coverage after being diagnosed with a costly and serious illness.

The moral case for insuring basic health care to all citizens is incredibly strong. That we are the only advanced democratic country which fails to do so ought to be shameful to us all. The details can be worked out and reworked overtime, but the moral imperative is clear - and I think BHO made a very fine case for it tonight.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more Buckeye, the Dancing!, the Music!, the Acting!, OH, you weren't talking about the Opening Episode of "Glee"?????

And I know Cleveland hasn't had a baseball team in awhile, but a "Homerun" is an individual effort, impressive, but often meaningless to the outcome of the game... And you Do know what happens to a rookie who admires his Home Run?? Gets drilled in the ribs next time up...
I guess you could have said it was a "Touchdown Pass" like the 7 or 8 USC's gonna drop on your Buck-Eyes...

To the Poor: Get a Job, the Unlucky, Stop buying Lottery Tickets, the Vulnerable, quit expecting others to protect you...

Oh and the part about Tort Reform? He had his fingers crossed...

Frank "I have MY Birth Certificate" Drackman

HudsonMD said...

Buckeye,
I agreee the speech was riveting. But the details and specifics of his plan are still vague and the explanation that we are going to pay for the public plan with premiums is misguided. There is no way that the gov't plan will be able to stay solvent when millions of patients with pre-existing illnesses jump on board. So what this means is that the public option will be scrapped or we will be called upon to subsidize it with even higher taxes! And to penalize people for not buying health insurance is not right and i feel will end up being challenged as unconstitutional. Obama's tort reform mention will never be part of this bill. no way. that was just for show. also an 8% penalty for not covering your employees as a small business owner is way cheaper than offering them health insurance. so guess what??? millions and millions of currently covered employees will be out on the market for the public option. we will all end up paying alot for this out of taxes in the future!

Anonymous said...

Obama reads the teleprompter better than most newscasters. At best this speech was a ground out to the second baseman. We've all seen that Obama delivers a great speech but nothing else. I voted for Obama and I should have voted for Ron Paul.
My issues with the speech. One, Obama said healthcare will cost 900 billion over "x" years which is less than the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Then get us out of the middle east now. I think I remember Obama saying he would bring the troops home right?
At the beginning of the speech Obama gave himself credit for saving the economy. If you call 21% real unemployment economic success then I guess Obama is right. Shadowstats.com takes out all of the Bureau of Labor Statistics phony adjustments. Just google birth death model adjustment creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. I remember when Rahm "Clownboy" Emmanual was on Meet the Press talking about the only issue in the economic stimulus that's not up for negotiation is 3.5 million new jobs. Obama's administration has created 150,000 new jobs.
Get rid of for profit insurance companies in all states and then we can have a discussion about real healthcare reform that doesn't bankrupt this country.

radinc said...

Good speech, but kind of a lame nod to tort reform..

Yeah, we'll have someone "study it", maybe create a committee.. or two!

later,
radinc

Jeffrey Parks MD FACS said...

The post represented by spontaneous reaction to the speech. I agree, the body of the speech lacked deatils, especially with regard to financing. And the tort reform bit was, in retrosepect pretty weak. But at least we saw the words "tort reform" emanate from Obama's mouth. I take that as progress. It's the equivalent to hearing CheneyBut

He seized the momentum back last night, I think. The moral argument is a powerful one. He demonstrated he's willing to compromise on some issues, but also that he's determined to risk his presidency on health care. THat sort of courageousness in this cynical age of political expediency was rather refreshing I thought.

Meanwhile, the GOP contrinues to make a fool of itself (I'm looking at you Mr. Wilson).

Attorney Andy said...

A couple of points, Buckeye. First, Obama is not the one charged with providing the details. Congress drafts the bill, Obama signs it. He signaled what provisions he likes (and therefore would sign) out of the current debate. He gave Congress an outline. They need to now work off of that outline and fill in the gaps. He called out the congressmen and suggested they stop heckling and start coming up with ideas to improve the debate. Second, much to my dismay, Obama has done more than give lip service to tort reform. He voted for tort reform (that passed) in Illinois while a state senator. He actually believes in it. If it's kept out of the bill, it will be because of the efforts of the majority of Democrats in Congress, not Obama. Last, I agree with you that the speech was very effective in contrasting Obama's attempts at bipartisan debate and the Republicans' disrespectful antics. Last night put that difference on full display. If Republicans diagree with the substance of his proposals (the actual proposals, not the fairy tale proposals cited by right wing news outlets), they need to tell us why and offer an alternative. Obama is so committed to getting something done, he might actually listen.

Jeffrey Parks MD FACS said...

Wow, attorneys are visiting my humble site. Now that's what I call bipartisan!

Actually, I agree with what you say. Imagine that.

Anonymous said...

I wish he'd given this speech two months ago. It was a good kick in the pants to remind Americans why we need to do something, but my sense is that many people already have their minds made up and have basically shut their ears to anything else.

Tort reform (or "torte" reform, as it's unwittingly dubbed by all the bad spellers out there - does Sachertorte with chocolate and whipped cream need reforming? I think not!) might help cut down on some of the defensive medicine currently being practiced. Not sure how much this will help overall costs, however. The real driver, IMHO, is utilization and the medical arms race.

Frank Bauer said...

Increasing access to a system that costs too much doesn't solve any problems and has the potential to set us back.

He made a good point when he said that we could pay for increased access with savings from reduced waste....BUT I have not seen any evidence that Congress can come up with a strategy to pull that off.

I fear we will end up with costly entitlements that do little to change the current state of affairs. Very little bang for our buck at a time when we have so many pressing investment needs.

Beth said...

Obama giving a 'nod' to tort reform.....big deal. He will say anything and then do exactly as he pleases.

Individuals should do more for the poor, government can only take and waste. There will always be someone falling through the cracks. Accoutability is possible locally but impossible on a larger scale...when a bunch of government lackies who couldn't care less are in charge.

Individuals will only sit back and expect more and more from the government as the government presumes to do more and more. This kills motivation for individuals to go out and do what needs to be done.

You people who think the government is responsible for taking care of all our needs....it is you who are sending this country down the tubes.

Thanks for nothing.

Go ahead and don't publish this comment.

Anonymous said...

As goes Massachusetts, so will the rest of the country. Mandated health insurance became a reality in Massachusetts a couple of years ago. Less than 3% of the state population is uninsured. This has been a remarkable success. Unfortunately, the reality is that it is unaffordable. The state has now embarked on a road back to capitation. Any way you look at it, capitation will lead to rationing. As long as this is accepted by Americans, there will be no problems. Unfortunately, the rhetoric behind health care reform portrays health care as an inherent right with citizenship. Unlimited health care without condition is what Americans feel they're entitled to. We can't have both.

tom said...

listen not to his words, rather watch his actions...
He says: I want a new Washington
He does: Meet MY new czars

He says: we must all be willing to sacrifice
he does:Bring the plane around Michelle wants to go out.
He says: If you like your insurance you can keep it.
He does: Promote $ incentives for employers to drop coverage and pay the fine forcing the your loss
He says: I believe in America
He does: Constantly apologize for America