[Updates at the bottom of this post as of 5:52am CDT on AD 9-9-2009]
News is emanating from the White House that President Obama’s monumental speech will push for the infamous public option. It is well known that most Republicans will call this a deal breaker but at the same time liberal Democrats will say the opposite that no Health Care bill will get through if it doesn’t contain a public option.
Jonathan Weisman and Janet Adamy have reported in the Wall Street Journal that President Obama will be pushing for the public option. It is also being reported that there will be penalties imposed to those that are not paying for Health Care, regardless of the reasons.
White House aides acknowledged they expect little Republican support if any.
President Obama truly believes in his cult of personality. All he needs to do is make a hard sell by using his charismatic talking skills to both chambers of Congress and a national television audience. This he thinks will convince us all of government run health care.
I guess the Tea Party protests to the town hall protests didn’t make any impact upon the President. Not even from ardent supporters such as Camille Paglia. President Obama and his liberal supporters seem to live in a bubble that is immune to what is happening to the average American.
We as Americans will pay a high price for electing the most liberal president in our history. There may be a growing consensus that the Democratic Party is willing to pay a very high political price to bring us closer their idea of government run health care.
The Democratic Party do have the votes to push a health care bill with the public option, regardless if it is “trigger effect” or another form, it will be pushed through the American people be damned.
We may be witnessing history repeating itself when President Clinton tried to sell the country on health care reform 16 years earlier. Though the stakes are higher and the consequences greater.
The Democrats and liberals liked telling us that change was coming.
Well if they go through with this unwanted legislation, they will see what true change looks like in 2010 and 2012.
Yes, even the unthinkable may become probable, President Obama losing in 2012.
I personally thought this impossible, but if the speech is anything that has been reported as of this posting, then we can certainly hope for this kind of change.
_._
For the Wall Street Journal article by Jonathan Weisman and Janet Adamy click here.
To read Camille Paglia’s article click here.
_._
Update I: Speculation is running rampant as to what will be contained in President Obama’s speech this evening. Details are surfacing now that say a trigger effect to the Public Option is hurriedly being done behind closed doors to appease Republicans [try throwing some tort reform legislation and you’ll begin to have real support]. For the story by Kenneth R. Bazinet and Michael McCauliff of the New York Daily News click here.
Update II: The Baltimore Sun is reporting that liberal Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine has been the object of wild speculation as the key to pulling off a hollow bipartisan agreement for Health Care reform. Her name has come up often in relation to a trigger effect Public Option plan. For the article click here.
I think you misunderstand what “the public wants.”
True recent polls say that they don’t think Obama is doing a good job of leading on the issue – he let democracy work, I guess that was his first problem in your eyes.
However the TV shots of people who yell about losing their country are NOT THE MAJORITY.
At the most negative level, the country is (as usual) about equally divide on the issue of the public option with about 10% undecided. Moreover after the initial poll, when people are given information about what the public option means, this goes to about 70% in favor of the public option. These polls were done in August by both Pew and a Time poll I believe.
The tea parties DID make an impact on him, but he is not the president of just those people, he is also the president of the less vocal majority.
I know these kinds of polls are never shown on FOX, they have their own polls and their reporting bias is pretty obvious.
Yes, if we get a public option and it doesn’t work, the public will vote Obama out of office. That’s democracy. But that’s what conservatives thought about Social Security and the Clean Air and Water Acts and rural electrification and the same folks who protest any role of the federal government on health care are often the same ones who use those very same programs. Irony is a beach.
BTW, the whining about the “cult of personality” was always dumb, but now its getting old. Reagan did it and conservatives have beatified him for it, so the current angst about Obama is hardly unbiased.
And if Obama loses in 2012, so be it. Hopefully he will have tried to do what he thought was right and not compromised just to hold on to power – but I doubt you would give him even that much credit.
You assume a lot MacGregor.
I’m not a fan of Social Security and the clean air acts.
Plus regardless if the public option “works” or not, it’ll stay there forever just as Social Security is here forever.
Government always grows and never retracts.
When people continue to raise their voice in town halls, tea party protests, and contacting their congressional reps, and Obama still refuses to listen, you’ll see the majority vote Obama and his colleagues out of office.
Obama believes in a cult of personality because he thinks he can persuade people of his point of view through a speech? Don’t you think that’s a little disingenuous? All leaders, religious and political, give speeches on subjects in attempts to persuade people of their opinions. Some of us might even argue that it’s a better approach than yelling loudly at town hall meetings or holding incoherent “tea parties.”
And why would you oppose the clean air act (which is generally very popular, even if you oppose it)?
Yes, if we get a public option and it doesn’t work, the public will vote Obama out of office. That’s democracy.
Actually the bill isn’t set to go into effect until after the 2012 elections. So even if it turns out to be a disaster people won’t get the chance to vote Obama out because of it.
In terms of polling, support for health care reform tends to evaporate when you put a price tag on it.
“Yes, if we get a public option and it doesn’t work, the public will vote Obama out of office. That’s democracy.”
Actually the bill isn’t set to go into effect until after the 2012 elections. So even if it turns out to be a disaster people won’t get the chance to vote Obama out because of it.
All that is still beside the point. Political retribution is of no consequence. The reason to make sure things are done right in the first place is that the the consequences are great. Good policy will benefit society now and our posterity, bad policy has long lasting negative effects. I’m no fan of Obama, but I’d happily support anything he does that is good and give him due credit for it. I just don’t think what’s in the offering is good, and since there’s basically no going back (to something genuinely good or even the status quo), there’s good reason to oppose the entire bill.
It’s not a “cult of personality.” It’s called communication and trying to build a consensus, and it’s how politics is supposed to work. Too many ignorant and angry voices are spreading falsehoods about what is about to transpire, and it is the President’s JOB to get information out there and make this process as transparent as possible. He has spent months listening to the debates and the Republicans have NO proposal other than opposing any proposal he offers or any effort he makes to bring this country together – however large or small. It’s a sad, sad day when we have people protesting a message about working hard in school and taking responsibility for one’s future. Likewise, much of the opposition to health care reform remains sadly uninformed about the present system AND about the proposals at hand. Such a position does not build anything. It doesn’t even try to promote consensus. It doesn’t do anything at all to help the millions of people who are suffering because of our broken, inefficient, and corrupt system. It rests idly on the willingness of those who are comfortable with the current system to ignore the problem and look the other way. I’m disgusted by the “I have mine, who cares about everyone else” attitude so prevalent in these discussions. There are millions of Catholics, myself included, who support the President and this initiative.
He has spent months listening to the debates and the Republicans have NO proposal other than opposing any proposal he offers or any effort he makes to bring this country together –
You people keep repeating this, but it’s manifestly untrue. In fact, it is an out and out LIE. Republicans – elected officials, commentators, and think tankers – have offered various alternative proposals, but the President and his minions have ignored them all and continue to act as though the other side doesn’t exist. That’s certainly their prerogative because they have the numbers to do so, but stop pretending that the President is interested in “dialogue” and compromise.
Likewise, much of the opposition to health care reform remains sadly uninformed about the present system AND about the proposals at hand.
Why do you presume that the people protesting the current plan are the ignorant ones? Are you fully aware of the full scope of what’s being proposed? Have you scanned every page of the proposed legislation? Somehow I doubt it.
There are millions of Catholics, myself included, who support the President and this initiative.
And there are millions more who oppose it. Deal with it.
Tracey,
Please read this linked statement on Health Care Reform by Bishop Guglielmone: http://www.catholic-doc.org/BishopGuglielmone/Health%20Care%20memo.pdf
Also see this bishop’s less than approving letter on the plan:
http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/2440/Archbishop’s-Column/
Credit to Jay Anderson on that find.
And PPH’s president criticizing US Bishops for their stance. This was probably covered a few weeks ago. http://www.lifenews.com/nat5375.html
Tito, you couldnt be helped by a public option?
Obama is proposing we get to have and keep healthcare whether jobless or having a pre-existing condition. Also, if you want to keep the healthcare you have, you can. I fail to see the problem. Ill wager most of the folks posting here have socialized medicine already-medicare anyone? Paul, what are these competing plans? Im familiar with Max Baucus’, what else? The president has been more than fair on taking input from all sides. Wouldnt this be good for us?
[…] previous posting previewing this speech click here. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Obama Will Call for Public Option in Health Care […]
Health care or not, I’m partisan to a president that can lower my taxes and fix what the housing market “greed” created… Just get the job market back up and avoid more scams…including “communism”