Obama's Health Care Speech

Invisible Fan · Sep 9, 2009

OddsOn said:

So exactly how many of these speeches do we need to hear? I thought the whole country wanted change and hope?

Americans do not want fascism and that is exactly what Obama and the radical leftist elitist democrats are pushing for.

This isn't about health care reform, it was you can change everything by opening up interstate purchases of policies and get the government out of the health care industry since it is the main cause of high prices.

I love how they like to attempt to diminish the town hall meetings and call out people who are against their radical agendas. But if it were a bunch of leftists doing the protesting it would be hailed as a great example of free speech in America.....what a bunch of hypocrites!
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rhadamanthus · Sep 9, 2009

Batman Jones said:

By changing the minds of their constituents. Duh.
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Pardon me, batman. Allow me to rephrase the question:

How will a speech at this point change the minds of the constituents of the 10 or so senators still needed to pass a useful bill?

I can even answer for you with similar intellectually stimulating rejoinder as displayed in your original reply:

the future batman jones said:

By using his vocal chords such that the tonality and inflection thereby created can be interpreted upon reciept in the ears of american citizenry to the effect of causing chemical shifts in the cerebellum region of their brains with a cognitive outcome that would shift their opinion to supporting this bill. Duh.
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Of course, in the interest of the actual intent of my question - what makes the idealist batman jones think that Obama's speech will actually be received and welcomed from a good chunk of people who

1) May not listen at all
2) May be indoctrinated into a panic by Fox news and their tea-partyin' tag teams

Call me cynical, but I'm not sure a speech can make much of a dent in the idiocy proudly displayed by a good segment of the population. Call me really cynical, but I'm not sure that the senators would listen per say even if what you hypothesize takes place.

Batman Jones · Sep 9, 2009

rhadamanthus said:

How will a speech at this point change the minds of the constituents of the 10 or so senators still needed to pass a useful bill?
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Don't take that "duh" bad, rhad. I was winking when I typed it. I just don't like smilies unless I'm making fun of someone.

The answer is:

Because we've been down this road before with Obama, his back against the wall, public opinion skating out of control, him giving the speech of his political life where the stakes are survival, and every time he's nailed it. From the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Iowa where his career was legitimately made to his Jed Bartlett-esque, historic race speech.

The difference is that, in this case, he has far better material to work with and a far more ready audience.

Everybody understands pre-existing conditions, for example, and everybody has a visceral response to the way they're treated by the insurance industry, because everybody knows someone that has one. Everybody understands illness and aging and the need for affordable care.

Better, Obama has flat sucked on this issue so far so he has nowhere to go but up. And make no mistake: this is the speech of his political life. His presidency rides on it and he knows it.

And this guy is really freaking good with his back to the wall.

He's going to get out of his head a little and speak from the heart, which is where his speech will be felt by millions of Americans -- some who will watch live and many more who will watch it in clips for the next week as opinion is truly being formed on the largest issue of our day.

Does that answer your question?

rhadamanthus · Sep 9, 2009

Batman Jones said:

Don't take that "duh" bad, rhad. I was winking when I typed it. I just don't like smilies unless I'm making fun of someone.

The answer is:

Because we've been down this road before with Obama, his back against the wall, public opinion skating out of control, him giving the speech of his political life where the stakes are survival, and every time he's nailed it. From the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Iowa where his career was legitimately made to his Jed Bartlett-esque, historic race speech.

The difference is that, in this case, he has far better material to work with and a far more ready audience.

Everybody understands pre-existing conditions, for example, and everybody has a visceral response to the way they're treated by the insurance industry, because everybody knows someone that has one. Everybody understands illness and aging and the need for affordable care.

Better, Obama has flat sucked on this issue so far so he has nowhere to go but up. And make no mistake: this is the speech of his political life. His presidency rides on it and he knows it.

And this guy is really freaking good with his back to the wall.

He's going to get out of his head a little and speak from the heart, which is where his speech will be felt by millions of Americans -- some who will watch live and many more who will watch it in clips for the next week as opinion is truly being formed on the largest issue of our day.

Does that answer your question?
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Much better.

But again, I'm left to wonder if it will make enough impact to influence that many senators - particularly GOP senators.

rimrocker · Sep 9, 2009

rhadamanthus said:

Much better.

But again, I'm left to wonder if it will make enough impact to influence that many senators - particularly GOP senators.
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You only need to influence 1-2 GOP Senators and shore up 3-4 Dem Senators if you don't want to go the reconciliation route. If you go reconciliation, you could probably pass it tomorrow with 55 votes..

gifford1967 · Sep 9, 2009

Obama needs to make sure he includes some powerful anecdotes about people with insurance who have been denied coverage on technicalities. That will get the attention of the majority of the country that already has insurance.

Also, he needs to follow up the speech with some major arm twisting of any reluctant Dems.

The Republicans are now irrelavent.

uolj · Sep 9, 2009

An interesting take on how this speech could affect the outcome of health care reform:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/biggest-moment-of-his-presidency-well.html

B-Bob · Sep 9, 2009

rhadamanthus said:

Much better.

But again, I'm left to wonder if it will make enough impact to influence that many senators - particularly GOP senators.
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I agree. We're talking about a bunch of people who don't want their kids to listen to the president telling them that working hard in school is good, but we expect them to be swayed by a speech on healthcare?

I so want it to be some pivotal moment, but what the president needs is a net of soundbitery so dumbed down and consistent that it could make someone like OddsOn pause, ever so briefly, before typing "fascist" on the interwebz.

OddsOn, if you want to talk about fascism, I'd suggest two interesting courses:
(1) look up which American family dynasties were heavily involved in german fascist industries and opposed going to war with the 3rd reich. Hint: one such family has sired presidents!
(2) look up Il Duce's definition of fascism.
(3) look up the 3rd Reich's view of socialism, your other big "ism" word lobbed at Obama.

and... get back to us!

rimrocker · Sep 9, 2009

B-Bob said:

I agree. We're talking about a bunch of people who don't want their kids to listen to the president telling them that working hard in school is good, but we expect them to be swayed by a speech on healthcare?
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Nope... those are the crazy dead-enders who made up the 25% that always thought W was just swell.

The speech is aimed at people who get pounded by the crazies to the point of thinking, "well, they may have a point."

thacabbage · Sep 9, 2009

pgabriel said:

f) stop emphasizing protecting the uninsured, emphasize how its going to benefit the 250MM that are insured.
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this needs to be underscored. the injection of the greater moral dilemma is not only pointless but also harmful in its susceptibility as a convenient 'socialism' strawman. o' needs to stick to pragmatism, though this won't do one damn bit of good. i don't expect the same constituents gullible enough to buy into the death panel lies to actually understand market forces even at their most watered down denominator, while the GOP's leaders have already obviously made up their minds.

B-Bob · Sep 9, 2009

I hear you, but I still think he needs a web of uniform soundbitery that would make your average TV jingle seeth with envy.

DonkeyMagic · Sep 9, 2009

B-Bob said:

I hear you, but I still think he needs a web of uniform soundbitery that would make your average TV jingle seeth with envy.
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Social healthcare, that's the name.
that name again is social healthcare.

signed,

Major · Sep 9, 2009

B-Bob said:

I agree. We're talking about a bunch of people who don't want their kids to listen to the president telling them that working hard in school is good, but we expect them to be swayed by a speech on healthcare?
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The goal isn't to convince those people though. It needs to be to convince the middle of the country, which initially supported reform, but now has been scared/confused/lied to by the other side and has started to question it. You get those people back on board, and you easily have a solid majority in favor of it. The crazies would just have to deal with it.

Major · Sep 9, 2009

From what I've read of the excerpts so far, there is definitely potential. It seems to be the sweeping emotional case for reform, will simple answers on what it does and doesn't do. Still seems to focus a lot on the uninsured, unfortunately.

The key to the whole thing will be Obama's delivery of it and whether he still has that ability to turn public perception.

rimrocker · Sep 9, 2009

Here we go...

In Health Care Speech, Obama Is Expected to Stick to the Nitty-Gritty

By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 6:04 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/09/AR2009090901771_pf.html

President Obama will seek Wednesday night to define in the most specific terms yet the elements he considers essential to reform the nation's health care system when he delivers a speech before Congress that his advisers say will be short on poetry and long on prose.

According to brief excerpts of the prepared speech that the White House released Wednesday evening, Obama intends to reassure the millions of Americans with health insurance that his proposed changes will benefit them, saying, "It will provide more security and stability" by ensuring that insurance companies cannot drop sick patients from their plans.

After being urged in recent weeks by some in his own party to be more assertive, Obama will also angrily condemn what he calls "the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government," urging both parties to work together and quickly pass reform legislation.

"The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action," he will say, according to the excerpts. "Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."

The address is expected to last roughly 40 minutes, excluding breaks for applause, and will amount to Obama's definitive statement on health care in America.

But unlike his past thematic addresses -- his campaign speech on race in Philadelphia, for example, or his defense of human rights as an integral element of U.S. national security policy at the National Archives -- this one will likely have more of a PowerPoint feel as the president pursues clarity of vision above all else.

"This isn't one that is going to be measured by the number of standing ovations," said a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the address in advance. "It's going to be a workman-like speech."

The speech has been crafted to appeal simultaneously to members of Congress and the people who elected them, two groups coming off of a tumultuous August recess together.

The frustration apparent in weeks of congressional town hall forums over the summer has now been brought back to Washington, and Democrats and Republicans are predictably interpreting the outpouring of emotion they witnessed in different ways.

Obama tonight will attempt to step in and clear the air.

"Tonight's the night when he can describe the forest in terms that people can understand," said a senior adviser.

Advised by a senior staff conscious of Congressional prerogative and mindful of the disastrous consequences of the Clinton administration's go-it-alone approach in confronting the same topic, Obama has so far ceded the details of a health care bill to Capitol Hill, pitching the idea of reform in principle but declining to mark out in specifics what he means by it.

In an interview broadcast Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Obama acknowledged that "out of an effort to give Congress the ability to do their thing and not step on their toes" he "probably left too much ambiguity out there."

Confusion about the impact of a legislative overhaul appears to be concentrated primarily among the tens of millions of Americans who now have health insurance and wonder what a change would mean to them -- the bulk of the electorate.

His senior advisers say this speech will leave no doubt about what Obama wants in a bill, and will indicate what he is willing to fight for and what aspects are open to compromise. In the latter category will likely fall a government-run insurance option to help cover some of the 46 million Americans who currently lack health coverage.

Obama intends to reiterate his preference that any final bill include a government-run insurance plan, according to senior advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the speech. But, according to one of the advisers, he will say it is "not an end in itself."

The adviser said Obama will note that individuals with private insurance would not be eligible for any public plan, offering reassurance to conservative critics and the health insurance industry, which has complained that such an option would create unfair government-subsidized competition.

A "public option" is highly popular among House Democrats and much of Obama's electoral base, including a group of former campaign staffers who rallied this week in front of the White House demanding that it be included in a final bill.

But the measure faces a harder time in the Senate, where Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's recent death has left the Democrats one vote short of a filibuster-proof majority. Some conservative Senate Democrats are as concerned by the public option as their Republican colleagues, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who upon returning from the recess issued a statement calling on the president to start the health care reform process all over again.

"We've been doing this for how long?" White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday in response to McConnell's demand. "This is an issue first raised nationally by Teddy Roosevelt -- not Teddy Roosevelt IV, but Teddy Roosevelt. I mean how much longer do we have to talk about it?"

What Obama says during what will be at least his third time taking the health care debate into a prime-time television slot could alter the shape of the Congressional debate in the weeks and months ahead.

Over the weekend, Gibbs said that Obama did not plan to issue any veto threats during the speech as a way of defining what he wants and does not want in a final bill. Gibbs backed away from that prediction Tuesday, and Obama said of health care legislation Wednesday morning that "if it's not fully paid for, then I will not be supportive."

In outlining his own plan, Obama will be relinquishing the flexibility he has tried to maintain while Congress worked through different options. Public support for the way Obama has handled health care has dipped sharply over that time and further delay will likely only deepen that erosion.

"Everything that has needed to be said has been said," David Axelrod, a senior Obama adviser, said in an interview last week on the day the speech was announced. "It's time to bring the conversation to a close."

As Obama steps onto the dais tonight amid a caustic national debate over his signature domestic issue, White House advisers say a meaningful bill to reform the way Americans pay for and receive health care has never been closer to passage.

Some of Obama's senior advisers, among them Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, worked in the Clinton administration when that White House-led health care reform effort died without ever being put to a single vote in Congress.

Sixteen years later, four of the five Congressional committees with jurisdiction over health-care legislation have approved a bill. Only the Senate Finance Committee is still drafting legislation, and its chairman, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), has set a mid-September deadline to complete business. Although Baucus has been scrambling for a compromise that could bring at least some Republican votes to a health reform package, he said Wednesday that he planned to move forward with or without GOP support.

"The underlying fundamentals for change are all there," said another senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss White House strategy. "All of the elements are there."

In the White House view, the town hall meetings, despite the theatrics, provided clear evidence that the public wants the health care system to be changed, even if there isn't broad agreement over what those changes should be.

Gibbs noted that, even though McConnell called for a do-over, "it is good to know that Senator McConnell believes we have a problem out there."

But hours before he delivers his speech, Republicans have already begun criticizing his reform plans. In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Rep. John Boehner (Ohio), the House Republican leader, said the American people are tired of Obama's "spend, tax, and borrow agenda."

In his "Good Morning America" interview, Obama said that he is facing "an unyielding partisanship," despite what he said were efforts that he and some Republicans have undertaken to encourage cooperation across party lines.

"In some ways, I think it has gotten worse," Obama said. "On the Republican side there are wonderful people who really operated on the basis of pragmatism and common sense, and getting things done. Those voices have been shouted down on that side."
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rimrocker · Sep 9, 2009

Limbaugh speaks... stupidly...

Rush Limbaugh tells listeners you're better off not having insurance at all and simply paying out of pocket. You can make the best choices about cost and which doctors to use.

"You oughtta try this, folks, just a standard doctor visit, offer to pay for it yourself," said Limbaugh. "I guarantee it'll cost you less than if you use your insurance."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
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rimrocker · Sep 9, 2009

More excerpts...

"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last."

"As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most."

"Nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/ne...ess_season_for_action_has_arrived.php?ref=fpa
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Codman · Sep 9, 2009

No matter how well or thoroughly Barack explains his plan or reaches "across the aisle," conservative leaders will twist his words and brainwash listeners/viewers.

*cough* cough* Faux News *cough

Cannonball · Sep 9, 2009

Obama's sideburns aren't even. The one on his right (our left) is longer.

mateo · Sep 9, 2009

I wonder which a-hole Congressman yelled out "liar" during the speech.

Stay classy, jerk.

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