Obama's Healthcare Speech - Page 4

On September 10 2009 10:54 TeCh)PsylO wrote:


Didn't Bush pass the stimulus bill? Maybe that's why it is reminiscent of Bush. To be fair, both the credit crisis and the health care industry are/were very serious and need serious attention. As Obama said, we can't keep pushing solutions back term after term because it is politically comfortable.

On September 10 2009 10:48 TeCh)PsylO wrote:



The people in the room know the fundamental problems, and the details. It seems he was really speaking to the people at home, attempting to change the tone of the public conversation to put more pressure on "moderates". The more he talks about common goals and American ideals, the harder it is for right-wing spokesman like Palin and Limbaugh to bash his platform. That has really been the problem with this debate, it is being manipulated by unintelligent ideologues. Obama needs to marginalize these people (he certainly has the political skill to do so), and focus on the consequences of not taking any action. Republicans are significantly more politically savvy in their ability to shape the public debate, but the reality of our health care system is dire enough to speak for itself. Anyone who has dealt with medical issues, and has at least looked at an itemized bill will not argue against health care reform.

On September 10 2009 10:38 GoShox wrote:
Video of the "liar" part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0PqBiNUyqU

EXTREMELY pitiful for any Republican (or anyone in politics for that matter) to be that immature. Apparently it was Joe Wilson from South Carolina... with the Republicans already down as they are now, I don't know why they resort to silly antics like this.

On September 10 2009 10:20 Last Romantic wrote:
and now when he's supposed to be 'giving details' they're vague and not particularly helpful.

First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.

Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. 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.

We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies – because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives.

if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who don't currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage. We will do this by creating a new insurance exchange – a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices.

For those individuals and small businesses who still cannot afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we will provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need.

That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance – just as most states require you to carry auto insurance.

Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95% of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements.

On September 10 2009 10:54 TeCh)PsylO wrote:


Didn't Bush pass the stimulus bill? Maybe that's why it is reminiscent of Bush. To be fair, both the credit crisis and the health care industry are/were very serious and need serious attention. As Obama said, we can't keep pushing solutions back term after term because it is politically comfortable.

On September 10 2009 11:33 motbob wrote:
I don't see how this is C-level content. He explained how the bill will help consumers of health insurance. He explained how the bill would decrease costs. I gotta refer you back to my post at the bottom of page 2 that has a lot of quotes about his specific plan.

Also I know a lot of people don't care about this, but he gave a shoutout to the progressives who had been freaking out about his position on the public option. He basically told everyone to calm the fuck down and that the public option isn't that big of a deal, even though he wants it in the bill.

On September 10 2009 11:02 Mystlord wrote:

If they know the fundamental problems, why aren't they dealing with them? It will probably take longer than Obama's current term to fix the underlying problems of our health care system. At the very least, Medicare needs to be completely reworked because this incentives system isn't working. By our current health care system, tests = money for doctors. Even if they're junk tests. If you ask me, we're just running a moral hazard economy system for health care. It's not in the doctors' best interests to do an x-ray to confirm a diagnosis if he can get more money for an MRI. This also leads to waste, which leads to rising costs. This bill isn't addressing these problems, it's just expanding coverage, which isn't exactly a bad thing, but you can't talk about the economy (as Obama did in the beginning of the speech), without trying to cut down on COSTS not on PRICES.

On September 10 2009 11:41 Mystlord wrote:

And I have to refer you back to my earlier post. While this is a nice bill, it's only expanding coverage and not addressing the true costs of heatlh care. Even though he says that this is going to decrease costs, heatlh care always increases no matter what you do. Not only that, but the growth increases with every passing year. According to the White House, the current average annual growth in health care costs is 6.1%. We're coming to the point when the previous baby boom generation is hitting retirement age. Cost can only increase at this point.

On September 10 2009 12:06 Alizee- wrote:
Ok I'm roarin' in on this one and I call bullshit. You hear the oh so charismatic speaking from Obama about what the bill will and won't do, yet at the end of the day it doesn't matter what he can convince people of what it says, but rather their own reading of the bill itself. There's always the bullshit of its too long to read or they're not qualified to read all of it and yet its been damn near a half a year. They haven't done anything significant as of late to curb job loss(if they ever did) and quite frankly all they wanna do is put themselves in a position for reelection.

"Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. " Really? So by not spending tax payer dollars our deficit goes up? Its like a whole new level of political talk that is simply on another plane of existence our mere mortal minds cannot comprehend.

On September 10 2009 12:11 motbob wrote:

There's no bill yet, dude. There's ~5 different drafts being written up in Congress, but nothing released by the White House. We can't READ THE BILL OMG if there is no bill.

The versions of the bill that have come from the House are deficit neutral. I think the Senate versions are too.