Obama: ‘We are going to get this done…inaction is not an option’
EmailHere are the quotes of the day:
"Sotomayor on track — Michigan’s economy, not so much" — Rick Klein, lead line of "The Note"
"Seems that Obama might do better to focus on encouraging folks here about how his policies — the stimulus package, in particular — are going to actually put people back to work. If it's a teachable moment, it may be more of one for the President than for those he's visiting." — editorial in today's Detroit Free Press
"I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone: We are going to get this done…Inaction is not an option. And for those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don't bet against us." — President Obama, on health care reform legislation wending its way through Congress
"I myself had never thought I would ever want to go to the moon. But the Apollo landing made me realize that the impossible was becoming possible, a very consoling thought for a Pole in a Communist prison." — Adam Michnik, former Polish student activist, reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, which he learned about while serving a three-year sentence for opposing Communist rule
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Obama needs to be stopped in his tracks with this healthcare reform proposal.
It reflects a gross naivete of the complexities of the healthcare delivery system, healthcare financing, and what drives behavior.
Accordingly, we must conclude that his motives are not pure- government control at any cost? This is fascism.
Posted by: ray alletto | July 14, 2009, 10:51 am 10:51 am
Ray: do know what its like to be unemployed with no unemplyment insurance, denied care due to preisting conditions, and forced to pay heavy speeding tickets ( above $1000 ) because your republican controlled state does not want to raise taxes but needs to get the money somehow?
Posted by: Kevin | July 14, 2009, 10:57 am 10:57 am
Kevin, make yourself the best candidate for a job and then get one. Also, when driving be a good citizen and do not speed.
Posted by: Juan | July 14, 2009, 11:05 am 11:05 am
The truth is that if we go to a socialized healthcare system, the individual is going to pay more for their healthcare then in the current system that is in place.
Posted by: Kernal | July 14, 2009, 11:06 am 11:06 am
Health care reform is a good thing. The communist scare is over. People need to stop being scared of what they don’t understand. Get educated, and realize that ANY form of nationalized health care is better then what we have now. Get something in place and work the kinks out later.
Posted by: Robert | July 14, 2009, 11:09 am 11:09 am
Ray,
Do you know what it’s like to live in a house with mushrooms growing thru the floor. Walls that are about to cave in and having to pull water from the spring to flush your toilets?
I do, and my mother started working as a construction laborer to feed and cloth her children. She worked her way, after 15 years, up from loborer to journeyman electrician. She had a 6th grade education as she had to quit school to help her family on the farm.
I then joined the Air Force as I didn’t have money for education.
So, I know for a fact, that if you are willing to do what it is you have to do, you can do well for yourself in America.
This bill and the ideal of “i don’t have insureance so the governement should supply it” is nothing more than medical welfare for the masses.
and as far as your speeding tickets… follow the speed limit.
Posted by: Frank | July 14, 2009, 11:12 am 11:12 am
@kevin Maybe if the economy wasn’t abruptly affected by excessive “stimulus” pork spending, people would be able to find jobs with reliable health insurance.
Face it, health care is expensive, having the government tax us even more even on something like health care is detrimental because less money in the people’s pockets means less actual stimulation for the economy (circulation of money). People should have to find a job that provides health benefits, and the gov’t should baby its citizens with subpar medical care for everyone.
Posted by: jen | July 14, 2009, 11:14 am 11:14 am
“Inaction is not an option” – Just doing something does not mean that you are really improving the situation. Being seen to be busy rarely equates to being productive and Obama needs to realize that most people understand this! The campaign is over, stop still for 5 minutes, close the Federal wallet, ask key people the right questions and THEN put forward a proposal. It may take longer now but will support more people in the long term. This may let you fix the problem – the ambulance chasers. I would rather pay tax for medical services than insurance to pay the lawyers.
Posted by: Nick | July 14, 2009, 11:16 am 11:16 am
No, Kernal. As an American living and working in Canada, my tax dollars are allocated in part toward health care (of unparalleled quality). I certainly do not pay a penny extra for my general physician or any specialist. My provincial and federal taxes, by the way, are equivalent to what they were in the US. In the meantime, I get bills today from my US providers for an endoscopy done in 2007. That’s how slow and how costly.
Posted by: Ktimene | July 14, 2009, 11:18 am 11:18 am
Kernal,
The liberal one-liners are losing their steam. Statements such as, “The communist scare is over”, are becoming the calling signs of liberal lemmings with no real clue as to what is really going on; they then default to rhetoric.
Posted by: Frank | July 14, 2009, 11:19 am 11:19 am
It doesn’t really matter what these republicans are saying because we’re going to get healthcare reform passed…and someone of real intelligence would know it’s not socialized healthcare. Now that is coming from a real socialist haha!
Posted by: josh | July 14, 2009, 11:20 am 11:20 am
Kevin: Don’t worry, under government health care you will still have terrible coverage and preexisting conditions. At least now you have options, if you are not happy with your carrier then switch. Don’t blame the Republicans for you breaking the law, and get a job!
Posted by: bob | July 14, 2009, 11:23 am 11:23 am
Do you know the country that is supposed to have the best Health Care? It isn’t us even though we have the most expensive Health Care. We didn’t even make the top 10. It’s France! Trust me, those of us who have health insurance are ALREADY paying for people who don’t becaue they put off medical care until it is an emergency. At that point what could have been an easy solution isn’t. You maintain your car, change the oil, etc. so that you don’t have to replace the engine. If your neighbors health isn’t important to you maybe you can think of it as “a few pennies spent now vs many dollars spent later”. I have health insurance but the only people I see getting rich off it is the insurance companies while hospitals across the country are closing or shutting down their emergency rooms.
Posted by: Deanna | July 14, 2009, 11:34 am 11:34 am
Kevin, Do you know what its like to be employed paying for peoples health care, food, shelter and pretty much everything else they need to survive and then drive buy the public housing projects and see that they are driving brand new cars and/or watching 52″ plasma TV’s? God Bless’m but its crazyness that I work hard to support me and my own and I can barely afford to get a new exhaust on my ’99 ford.
He should table the health care plan for now and work on getting jobs to people, people work they get off the the welfare lines and paying taxes again. Once more tax revenue comes in then we can talk about paying for some sort of health care plan that is not government controlled.
BTW: Quit speeding. 1000$ might be excessive but if you don’t speed (don’t break the law) you won’t have to worry about it.
Posted by: Joe | July 14, 2009, 11:38 am 11:38 am
Bob: How much choice do you REALLY have right now when choosing an insurance provider? If your employer provides it, can you really choose to go with another provider? How about if you have a pre-existing condition?
Posted by: john | July 14, 2009, 11:47 am 11:47 am
Joe: You’re not paying for their healthcare until they go to the emergency room because they don’t have any other coverage. That is the point! By the time they do seek medical attention it is exorbitantly expensive and the hospitals must pass that cost on to us via larger bills to our insurance companies. It’s either that or close their doors or their emergency care, which could come back to haunt everyone, including those of us with insurance. Do you think we don’t pay higher insurance premium to cover those costs? If you think you are better served by your insurance company that won’t cover pre-existing conditions, what will happen if you get sick, lose your job, then find another job? And how about if your doctor recommends a course of treatment that your insurance company doesn’t want to cover. Like John said, you don’t have a lot of choices.
Posted by: Deanna | July 14, 2009, 12:03 pm 12:03 pm
I have written my senators to consider reform to the medical insurance industry to compete and drive costs down without a public option, and create incentives to include the uninsured, make it illegal to deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions and not being allowed to cancel someone after major illnesses. Our system can be reformed but to go down the route of nationalized care entrusting our government to impede on yet another private industry would be a huge mistake. If we took our current models of Medicare and Medicaid to compare – Medicare is going broke and the government is requiring yet another reduction of reimbursement to providers. Medicaid is already heavily subsidized free care paid for by tax payers. They both cost billions in fraud and abuse and are run inefficiently. Let us not go down that road of total government run health care. It is also disingenuous to market the public option as being a choice to keep your current private insurance.
Posted by: Terre | July 14, 2009, 1:19 pm 1:19 pm
If you are headed over a cliff, you turn the wheel, not to do so is suicide, for all. Some passengers may get injured, but then that can be addressed.
That the system is Massive and Complex, yes but to say it is simply too complex to tinker with is not an option.
The time has come to refocus the system
from top to bottom on the patient, With the goal being to heal and comfort for reasonable reward to providers of care
and services. It seems to me that the excesses of capitalism is the problem here, in this case it needs to be saved from itself in order to survive.
That said, the voice of medical professionals, not the voice of the investor, should take the lead this time
and that fight it enough for now.
Posted by: turn the wheels | July 14, 2009, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
where is my post?
Posted by: TK | July 14, 2009, 1:52 pm 1:52 pm
Jack Smith, the battle of good vs. evil is supression of the truth. ABC where is my post? Amazing.
Posted by: Terre | July 14, 2009, 2:02 pm 2:02 pm
The force for good isn’t dead just adapting to the situation.
Posted by: turn the wheels | July 14, 2009, 3:02 pm 3:02 pm
I did not post the long diatribe. So what do I do now?
Posted by: turn the wheels | July 14, 2009, 3:08 pm 3:08 pm
Hi Editor,
Last thoughts before I sign off… We do have some common ground, I think the insurance companies need to accept reducing their profit margin to help with this problem, but socialized is not the way to go. There is a middle ground, I hope our country will find it. Take care!
Posted by: Terre | July 14, 2009, 4:59 pm 4:59 pm
You donot need actual vouchers or coupons to partipate in this program. All dealers are required and government will
reimburse the fees for the clunkers
Posted by: jimwhenry1507@yahoo.com | July 15, 2009, 4:46 am 4:46 am
People across this country better start calling their state politicians and tell them that this plan or any other health-related plan for that matter ISN’T want they want!!!!
Government needs to stay away from something as CRUCIAL, as COMPLEX, as SPECIALIZED, as LIFE-ALTERING as medicine. I want only the most highly trained professionals dealing with my health and the health of my family.
The health plan should die on the floor of Congress before we die on the floor of an emergency room because we couldn’t see the doctor we needed when we needed to….. Europeans don’t like their socialized plan and have said to avoid doing the same in this country folks!!!
Posted by: MC | July 15, 2009, 10:37 am 10:37 am