President Obama: “We’ve Talked This Problem to Death”

Because blaming democrats wouldn’t help Obama. And it is all about him.

Um, isn’t that what congress does? Talk stuff to death, and if it manages to survive that, then maybe it will become law. At least that was how it used to work. Now our representatives don’t read the bills, don’t realize what they are voting for and the president presses for emergency legislation and then either waits several days to sign it as in the case of the stimulus or it doesn’t go into effect until 2013 in the case of this health care bill. (the taxes start in 2011 though) I wonder if it is possible that they would put off the taxes until after the 2010 mid term elections and the plan itself until after the 2012 presidential elections for anything other than politics?

Obama gets his way and goodbye Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and also goodbye to research and new meds. AND… NO DOUBT HELLO TO ANOTHER DEPRESSION!! NOT MEANT TO BE FUNNY.

“also goodbye to research and new meds.”
Can a single right winger explain the connection between insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies?
Or insurance companies and medical research companies?

This moron is hell bent on taking America down in record time.. I hope to God above someone stops him.
Look at the polls, the American people are finally waking up.

“I have not agreed with cons radio talk show hosts saying that Obama is out to get capitalism out of the way in favor of socialism.”
Shocking sicne that is all you post about.
Dare I say you are fibbing.
“OBAMA’S ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORTING PROPOSED PROGRAMS SUCH AS national health care ARE COMPLETELY VOID OF ANY INDUCTIVE OR DEDUCTIVE REASONING -”
Because nothing says reasoning like all caps.

Maybe he feels this has been talked to death, but I still don’t know what the program would provide, or how it would work.
He’s acting like a little emperor. He expects everybody to do what he says just because. Sorry, but we live in a democracy and that means questions and debate. If he thinks he can add a 1 trillion dollar program, no questions asked, he is mistaken.
WHat worries me is that he wants the states who can’t afford the mandates to buy bonds to cover them. In other words, go into debt. How convenient for Wall St.

Maybe if President Obama started having all his people talk about ‘a mushroom cloud’ coming from the insurance industry, or the insurance industry having ‘weapons of mass destruction – we know where they are!’ or blaming the insurance companies for 9/11 . . .
Can you say ‘scare tactics’ boys and girls?
What is being used against health care reform? Can you say ‘more scare tactics’ boys and girls?
Another one-note symphony from the fear merchants. Fear and smear is about all they’ve got.

MEDICARE, SOCIAL SECURITY, VA, NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAMS – ALL DISASTERS AND ALL BELLY – UP, AND NOW, NATIONAL HEALTH CARE? CRAZY, AND DEFIES ALL LOGIC!! IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE FACT THAT NATIONAL HEALTH CARE WOULD PUT THIS COUNTRY BACK YEARS, I ALMOST HOPE THAT THIS MONSTER PROGRAM DOES GO THROUGH IN THAT PEOPLE WOULD SUDDENLY WAKE UP TO ALL THIS SOCIALIST FOLLY AND GET RID OF IT FOR GOOD!! DIDN’T WORK IN EUROPE AND CANADA (even the founder of the Canadian system now says that it was a big mistake) AND IT WON’T WORK HERE.

“we passed the stimulus package in record time….no debate…no discussion…and NOW we learn it really wasn’t meant to stimulate. So, do we trust Obama with a healthcare plan that has to pass NOW…Does he think we are idiots??”
Yes: narcissists and sociopaths — and the boy who cried “Wolf!”, as Obama’s used “the economy” to get His way on the basis of “emergency” — DO think others are “idiots”, not quite real.

=== Does he think we are idiots??===
Actually, yes he does. 52% anyway.

SMALL BUSINESS CREATES 70 PERCENT OF ALL NEW JOBS. INSTEAD OF STIMULATING SMALL BUSINESSES WHERE DOES OBAMA PUT MOST OF OUR MONEY? IN PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS WHICH CREATE TEMPORARY JOBS AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE – BRILLIANT!! THAT REALLY WON’T STIMULATE ANYTHING – AS WE ARE FINDING OUT!!

Such wild exaggeration does not help Republican’s image as chronic liars.
Posted by: jhw539
As I recall obama and his thug democrat buddies slipped in quite a few pages (300 to be exact) at the last minute that no one had time to read. So, yes, the stimulus was pushed through quickly so that no one would notice all the crap they put into it. And how’s it working? Really – how’s it working for you? I’ll answer for you since you are biased – IT IS NOT WORKING.

===That’s what FoxNews is for.
Posted by: jhw539 | Jul 20, 2009 9:38:23 PM===
LOL. Bush, Iraq and Fox. The magic words.

===It is not Obama’s job to personally show up at your house with a whiteboard and walk you through every tiny detail using two syllable or shorter words with maybe a puppet show or occasional sing-along to keep your interest. ===
I can understand how he is worried we are talking about it too much. The more talk the less support there is.

“Posted by: Manitu | Jul 20, 2009 9:48:01 PM”
Like the morons they are, right wingers have failed to master the caps lock button.

“We should look to minimum-government powerhouses like Somalia to set our house in order!”
*chuckle*

===Posted by: jhw539 | Jul 20, 2009 9:55:18 PM===
Last I heard it was parked in the senate. I ask again, why is anything having trouble passing in either the house or the senate when both are controlled by the president’s party? With super majorities? And why blame republicans and Fox News for what democrats could pass?

“You must not listen or read Obama. The stimulus wasn’t meant to stimulate.”
Right. And the abortion “compromise” He’s whipping up means no abortion.

jhw359, 10% really? Wow I’ll make sure to thank the prez if I ever meet him. ROTFLMAO! Thats peanuts my friend.

Yes the Dems have been talking incessantly about Health Reform for the last 24 months. Yet the health reform plan looks like the Stimulus plan…cobbled together and failing to control costs. David Broder, beloved on the left, described the plans failure this weekend in the WaPo. There will be a huge push back against this overreach.

Axey:”Last I heard it was parked in the senate. I ask again, why is anything having trouble passing in either the house or the senate when both are controlled by the president’s party?”
Because Democrats do NOT HAVE 60 MEMBERS IN THE SENATE TO BREAK A FILIBUSTER (two are in serious condition in a hospital) and DEMOCRATS DO NOT VOTE IN A SINGLE MINDED BLOCK. They have different opinions and are debating this complex issue. And some are clearly bought and paid for by the healthcare complex (which is worth more $$$ than the military industrial complex) and trying to scuttle this again.
” With super majorities?”
What nonsense. I suppose as a Republican you may believe that every member is in unquestioning lockstep with the President, but that isn’t how Democrats work (or Republicans, with the shameful exception of the last administration, where they even set records for filibustering to protect Bush policies). They are debating the policy and staggering towards a consensus of different priorities and viewpoints.
” And why blame republicans and Fox News for what democrats could pass?”
Because it is Republicans job too. They are suppose to represent their constituents, but rather than present real proposals, they are just spewing soundbites and putting out glossy brochures without a single number.
Petulantly refusing to do their job out of fear we may end up with something that makes America better is a cynical and selfish ploy that hurts America. Clinton did not refuse to reform welfare just because it was a Republican idea – he worked with them and compromised and America is far better for it. No hope of such constructive opposition with this crop of lazy obstructionists.
As for FoxNews, they are documented as consistently lying and presenting “entertainers” (to use their own terms when lawsuits are brought) as journalists. They have even less credibility than the Daily Kos in my eyes.

notanobamafan:”jhw359, 10% really? Wow I’ll make sure to thank the prez if I ever meet him. ROTFLMAO! Thats peanuts my friend.”
That was in a single, easily verified amendment. And how much of Bush’s many-trillion-dollar tax cut did Democrats get in 2001?
Regardless, my original citation of that fact was to point out the blatant lie of the original poster. The magnitude was sufficient to do so.

===Because Democrats do NOT HAVE 60 MEMBERS IN THE SENATE TO BREAK A FILIBUSTER (two are in serious condition in a hospital) ===
They have the votes. Kennedy has been drug out of the hospital before, they can drag him again. I don’t know who the 2nd one is offhand, but I’m sure they could drag him in too. Besides, they have the Maine girls who vote lockstep with Specter, whether he is voting as a republican or a democrat. They have the votes. Unless they are afraid to own it.
===Because it is Republicans job too.===
And thankfully, they are doing it.
===They are suppose to represent their constituents, but rather than present real proposals, they are just spewing soundbites and putting out glossy brochures without a single number.===
Mine are representing me just fine. In fact, they are voting exactly as I would if I were in their shoes. No complaints from me.
===They have even less credibility than the Daily Kos in my eyes. ===
Then watch something else. There aren’t enough Fox viewers to sway an election. Why are you so worried that a few of us watch Fox? I don’t care where you get your misinformation.

It’s the independent voters of swing states like Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia that are having a change of heart. Now that they’ve seen Obama’s policies (death of coal, no limit spending for any cause, czar-a-palooza, etc.) they’re saying “no thanks”. Obama’s popularity has taken a shocking downturn and it’s almost entirely due to independent voters.
This is particularly frightening to the Obama camp because Obama is incapable of playing to the center a la Bill Clinton. Clinton governed more from the center than W. Obama has no intention of going there because at heart he is not a populist like Clinton, he is a true believer of his leftist ideology. Health care is in trouble, cap-and-trade is in trouble and the economy is in trouble. It’s still the economy, stupid. All the rest is noise.

===Republicans have explicitly chosen, as you state, to block any and all change and refuse to help govern at all. If they can’t have power, then they don’t care what happens to America. ===
I believe it was Pelosi that said don’t talk to republicans.
Actually, it is because I care about what happens to America that I have driven my poor Rep and Senators crazy. They are doing exactly what I want them to do.
Obama doesn’t care about what I want. He Won.
=== This is documented fact. ===
Everything is documented fact with you. I don’t quite remember it the same way you do. I would imagine Clinton wouldn’t remember that way either, if he were asked.

Mr Obama is the one doing all the talking. His over exposure is allowing the public to see how shallow he really is, and if he can’t get his way how he reacts, not as an executive leader but as a spoiled Chicago politician. Six months and many now see that what we have is a leftist President who is attempting to remake our country in a way that will not be accepted.

Of course, although we’ve been talking about this problem for many years, we’ve only been talking about Obamacare for a few days (it changes several times per week). Everyone knows that he wants it passed now because the more people learn about it, the more they resist it. And the chief obstacle to their learning anything about it, of course, is Barack Obama, who is simply incapable of uttering a single truthful statement about it.
The unanimous, bipartisan revolt of the governors may finally drive a stake through the heart of this monstrosity. Why are they in revolt? Because the principal mechanism for insuring those currently uninsured is through Medicaid, a program in each of the 50 states whose expenditures are mandated, but not funded, by the congress. Thus the states will bear huge, unmanageable costs.
Quick: what was the last thing you can recall Obama saying about this?

Jenny, Jhw, if I may chime in on the discussion of whether or not the stimulus bill text was given to congress members in time for them to read and comprehend it before voting on it, I would offer the following from a NYT reporter, posted on Feb. 13 of this year:
“In an age when the president of the United States insists on carrying a BlackBerry and much of the United States Capitol has wireless Internet access, the final draft of the $789 billion economic stimulus measure posted late last night to the Web site of the House Rules Committee looks more like the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 1979 than of 2009 – filled with hand-written copy-editing marks, insertions scrawled in the margins, deletions of whole paragraphs boxed with X’s slashing through them, and a variety of curious hash marks and other annotations.
And in a bill totaling nearly $800 billion, some of the stray scribbles were worth vast sums of money.
Mostly these days, drafts of legislation are distributed by electronic PDF, after being carefully adjusted by computer and polished to remove any evidence of frantic, all-night drafting sessions, pitched last-minute battles and the legalistic minutiae that often must be added to make the intent of Congress extra clear.
But with lawmakers rushing to meet their deadline of sending the stimulus bill to President Obama by Monday, and House Democrats having said that they would post the bill for 48 hours of public review, there was little time for polishing. And the final version that went up on the Web at 10:45 p.m. offers a rare window into the mad cookery of complex legislation.
The two pieces of the bill – a 496-page appropriations section, and a 577-page tax package – represent a Herculean effort on the part of staff members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, and the tax-writing Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees.
The larger tax package, which was completed earlier on Thursday, and distributed to reporters by e-mail, was scrubbed clean with no trace of myriad changes that were being made up to the last minute.
In the appropriations package, which was the subject of on-going adjustments late into the night, most of the hand-edited changes were mundane. A note specifying where italic type should be used; missing words like “this” or “a” re-inserted; chapter titles adjusted to reflect the appropriate headings; notes calling for abbreviations of agencies whose titles have already been spelled out in full earlier on.
But unlike the chicken-scratches on a draft of some doctoral thesis, the annotations in the stimulus bill in some cases are literally worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In the appropriations section, on page 10 of Title IV, for Energy and Water Development programs, a slightly arcing line, a quick hash mark through the number 4 and a 1 etched into the margins in its place, changed a $3.4 billion appropriation for a state energy program to a $3.1 billion appropriation. And so $300 million vanished with a stroke of a pen, perhaps to re-emerge on another page, for another priority.
Just another moment’s work, behind the scenes, in Congress.”

Cnn.com also wrote about the time frame for posting the final version of the stimulus bill prior to the vote, and about the size of the bill. From a cnn.com piece posted on Feb. 13, in which a DEMOCRAT, Frank Lautenberg, lived up to his name by admitting that he didn’t expect any of his Senate colleagues would be able to read the bill before they voted on it:
“The final bill, crafted by a House-Senate conference committee, was posted on the Website of the House Appropriations Committe late Thurday in two PDF files.
The first PDF was 424 pages long and the second PDF was 575 pages long, making the total bill 999 pages long. The House is expected to vote on this 999-page bill Friday, and the Senate either later Friday or Saturday. [Editor's note: The first PDF, as posted on the House Appropriations Committee website as of 8:20 AM Friday morning, had grown by 72 pages to 496 pages, increasing the length of the total document to 1,071 pages.]“

Unfortunately, our country is not recovering from anything at all–each and every act undertaken by the Obama administration has made matters worse, not better.
They told us in January that without their stimulus, unemployment would reach 8 percent. The stimulus has led to unemployment of 9.5% and climbing.
They said that the stimulus projects were “shovel ready.” Everyone no knows that this was a lie.
The continued insistence on allowing the Bush tax cuts to lapse is having the eminently predictable negative effects on hiring and economic growth.
Now they’re delating reporting on the mid-July BEA numbers–does anyone wonder why? Hint: those numbers will disclose that the administration’s predictions about growth have been catastrophically wrong.
And how’s the man coming on keeping his wholly unnecessary and irresponsible promise to close Gitmo?
Third-worst polling at this point of all the presidents since World War II.

“The stimulus has led to unemployment of 9.5% and climbing.” Posted by: Fructuoso Solano-Revuelta | Jul 20, 2009 10:50:51 PM
_____________________________________
Right away, you reveal your nonsense implying the stimulus ‘led to’ unemployment of 9.5%.
You have no idea where unemployment rates might be if the Recovery and Reinvestment plan had not been put in place – so quit making false accusations.
You think the Recovery plan is not working?
Tell that to the state governors who have been absolutely relieved to be able to save police, firefighter, teacher and health care worker jobs. Not all were saved, but many were.
Tell that to the people who have been able to retain some health care coverage despite having been laid off.
Tell that to the people who have been able to keep making their home payments because they were provided with some additional unemployment insurance.
P.S. – before you ask yet again, job creation is geared to accelerate toward the 2-year mark. As George Bush senior said before raising taxes ‘read my lips’. Well, at least read . .. .

“Clinton championed welfare reform and made it his own. In fact, he brags about it today.”
The phrase “welfare reform” was the first political use of “reform” as a code word for “destruction”.
Zillions of underclass children were functionally orphaned by welfare “reform” — with predictable cultural results.

moderate:”"The final bill, crafted by a House-Senate conference committee, was posted on the Website of the House Appropriations Committe late Thurday in two PDF files.”
And the implication is that these 1000 pages were radically different from the two bills that were heavily debated, argued, revised, posted and voted on previously?
“most of the hand-edited changes were mundane. A note specifying where italic type should be used; missing words like “this” or “a” re-inserted; chapter titles adjusted to reflect the appropriate headings; notes calling for abbreviations of agencies whose titles have already been spelled out in full earlier on.”
That’s why legislators have a significant and trained staff who can each take 20-50 pages, comb through the final for comments and within an hour or two flag the few that made material changes to the bill for review. Another few hours and they can produce a one page implications and background summary for key changes. This isn’t rocket science, it is standard practice, as is (sadly) the vacuous Republican grandstanding nowadays.

Remember that Europe is still in an economic freefall. We look like an Asian Tiger compared to Spain, Italy, France.
Thus our corporate profit revenues will continue to drop. The deficit will jump.
Health care is simply not affordable. If the Dems and Republicans had been honest and actually solved the Medicare deficit, there would be credibility. There is none.
Save 10%. Put 15% in gold. Buy an acre for a garden. My Grandad made $1 per day in the ’30s and they lived off the land. We will pull through.

“America is finally waking up.”
__________________________________
America woke up when it saw what Bush, Cheney and their party had done to the country – and booted the Republican party out of the White House.
What is taking place now is working with the mess that was left – and guess what – the Republicans really can’t stand it when President Obama does what he promised.
Tough luck – the man made campaign promises and he’s attempting to deliver on them. Just as Bush and the Republicans promised ‘smaller government’ and delivered record deficits and debt – Obama may fail on the odd promise. Big deal.

The last time Obama held a prime-time news conference, his ratings were dismal. They get worse with each press conference. Another indication of his falling popularity.

“Save 10%. Put 15% in gold. Buy an acre for a garden. My Grandad made $1 per day in the ’30s and they lived off the land. We will pull through.”
Get a clue: there are millions upon millions of people in this country who can’t do ANY of those things, because they don’t have ANY $, any land.
Your Grandad was probably one generation off the farm, had land to go back to, knew how to make things and fix things, do without things.
Get a clue: it wasn’t “The Waltons” THEN, and what’s coming is REALLY not going to be “The Waltons”.
That’s the MAIN reason this is THE time to start Single Payerhealth care — it would give SOME cohesion in the terror that’s coming, at least an illusion that everybody’s in the same boat, even if millions are locked in steerage, below decks.
But nooo: the clothes-horses of the Congress are going to continue pretending everybody that matters lives in leafy suburbs, with no problem worse than that their retirement accounts might have taken a hit in the crash. It’s murderous and disgusting.

“Janet – at least President Obama is willing to put himself and his policies on the line in front of the media – unlike Bush who hid from the media for months on end refusing to answer questions and only issuing statements.”
right, on the front line by reading off a teleprompter, then calling from a list of reporters with pre-approved questions on any given topic.
Yeah, real hard hitting and not completely stage managed in the slightest.
This clown is a collosal dolt, and the only thing he can marginally run is his ever jabbering mouth.

“right, on the front line by reading off a teleprompter, then calling from a list of reporters with pre-approved questions on any given topic. Posted by: 2Brixshy | Jul 20, 2009 11:47:28 PM
____________________________________
Yeah, we get this crap every time it’s pointed out Bush hid for months on end refusing to take questions from the media.
You think Jake Tapper’s question are pre-approved? You’re living in a fantasy world, or you haven’t watched the news conferences.
Go ahead – accuse Tapper of having all his questions pre-approved.
Under the Bush regime Tapper wouldn’t even get to ask a question – that regime hid from the media.
How soon they forget . … conveniently so.

Ever sat back lazily in a bubble-bath
and watched ‘em pop? Every bubble does.
Some seem to last longer than others,
but they all pop. Obama is governed by the physical laws of the universe,
no matter what network news may tell you. It’s not nice to fool with Mother
Nature.

clint . …
I see you’re ducking the factual information that President Bush refused to face the media for months on end, refusing to put himself or his policies on the line in front of public questioning.
I see you also don’t dispute in any way that Bush and the Republicans promised ‘smaller government’ and delivered record deficits and debt.
Instead you try to package it as a Bush hate thing – and you attack with insults instead of facts. That’s petty.
Must have hit a nerve saying the Republicans really can’t stand it when President Obama does what he promised.
Tough luck – the man made campaign promises and he’s attempting to deliver on them.
Soon each state will be required to provide information on the money provided and the numbers of layoffs saved – and we will know exactly how many jobs were saved. For now we can take information from the recent governors meetings where as one noted paper put it, “there’s hardly a governor here who doesn’t have good things to say about the money”.
Or we can look to Georgia where it’s being reported, “Real estate agents say there is good news in the economy right now. Home sales are on the rise. And they give the President’s and Governor’s stimulus programs for first time buyers the credit.”
That you condemn the Recovery and Reinvestment program (same as you insult and attack me) on your ideology is understandable, but facts do and will play a role.

DH86..June 17th of 2009..Republican’s Health Care Solutions Group unveiled the Republican’s Health Care Plan……….

Parallex View . .. .
I’m asking this in sincerity because I don’t know.
When the Republicans had control of the White House, Congress and Senate for pretty much 6 years (the first six of Bush’s presidency) – and thus had a chance to institute health care improvements – what reform did they bring to health care?

Obama didn’t fail at anything. Let’s get the record straight. Regarding the stimulus package– it was Congress that hacked it to death, cut its numbers and sabotaged its success. All of the top world economists said the stimulus was too small.
With regards to healthcare for all, here we go again with fat cats in Congress who have the best healthcare plans of anyone on the planet. Are they concerned about the cost of their benefits that we the America people fund with our tax dollars? As for you Americans who pay for the senators and congressmen’s healthcare package but won’t use your OWN tax money to pay for your family and loved ones coverage– you need your head examined.

“Bush. . . hid from the media for months on end refusing to answer questions and only issuing statements.” Posted by: danita | Jul 20, 2009 11:33:16 PM
“You guys are exaggerating about Bush. He wasn’t infront of the press everyweek because he was working.” Posted by: Famgal | Jul 21, 2009 3:29:13 AM
____________________________________
Not exaggerating at all . . . from an Austin newspaper . . .
Date: July 26, 2003
WASHINGTON — In the four and a half months since President Bush held his last news conference, a fair amount has happened . . . the president only uses photo ops or prepared speeches.”

Obama care means you die:
Mickey Kaus:
“Democratic blogger Ezra Klein appears to be positioning Dem health care reforms as a way to cut costs, on the grounds that a reformed system will be able to make “hard choices” and “rational” coverage decisions, by which Klein seems to mean “not providing” treatments that are unproven or too expensive–when “a person’s life, or health, is not worth the price.” Matthew Yglesias’ recent post seems to be saying the same thing, though clarity isn’t its strong suit. ”
Of course, Ted Kennedy’s life would be worth more than your child’s life.

“All of the top world economists said the stimulus was too small.”
Could be true, depending on what “world” you live in…
The problem with the “stimulus” was/is not one of size, it is content and intentions. Too much of the funding is allocated to addressing liberal wishlists and pay off of favored constituencies rather than job creation. For these reasons, the “stimulus” is and will be an epic failure. Any recovery that occurs will be in spite of the “stimulus” not because of it.

ryan says: “Can a single right winger explain the connection between insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies?
Or insurance companies and medical research companies?”
Aside from the typical ryan throw away “right winger” epithet, this question really shows a lack of understanding about the free market. Insurance companies are in the business to make money, they make money by getting as many people as possible to choose them instead of someone else. The way to attract new customers is by treating the ones you have so well that they praise you to the heavens. (this is what I do for USAA) While attracting customers they also look for ways to cut costs, this is where the connection with medical research and drug companies come in. If someone has high blood pressure that they can’t control with existing meds, they spend a lot of time going to the doctor and trying out all sorts of meds and treatments, which costs the insurance company a lot of money. The medical researchers and drug companies get loads of money from insurance companies looking to find the next miracle drug that will take care of their customer’s blood pressure and thus lower their costs in doctors visits and inefficient treatments. This happens all across the board with all sorts of illnesses. The same thing happens with auto insurance. They create research companies funded completely by auto insurers that look for the safest vehicles and improvements in vehicles so they lower their costs in paying out property and casualty claims. When you kill off the thousand or so insurance companies, you end up with the federal government making decisions about where to send research dollars and government is never agile or forward looking in R&D. They will probably set up a system of grants for research and of course as is the case now, the system will be inefficient and slow to respond to new information as they have no incentive to end their current project with it’s grant money.

ryan says: “Can a single right winger explain the connection between insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies?
—————————————
since Ryan_c ALWAYS has ALL the “TRUTHFUL” answers, why not start with HIS “understanding of it? Then we can all debate the the wisdom that he brings forth on the stone tablets!

“Parallex View . .. .I’m asking this in sincerity because I don’t know.When the Republicans had control of the White House, Congress and Senate for pretty much 6 years (the first six of Bush’s presidency) – and thus had a chance to institute health care improvements – what reform did they bring to health care?”
Danita, I’m not Parallex View, but since you asked SO sincerely, I will throw in a quick answer. There were two major Bush initiatives on health care that I remember Bush getting through congress, off the top of my head. The first, of course, is the prescription drug benefit for Medicare. It has proven to be controversial, to be sure. I know whenever one of my family members complains about the ‘donut hole,’ I wonder why he didn’t complain when he had to pay ALL the prescription costs.
The second health care reform I remember is one that I think had tremendous potential and was an excellent innovation– the Health Savings Account. It was president bush and the republicans who started the HSA system.
I suspect there are other small health care tweaks from the bush years, and that he proposed more that never got off the ground, rather like his social security reform attempt crashed and burned. I am not in a position to take the time to dig it all up today, and really think it is tangential to the debate on the current situation. But for what it’s worth– prescription drug program and health savings accounts.

My apologies Danita, my response should have been directed toward Danita and not Moderate; as well as my apologies to Moderate…I usually scan people’s opinions on the run and do not read beyond the first three postings……..Have a Nice Day..and keep up the good fight no matter who your political party is….

Heaven forbid we actually talk about how this proposed legislation is unconstitutional, irresponsible, unrealistic and harmful. Don’t ask, don’t tell, eh, Barry?

drjohn:
For a man who ran on being open to the public President Obama has taken deflection and outright deciet to a new level.
—————————————-
This, perhaps, is the most disappointing thing about this president and it is having a damaging effect on his poll numbers. He is NOT trustworthy!