How Do You Rate Obama's Leadership on Health Care Reform?
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 09:08PM Did you watch his speech on health care this evening? I wondered why he was using the term "health insurance reform" instead of "health reform." Have they taken a new poll and found that people accept reform more readily when it is aimed at the health insurance industry than reforming the system in general?
Overall, he did a good job of teaching and explaining what his proposal includes, what it doesn't, and what it will mean to individuals. What are your thoughts about his leadership style and substance on health care reform?
In case you missed the speech and follow up media questions:
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For an excellent piece that separates fact from hype re health care reform, check out this one by bioethicist, Dr. Arthur Caplan.
Reader Comments (3)
I think Congress may be more inclined to accept health insurance reform than the obvious alternative, treating health care as a basic right implied by the right to life, but of course that is off the table, despite popular support for removing insurance company profit considerations from the health care system. The Founding Fathers may have been all sexist males, but I do not believe for a minute they meant the right to life to apply to a fetus.
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Renee Ouellet
So dissapointed. Single payer or bust!
Mark Sakowitz
Terrible...do not understand what he is talking about.
Jeff Friedman
As seems to be the case with almost every issue he tackles, his heart is in the right place, but he doesn't seem to have the stomach for a good, old fashioned street fight. And, unfortunately, until he quits trying to be Conciliator-in-Chief and starts to tackle the Republicans and the Blue Cross, I mean the Blue Dog, Democrats head on, most of his... Read More positive agenda for the country is going to fall by the wayside. If only he had the stubborn, confrontational approach for his good ideas that George W. Bush had for his horrible ones.
Sue Katz
Ditto, Jeff, Mark and Renee. Obama and both political parties (in their own ways) do not seem to have taken in the results of the elections. Hello there Democrats - I'm looking all over your table and I don't see single payer on it. In fact, wait!, I don't see that Obama and his administration have even submitted an actual concrete plan to Congress.
Valerie Harms
I thought his TV press conference was excellent. I like a person who brings in all parties and doesn't railroad personal agendas. It creates better good will over the long haul. Anyone who works with Congress has to be concerned with the longterm, not short term relationship. Obama has his priorities and states them clearly.
Gloria Feldt: Very interesting range of opinions. I laughed when he said "the default position in this town is inertia" which is very true. There will be some tough sledding ahead. I think I agree with Jeff the most.
Instead of laying out his vision for reform in unequivocal strokes — drawing clear lines in the sand on what he will and won’t accept in a bill — Obama’s plan is apparently whatever Charles Grassley and Max Baucus and Kent Conrad will accept.