Obama On Why We Need Health Care Reform Now

I think he makes a pretty good case here, and it's the first time I've heard him directly address the reasonable objections that have been made in a concise, straightforward manner. He should say this more often.

from his townhall meeting in Green Bay on Thursday:

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: So I just want to repeat, the single biggest problem we have, in terms of the debt and the deficit, is health care. It's Medicare and Medicaid.

(APPLAUSE)

That -- that is -- when you hear all these projections about all these trillions of dollars and red ink going out as far as the eye can see, almost all of that is because of the increase in Medicare and Medicaid costs that are going up much, much faster than inflation.

It's undoubtedly true that this economic crisis has hurt our budget situation. Because, again, a lot less money is coming in from corporate taxes, sales taxes, et cetera. So that reduces the amount of money coming in at the same time as we're having to put a lot more money out for food stamps and for unemployment insurance and all kinds of other help that people need when they get thrown out of their jobs, subsidizing COBRA so they can keep their health care.

That's contributed to some of it. Some of it is that I have proposed some investments in education and in energy and in health information technologies.

But there was just an article in the New York Times yesterday that showed that all that stuff -- everything that I've proposed, my stimulus package, what we've done in terms of bailing out the financial system, all that stuff -- that accounts for maybe 7 percent, 8 percent of what you've seen in terms of increased debt and deficit.

The real problem is Medicaid and Medicare. That's the nightmare scenario. If we can bend the curve, the cost curve down, so that health care inflation is no more than ordinary inflation; it's matching up with the amount of increases that you're seeing on your paychecks in your wages and your incomes, then we're going to be OK. And if we don't get a handle on it, we're not going to be OK.

It doesn't matter, you know, that we eliminate earmarks or do all that other stuff. That won't make any difference. We'll still be consumed by huge debt for the next generation.

That's why it's so important. That's why we're going to get it done. That's why I need your help, Green Bay.

Why I Like Barack Obama

His place on a political spectrum notwithstanding, he's at heart a moderate, intellectually, temperamentally.
Here's just one example. It's not so much that I agree with his campaign position against Hillary's vision of health care. I think perhaps scrapping our present system might indeed be the thing to do... but not for the sake of burning down a house just to build something on top of it; only if it's really the smartest way to do it.
In any case, I guess I just like the way the guy's mind works. If anyone equated his conception of "change" with "revolution," they may be disappointed. But on the other hand, they may just see some change.

from Thursday's "town hall" meeting on the economy:

OBAMA: Let me just see a show of hands. How many people here have health insurance through your employer?

OK. So the majority of Americans, partly for a historical accident -- I won't go into -- you know, FDR had imposed wage controls during wartime in World War II.

People were -- companies were trying to figure out how to attract workers, and they said, well, maybe we'll provide health care as a benefit.

And so what evolved in America was an employer-based system. It may not be the best system, if we were designing it from scratch, but that's what everybody's accustomed to. That's what everybody's used to. It works for a lot of Americans.

And so I don't think the best way to fix our health care system is to suddenly completely scrap what everybody is accustomed to and the vast majority of people already have....

Newsflash: Chris Wallace Believes What He Reads In "The Media."

on Fox News today:

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Since you became president, you have warned Republicans, quote, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done."

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: Now, how do you know that's a quote?

WALLACE: Well, I read it in the media.

OBAMA: Yeah.

WALLACE: Did you not say...

OBAMA: I just wanted -- I'm not sure that was the exact quote.

WALLACE: Let me throw another one at you and you tell me whether this is an exact quote. You were widely quoted, when you met with the House GOP caucus saying, "Go ahead, free feel to whack me. I'll watch Fox News and feel bad about myself."

OBAMA: That one I did say.

WALLACE: Is perhaps -- let me just raise the possibility -- are you a trifle thin-skinned?

OBAMA: No, no, no. I said it in good humor. I think everybody understood that that was a joke.

Yep, Chris, this guy is no Clinton in the hot seat, but no Bush, either. What did we learn today? Chris Wallace follows the MSM and has no sense of humor.
I like our president more and more every day.

Quote du Jour: Hope Over Fear

The inaugural speech

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord." -- President Barack Obama