Obama to Address Joint Session of Congress on Health Care Sept. 9

[TheCoxwain]

Source: Nytimes

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has set a major address on health care for Sept. 9 before Congress.

The speech will come a day after lawmakers return from an August recess in which critics of Obama's health proposals have dominated many public forums. Some Democrats feel Obama has been too vague and standoffish in discussing his health care goals so he decided to throw more details into the debate.

Senior adviser David Axelrod had said Tuesday that Obama was considering being ''more prescriptive'' about what he feels Congress must include in a health bill. The White House has given Senate negotiators until Sept. 15 to produce a bipartisan bill.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/02/us/AP-US-Obama-Health-Care-Overhaul.html?hp

---

hope this is good

[pinto]

1. Kick

:kick:

[lapfog_1]

2. Will the repukes sit on their hands

or turn their backs...
or just twitter away while the President is speaking... being the twits that they are...
or simply not show up?

[gratuitous]

3. If they get notes from their mommies

They can opt not to attend. But it's not because the president's black, so stop saying that!

[Better BeLIEve Bull]

4. looks like the Adults have finally arrived

[pattmarty]

5. Well, what I am figuring is he will sell out the "left" on the public option.............

............My opinion, without a strong public option and other "obvious" regulations, I hope the progressive caucus in the House votes it down. Better nothing than a shit bill.

[MessiahRp]

14. Yeah I think he will too...

Addressing the Congress and cutting into peoples' prime time TV is something that should have been done awhile back to get control of this debate but sadly as long as he's leaving the negotiating up to the corrupt Blue Dogs and not putting forth his own plan that forces the public option, him talking to America is just an attempt to sweet talk everyone into taking a sucker's deal in the end.

Rp

[joeycola]

24. says he will present his perscription. ummm.

[Soylent Brice]

6. we need a home run. a clear concise message

that will quell the fears and dispell the ridiculous rumors. this is his chance.

[bluestateguy]

7. I knew it

nt

[ananda]

More prescriptive! LOL

That was a good one!

[TheCoxwain]

9. you dig puns eh?

[elocs]

8. It needs to be better than just "good". Much better. n/t

[denverbill]

10. Will the Republicans bring guns and try to shout him down? n/t

[PHIMG]

11. Double down Obama - MEDICARE FOR ALL - We need those massive SAVINGS!

The Republicans have reduced this to two arguments:

1. OBAMACARE = SOCIALIZE MEDICINE (a lie)
2. OBAMACARE = TOO EXPENSIVE (it is high cost)

THE SOLUTION -- double down on single payer.

1. Is it SOCIALIZED MEDICINE? No, the government does not run the hospitals or clinics. The Right-wing is already calling Public Option a "government takeover" so what are they going to do if he switches to Medicare for All? "No this time it REALLY is a government take over!" Well first off it's no more a government takeover of medicine than Medicare was, and besides it's going to be chicken little at this point, nobody is listening!

2. Is it TOO EXPENSIVE? No it is massively less expensive than the public option because we would saves over $400 billion a year in needless administrative waste by eliminating the mafia-like private insurers.

OBAMA -- DOUBLE DOWN ON REFORM - MEDICARE FOR ALL!

I just don't see how the $400 billion savings doesn't light the fire on the independents -- you'll never go uninsured, you'll never get a bill, you'll never have a deductible, never have a copayment, never get a claim denial letter from an insurer, AND we'll save 400 BILLION A YEAR in the process!

MEDICARE FOR ALL NOW!

[Hawkeye-X]

12. The only thing I want to hear from Obama's mouth is...

SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.

NOT REFORM.

Look at Canada, Look at UK, look at Mexico. Why can't WE Have what they have?

[WriteDown]

15. Forget those...

Why can't we have something like Sweden has? Constantly rated among top healthcare systems in the world.

[Tx4obama]

17. Obama said SEVERAL TIMES...

on the campaign trail at his rallies and town hall that an 'only single-payer' is NOT a viable option at this point in time. He said that if we were starting from scratch decades ago then it would have been a different story.
I wish more people would have listened to him during all of his talks/speeches, then they would know that he was never an advocate for single-payer.

[Hawkeye-X]

20. Wrong, not only it is viable, it also saves BILLIONS of dollars in health care.

Trust me on this.

CBO is supposed to score on Single Payer plan...

And it will be hidden - why? because it shows it SAVES money, and the insurance companies doesn't want to SAVE money, they want to SPEND money.

Hawkeye-X

[Tx4obama]

25. You can't shut down the whole insurance industry all at once

it would leave too many people jobless and it would be too disruptive to the system that we have now.
A public option is what is needed to compete with the insurance companies and that will slowly weed them out.
And I am not wrong, my first comment was regarding what Obama said on the campaign trail and there was nothing incorrect in what I said.

[Hawkeye-X]

40. The insurance company should have thought of that when it started denying claims and keeping profits

*spit*

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

42. Add unemployment benefits to the package then.

[Amos Moses]

13. Axlerod suggests the public option is dead.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/09/axelrod-obama-is-ready-to-close-on-health-care.html

Now Obama just wants "choice" and "competition". :rofl:

[mcollier]

35. BOLD FACED LIE!

There you go again with your BS, misinformation agenda.

Good thing your not very effective...

[Amos Moses]

38. quote

As to the fate of a government option plan to compete with private insurance, Axelrod suggested the controversial concept is gone but not forgotten: "The spirit that led him to support a public option is still very much at play here and so you know he wants competition. He wants choice. "

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/09/axelrod-obama-is-ready-to-close-on-health-care.html

Now, what the fuck does that say and who was the one that said it? Try to keep in mind those aren't my words. That's David Axelrod saying it so go call him a liar, dumbshit.

[Deep13]

16. Do not blow this for us.

:grr:

[euphoria12leo]

18. If Public Option is dead

Then I suggest they start talking Single Payer.



:headbang:

[TheCoxwain]

22. If they don't have bread - then let them eat cake.

[damntexdem]

19. Addressing a joint session is fine, but Obama needs to be knocking some heads behind the scenes.

The address to the joint session should just be the tip of the iceberg.

[Robb]

21. If I understand DU lately, his speech is just backdrop.

The REAL plan is to strangle a puppy, my fellow DUers tell me. :eyes:

[joeycola]

23. "Aides said Obama does not plan to make a public option, ......a make-or-break issue"

umm... do we believe Obama's aides????

President Obama to address Congress\...................

The last time a president addressed a joint session of Congress that wasn’t a State of the Union, or the traditional first address by a new president, was Sept. 20, 2001, when President George W. Bush spoke on the war on terrorism following the 9/11 attacks.

After plans for the session had been reported, Reid and Pelosi released a letter of invitation to the president: "Our nation is closer than ever to achieving health insurance reform that will lower costs, retain choice, improve quality and expand coverage. We are committed to reaching this goal. We would like to invite you to address a Joint Session of the Congress on Wednesday, September 9 on health insurance reform. Thank you for considering this invitation to speak to the Congress and the nation."


.............Aides said Obama does not plan to make a public option, or government plan, a make-or-break issue when he spells out his specifics. “We have been saying all along that the most important part of this debate is not the public option, but rather ensuring choice and competition,” an aide said. “There are lots of different ways to get there.”

The content of Obama's presentation is still being debated in the West Wing. Aides have discussed whether to stick to broad principles, or to send specific legislative language to Capitol Hill. Some hybrid is likely, the officials said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26700.html#ixzz0PzbBq8Oy


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26700.html#ixzz0PzafzoxH

[robcon]

26. This is the right thing to do.

We've had some setbacks on health care - this is the (last) best shot at reviving the momentum.

[angrychair]

27. If we lose the public option

I feel that we have been cheated of something we will never recover from. By giving up the the public option we are giving up more than that, we are giving in the the COMPLETELY INSANE WACKJOBS out there that have been going on for the last couple of months about "death panels" and "killing grandma" and "socialism, nazi, commie...blah blah blah" and so on. We lose to those people...THOSE PEOPLE. The people that couldn't put together a cohort thought with week of planning and a dictionary. I am beyond angry at all of this. By him going before Congress and publicly conceding to the far right like it sounds like he is doing at this point, we lose more than the public option. We lose it all. The far right will know what buttons to push and they will push them often. Everything will crumble before our eyes and our hope of a brighter and better future with a Dem majority will be a dead idea. Hate to sound so "doom and gloom" but that is the way I see it. Again its not have giving up, its not about the "art of the deal" its about conceding to the INSANE NUTJOBS that have taken control the repub party. PLEASE DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER, EACH ONE OF YOU, TO CALL, WRITE AND SCREAM TO YOUR STATE REPRESENT IVES AND SENATORS AND THE WHITE HOUSE ITSELF, "PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP ON THIS" FIGHT FOR THE PUBLIC OPTION!!!

[t0dd]

28. If the public option is really dead..

I will no longer be a democrat, will stay home next November, and will not vote for Obama in 2012. Just saying.. :shrug:

[DarthDem]

29. Then . . .

. . . you're quite foolish. Your scenario isn't going to happen - - don't believe everything you read - - but even if it did, why would you make it easier for fascists to win? I don't get this line of thinking and never will.

[angrychair]

30. Respectfully disagree

it is you that doesn't understand. The point is that if he goes before congress and concedes the effort and gives into them, the modern revival of the Democratic Party is no more. The nutjobs and deathers and birthers and mad hatters gain control over the debate from that point further. We have no input and no chance of EVER bringing back sane debate to this subject or any other for that matter. By letting this die, the whole agenda, present and future, dies with it. We sink into the abyss of madness and mayhem that is the right wing fundie perspective of the world. I don't say this lightly and I do honestly believe it.

[t0dd]

31. It just gets old.

Democrats are spineless, and Obama is not the great visionary or liberal leader he made himself out to be. Even if he surprises everyone and takes a firm stand and demands the inclusion of the public option, he has already deeply disappointed me in other areas: his silence on gay rights, the war in Afghanistan, torture, etc. And this isn't impatience speaking.. I'm sick of people making excuses for him. There are certain things you expect out of a leader.

And if I'm affiliated with the party he is leading, and our country is not progressing at all, I'm going to look at alternatives. For instance, as I said, if next week he announces a public option isn't a necessity for the final bill, I imagine there will be somewhat of a Democratic civil war, and I'd hope it would be significant enough, or at least the start of a desire, for the party to split in two. You know, those that are bought by big corporations and those that actually have priniciples..

[liquid diamond]

32. Divide so republicans can win every upcoming election?

That's the ticket! Face it. Politics is about choosing the lesser of two evils.

[psychopomp]

37. Get ready to have your ticket punched

Remember the speech in Berlin? How hyped it was? Now, can you remember anything "historic" about that speech? Remember anything at all?

I don't expect Pres. Obama to seize the day on Sept. 9th. I won't even watch unless somebody tells me that he said something that isn't just a bland appeal to dialogue, compromise and evokes a fuzzy patriotic sentiment.

[t0dd]

41. I wish he'd pull a Mr. Smith and just make this huge emotional appeal..

To the American people: I stand guilty as framed! Because the bill coming out of the Finance Committee is GRAFT! And I was ready to say so, I was ready to tell you that a certain man of Montana, a Mr. Max Baucus, wanted to put through a bill for his own profit. A man controlled by a political machine! A machine that controls everything else worth controlling in our Congress! Yes, companies powerful enough to control Congressmen, and I saw three of them in his room the day I went up to see him... United Health, Aetna, and WellPoint. And these same insurance companies came down here and offered me a second term if I pressed for a bill that they knew and I knew was a bailout for them. BUT if I dared to open my mouth for real reform, they promised to break me in two. All right, I got up here and I started to open my mouth and the long and powerful arm of Big Pharma reached into this sacred chamber and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck...

*sigh* what a wonderful film...

[bkkyosemite]

33. The guy talking on Olbermann said that Ralm has been for months pushing to hold off on the Public

Option for a couple of years...they are thinking no public option right now because there is not the votes in the Senate. What are these Senators doing not listening to millions who have called them, emailed them and screamed at them that we pay their wages and we want Single Payer or a strong Public Option.

I am very upset!

[mcollier]

34. Campaign Mode???

Why would there be so much energy, time, money and effort going into fighting for and against health care reform (public option) if the Democrats are not too serious about a bill which includes a public option?

The reason health care reform is such a hard sell is because the health care industry machine of lies and fear are splashed 24/7 in virtually all forms of media.

Public Option Supporters need to get involved, sign petitions, write congress, volunteer like we did during the presidential campaign, we have 2 weeks......

Let's get to work.

[bkkyosemite]

36. "

"Public Option Supporters need to get involved, sign petitions, write congress, volunteer like we did during the presidential campaign, we have 2 weeks......"

I have been doing this for months and months and I am very demanding in my wants. We pay their wages, we are the ones they service, they are not listening to us. They are being bribed by insurance companies etc. Nothing has worked. Nothing.

If Obama does not go with a Strong Public Option I will be so angry.

[JanusAscending]

39. He chose a very good day for this...

special meaning 09/09/09 :) for a very positive day!!!