President Obama again tackles "myths" on healthcare reform

Source: Reuters

President Barack Obama hammered away at "outrageous myths" about his healthcare reform plans on Saturday, seeking again to take control of a debate that has tarnished support for his top domestic policy goal.

Obama has tried for weeks to clamp down on criticism and misinformation about his healthcare plans and used his weekly radio and Internet address to address them.

"Today, I want to spend a few minutes debunking some of the more outrageous myths circulating on the Internet, on cable TV, and repeated at some town halls across this country," he said in the address.

"Let's start with the false claim that illegal immigrants will get health insurance under reform. That's not true.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57L0K620090822

---

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/08/21/Weekly-Address-The-Moral-Case-for-Health-Insurance-Reform/
Weekly Address: Myths and Morality in Health Insurance Reform

He's dealing with bullies, and the only way to deal with bullies is with a 2x4 to the head - that's the only thing that gets their attention.

Aside from the undisputed economics as presented by CBO which will eventually kill this reform bill as we know it, the issue with the Obama presentation of "the plan" has to do with the fact that he has confused simple, and not-so-simple folks, with his badly chosen keywords. Example of clarity: 1) Medicare is for older folks who can not afford medical expenses. 2) Social security is to assist people when they retire, and so on. The keywords associated with "the plan" are amazingly confusing. When contrasted with what candidate Obama said, they leave people wondering who is trying to fool who. You can argue against all these until the cows come home but the fact remains, if you can't explain what your plan is with 10 easy-simple words, you might as well forget about your plan and think about how to save face. This applies equally to democrats as well as republicans...

www.askDrNick-anything.blogspot.com

If they were to have fear of him, they would think twice about saying something bad.

If there's anything the GOP is very, very good at, it's waging a war of terror together with Rupert Murdoch and Sean Hannity.

the fact that these myths have arisen is partly his fault. He has been so cagey and coy about what his plan actually is that he has created a vacuum around it that has allowed the opposition, rather than him, to define the plan. He has had ample opportunities to take the initiative but so far, nada.

I consider myself reasonably well informed, but to this day I cannot tell you what Obama's proposal for health care reform consists of. I can tell you that it doesn't have death panels, that it won't pull the plug on grandma, that it won't fund abortions or provide free medical care for illegal immigrants. Fine. But I still don't know what it will do.

And telling me that is the job of the president. I just wish he would hurry up and do it.

His original plan was outlined pretty well during the primaries and then during the Obama Biden campaign. The latter is still online. However, we all remember what happened to Hillarycare. Supposedly that did not pass because she presented a fait accompli to Congress. (That excuse was pure bs, IMO, but I take he Democratic Congress of that day at its word.) So, he seems to be letting a plan percolate up to him.

Then again, not really.


He began this process in March or earlier by meeting with insurance companies, PHRMA, hospitals, the AMA, etc. There was an FOIA request for just the WH visitors' log and he denied it. The ACLU is either going to be in court about that or already is. If he had no idea what Congress was going to put in his lap, what the eff were they all talking about? If he was not promising them stuff, how the heck was he getting all those "concessions" from them? And if he was not signalling that he loved him some Baucus plan, why did he go to Montana for a town hall during which he said "Senator Baucus" so many times MSNBC's Chuck Todd lost count?

So, keep emailing and calling your Senators and Rep at least once a week about a strong public option and "hope" for the best.

Whether it actually works or not is beside the point.

Just answer this: is it because he's half white?

You know how it goes.

If you can't figure out why a genuine progressive would not "think much of Obama" (to use your words), you're clearly not paying attention to what Obama is doing. He has already sold out on many of the issues that matter most, and he is in the process of selling out on health care.

Obama groupies who are willing to excuse anything he does, are no better than Bush groupies who did the same. You should be focusing on issues, not personalities. This isn't a cult; you are allowed to think for yourself.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4027240&mesg_id=4028011

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4027240&mesg_id=4028011

I guess I should have used the sarcasm tag, but that's like explaining the punchline. No fun.

Race jokes are easy to misinterpret even when you're in the same room with someone...and race is a hair-trigger topic.

On a board, there are no facial expressions, no tone of voice, no body language, no context. For example, the sentence “I never said she stole my money” can have seven different meanings depending on which word is vocally stressed.

Smilies and tags are always your friend. Other DUers are, umm, usually your friend. ;)

:hi:

There are those who view it as, "I think thou doth protest too much". Hearing the lie refuted simply reinforces it in their minds. Obama does need to take off the gloves and call the lies for what they are--lies. The sad thing is though that the more time that is spent refuting the lies, the less time there is to talk about what healthcare reform can really do for this nation. I'm afraid the shrill and lying voices are winning the message battle.

Apparently, it's dispensible, and nothing but a sliver anyway, so not to worry if it's not in Senator Baucus's plan. Er, I mean whatever plan passes.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Whatever plan just happens to pass.

of political capital with these town clown meetings.

Get some fucking BALLS or a SPINE and push for WHAT WE PUT YOU IN OFFICE FOR!!!

STOP trying this "bipartisanship" bullshit.

Work for us DEMOCRATS for ONCE!!!

would we? That would be awful. Of course if we were in Canada or France or England or any other civilized country anyone would be able to get health care. Some argument!!!!!!! Or how about Cuba? We could go there and get excellent care. Just the good old USA is afraid to treat its own citizens; of course it is considered a debacle to treat another country's. Shame on Obama for this argument.

country is automatically covered by the state's health insurance?

The countries I've been in have usually been pretty explicit: There are requirements for qualifying for state/government health insurance. In the Czech Republic, in Poland, in France you really should have private health insurance if you don't work there (legally) or aren't a citizen. If you're on an exchange program, you pay for (or the program pays for) your health insurance. Now, medical costs wouldn't be all that much if you don't have insurance and have some routine problem, but if your problem is catastrophic the costs can still mount up fairly quickly (even if they aren't as high as they are in the US).

I can't speak for Canada or England, of course. Perhaps they're the only civilized countries.

That doesn't mean you wouldn't be treated, or that they'd obligatorily find some way to come after you for the bill. Then again, you'd be treated and not pay under just about the same terms as you would if you were in this US illegally.