So what is he proposing? More and more expensive regulations on insurance companies that will ultimately pass those costs on to their customers who are ultimately paying for all of the present and so-to-be freeloaders in the system.
He is not listening to the voters. Too bad Democratic Party.
From The New York Times:
Obama Calls for Health Care Consensus WASHINGTON – President Obama sought to reframe the contentious debate over health care on Wednesday, asking a critical Congress and a skeptical nation to reach consensus on legislation to expand health coverage to millions of Americans and lower medical costs through an ambitious overhaul that has eluded lawmakers for generations.
“I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last,” Mr. Obama said in a televised address, according the prepared remarks. He added, “Our collective failure to meet this challenge – year after year, decade after decade – has led us to a breaking point.”
In a speech to a joint session of Congress, the president attempted to regain his political footing on his signature priority of remaking the nation’s health care system. He presented his most detailed outline yet of a plan that he said would guarantee all Americans coverage, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions, while letting people keep their own insurance if they wanted.
“As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most,” Mr. Obama said in the prepared remarks. “They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime.”
The president called for “making a not-for-profit public option available” to consumers. But he suggested he was amenable to refining that idea, which has become a lightning rod for criticism.
The speech was the president’s second address before a joint session of Congress. But the political backdrop on Wednesday was far different than Mr. Obama’s appearance in the House chamber on the 36th day of his term, when an optimistic wave of momentum was at his back and his Republican rivals were dispirited and in disarray.
“What we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government. Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics,” Mr. Obama said. “Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise.
“Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge,” he said.
He added, “And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.”
The president paused to remember Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, who died last month of cancer before his goal of a thoroughhealth care overhaul could be realized. The senator’s widow, Victoria Kennedy, was sitting in the first lady’s box in the House chamber alongside several ordinary Americans selected by the White House to help bolster the president’s case that the health care system was in crisis.
“That is why we cannot fail,” Mr. Obama said, according to the prepared remarks. “Because there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed – the ones who suffer silently, and the ones who shared their stories with us at town hall meetings, in emails, and in letters.”
The president said that he had not closed the door on reaching a bipartisan compromise on the health care legislation. He gave a nod to Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and embraced his proposal to create a high risk pool to help cover people with pre-existing conditions against catastrophic expenses.
But Mr. Obama also signaled a more defiant tone, saying that he would not allow a misinformation campaign to flourish as the White House believes that it did during the August Congressional recess when angry voters flooded town meetings across the nation.
“I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than improve it,” Mr. Obama said. “I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what’s in the plan, we will call you out.”
The speech, which Mr. Obama and his aides were putting the finishing touches on until shortly before he arrived at the Capitol, was intended to restart the debate on Capitol Hill on the health care legislation. The president said he remained firm in his deadline of signing some type of measure before year’s end.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, signaled before the address that Republicans still would not be supportive of the president’s retooled health care approach.
“Americans don’t understand how they’ll be able to keep the health plans they have if government is allowed to undermine the private market,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor earlier Wednesday. “And they don’t understand why the administration doesn’t seem to be listening to these and many other concerns.”
A few hours before the speech, Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, said that his panel would take up sweeping legislation and start voting on it in two weeks, with or without the support of Republicans.
“The time has come for action, and we will act,” Mr. Baucus said. He added, “Irrespective of whether there are any Republicans, I will move forward.”
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