OMG. Who is this man I voted for? What kind of argument is he building here? I've tried not to got too wound up by the result in Mass. and look for the silver lining. But he basically gave legitimacy to the influences fighting the health care bill.
This astounds me. Why can't we make the argument that:
"American people are unnecessarily dying everyday. As President it is my responsibility to do something to correct this situation. I cannot allow this to continue to happen"
"The system we have now is too expensive, covers too little, and provides no sense of security"
"If we are going to spend so much time and money on helping other countries we must first take care of our own."
"We are ranked #37 by the WHO for our national health care system. This is simply unacceptable".
and if I can dream:
"A full robust strong public option open to all will provide real competition to the private HCI. If they can't handle the challenge then I wish them the best of luck in their next endeavor. This is healthcare, it is too important not to give the American people the best options."
When the PO, Medicare buy-in, and trigger were all dropped from the legislation I joined Howard Dean and Wendell Potter to kill the bill. And the more I think about it the more I feel convinced I was right. If those that crafted (and supported) the legislation are so quick to point out the merits of the argument against it...ughhh.
I do think Obama is a good guy but he thought he could swing a compromise deal that would make everyone happy in the end and wasn't willing to take on the powers that got us into this situation to get us real reform. Just snip a few leaves but no hacks at the root of the evil.
In the end Scott Brown winning may be the best thing that ever happened to this president. Not that I like Scott Brown, in fact I most assuredly do not but the campaign of 2008 is long gone. Eloquent speeches are losing their effect. Time to find out where this president really stands and if he thinks there are legitmate arguments against the bill he ardently supports then maybe it is time for me to realize this isn't the man I hoped he would be.
Stop speeching, roll up your sleeves and fight for what's right, President Obama. Show this is a govt. willing to take on big business not cozy up to it and I think you will tap into what Americans really want.
Update: Here's the whole quote:
I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on. We know that we need insurance reform, that the health insurance companies are taking advantage of people. We know that we have to have some form of cost containment because if we don't, then our budgets are going to blow up and we know that small businesses are going to need help so that they can provide health insurance to their families. Those are the core, some of the core elements of, to this bill. Now I think there's some things in there that people don't like and legitimately don't like. If they think for example that there's a carve out for just one or two particular groups or interests, I think some of that, clearing out some of that under brush, moving rapidly...