I will get straight to it.
If President Obama does not deliver on Health Care Reform, the presidency he once hoped for will be over. He will not be popular, he will not be able to form any consensus with the GOP, nor will he have the eternal respect he once had with Democrats. He now must deliver strongly, let the American people know where he stands, and show Congress what is going down.
For a long time now, I have advocated for a strong fight from the Obama Administration on the issue of Health Care, and look what has happened since then. The GOP has walked all over the Democratic strategy with falsehoods, distractions, and of course, teabaggers. The strategy used by Obama obviously did not work, as he should have been more hands-on in the process and not let an indecisive Congress take the reins (of course, hindsight is always 20-20).
President Obama’s approval has sunk a bit, and his numbers-drop has been accompanied by speculation that the GOP will gain 20+ seats in the 2010 midterms and would take out the Democratic majority swiftly. However, all of that talk will be moot if President Obama stands up, and reminds the American people why they voted for him. His big speech on health care reform will be on Wednesday night (you should all really watch it), and it is a crucial moment in his presidency. The White House has definitely been hyping it as the turning point.
Vice President Joe Biden suggested Thursday that Obama will not be timid.
“We’re going to get something substantial,” he told a gathering at the Brookings Institution. “It’s going to be an awful lot of screaming and hollering before we get there. But I believe we’re going to get there.”
White House senior adviser David Axelrod told reporters Wednesday, “We believe this is the best way to kick off the final discussions, the final debate, and bring this thing to a close in a way that is meaningful.”
Recently, there has been talk of what kind of compromises would have to be made by the Democratic leadership in order to have a real reform bill passed. While nearly all Republicans (excluding the moderate Maine Senator Olympia Snowe) will say no to almost anything Obama puts forth (that’s just how they roll), the real challenge is getting all of the Conservative and moderate Democrats to support Reform.
To me, some sort of a public option is a must, as it is the only true way to expand coverage while forcing private insurers to cut costs for those with insurance.
“The only way we can be sure that low-income people and persons who work for companies that don’t offer insurance have access to it, is through an option that would give the private insurance companies a little competition,” explained Rep. Eddie Johnson (D-TX), a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus who once worked as the chief psychiatric nurse at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas.
Some in Washington are talking about supposed “Co-ops”, though this will result in no real reform. Another compromise is the “trigger option”, supported by Conservative Democratic Senator Ben Nelson (D-NB), and Moderate Republican Senator Olympia Snowe. This would mean that bill would have not have a public option originally, but a so-called “trigger” mechanism under which the public option would kick in after 3-5 years if certain, as-yet-unspecified conditions were met. For example, if after 5 years, if costs were not cut enough and coverage was not sufficiently expanded, a robust public option would be implemented automatically. Therefore, even if there was a more conservative Congress and maybe a different president, it would be done without their consent and power to change. This might be favorable to Democrats who want a strong public option now, but who know that the only “passable” public option would be a very weak, watered down version. Then, after 3-5 years, a strong public option would be implemented.
But some cannot wait any longer, and say the time is now. I am one of them, because I know that the thousands of men and woman who have and will lose their jobs are terrified that they will lose health care coverage, and that those with coverage are having to make tough financial decisions they should not have to make. The crisis will only get worse if we don’t act now. It is up to President Obama to fight for those who need him most.
Bottom line: this speech needs to be more than good. It is time for President Obama to show the GOP what is what and pass health care reform. We really need it, and it is about so much more than politics.
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