AFP via Yahoo! News
Shouting out "You lie!" to the president during a speech is not, um, typical protocol, and it says a lot about how our Twitter culture of sending out short snippets of opinion whenever we feel the urge has erupted even in the places once reserved for (at least outward) respect and civility.
![AFP via Yahoo! News/South Caroline Rep. Joe Wilson: "You lie!"](http://a323.yahoofs.com/phugc/3c9GBLHNJAtN/photos/4a0f52752dba11c5e158f8eb2c8c349f/ori_78eedb21abef8b.jpg?ug_____D5AdN79VD "AFP via Yahoo! News/South Caroline Rep. Joe Wilson: "You lie!"")
AFP via Yahoo! News/South Caroline Rep. Joe Wilson: "You lie!"
And that he did.
"Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics," 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. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.
Well the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action."
Never before have so many opposing parties been at the table together to try to reform a system that runs on ballooning costs while cutting out more Americans from coverage every year. Medical professionals, hospital groups, seniors advocates, and drug companies are working with Congress to finally come up with a bill to widen insurance coverage, rein in costs, and ensure that sick people will not lose coverage because of unrelated pre-existing conditions. The president noted there is agreement on about 80 percent of what is proposed to be in a bill; he forcefully made it clear that it is time to hash out, civilly and responsibly, the remaining differences.
Clearly, how to pay for increased coverage and whether a government-run portion of the plan for the most at-risk uninsured will be part of it are a few of the major sticking points. But that's what the legislative process should be all about--finding ways to cut costs and pay for what we know is needed, not working to kill the bill entirely because it is the politically easy thing to do.
A few highlights from the president's speech:- The bill he signs will make it against the law for insurance companies to drop coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most.
- A new "insurance exchange," a marketplace for individuals and small businesses to shop for health insurance at competitive prices just like major employers and governments do, will help many uninsured afford health coverage.
- Tax credits will further help people who cannot afford coverage to afford it, since the bill would require everyone to carry health insurance since those who have insurance now pay indirectly and dearly for the uninsured when they seek medical treatment at hospitals.
- Obama said he will not sign a plan that adds one dollar to our skyrocketing national deficit. He reiterated that the money must come from cuts in wasteful spending in our current health care system. (We sure do need more specifics on this.) He said that goes for Medicare and Medicaid, too, but he promised that "not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan."
- He directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to begin "demonstration projects" in individual states, first proposed by the Bush administration, to reform medical malpractice laws that doctors have long complained have led to rising health care costs and practicing defensive medicine for their patients.
- The proposed plan will cost $900 billion over ten years, less than the country spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the president noted.
Ah, leadership. Finally. From our vantage, the president did what he needed to do: reset the tone of the debate and push Congress to close the deal on what we all know we need to do for one another as Americans.
What do you think?
