Washington — With lawmakers on Capitol Hill struggling to reconcile clashing views on overhauling the nation’s health care system, President Obama made a new appeal to the public Wednesday not to let Congress put off action on his top legislative priority.
“In order to make it happen, I’m going to need ordinary Americans to stand up and say, now’s the time,” Obama said at a town hall-style forum at Northern Virginia Community College in the Washington suburb of Annandale, Va. “If Congress thinks that the American people don’t want to see change, frankly the lobbyists and the special interests will end up winning the day.” The president issued a pointed critique of the institution where he once served, warning that lawmakers are often tempted to shunt aside politically sensitive issues.
“For those who say, ’Well, you know what, this is something that is very complicated, so we shouldn’t rush into it,’ that’s what happens in Congress all the time,” Obama said. “They have hearings, they write white papers, and then suddenly the lobbyists and the special interests start going at it. And next thing you know, another 10 years has done by, and we still haven’t done anything.” The Obama administration has been working largely behind the scenes with congressional Democrats to develop legislation aimed at expanding coverage to all Americans, controlling costs and improving quality.
But recently, the president has stepped up efforts to keep health care at the top of the domestic policy agenda as Democratic legislative proposals run into stiffening opposition from Republicans and unease from some moderate Democrats over the cost of an overhaul that is expected to top $1 trillion over the next decade.
Wednesday’s town hall meeting was Obama’s third grassroots forum devoted to health care in the last three weeks.
Debate over health care legislation is expected to move to center stage next week when lawmakers return to Washington from their July 4 recess.
But leading Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have begun to call for slower action. “We could target the things that are askew in the system and fix them without this kind of massive overhaul,” McConnell recently said on Fox News Sunday.
At the same time, while some polls show deep public support for overhauling health care, there is growing public discomfort with government spending — a development that some experts fear could prompt lawmakers to try to delay action on what promises to be expensive legislation.
In a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, more Americans said the deficit and government spending generate should be the federal government’s top priority rather than health care.
Comments
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snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
Pay-to-play courtesy of the Washington Post:
"For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors.
The astonishing offer is detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he feels it’s a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/...
SettingTheRecordStraight (anonymous) says…
Please don't replace health care choice with government bureacracy and government inefficiencies.
Just look what government has done to the Lawrence emp-T - a bankrupt embarrassment.
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Everything in this administration requires "quick action". They don't want time spent discussing the consequences of their continued record spending?
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
467,000 jobs were lost in June. How much damage can the O'dude's policies do to the American health care system? Stay tuned.
xbusguy (chris Ogle) says…
Wait a minute.... Isn't this about Health Care????? Where is Merrill???..... Oh that's right, his Mouse (you know, ol cut and paste) needed a nap.
zzgoeb (anonymous) says…
Yeah, we don't need to reform the system with some "government-run" health care deal!!! Please!!! If you believe that, then we should stop Medicare today....explain that one to your Granny you greedheads!!! The sooner we fix this, the less it will cost in the long run. And if the big players won't negotiate, we should strictly regulate all health insurance providers...that will fix it too, without an overhaul!!!
craigers (anonymous) says…
Yes please do a quick job on over-hauling health care. That makes more sense than doing it right! He wants it done quick so he can make sweeping changes without the public getting ahold of what all the changes actually mean. We are being fleeced!!!
jkilgore (anonymous) says…
I'm a donkey, but it's clear that what really needs overhaul is our own decision-making, something that politicians don't address, well, not since Huckabee lost 100 pounds while Arkansas governor.
The fatstakes are killing us both literally and economically. Kansas is the 18th fattest state in the nation. The Topeka Capitol Journal reported several months ago that half, yes half of USD 501 kids from K-6 were either overweight or obese. That is the health care crisis in America. The President should address this problem today.
logicsound09 (anonymous) says…
"“In order to make it happen, I’m going to need ordinary Americans to stand up and say, now’s the time,” Obama said at a town hall-style forum at Northern Virginia Community College in the Washington suburb of Annandale, Va. “If Congress thinks that the American people don’t want to see change, frankly the lobbyists and the special interests will end up winning the day.”"
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Maybe if you gave them actual reform to stand up and fight for instead of the watered-down half-assed "reform" that is currently making it's way through Congress, then they would stand up and fight.
Right now there is an enormous fight over whether to even include a public option--a fairly minor adjustment to the way things are currently run. The problem is systemic--adding a government healthcare option is hardly going to change the fundamental issues with healthcare in the U.S.
I personally prefer a single-payor type system, but I am open to other options. However, it angers me greatly that single-payer and similar options have essentially been excluded from the discussion.
I voted for you because I saw you as a far, far better option between two candidates who I saw as less than ideal. But statements like the one above don't do you any favors. Invoking lobbyists and special interests when the change that is being proposed does nothing to stop their influence is disingenuous.
So far we've seen lots of change--some genuine (like in the arena of foreign affairs) and some superficial (like the arenas of healthcare reform and environmental legislation). I'd prefer to see some of the genuine change when it comes to the most pressing issues of our time, like the environment and healthcare.
Grandmar247 (anonymous) says…
President Barack Obama wants to have "Government Controlled Healthcare" and the reason he is rushing that it be passed, is because he wants to get this through before his popularity decreases. One of the main components that he refuses to address is the amount that "Doctors" have to pay in "Malpratice Insurance". The "AMA" is against his "Healthcare Reform" because he wants to cut wages of "Doctors" and doesn't want to put a cap on "Malpractice Litigation". In other words, he favors the "Lawyers". I'm "against" anything that President Barack Obama proposes because at this stage of the game, "I don't 'TRUST' him". Why do we want to change the whole "Healthcare System" just to accommadate the "FEW". I would rather pay "out of pocket" and pay the "Health Insurance Premiums" and let those uninsured pick their "Health Insurance", than do anything close to what President Obama is proposing.
notajayhawk (anonymous) says…
>>> “If Congress thinks that the American people don’t want to see change, frankly the lobbyists and the special interests will end up winning the day.”
Or perhaps they really don't want to see the kind of change you're talking about.
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logicsound09 (Anonymous) says…
"I voted for you because I saw you as a far, far better option between two candidates who I saw as less than ideal. But statements like the one above don't do you any favors. Invoking lobbyists and special interests when the change that is being proposed does nothing to stop their influence is disingenuous."
I didn't vote for him, but said a looooong time ago that of the Democratic candidates, he was the most palatable because he at least paid lip service to controlling healthcare *costs* rather than who pays for it (which is the real problem). Seems he forgot about that, too.
Geez, this guy can't make *anyone* happy! :)
Mixolydian (anonymous) says…
A recent study found 30% goes to fraud and waste in the medicaid/medicare program and good luck getting timely quality health care as a veteran at the VA.
We want to bankrupt our nation for more of that?
notajayhawk (anonymous) says…
Grandmar247 (Anonymous) says…
"President Barack Obama wants to have “Government Controlled Healthcare” and the reason he is rushing that it be passed, is because he wants to get this through before his popularity decreases."
If you read the book by Obama's first choice for HHS secretary, that is exactly what he suggested the president do. Oh, and sneaking some provisions into some huge bill that nobody would find until too late (like the provisions in the 'stimulus' bill for a federal agency to 'research' healthcare practices).