Looks like there's some news in the speech after all. Quite a bit.
On the policy front, President Obama tonight endorses, clearly and unambiguously, a requirement that everybody obtain insurance--that is, an individual mandate. He has not done that before, not this explicitly.
He also says employers will have to provide insurance or bear some of the costs. That's not news exactly; he's said that before. But it's part of the same package.
That’s why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance – just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95% of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements. But we cannot have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system by avoiding responsibility to themselves or their employees. Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part.
Later, Obama makes clear that health reform should cost about $900 billion. He's put that much money on the table before, but it wasn't clear whether he would try to seek more funding. Clearly he won't. On the other hand, given the current political environment, $900 billion is--just barely--what you need to reach universal coverage, or at least put us on a trajectory to it.
Obama also endorses a proposal that the Senate Finance Committee has taken up. The proposal--which, as I recall, came from Senator John Kerry--would tax insurance companies when they provide expensive insurance policies. It's an indirect way of capping the tax exclusion on health benefits, something most economists believe can help slow down health spending.
Also of interest: A promise to provide low-cost, bare-bones policies right away--merely as a stopgap, until full reforms kick in. (This is an effort to make sure Americans see at least some benefits right away.) Elsewhere, Obama talks about malpractice reform--again, more explicitly than he has before, presenting it as an effort to reach across the aisle.
And the public plan? He gives a lengthy, strong defense of the idea. It could have come straight out of the literature of groups like Health Care for America Now--or the writings of Jacob Hacker. But he also makes clear, to left as well as right, that he's open to compromise.
Those seem like the major developments on the policy front. The tone is pretty striking, too. Obama reaches out to Republicans in several places. But he also comes down hard--very hard--on opponents who are merely out to defeat reform.
More soon...
(For those following the speech, I'll be sending updates on twitter at @jcohntnr.)
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COMMENTS (6)
I noted at least 9 inflection points in the speech. Not counting his tie.
It's hard to pin down a reaction though because inside the beltway that's like reacting to someone who wants to buy your vote. Well, duh!
Besides, the gap between words and worlds in Washington is matched only by gap between our bullshit and their bullshit. Naturally we want to give our bullshit the benefit of the doubt but sometimes that still doesn't cover up the stench of politics as usual.
Was this not politics as usual? Time will tell. But I continue to thank my lucky stars for the VA. Otherwise I'd be typing this in a cardboard box under an overpass somewhere on I-95.
george
I noted at least 9 inflection points in the speech. Not counting his tie.
It's hard to pin down a reaction though because inside the beltway that's like reacting to someone who wants to buy your vote. Well, duh!
Besides, the gap between words and worlds in Washington is matched only by gap between our bullshit and their bullshit. Naturally we want to give our bullshit the benefit of the doubt but sometimes that still doesn't cover up the stench of politics as usual.
Was this not politics as usual? Time will tell. But I continue to thank my lucky stars for the VA. Otherwise I'd be typing this in a cardboard box under an overpass somewhere on I-95.
george
To be honest, George, I think that's what most of us assumed you were doing.
To be honest, George, I think that's what most of us assumed you were doing.
rat:
To be honest, George, I think that's what most of us assumed you were doing.
george:
Make that TEN inflection points. Or eleven if you count how many times rat's tie got snagged in his fly.
Is that a psychological tic, or an old habit from all those years on the yard?
; o )
gw
rat:
To be honest, George, I think that's what most of us assumed you were doing.
george:
Make that TEN inflection points. Or eleven if you count how many times rat's tie got snagged in his fly.
Is that a psychological tic, or an old habit from all those years on the yard?
; o )
gw
hilarious ratty. man, did he set himself up for that one. As to your "rebuttal" gw, I honestly haven't a clue what you are talking about.
hilarious ratty. man, did he set himself up for that one. As to your "rebuttal" gw, I honestly haven't a clue what you are talking about.
Black,
Does someone at TNR pay you to follow me around? You know, like Jackson used to?
I'm just a struggling troubadour trying to pay the rent by deprograming the preening wordmeisters God has blessed me with in here. And at my own expense. I don't expect you to "get" me, though. In fact, I'd be rather embarrassed if you did.
But right about now I suspect you are cursing yourself for not majoring in a sense of humor in college. And don't blame me that your doctoral thesis, "The death of irony in day care" was never made into a movie.
I thought it clever. Especially the part where you changed all the diapers with just your teeth.
; o )
gw
Black,
Does someone at TNR pay you to follow me around? You know, like Jackson used to?
I'm just a struggling troubadour trying to pay the rent by deprograming the preening wordmeisters God has blessed me with in here. And at my own expense. I don't expect you to "get" me, though. In fact, I'd be rather embarrassed if you did.
But right about now I suspect you are cursing yourself for not majoring in a sense of humor in college. And don't blame me that your doctoral thesis, "The death of irony in day care" was never made into a movie.
I thought it clever. Especially the part where you changed all the diapers with just your teeth.
; o )
gw
tragically george, since the reformat you are one of the few people posting. honestly, tell me one person at TNR who does "get" you, who follows all of your postings with anticipation. In one sense, it must be wonderful to be you, you really imagine yourself to be a genius, witty and delightful, it must be like being on drugs. I imagine you inherited money since I can't imagine anyone hiring you. As to the sense of humor, I found Ratty's riposte quite funny, thank you very much. And yes, TNR does pay me to post. I bought a beach front property on the Mayan Riviera with the money.
tragically george, since the reformat you are one of the few people posting. honestly, tell me one person at TNR who does "get" you, who follows all of your postings with anticipation. In one sense, it must be wonderful to be you, you really imagine yourself to be a genius, witty and delightful, it must be like being on drugs. I imagine you inherited money since I can't imagine anyone hiring you. As to the sense of humor, I found Ratty's riposte quite funny, thank you very much. And yes, TNR does pay me to post. I bought a beach front property on the Mayan Riviera with the money.