The Lulac Edition #935, Sept. 9th, 2009
PHOTO INDEX: PRESIDENT OBAMA BEFORE A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
PULLING A JIMMY STEWART
It wasn't quite "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" but speaking before a special joint session of Congress Wednesday, President Obama laid out to legislators and the American people his goals for health care reform -- goals that he says incorporate both Democratic and Republican ideas. After a tedious summer in which the dialogue surrounding health care reform spun out of the president's control, Mr. Obama gave his address in an attempt to clarify his priorities and set the legislative process back on track. Health care reform, the president said, should meet three basic goals: more security and stability for those with health insurance, access to insurance for those who do not have it, and ways to slow the growth of health care costs. The president told the Congress he continues to seek common ground -- but he issued a warning to opponents of his plan who have used lies and exaggerations to fight it. One of the points the President made was that it would be illegal for health insurance companies to deny coverage on the basis of a pre existing condition. What he did not say and what was unclear was how much that would cost someone applying for insurance. For example, an Insurance Company could offer the insurance but would the cost be so high no one could afford it? Or would the President put caps on what the Insurance companies can charge? These are unanswered questions he did not delve into.
Obama was forceful in his remarks and at one point incurred the ire of some Republicans. The latter showed their minority status by sitting on their hands for much of the speech. The only time they gave Obama some applause was when he talked about Malpractice Tort Reform. In my estimation, while Obama wants to work with the GOP I think he knows that ship has sailed. Within his own party, Obama was like the stern father who did not give each kid what they wanted but asked them to settle for what he offered. To the left, he essentially said forget private option and to the blue dogs he pointedly referred to the deficit they appear to be so worried about by reminding them he inherited debt driving programs from the previous administration. It was implied to some observers that some of those programs were supported by the blue dogs.
To top off his 5,500-word speech, the president evoked the spirit of health care reform champion Sen. Ted Kennedy. He said the senator sent him a letter that the president was instructed to open after Kennedy's death. Personally I thought he should have read the whole letter instead of excerpts but hey that’s me. Obama said of Kennedy, "He expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform - 'that great unfinished business of our society,' he called it - would finally pass," Mr. Obama revealed. "'What we face,' he wrote, 'is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.'" The president noted that it has been nearly a century since the federal government first called for health care reform under former President Theodore Roosevelt. "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," he said. Right now the President has again struck middle ground. Politically that pleases no one. The hard work comes now when he has to stop talking and knock heads together in order to get a bill that accomplishes something. A watered down version will not stand with liberals in his own party. The tightrope walk for the lithe Mr. Obama has begun. Once he starts walking, he can’t turn around and go back. It's now or never. His enemies are betting on never.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
Elizabeth Edwards on MSNBC referred to the Town Hall Congressional meetings in August as “Summer At the Circus”. Can’t get a better line off than that!
GOOBER OF THE NIGHT
Proving that not every Congressman is a gentleman, lawmaker Joe Wilson yelled at the President during the part of his speech when Obama was discussing health care and illegal immigrants. The yokel yelled, “You lie”. It was rude, ignorant, unprecedented and pretty ungracious. It only reinforces the stereotype of the GOP as the party of “no” and gives me immense satisfaction that on my family tree we have no one south of Baltimore. As part of the President's plan to "call out" those who would be irrational, ladies and gentlemen, Joe Wilson.
posted by David Yonki @ 11:58 PM
19 comments
19 Comments:
Next Presidential speech, if he is even allowed to attend, Rep Joe Wilson should be required to wear a duct tape gag!I believe both parties would approve this measure. Jesus, Mary and Joseph what was the fool thinking? This is just about enough of the lies and lack of respect. Get it thru your sorry spoiled ass heads, this Man is the President!
Taylor Jack
Okay, here we go. Defending this guy as if he's the second coming of Christ. I am so glad, so, so glad WYOU TV is off the air with their news so I don't have to hear and see you bloviate about Obama, Health Care and your left leaning, social reactionary liberal godless policies that will put us all on the road to nowhere.
Hey 12:36: Diss Obama all you want but WYOU and the Yonk was epic TV. First off no one could beat the Yonk's ties. They were snappy. And when Eric Sheiner, Dr. Joe Leonardi, the Yonk and Mayor McNulty got on the air, there was more political brainpowers there than in Harrisburg. Be nice wacko.
Poppinaro
I for one enjoy the Yonk's ability to put things in perspective. I'm just sorry that the Yonkster does not have a daily column in the local papers. As for not getting the President's message, there are those who will never get it so we need to just let them wallow in their own little world while we go forward searching for a better America. David, please keep up the good work. I plan to copy your comments and email them to my friends around the county. By the way, I'm serious about the column in local papers. Maybe there is an editor/publisher out there who will wake up to your talents. The Pittston Dispatch is slowly but surely going out of business due to the lack of political insight covering their pages. Thanks.
Exactly as I expected. Do we genuflect now?
So where does it say that illegals DON'T qualify?
Joe Wilson had a "yonkup": an unusual, momentary lapse of judgment borne of frustration with reality, resulting in brief unusual behavior. (i.e. "jagged object").
***********************
The president's speech has changed nothing.
President Obama changed nothing about his plan. His speech did not move Congress any closer to reforms that would put patients first. Instead, he vowed to "call out" people he deems as "misrepresenting" his plan.
The American people have called out the president and congressional leaders for trying to force their version of health care reform on a public that doesn't want it. That's what the overwhelming response was at those town hall meetings and rallies over the last two months.
Accusing his critics of "scare tactics," he told the American people that if we don't get behind his plan - which he calls doing "nothing" - "more will die as a result."
He finally acknowledged the need for medical liability lawsuit reform, but instead of vowing to push for it in health care legislation, he said he would put Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, in charge of that. Interesting choice, since Sebelius used to be a lobbyist for trial lawyers.
Americans are tired of hearing doublespeak from the president. In the same speech, he declared he doesn't want "to defer reform one more year, or one more election, or one more term." But that was right after telling us his plan for the federally regulated health insurance exchange "will take effect in four years."
Obama's speech rehashed the same plan - including a public, government-controlled health insurance plan; a new federal definition of acceptable health insurance; an individual mandate that everyone purchase that insurance or face a tax; and an employer mandate increasing the burden on the engine of jobs. The president mocked the concerns of Americans who don't want to see these job-killing, tax-raising policies enacted.
The president said his "door is always open" to discuss alternatives to his plan. So far, however, we have seen little consideration given to the types of reforms we support - such as buying health insurance across state lines, tax credits for Americans of all incomes, and real tort reform. These are real reforms that would work for real people.
Unfortunately, Wednesday's speech promised more things Washington can't deliver with its current proposals - promising everyone can keep their current health plan and that reform as Obama imagines it would not add to our deficit. If the president and Congress continue on the course they have charted, these promises will be broken in short order.
Amen.
Pretty amazing that you castigate Representative Wilson for his remarks and even an entire section of the country when you yourself wwent off the rails in one of your editions. You may not be a liar but you are a hypocrite and certainly no Christian.
IN RESPONSE
You may not be a liar but you are a hypocrite and certainly no Christian.
IF I SAID IT ONCE, I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, I'M A ROMAN CATHOLIC, NOT A CHRISTIAN.
Roman Catholics are Christians!
Easy on the folks south of the Mason Dixon Line, there Yonks. At least there aint no heynas down that way. They have their share of idiots, but nothing to match the homegrown morons of NEPA. Thank God we have all these good christians around here to decide who is christian and who isnt. If you support Obama and Health Care you are godless. What idiots!
IN RESPONSE
Roman Catholics are Christians!
I AM AND I'M NOT.
A friend of mine just emailed me that Wilson's web site is down but he did something better, he began to contact other "R" congressmen from SC and took a middle of the road attitude that Wilson disgraced the Congress, his home district and of course the State of SC. His idea is that if they get enough calls and emails, they will get pissed at him and he will have an internal problem. I'm plan to do it later in the day. I think that Wilson's attitude was that of a deep southern attitude toward a "black" president and not a political comment.
What's so hard to understand, all Christians are not Catholics. Now ain't that simple to understand?
Why are people so hell bent on defending the Republican's who do not want health care reform? What don't they get about the fact that we are so far behind the rest of the world in caring for our citizens?
I wonder how many of these screamers are without health care and i wonder how many of them know what it is like to get coverage if they have a preexisting condition and finally, I wonder if these people have any idea of the cost of medication when there is no RX plan to pay for it?
How comfortable is it dancing on graves?
but all Catholics ARE Christian. It is the basis of the entire faith. Jesus built His Church on Simon Peter, who is generally recognized as the first pope. Catholics are Baptized in Christ. They receive Communion via Christ. Catholics are Christians.
They may not be Born again, fundamentalist Christians, but they are Christians just the same
Yonk is a Teddy Kennedy Catholic. That is all you need to know about this guy.
Congressman Wilson's conduct was inexcusable. As a Republican, I was embarrassed by it.
But was it unprecedented?
No.
I remember the Democrats booing and hissing at President George W. Bush in 2005, during the State of the Union address. That got under my skin at the time.
President Clinton got the same treatment, I believe, from Republicans during his State of the Union Addresses.
Yes, our beloved Congress can be a raucous bunch.
We must temper our judgment of Mr. Wilson by remembering what Samuel Clemens said about these folks:
"...Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
...and it these same folks, who don't read what they vote on, who will fix health care and lead us to the promised land.
But at least they're entertaining.
James O'Meara, Sr.
My email to President and VP sent a few minutes ago. Not as well written as I wanted but I decided to send it knowing that he only gets a report on the tone of emails, for or against! The wording is not as important as the attitude.
Dear President Obama,
I did watch your speech last night and like millions of others, I was very disgusted with Joe Wilson's disrespect.
But my purpose in writing is to let you know that as a supporter of yours, I am very very disappointed in your record on health care reform with regard to the pharmaceutical companies. It is common knowledge on the street that you made a deal with them which will eliminate inexpensive drugs. You don't need their support.
Personally, I am on Medicare and last month I hit the "donut hole" and it cost me $129 for a toothpaste type size tube of medication. I am diabetic type II and take one Actos pill per day and my cost now is $238 per month. You making deals to get their support does not help me and many like me!
You personally have the ability to communicate on a level twice that as Ronald Reagan and all you need do is to take your story to the people. Talk to us! Tell the Republicans to take a hike and stop trying to appease them. Ask the people to pressure their own representatives to support health reform including pharmaceutical companies.
You can pay for this by getting the hell out of Afghanistan and removing the remainder of the troops from Iraq. We marched in so march out. Bring the troops home and lets get into the Isolationist mode for just a year or two, rearm our military and worry about protecting our homeland. We can't be the world cop!
Do what I believed you would do when I voted for you.
Hey 12:36 am - one can't be reactionary and liberal at the same time. LOOK IT UP!
As for the Bamster, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. And we still know nothing about the proposed health care plan. He's great at telling what it won't do - pay for abortion and cover illegal aliens. It will cover preexisting conditions, but at what cost? Who decides what is "affordable", "appropriate treatment" "uplication of service" and all the other buzzwords this guy threw out there. Truth is, he's never held office long enough to learn how to reach out to the opposition, how to cajole, wheedle and threaten to get the job done. And he has no clear idea of what the hell he wants to do with health care. The primary goal here is reelection.
Did I hear the President praising an NEPA health provider last night?
The same NEPA health provider that sells plans that have a "pre-existing clause", that turn down 85 to 90 percent of people who apply, who stall and avoid giving a quote to a business with over 50 employees whenever they want to (using the rationale that underwriting refuses to offer the business a quote for health insurance)?
Or was I hallucinating?
Isn't the government trying to ration health care - making sure everyone get some of a limited commodity - much like they did in the 70's when gas went crazy?
We all know how that went.
This time when speculators drove the price up so high the govt let it be.
Sure it got expensive for a while but everyone who budgeted their money had access to the stuff. Now it's been pretty stable and affordable. I've cut back on beer but would rather drive.
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