Big Dogs Weblog

Some Advice Obama Should Listen To

by Big Dog on Sep 9, 2009 at 18:54 Political

Tonight Barack Obama will speak before a joint session of Congress where he will try to rescue his health care takeover plan. He will use invited guests to demonstrate how terrible health care in America is. He will probably say that no one has offered any ideas and that we have the choice between doing this and doing nothing.

Republicans have been offering solutions but have been ignored. The amendments they have offered have been discounted without the courtesy of a committee vote. The Democrats have made it clear that they want what they want and that is what they intend to get.

Except a number of them are now on record as opposing the plan as written. The Blue Dogs will not vote for it with a public option and the liberal wing will not vote for it without. Obama is in a tough position that is of his own making. As Camille Paglia stated (I differ with her on political views but I like her honesty and fairness when she discusses a subject):

As an Obama supporter and contributor, I am outraged at the slowness with which the standing army of Democratic consultants and commentators publicly expressed discontent with the administration’s strategic missteps this year. I suspect there had been private grumbling all along, but the media warhorses failed to speak out when they should have — from week one after the inauguration, when Obama went flat as a rug in letting Congress pass that obscenely bloated stimulus package. Had more Democrats protested, the administration would have felt less arrogantly emboldened to jam through a cap-and-trade bill whose costs have made it virtually impossible for an alarmed public to accept the gargantuan expenses of national healthcare reform. (Who is naive enough to believe that Obama’s plan would be deficit-neutral? Or that major cuts could be achieved without drastic rationing?) Salon

She hit the nail right square on the head. The rush to pass all the expensive bills with little regard for the process or the consequences has crippled Obama and his health care takeover plan. Take notice of what this Obama supporter asks in her last few sentences.

Obama has said that he has not received any alternative input and that is a flat out lie. The reality is that he has ignored the input. But there is a suggestion today that might help him.

Republicans are telling him to slow down and start over.

That is good advice. Nearly everyone acknowledges that we need some type of reform to make our system better. What we do not need is a complete overhaul that destroys what works to solve the smaller issues.

Republicans and Democrats can work together to pass a bill that forces coverage for preexisting conditions, covers those who truly cannot afford insurance, offers incentives to those who can afford it but choose not to buy it, excludes illegals, requires legal aliens to maintain a certain level of insurance, and allows competition across state lines. It also needs to have some type of tort reform. The bill can be crafted to include the items that Obama and the Democrats voted against when they had the chance to reform health care when he was a Senator. Perhaps they did not want Bush to get the credit, fine. Now Obama can get the credit if we do this the right way.

I also think that any bill needs provisions that make it nearly impossible for it to be changed so that they do not get a bill passed and then add what they wanted all along. Perhaps a requirement for 80% approval in the House and Senate (each chamber needs 80%) in order to pass any changes should be included in the bill.

We need to keep them somewhat honest.

I think that people working together can solve this issue in a manner that keeps government out of health care, provides more competition, and covers those who are truly in need.

Obama would do well to listen to this advice and start over. He told the school children that he asks questions all the time and that this is a sign of strength and not weakness. Now is the time for him to demonstrate strength and listen to what others are telling him.

I would like to think this will happen but I believe that he is too wedded to the public option. He is on the record as saying that he wants to drive insurance companies out of business and his indoctrination has given him the belief that government is the solution to all problems. I do not think he has it in him to start over and be reasonable.

After all, he made it clear not very long ago that he won and that things are going to be the way he wants them.

If he remains tied to this issue and continues to push for what has been proposed then this will be his undoing.

Perhaps he will have an epiphany and live up to the claims about how smart he is. I seriously doubt he will do that because he is set in what he wants and he refuses to budge. He owes a lot of people and they expect him to deliver.

And the left said that Bush was stubborn…

Sarah Palin weighs in on the issue.

For those interested in playing the drinking game, NRO has 25 phrases you will hear Obama use tonight [Big Dog Salute to Victoria]. If you play this game you will be sloshed about 20 minutes in.

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