Health Care Reform Watch under President Obama

The hard fact is that without the Stupak amendment, the House health care reform bill would have gone down to defeat. Without the amendment, presumably most of the 64 Democrats who supported the measure would not have been able, out of principled conscience, to support the legislation. This is an inevitable consequence of the "big tent" philosophy that allowed Democrats to take back the White House and control both houses of Congress in the 2008 elections.

The 39 Democrats who voted against passage of the House health care reform bill will be as indelibly remembered politically as the 29 Senate Democrats who foolishly voted in 2002 to support the Iraq War. I've carefully reviewed and researched the 39 Democratic naysayers, and found two common attributes: the group is almost entirely white and male...

October 28, 2009 - Only inside the D.C. bubble would a position that bucks rich lobbyists, but is firmly supported by both a majority of Americans and the party that controls Congress, be considered radically daring leadership or a momentous event.

That they would seriously pose the question of why we aren't celebrating Harry Reid's support of a public option makes we wonder if they really think we're that stupidly uninformed.... or if Democratic leaders and insider journalists are really that isolated from the realities of the rest of the country.

October 15, 2009 - Healthcare reform is now President Obama's to boldly shape and form... or to bobble, pander, and dither over, as he is wont to do on major policy issues. Undoubtedly, the President will sign a healthcare reform bill. The question is: will the reform be effective, or will it be reform in name only?

September 29, 2009 - To paraphrase wry comedian Bill Maher, no other country in the world permits corporations to "make a buck on breast cancer" or any other form of human suffering.

This immorality must be stopped... although so-called centrist Democratic senators apparently can't be relied on to place dire morality over the almighty dollar placed in their own pockets by lobbyists.

September 17, 2009 - Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus released his much-anticipated "bipartisan" healthcare reform bill that devoured lord-knows-how-many months of valuable time, and yet, the results were roundly panned by both liberals and conservatives. And for solid reasons.

The GOOD ENOUGH, the BAD and the UGLY of the Baucus health care bill is that it meets merely one of President Obama's three mandatory goals for healthcare reform legislation...

September 9, 2009 - The path to passing health care reform legislation is set now, regardless of President Obama's speech tonight. The only open question is what measures will be included in the bill that reaches the President's desk.

My prediction is that, forced by liberals, the President will argue for a public plan as one option among multiple plans from which citizens may select one. However, Obama would happily sign legislation that excludes a public plan.

Regardless of the President's late-in-the-game speech, health care reform legislation will inevitably proceed as follows...

September 1, 2009 - Bipartisan kumbaya, even on the most basic health care reform principles, has failed to materialize, in small part, because Democrats refuse to acknowledge a few burning problems with the pending Democratic bill proposals.

Yes, I realize I'm committing liberal blasphemy by publicly admitting that the House healthcare bill is imperfect. But the truth is that a few elements are intrusive and/or wrong, and a bit creepy.

August 19, 2009 - Is quasi-Blue Dog Obama barking down the wrong political street on health care reform? Yes, obviously. His present mushy non-position satisfies almost no one, either politically or personally.

I believe President Obama must take a firm stance for a Medicare-like public-plan option, or his health care reform agenda is dead... and possibly his 2012 reelection chances, as well. Follow my logic...

August 17, 2009 - "Can Barack Obama's viability as a 2012 presidential candidate, or as 2012 Democratic nominee, survive failure to include a public-plan option part of health care reform?

"The public-plan health care option has become to President Obama what "Read my lips. No new taxes," became to President Geroge H.W. Bush: a litmus test to gauge success or failure.

August 3, 2009 - The unheralded gem of President Obama's health care reform agenda is his eight-point Health Insurance Consumer Protections plan. Obama's aggressive plans to reform health insurance will greatly relieve American families by putting a stop to the most egregious practices actively used by private insurers to exclude people from health coverage, and to avoid paying for health care services used by people who have paid their premiums.

July 28, 2009 - If you feel confused, take a few minutes to read my new article, President Obama's Health Care Reform Plan, which answers and simplifies key concerns using the President's own words, including:

• Why Does Health Care Need to Be Reformed?
• Who Will Be Covered by Obama's Health Care Plan?
• How Will It Help Me If I Already Have Health Care Insurance?
• Why Is a Medicare-like Public Option for Health Care Coverage Necessary?
• Will Health Care Services Be Rationed Under Obama's Plan?