Obama to push for health reform in national speech

In his speech, Obama is expected to campaign for what is called the public option - a government-run health insurance plan which would compete with private insurers.

The proposal has received almost no Republican support in Congress. Republican critics have said it amounts to a government takeover of health insurance. Some public meetings on the issue have included emotional protests, and the president's approval ratings have eroded

b92

The Republican party is full of ideological contradictions.They pretend to be pro-life and were against stem-cell research and then they fought tooth and nail for the right to hold guns,in favour of summary executions and in favour of invading foreign countries and cause 000s of deaths and destruction.

They pretend to love the US and Americans, yet the idea of universal health care which will save millions of lives is a communist concept to them.

Having brought the country to
financial meltdown through corruption and mismanagement of G W Bush and the Wall Street crooks, now the've started talking about fiscal prudence and accuse Obama for his financial stimulus.

The fact of the matter is that the Republican party has been taken over by right wing thugs with no interest in reality or practical policy but only obsessed by power and dominance.

I don't think Obama will be able to introduce any sort of helthcare reforms because of opposition by powerfull interests in the medical professions and pharmaceutical industry.

One fact is becoming more clearer: America is in the process of becoming a FAILED STATE. Bankrupt morally and financially, it is circling the plughole of its own demise. The country is incapable of separating fact from Hollywood, uninterested in rational thought and doomed to demise as a world player.

Leonidas,

It is always fun to read your comments due to your predictions of US demise. In this respect I think even your admired Chavez is more realistic. I think you and I will be dead for a long time when the US will still be "numero uno". In the mean time you will encounter a lot of frustration realizing that your dream doesn't want to realize.

The best run health care system in the US is actually government run: the US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital system. It is efficient and the costs per person are much lower than the rest. It is all about money, business, and politics and so there will never be a system like in Canada and lots of European countries. However, change must come otherwise the US will go bankrupt because of this (in addition to war spending, social security, and so on). Another reason to sign up for Uncle Sam (especially if you are poor) and you will be set for life if you do not die in combat in a foreign and US unfriendly country or become handicap for life because of some roadside bomb or Taliban or Al-Qaeda sniper/fighter.

It's easy to blame the Republicans for Obama slip-ups regarding healthcare but the Democrast in Congress are just as guilt. They have more than enough votes in the House and Senate to push healthcare through themselves. The American public overwhlemingly voted in favor of change (the Democrats) and now we are getting more of the same. Democrats in this country do not have a spine when it comes to decisive issues such as this, all they do is talk a good game.

I don't have a problem with Republicans being against the public option/government healthcare but I wish they would stop using scare tactics and lies to get their points across. They have a number of valid arguments on thier side but instead reduce the debate to death panels & government socialism.

"One fact is becoming more clearer: America is in the process of becoming a FAILED STATE. Bankrupt morally and financially, it is circling the plughole of its own demise. The country is incapable of separating fact from Hollywood, uninterested in rational thought and doomed to demise as a world player."

No empire lasts forever but the American one is nowhere near its end. We are still the most influential & powerful country in the world and that will not change. China/Brazil/India are undoubtably growing stronger but cannot feed their own people. Russian economy is too dependant on the price of gasoline. The EU's inability to speak in one voice will forever hold it back.

Leonidas, where to begin.....

The last time I checked, Serbia and just about every other country in the world had opposing parties debating each other's agendas. Republican vs Democrat, DS vs SRS, etc. Rarely does one party support the efforts of another. Politics are the same no matter what country you are in. As to the healthcare issue, I think that everyone in the US agrees that it needs an overhaul. How that is best accomplished will be debated long after both of us are six feet under. As to the status or strength of the US, it is still the most powerful country in the world and will likely be for some time. How it chooses to use that power is certainly something that could use improvement. I think that the comment that follows yours is much more insightful.

We are still the most influential & powerful country in the world and that will not change..
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 15:53)

This is true, David - but if you look at that from an other angle: in the country of blind the one-eyed is the king. Leonidas complains about the lack of 3D vision in America - and you say, America is the king.

All is true, but than the rest of the world is blind. I am not so sure, this is the progress, what we did dream about many years ago. And certainly this world is NOT the world what we wanted as the Berlin Wall came down.

A very good idea (for many Americans) is to travel to East Germany and talk to the people.

To David & Patrik
The problem, as ever, is the Democrats themselves. No fire in the belly, too wedded to ideals of fairness and civility and no attempt to put the healthcare message across that the US cannot be regarded a civilised country when it refuses the care of the sick and vulnerable people.

As to your claim that the US is still the world power that used to be very few people outside the US borders share that view.

It suffices to say that the post-election statements of Hatoyama-the new Japanese premier-that he is to propose an Asian Union and a common currency indicates that the US will be shown the door from the Asian Basin sooner than later.

Occupying a country-such as Japan- sixty four years after the conflict ended is nothing short of imperialism.

Ataman,

Somehow I have the impression that you are obsessed with East Germany. If you like to go there it is fine but I don't see why Americans should congregate there in big numbers. To learn what? To find out how Germans - who consider themselves super smart - mismanaged the transition after 1989? They poured in about 200 billion dollars for sometimes ridiculous things like huge new office buildings or big railroad stations in places, where there was no population or just a small one. They converted the Eastern mark at at a high inflated rate making industrial production in the former East-Germany hardly competitive overnight. The list of such examples would be very long. So they badly mismanaged even though first the other Eastern Europeans, who didn't have a rich Western brother, envied them. Concerning the East German countryside nowadays: I can just imagine it...something like in Hungary. A lot of old people recieving pension and watching TV. Few people are working. Those who have entrepreneur spirit and are willing to work can make it even there.
As for your link I could not access it. Anyway I can assure you that Americans can sleep very well regardless if the Germans like them or not. They know well that they have different priorities and interests like all competitors. Nobody can please everybody.

To Joe

You and I have a totally different outlook of the world.

Your outlook is determined by profits and real estates and mine is determined by human suffering.Therefore we cannot agree on anything.

I have never admitted being an admirer of Chavez but that doesn't mean i don't respect him as leader who's been fighting US colonialism since he came to power.

What's wrong with spending your country's resources to better the lives of your citizens? If you look at statistics coming from Venezuela you see better literacy levels,better social provisions for the poor and better standards of living in general.

As to US demise,as i said bofore,this is a process which has alredy started.I don't mean that it will happen tomorrow but this process is now irreversible.

"Occupying a country-such as Japan- sixty four years after the conflict ended is nothing short of imperialism."

Still occupying Japan? Leonidas I don't think you seriously believe it is the case. Sure there are few thousand GIs in Japan...some more in Germany but because of that nobody in his right mind can state that Japan and Germany - very independent and powerful countries for a long time - are "occupied" by the US. I have the impression that due to frustration you develop your own world, which is very different from the real one.

"It is all about money, business, and politics and so there will never be a system like in Canada and lots of European countries."

Yes, you are correct, but perhaps not for the reasons you may think. The single largest expense in the US for healthcare and other industries is the court system. Before one tries to change healthcare they should institute tort reform. It is far too easy to sue and win in the US. When an old lady can successfully sue because she spilled hot coffee on herself and now we have to serve coffee cooler and place a warning on the cup that it contains something hot.... we are the joke of the world. Doctors & hospitals pay an enormous amount of money for malpractice insurance, which costs they pass along to patients. I picked up a suit from the cleaners the other day and on the plastic bag that was wrapped arounf the suit was the phrase "choking hazard... do not allow young children to play with this bag". We have hands free cell phone laws while driving. Yet, the geniuses in government seem to think we somehow need a "no texting while driving" law. Does anyone know a way of texting without using their hands? Until we can reign in our court system from such frivolous actions we will never see a proper healthcare system.

speaking to those people it is clear they are happy with the way things turned out...
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 21:12)

David - here is a little introduction, what "popularity" USA does enjoy in Germany, hope you can read it. And these are not some anti-American crazies...

The topic is about proposed $10 tourist entry tax and the opinions are pretty much split.

http://tinyurl.com/pv4xde

If you are proud, that USA is the king - fine, let it be. But I am reminding you again: USA is one-eyed, without 3D vision. It is the king only because the rest of the world is blind. That does not make me way to happy, but if it is OK with you - let it be.

Are you implying that East German's would rather be back under the thumb of the Soviet Union?
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 21:12)

Of course not. Soviet Union in the form it was was everything, but blessing.

-------

I have traveled to Dusseldorf many times on business and after speaking to those people it is clear they are happy with the way things turned out...
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 21:12)

I hate to remind you, but Düsseldorf is rarely in East Germany. You should not be shy to visit the rural East Germany few times. If you dare, of course... I mean, from language point if view purely.

Patrik,

I agree with you. Open the average US phone book and attorneys and lawyers occupy most pages by far. It is all bad of fear and a system that is biased by default. In addition, lots of people do not want to take responsibility for their health and expect doctors to perform miracles when the get sick.

"A very good idea (for many Americans) is to travel to East Germany and talk to the people."

Are you implying that East German's would rather be back under the thumb of the Soviet Union? I have traveled to Dusseldorf many times on business and after speaking to those people it is clear they are happy with the way things turned out...

"It suffices to say that the post-election statements of Hatoyama-the new Japanese premier-that he is to propose an Asian Union and a common currency indicates that the US will be shown the door from the Asian Basin sooner than later."

Hatoyama and the DPJ did not run on an anti-American platform (i.e. Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). DPJ won using the economy and the recent financial collapse as their central issue. Don't mistake Hatoyama's victory as a jab at the United States. America will be a key figure in that region for years to come because Japan/Korea will need us to counter China's growing economic/military strength. The idea of an Asian union is ridiculous. It would never work, they will run into the same issues the EU does. China, Japan, & Korea would never be able to put aside their differences and speak in one voice.

'Before one tries to change healthcare they should institute tort reform.'

This is probably why Obama in his speech promised to start work on this immediately - there's going to be a period of experimentation (we've got plenty of states to try out different systems in), so it won't happen overnight, but the process has started. It's been a Republican demand for a long time, but we'll see if any of them vote for the final bill. Just how deeply entrenched has their automatic rejection of anything proposed by a Democrat become?

And about Asia forming a more perfect union than has ever existed - it's going to be a very long while before this happens. When I was in grad school we lived in the cheapest apartment complex in town, along with many foreign student families. When Korean, Japanese, and Chinese came over to play with my son, they got along normally. Then the kids went home and got laid into by their parents for 'consorting with the enemy.' And these parents were grad students in science, not illiterate peasants. If we could only have a couple of generations without parents...

'A very good idea (for many Americans) is to travel to East Germany and talk to the people.'

Yes, there was a lot of talk at one time about a "third way" that would avoid the worst aspects of communism (state control of the economy, the secret police, etc.) and of capitalism (lack of security - work, health, income. Etc - Ataman knows better than I do, I assume.) But the forces of capitalism were too strong and too self-confident to be countered by a few intellectuals. Unleashing capitalism on a formerly socialist country sometimes seemed to have approximately the same effect as the diseases that the Europeans brought to the American Indians. The Westies' efforts to prevent problems may only have made them worse (setting the exchange rate at 1:1, for example). But who knows what would have happened if they'd made different choices? Any change of system means wrenching life changes for most of the adults in it - you can only hope that the next generation will be better off than it would have been under the old system.

Leonidas, where to begin.....

The last time I checked, Serbia and just about every other country in the world had opposing parties debating each other's agendas. Republican vs Democrat, DS vs SRS, etc. Rarely does one party support the efforts of another. Politics are the same no matter what country you are in. As to the healthcare issue, I think that everyone in the US agrees that it needs an overhaul. How that is best accomplished will be debated long after both of us are six feet under. As to the status or strength of the US, it is still the most powerful country in the world and will likely be for some time. How it chooses to use that power is certainly something that could use improvement. I think that the comment that follows yours is much more insightful.

It's easy to blame the Republicans for Obama slip-ups regarding healthcare but the Democrast in Congress are just as guilt. They have more than enough votes in the House and Senate to push healthcare through themselves. The American public overwhlemingly voted in favor of change (the Democrats) and now we are getting more of the same. Democrats in this country do not have a spine when it comes to decisive issues such as this, all they do is talk a good game.

I don't have a problem with Republicans being against the public option/government healthcare but I wish they would stop using scare tactics and lies to get their points across. They have a number of valid arguments on thier side but instead reduce the debate to death panels & government socialism.

"One fact is becoming more clearer: America is in the process of becoming a FAILED STATE. Bankrupt morally and financially, it is circling the plughole of its own demise. The country is incapable of separating fact from Hollywood, uninterested in rational thought and doomed to demise as a world player."

No empire lasts forever but the American one is nowhere near its end. We are still the most influential & powerful country in the world and that will not change. China/Brazil/India are undoubtably growing stronger but cannot feed their own people. Russian economy is too dependant on the price of gasoline. The EU's inability to speak in one voice will forever hold it back.

In his speech, Obama is expected to campaign for what is called the public option - a government-run health insurance plan which would compete with private insurers.

The proposal has received almost no Republican support in Congress. Republican critics have said it amounts to a government takeover of health insurance. Some public meetings on the issue have included emotional protests, and the president's approval ratings have eroded

b92

The Republican party is full of ideological contradictions.They pretend to be pro-life and were against stem-cell research and then they fought tooth and nail for the right to hold guns,in favour of summary executions and in favour of invading foreign countries and cause 000s of deaths and destruction.

They pretend to love the US and Americans, yet the idea of universal health care which will save millions of lives is a communist concept to them.

Having brought the country to
financial meltdown through corruption and mismanagement of G W Bush and the Wall Street crooks, now the've started talking about fiscal prudence and accuse Obama for his financial stimulus.

The fact of the matter is that the Republican party has been taken over by right wing thugs with no interest in reality or practical policy but only obsessed by power and dominance.

I don't think Obama will be able to introduce any sort of helthcare reforms because of opposition by powerfull interests in the medical professions and pharmaceutical industry.

One fact is becoming more clearer: America is in the process of becoming a FAILED STATE. Bankrupt morally and financially, it is circling the plughole of its own demise. The country is incapable of separating fact from Hollywood, uninterested in rational thought and doomed to demise as a world player.

Leonidas,

It is always fun to read your comments due to your predictions of US demise. In this respect I think even your admired Chavez is more realistic. I think you and I will be dead for a long time when the US will still be "numero uno". In the mean time you will encounter a lot of frustration realizing that your dream doesn't want to realize.

To David & Patrik
The problem, as ever, is the Democrats themselves. No fire in the belly, too wedded to ideals of fairness and civility and no attempt to put the healthcare message across that the US cannot be regarded a civilised country when it refuses the care of the sick and vulnerable people.

As to your claim that the US is still the world power that used to be very few people outside the US borders share that view.

It suffices to say that the post-election statements of Hatoyama-the new Japanese premier-that he is to propose an Asian Union and a common currency indicates that the US will be shown the door from the Asian Basin sooner than later.

Occupying a country-such as Japan- sixty four years after the conflict ended is nothing short of imperialism.

Patrik,

I agree with you. Open the average US phone book and attorneys and lawyers occupy most pages by far. It is all bad of fear and a system that is biased by default. In addition, lots of people do not want to take responsibility for their health and expect doctors to perform miracles when the get sick.

We are still the most influential & powerful country in the world and that will not change..
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 15:53)

This is true, David - but if you look at that from an other angle: in the country of blind the one-eyed is the king. Leonidas complains about the lack of 3D vision in America - and you say, America is the king.

All is true, but than the rest of the world is blind. I am not so sure, this is the progress, what we did dream about many years ago. And certainly this world is NOT the world what we wanted as the Berlin Wall came down.

A very good idea (for many Americans) is to travel to East Germany and talk to the people.

To Joe

You and I have a totally different outlook of the world.

Your outlook is determined by profits and real estates and mine is determined by human suffering.Therefore we cannot agree on anything.

I have never admitted being an admirer of Chavez but that doesn't mean i don't respect him as leader who's been fighting US colonialism since he came to power.

What's wrong with spending your country's resources to better the lives of your citizens? If you look at statistics coming from Venezuela you see better literacy levels,better social provisions for the poor and better standards of living in general.

As to US demise,as i said bofore,this is a process which has alredy started.I don't mean that it will happen tomorrow but this process is now irreversible.

speaking to those people it is clear they are happy with the way things turned out...
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 21:12)

David - here is a little introduction, what "popularity" USA does enjoy in Germany, hope you can read it. And these are not some anti-American crazies...

The topic is about proposed $10 tourist entry tax and the opinions are pretty much split.

http://tinyurl.com/pv4xde

If you are proud, that USA is the king - fine, let it be. But I am reminding you again: USA is one-eyed, without 3D vision. It is the king only because the rest of the world is blind. That does not make me way to happy, but if it is OK with you - let it be.

"Occupying a country-such as Japan- sixty four years after the conflict ended is nothing short of imperialism."

Still occupying Japan? Leonidas I don't think you seriously believe it is the case. Sure there are few thousand GIs in Japan...some more in Germany but because of that nobody in his right mind can state that Japan and Germany - very independent and powerful countries for a long time - are "occupied" by the US. I have the impression that due to frustration you develop your own world, which is very different from the real one.

Are you implying that East German's would rather be back under the thumb of the Soviet Union?
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 21:12)

Of course not. Soviet Union in the form it was was everything, but blessing.

-------

I have traveled to Dusseldorf many times on business and after speaking to those people it is clear they are happy with the way things turned out...
(David Wright, 9 September 2009 21:12)

I hate to remind you, but Düsseldorf is rarely in East Germany. You should not be shy to visit the rural East Germany few times. If you dare, of course... I mean, from language point if view purely.

Ataman,

Somehow I have the impression that you are obsessed with East Germany. If you like to go there it is fine but I don't see why Americans should congregate there in big numbers. To learn what? To find out how Germans - who consider themselves super smart - mismanaged the transition after 1989? They poured in about 200 billion dollars for sometimes ridiculous things like huge new office buildings or big railroad stations in places, where there was no population or just a small one. They converted the Eastern mark at at a high inflated rate making industrial production in the former East-Germany hardly competitive overnight. The list of such examples would be very long. So they badly mismanaged even though first the other Eastern Europeans, who didn't have a rich Western brother, envied them. Concerning the East German countryside nowadays: I can just imagine it...something like in Hungary. A lot of old people recieving pension and watching TV. Few people are working. Those who have entrepreneur spirit and are willing to work can make it even there.
As for your link I could not access it. Anyway I can assure you that Americans can sleep very well regardless if the Germans like them or not. They know well that they have different priorities and interests like all competitors. Nobody can please everybody.

The best run health care system in the US is actually government run: the US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital system. It is efficient and the costs per person are much lower than the rest. It is all about money, business, and politics and so there will never be a system like in Canada and lots of European countries. However, change must come otherwise the US will go bankrupt because of this (in addition to war spending, social security, and so on). Another reason to sign up for Uncle Sam (especially if you are poor) and you will be set for life if you do not die in combat in a foreign and US unfriendly country or become handicap for life because of some roadside bomb or Taliban or Al-Qaeda sniper/fighter.

"A very good idea (for many Americans) is to travel to East Germany and talk to the people."

Are you implying that East German's would rather be back under the thumb of the Soviet Union? I have traveled to Dusseldorf many times on business and after speaking to those people it is clear they are happy with the way things turned out...

"It suffices to say that the post-election statements of Hatoyama-the new Japanese premier-that he is to propose an Asian Union and a common currency indicates that the US will be shown the door from the Asian Basin sooner than later."

Hatoyama and the DPJ did not run on an anti-American platform (i.e. Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). DPJ won using the economy and the recent financial collapse as their central issue. Don't mistake Hatoyama's victory as a jab at the United States. America will be a key figure in that region for years to come because Japan/Korea will need us to counter China's growing economic/military strength. The idea of an Asian union is ridiculous. It would never work, they will run into the same issues the EU does. China, Japan, & Korea would never be able to put aside their differences and speak in one voice.

"It is all about money, business, and politics and so there will never be a system like in Canada and lots of European countries."

Yes, you are correct, but perhaps not for the reasons you may think. The single largest expense in the US for healthcare and other industries is the court system. Before one tries to change healthcare they should institute tort reform. It is far too easy to sue and win in the US. When an old lady can successfully sue because she spilled hot coffee on herself and now we have to serve coffee cooler and place a warning on the cup that it contains something hot.... we are the joke of the world. Doctors & hospitals pay an enormous amount of money for malpractice insurance, which costs they pass along to patients. I picked up a suit from the cleaners the other day and on the plastic bag that was wrapped arounf the suit was the phrase "choking hazard... do not allow young children to play with this bag". We have hands free cell phone laws while driving. Yet, the geniuses in government seem to think we somehow need a "no texting while driving" law. Does anyone know a way of texting without using their hands? Until we can reign in our court system from such frivolous actions we will never see a proper healthcare system.

'Before one tries to change healthcare they should institute tort reform.'

This is probably why Obama in his speech promised to start work on this immediately - there's going to be a period of experimentation (we've got plenty of states to try out different systems in), so it won't happen overnight, but the process has started. It's been a Republican demand for a long time, but we'll see if any of them vote for the final bill. Just how deeply entrenched has their automatic rejection of anything proposed by a Democrat become?

And about Asia forming a more perfect union than has ever existed - it's going to be a very long while before this happens. When I was in grad school we lived in the cheapest apartment complex in town, along with many foreign student families. When Korean, Japanese, and Chinese came over to play with my son, they got along normally. Then the kids went home and got laid into by their parents for 'consorting with the enemy.' And these parents were grad students in science, not illiterate peasants. If we could only have a couple of generations without parents...

'A very good idea (for many Americans) is to travel to East Germany and talk to the people.'

Yes, there was a lot of talk at one time about a "third way" that would avoid the worst aspects of communism (state control of the economy, the secret police, etc.) and of capitalism (lack of security - work, health, income. Etc - Ataman knows better than I do, I assume.) But the forces of capitalism were too strong and too self-confident to be countered by a few intellectuals. Unleashing capitalism on a formerly socialist country sometimes seemed to have approximately the same effect as the diseases that the Europeans brought to the American Indians. The Westies' efforts to prevent problems may only have made them worse (setting the exchange rate at 1:1, for example). But who knows what would have happened if they'd made different choices? Any change of system means wrenching life changes for most of the adults in it - you can only hope that the next generation will be better off than it would have been under the old system.