More Fighting Words Needed From Obama On Healthcare Reform

Our president gets one point-- you have to keep repeating the same points over and over again to get things done in Washington.
No one ever said it was going to be easy to pass healthcare reform in this country, and, like in the past, insurance companies and their Republican allies are fighting tooth and nail to keep the current corrupt system in place.
But at least our president keeps fighting (albeit not as strongly as I think he should), and that's to his credit. Here's the tape of his latest weekly message:

While the president repeats the answers that have been most frequently given to the myths about "death panels" (or the "pulling the plug on Grandma" argument) and how it would lead to a "government takeover" of healthcare, he makes this additional statement about the public option:

Now, the source of a lot of these fears about government-run health care is confusion over what’s called the public option. This is one idea among many to provide more competition and choice, especially in the many places around the country where just one insurer thoroughly dominates the marketplace. This alternative would have to operate as any other insurer, on the basis of the premiums it collects. And let me repeat – it would be just an option; those who prefer their private insurer would be under no obligation to shift to a public plan.

So what kind of a "public plan" are we talking about, a Medicare-style government-run one or a weak "co-op" plan that Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is pushing?
It is disturbing that our president doesn't define this further, and it is even more disturbing that he isn't using any harsher language about those who have been spreading outrageous lies about his proposal.
I wish he would call spades spades and call his Republican, insurance company, and right-wing talk show critics who spread the lies exactly what they are, liars, and do it forcefully and with conviction.
I appreciate that he is using his extensive "political capital" to pass this important measure, and it is also impressive that he has said that he is willing to be just a one-term president if that's what it takes to achieve healthcare reform.
But on this public option, he must define it sharply and specifically, not leave any door open for any weak-kneed substitute like the co-op idea that Conrad and others are advancing.
Is there any room for co-ops in any healthcare reform program? Here's what thebagofhealthandpolitics has said about that:

A co-op that operates under a national framework can be successful. This non-profit model is successful in many western European countries. But it is not the lame, state-based co-ops of Kent Conrad’s dreams; Conrad’s state-base co-ops wouldn’t have a large enough pool to alter the market, reduce costs and increase access. The end game is upon us, but for our side to be successful, we need the House to pass a strong bill with stringent regulations on the insurance industry and a strong public option, administered by the federal government.

So what is the use of dealing with those who want to defeat or weaken any healthcare legislation? I haven't heard our president give an answer to that question.
We need to see much more fight from this president than he's shown, espcially when calling out his lying critics, and pressure must be placed on Democrats, both real and "blue dogs," to pass legislation that has a strong, not weak or in name only, public option that is not watered down by those with stakes in preserving what is wrong.

Overcoming The Right-Wing Lies and Scare Tactics: Obama (Again) Sets Record Straight On Health Care

Here's our president's weekly address in which he explains (again) his healthcare proposal:

What impressed me about this message is how our president speaks about what's really going on despite the news media's obscession with the right-wing hooligans whose only agenda is to prevent any real health care reform from happening:
Here's part of what the president said:

Now, I know there’s been a lot of attention paid to some of the town hall meetings that are going on around the country, especially those where tempers have flared. You know how TV loves a ruckus.
But what you haven’t seen – because it’s not as exciting – are the many constructive meetings going on all over the country where Americans are airing their hopes and concerns about this very important issue.
I’ve been holding some of my own, and the stories I’ve heard have really underscored why I believe so strongly that health insurance reform is a challenge we can't ignore.
They’re stories like Lori Hitchcock’s, who I met in New Hampshire this week. Lori’s got a pre-existing condition, so no insurance company will cover her. She’s self-employed, and in this economy, she can’t find a job that offers health care, so she’s been uninsured for two years.
Or they’re stories like Katie Gibson’s, who I met in Montana. When Katie tried to change insurance companies, she was sure to list her pre-existing conditions on the application and even called her new company to confirm she’d be covered. Two months later, she was dropped – after she’d already gone off her other insurance.
These are the stories that aren’t being told – stories of a health care system that works better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people. And that’s why we’re going to pass health insurance reform that finally holds the insurance companies accountable.
But now’s the hard part. Because the history is clear – every time we come close to passing health insurance reform, the special interests with a stake in the status quo use their influence and political allies to scare and mislead the American people.

Notice the last part of this passage. Just as the news media seems incapable of reporting the straight facts about President Obama's popularity (which is still at 60 percent despite media claims of eroding support), it doesn't want folks to know that our president has respectfully and in a clear and to the point manner fielded even the most skeptical of questions about his proposal in BOTH the New Hampshire and Montana townhalls.
It's time the news media stopped presenting fringe right-wing hooligans who'd rather obstruct and prevent any meaningful discussion of healthcare reform as representative of mainstream America and instead listen to folks like those highlight by our president both at his townhalls and in his latest weekly message.

Ex-Insurance Exec Details Anti-Healthcare Strategy

If you didn't know that insurance companies and their Republican allies are using an extensive playbook designed to mislead and scare Americans against healthcare reform, check out this Huffington Post report.
Wendell Potter has seen these insurance company tactics when he worked in that industry, and now that he's out of it, he has been sharing his extensive knowledge of how those fighting healthcare reform are trying to scare and mislead Americans into going against their own best interests.
Said Potter, who also has made appearances on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and Rachel Maddow's show:

"I know from years as an industry P.R. executive how effective insurers can be using scare tactics to turn public opinion against any reforms that affect profitability," said Wendell Potter, who ran corporate communications for health insurance giant CIGNA until last year. "This year, you can rest assured the industry is up to the same dirty tricks."
That's not to say insurers are sending angry citizens to town hall meetings, but Potter said that through "shills" and "buzzwords" they are indirectly responsible for much of the anti-reform "lies and disinformation" dominating the current debate.
"Americans should realize that when they hear isolated stories of long waiting lines or wait times to see doctors in Canada, and allegations that care in other systems is rationed by government bureaucrats, the insurance industry has written the script," he said. "They're masters of linguistics. They know hot-button issues. They know buzzwords that get people excited."

It used to be that when the insurance companies used their tactics to defeat healthcare reform, there was no internet with blog sites capable of delivering effective responses. But what makes this year different is that folks are wising up to the insurance company tactics thanks to the excellent work of sites like Daily Kos and Firedoglake, along with the solid work done on the cable shows of Olbermann and Maddow.
If you thought insurance companies were going to behave great to show their loving kindness after defeating healthcare reform, consider this:

After Clinton-era reform efforts went down in flames, the health insurance industry made no effort to reduce coverage denials for preexisting conditions or other reforms they told Congress they supported, said Potter. More recently, he said, insurers used P.R. vehicles like APCO -- a powerful D.C. firm best known for fronting Phillip Morris' pseudo-scientific defense of smoking back in the nineties -- to try and damage the credibility and limit the influence of Michael Moore's 2007 documentary "Sicko".
Insurers have been effective at maintaining "Wall Street-run health care," Potter said. A strong public option is necessary to change that model, he said -- otherwise, the final bill "might as well be called 'the Insurance Industry Profit and Protection Act.'"

Question: will Congress also wise up and overturn efforts by Republicans and so-called "Blue Dogs" to defeat or at least water down healthcare reform? It's time the Blue Dogs are held accountable for their actions and are confronted with strong primary opponents if they continue to work against their constituents' interests and for those of Republicans and insurance companies.

Will Getting Rid Of Private Insurers Solve Health Care Mess?

I just ran into this interesting post on Daily Kos. Here's part of it:

One of the biggest, most profitable and unnecessary component in the current system is a highly profitable middle man, the health insurance industry. This industry IS NOT needed and is the single biggest cause of skyrocketing costs and immoral denials of coverage. The billions save annually, along with other proposals, would likely be enough to provide basic coverage for all Americans.

I don't know if anyone wants to complete the private insurers, but this statement brings out one BIG point-- there are ALREADY bureaucrats making decisions about what healthcare we get, and these bureaucrats aren't government ones.
They are from insurance companies, and these are the folks empowered to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions or some other undefined as emphasized in a company's power to deny coverage under the classy name of "recissions."
I sure hope the rest of the media is more thorough in discrediting the lies and other manipulations of Republicans and their big business allies as this health care debate moves forward.