(Thumbnail image from the Official White House Photostream)
Lawmakers are back at Capitol Hill, and settling in for a long and turbulent journey to reform health care in the United States. Support for U.S. President Barack Obama seems to have plummeted over the summer, and if his speech to Congress on Wednesday doesn’t motivate Washington, critics are saying his reputation could be permanently damaged.
We are taking a look at what different media are saying about Obama’s health care reform initiative. What does he actually plan to change, and how do they suggest he execute it during an adverse political environment.
Let’s start with FOX News business analyst Stuart Varney, who summarizes the new health care reform as a major expansion of Medicaid. Varney says the major problem is obviously how to finance the expansion. Washington can’t pay for it, so the Senate wants the states and local taxpayers to fund it.
“This is not tenable. There will be a revolt from the nation’s governors, and the taxpayers, because when you expand Medicaid, it will be a form of income redistribution of the haves and the have nots. This is not going to be popular.”
CNN’s coverage focuses on Olympia Snowe, a Republican Senator from Maine who wants to take a less-radical approach to changing the country’s private insurance system. The report says any changes made should be careful not to step on the toes of those who are happy with the health care they already have.
“We obviously want to protect those who already have good health care, good insurance plans. You know they want to preserve it, they want to maintain it. We don’t want to interfere with that nor do we want to interfere with the doctor patient relationship.”
Media strategist Nick Ragone spoke on the CBS News Program ‘Washington Unplugged.’ He says the president isn’t taking ownership of his own plan, which allows for easy access to nitpicking from the other side.
“The biggest mistake is that it’s so vague, that the opponents are picking apart what they want to see in it. The president really doesn’t have his own plan. It’s five different plans floating around in Congress.”
Finally, The New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman takes a stab at what he would say to Congress during Wednesday’s Health Reform speech if he were the President.
“Obama really needs to make it clear that the horrors of our health care system can lead to nightmarish outcomes – and that those nightmares can happen to you, or someone like you.”
What do you think? Will Obama regain Congressional support and public trust on the health care issue after this speech?
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