Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, and the American people:Aside from the early 1980s, you mean? Yeah, we got out of that by cutting taxes and forcing accountability and responsibility onto those who were acting out. Hm? What's that? Not your plan...? I'm shocked.When I spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
We were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month. Credit was frozen. And our financial system was on the verge of collapse.Right. All because of your policies that killed job growth and quadrupled the deficit in one deadly shot.
As any American who is still looking for work or a way to pay their bills will tell you...Of which there are now several million more, thanks to you.
...we are by no means out of the woods. A full and vibrant recovery is still many months away. And I will not let up until those Americans who seek jobs can find them -- (applause) -- until those businesses that seek capital and credit can thrive; until all responsible homeowners can stay in their homes. That is our ultimate goal. But thanks to the bold and decisive action we've taken since January, I can stand here with confidence and say that we have pulled this economy back from the brink.Back from the brink?? I think the correct terminology is right up to the brink.
I want to thank the members of this body for your efforts and your support in these last several months, and especially those who've taken the difficult votes that have put us on a path to recovery.Translation: thanks for all of you who helped me take over the financial industry, the auto industry, and several private businesses (of which I then replaced the leadership), and put the American economy into a darn near bottomless pit. You rock!
I also want to thank the American people for their patience and resolve during this trying time for our nation.When are you going to stop blaming Bush for everything? Grow a pair, be a man, and take some responsibility already!
But we did not come here just to clean up crises.
We came here to build a future. (Applause.) So tonight, I return to speak to all of you about an issue that is central to that future -- and that is the issue of health care.He means that, and I actually kind of agree. If he gets this dog to pass, it might be the last time it'll be reformed. Too bad for all of us who are stuck with it, huh?I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last.
It has now been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for health care reform. And ever since, nearly every President and Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, has attempted to meet this challenge in some way. A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943. Sixty-five years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session. (Applause.)Our collective failure to meet this challenge -- year after year, decade after decade -- has led us to the breaking point. Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans. Some can't get insurance on the job. Others are self-employed, and can't afford it, since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer. Many other Americans who are willing and able to pay are still denied insurance due to previous illnesses or conditions that insurance companies decide are too risky or too expensive to cover.
We are the only democracy -- the only advanced democracy on Earth -- the only wealthy nation -- that allows such hardship for millions of its people. There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage. In just a two-year period, one in every three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point. And every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage. In other words, it can happen to anyone.30 million? What happened to 47 million? Did you get some focus group data that said 30 was a much more palatable number? If it's a fact, it doesn't change, Mr. President. So which is it? And, your whole point about one in three Americans being without coverage at some point is just stupid: that happens naturally every time we change jobs, something you wouldn't know anything about since you've never had a real one.
But the problem that plagues the health care system is not just a problem for the uninsured. Those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today. More and more Americans worry that if you move, lose your job, or change your job, you'll lose your health insurance too. More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won't pay the full cost of care. It happens every day.Numbers, please. This smells of over-generalization to me.
One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it. Another woman from Texas was about to get a double mastectomy when her insurance company canceled her policy because she forgot to declare a case of acne. By the time she had her insurance reinstated, her breast cancer had more than doubled in size. That is heart-breaking, it is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America.I agree. But do we need to cover absolutely everything for absolutely everyone in order to take care of those who truly need the assistance? This is the equivalent of taking out a mouse with a bazooka. You know, once upon a time, people had insurance only for catastrophes, and everything else was paid out of pocket. That was back when health care was affordable. Hm, I wonder if there's a connection...?
Then there's the problem of rising cost. We spend one and a half times more per person on health care than any other country, but we aren't any healthier for it.Yes we are. Our life expectancy just went up again in numbers published just a few weeks ago. You libs love to look at a single WHO study that hits America for life expectancy stats because we include deaths from car accidents, violent crime, etc. Not the same thing.
This is one of the reasons that insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages.So are egregious ambulance-chasing lawyers, but you're not addressing tort reform. Why not? And, if you want to talk about costs rising, how about government meddling and intervention?
It's why so many employers -- especially small businesses -- are forcing their employees to pay more for insurance, or are dropping their coverage entirely. It's why so many aspiring entrepreneurs cannot afford to open a business in the first place, and why American businesses that compete internationally -- like our automakers -- are at a huge disadvantage.Seriously? You're going to point to the automakers? How about your union buddies that have forced artificially high wages for those workers, and things like the jobs bank, where union members get paid to literally sit around and do nothing? That's not exactly helpful to the bottom line when competing with international companies who have no unions, you know.
And it's why those of us with health insurance are also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it -- about $1,000 per year that pays for somebody else's emergency room and charitable care.Where'd you get that number? I'm from Missouri - show me!
Finally, our health care system is placing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers.So you're going to fix that 'unsustainable burden' by heaping trillions more dollars on top of where we already are? Only in liberal minds can that be considered logic.
When health care costs grow at the rate they have, it puts greater pressure on programs like Medicare and Medicaid.That's because they're hemorrhaging red ink because of mismanagement and government control. Show of hands for everyone who thinks throwing every American into this system is a good idea...?
If we do nothing to slow these skyrocketing costs, we will eventually be spending more on Medicare and Medicaid than every other government program combined. Put simply, our health care problem is our deficit problem. Nothing else even comes close. Nothing else. (Applause.)Now, these are the facts. Nobody disputes them. We know we must reform this system. The question is how.
There are those on the left who believe that the only way to fix the system is through a single-payer system like Canada's -- (applause) -- where we would severely restrict the private insurance market and have the government provide coverage for everybody. On the right, there are those who argue that we should end employer-based systems and leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own.I've said -- I have to say that there are arguments to be made for both these approaches. But either one would represent a radical shift that would disrupt the health care most people currently have. Since health care represents one-sixth of our economy, I believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't, rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch. (Applause.) And that is precisely what those of you in Congress have tried to do over the past several months.
During that time, we've seen Washington at its best and at its worst.We've seen many in this chamber work tirelessly for the better part of this year to offer thoughtful ideas about how to achieve reform. Of the five committees asked to develop bills, four have completed their work, and the Senate Finance Committee announced today that it will move forward next week. That has never happened before. Our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses; hospitals, seniors' groups, and even drug companies -- many of whom opposed reform in the past. And there is agreement in this chamber on about 80 percent of what needs to be done, putting us closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been.
But what we've also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have towards their own government. Instead of honest debate, we've seen scare tactics.
Mostly from you, sir. You're the one inventing crisis after crisis, then shoving massive spending bills that no one has read into law on the basis of urgency.
Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.Yep, that sounds like you, all right.
True, but if you change jobs or if your employer dumps your coverage for the government plan, you're screwed. There are no options but the government option if anything changes in your current coverage.Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. (Applause.) Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care. Now is the time to deliver on health care.The plan I'm announcing tonight would meet three basic goals. It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance for those who don't. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government. (Applause.) It's a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge -- not just government, not just insurance companies, but everybody including employers and individuals. And it's a plan that incorporates ideas from senators and congressmen, from Democrats and Republicans -- and yes, from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election.Here are the details that every American needs to know about this plan. First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. (Applause.) Let me repeat this: Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.
What this plan will do is make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition. (Applause.) As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. (Applause.) They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. (Applause.) We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. (Applause.) And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies -- (applause) -- because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives. (Applause.)Okay, let's burst this bubble. Rush Limbaugh offered a terrific example of why pre-existing conditions are necessary. In a nutshell, let's say your house catches fire. As you stand in the front yard watching the flames, you call your insurance company and ask to buy fire insurance. What do you think they're going to tell you? No way! Or, if they do provide it, they're going to charge you a ton because they know they'll have to pay out immediately. It's not about a lack of compassion, but of plain ol' business sense. What happens if insurance companies give this coverage to anyone and everyone? They'll go out of business. And what happens to everyone who previously had coverage with that insurance company? They're screwed. And guess who is left to fill the void? ObamaKennedyDeathCare.
Okay, you know what? This thing is hideously long, and I can't really take much more of it right now. I'm going to wrap up for now, and post some analysis (translation: lowlights) from the professionals tomorrow.
We'll see how this all plays out with the public. From what I've seen, it might give him a little boost, but nothing in this speech changed the fundamentals of the argument, and those are distinctly not in ObamaKennedyDeathCare's favor.
There's my two cents.
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