Senator McCain didn't tell us about the studies that say his plan would cause 20 million Americans to lose their health insurance, or how the Chamber of Commerce said it would be a disaster for businesses, or how it would de-regulate the insurance industry so that they don't have to cover things like mammograms, or vaccinations, or maternity care. He thinks we won't notice these things.
Well, I've got news for John McCain: we notice, we know better, and we're not going to let him get away with it.
This issue is personal for me. My mother died of ovarian cancer at the age of 53, and I'll never forget how she spent the final months of her life lying in a hospital bed, fighting with her insurance company because they claimed that her cancer was a pre-existing condition and didn't want to pay for treatment. If I am President, I will make sure those insurance companies can never do that again.
My health care plan will ensure that insurance companies can't discriminate against those who are sick and need care most. If you have health insurance, the only thing that will change under my plan is the amount you pay in premiums. That will be less. And if you don't have health insurance, you'll be able to get the same kind of health insurance that Members of Congress get for themselves. We'll invest in preventative care and new technology to finally lower the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the entire economy. That's the change we need, and that's the choice you face in this election.
« The Fannie/Freddie Talking Points Presentation | Main | Hacker Indicted For Palin Hack » Obama Turns To Health Care08 Oct 2008 12:50 pm
Here's what he's prepared to say in Indianapolis, Indiana. Note that the mention of his mother spiked the campaign's internal dial groups last night... and although Obama's spoken about it before, the campaign wants to make sure that reporters pay attention to it today.
Comments (9)
Barack Obama's approach here is both brilliant and apropos the moment and the American socio-political zeitgeist. There can be no other plan. Period. Hillary Clinton offered the nationalization of health insurance - an unsaleable item for most right-of-center Americans. John McCain, who said last night that health care is (an individual) responsibility, offers what amounts to less than nothing for most of us. Senator Obama, who called health care "a right," obviously saw around the corner on this one. And health care happens to be one of the big ones this year, even given the current economic crisis. 
Like Linda, I noticed that the piece mentions McCain twice; a McCain piece would probably mention Obama a dozen times, and his dangerous associates four times, as McCain's piece on the economy did Monday.
What else will McCain pull out of when the going gets tough? Not Iraq, that's for sure... I would have liked to hear Obama address this notion of "fines' for people and companies that don't get health care under his plan- McCain was all over Obama on that for a bit during last night's debate and Obama never tried to shake him off then. I'd like to see an effort at that soon.
Allow me to preface this by saying that I'm voting third party this year. I'm not impressed with McCain; but in looking at the alternative, Obama's health plan and other policies sound more like he should be running on the Socialist Workers Party. Regardless, both of them would lead us further down the slippery slope to socialism. With McCain, it would be somewhat more gradual; Obama, on the other hand, probably is making his mentor Karl Marx smile.... BTW what ever happened to personal responsibility and carrying one's own weight? Guess we'd better get used to living in the USSA (United Socialist States of America.)
@Independent: In what way is national health care incompatible with carrying one's own weight and personal responsibility? Before health insurance illness bankrupted families, or they didn't have care and watched people die of the treatable. It still bankrupts families. Weight and exercise I'll grant you, but is getting breast or pancreatic cancer really a failure of personal responsibility? Most of the first world has some form of national health care; we're way behind. None of the candidates is where I'd like them to be (single payer) but at least Obama appears to understand the issues around health care.
@Independent as well Repeating what Deborah asked here. How is having a single-payer system for health care any different than having public schools? It's one's personal responsibility to take charge of one's education (as it is to stay healthy), but we still make sure even the poorest people have a chance to earn a high school degree.
Deborah and Mason, Let's take this to its logical extension then. Why not send all your income to the government, and in exchange let the government provide everything you need? That way you'd never have to worry about your health care, having something to eat, a place to live, etc. On the other hand, if that were the case, the government could decide whether or not you were actually "sick", what and/or how much you should be eating, where and in what kind of housing you should live, etc. (Not to mention that you don't need that nice newer car or SUV that you drive - a rusty old clunker will get you around just fine, and if anything goes wrong with it, that government repair shop will fix it for you free.) That is definitely not the way I'd like to go. In fact, I think Social Security participation should be optional: in my opinion it is nothing more than a government-run Ponzi scheme. Maybe this is the rural Midwestern/Plains states heritage mentality coming out in me... when you're out on a farm and a blizzard rolls through, you're on your own; you learn to make do with what you have instead of depending on others to bail you out.
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It's so refreshing to hear what the candidate proposes to do when president instead of just attacking the other candidate.
I like what Obama is saying - specifics.
I can't see where our other choice is planning to do - other than pull out of Michigan and deride Obama.
What else will McCain pull out of when the going gets tough?
Posted by Linda Stratton | October 8, 2008 2:03 PM