Okay folks, this is do or die for President Obama in my mind. Will he come out swinging like Obama the candidate or mushing around in the middle as Obama the President has far too often.
His first real speech on passing the Health Care Reform bill.
I want to hear passion, urgency and humanity. I want to hear the same kind of inspiring oratory I heard in the campaign that energized the grass roots to elect this president.
If he puts bipartisanship ahead of what’s best for the people one more time, he’s going to be a much more weakened president with a very discouraged base.
Come on Pres. Obama, now is your time. Ask not what the country can do for you but what you can do for your country…and all that jazz.
I’ve missed the hell out of nell!
Good to see you!!
Aw thanks. I feel the same!
I second that emotion. (remember the song?)
It’s officially Nellie Day on The Planet.
Drinks are on her!
I guess I’m one of the few people around who isn’t disappointed in this president. After 30 years of GOP or GOP lite, I’m glad to see a progressive agenda handled with some finesse. I’m still waiting for Mr. Obama to get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan, but otherwise, I haven’t seen anything to make me impatient with how things are going. I’m convinced health care will pass. And I’m pretty sure the public option will be a key feature of any health care legislation.
I’m looking forward to the speech. And I’ll make some phone calls afterward. That’s what really gets congress to move.
Hello nellie, so nice to see you again, hope that you’ve been well. Welcome!
I’m not an American but when I see what your President is up against, I can’t help but admire what he is trying so hard to do and what he has done so far. The man has been in office for 7 months and some people already expect him to preform miracles after the destruction Bush perpetrated on your country. Gosh some Americans are just so impatient, it really annoys me to hear all of the constant whining from people who promised to help and support him. Some people will never be satisfied, even if he COULD walk on water.
Hi Kalima. It’s good to see you, too! Hope all is well.
After eight years of Bush, a lot of people are still very angry — with good reason — and some of that is spilling over to this president. But we also have to remember that he wasn’t elected without a lot of help, and he won’t get his agenda passed without a lot of help. He needs even more support now because he has a whole congress pushing back against his agenda — not just one political opponent. I don’t see that his agenda has changed or that his values have changed. But I do see the effects of a very well financed opposition. And a perpetually hostile media.
Nellie, great to see you!
IMO, Pres. Obama’s main misstep has been pursuing bipartisanship as his priority over the best policy plans.
It was admirable for him to try with the stimulus, he made substantial compromises that in the end hurt the stimulus and Americans in order to bring Repubs on board and didn’t get one Repub vote.
Not to mention that he was dissed by all Repubs even those who got their compromises in the bill and received billions from the stimulus in their districts and states.
Add to that the Repubs open admission that their goal is to make Obama and his policies fail, to “break” him.
I think he should have politely changed course to do the best work for the people without regard for the destructive perspective of the Republicans.
There is a strategy that by simply moving forward and in essence taking the Repubs’ power away, they may compromise to have a say and join in governing. It doesn’t seem to be working to negotiate with them when they are included in the process and believe they have power.
So, I remain optimistic, that when he speaks to Congress he brings the fire of social justice and morality into this debate. I’m hoping he drives home that this is life and death to many and how many need to needlessly die over the next several years because of partisan politics or folding to the insurance industry.
He needs to bring it big time and I am hoping he does.
I agree wholeheartedly he has taken bipartisanship too far. But the people really do want the government to be functional and nonpartisan and that’s what Obama ran on to capture the middle. I have to admit that I’m still surprised at how much conservatives are willing to bring down this country for selfish political reasons.
I now chalk bipartisanship off as a goal like world peace. Always something you would like to strive for but will never attain.
Very true, bipartisanship is an admirable goal but it is not possible at this point in our nation’s history, things are too polarized and the Republican party is now the party of racists, fringe wackos and haters in general.
You don’t get to reason through compromising with hatred, “Okay, we’ll hate and negatively impact poor people and Latinos a little, are you satisfied now?”
Nope. You ram progress past those trying to prevent it and let them try to catch up down the line as they did for 30 years after FDR.
Great to see you here Nellie. I think people’s expectations where a reflection of what they wanted and not what the president said during the campaign. He said he was going to add troops and emphasize the war in Afghanistan, he voted for the bailout and he was never the Socialist some wanted. I have always said he’s got a progressive vision but is pragmatic in practice. I also don’t understand the binary thinking among many progressives. I thought only conservatives thought in terms of black and white. I don’t agree with everything the president is doing but I agree with a majority of things he’s doing and trying to accomplish. But many progressives are throwing him under the bus because they don’t agree with some things he’s doing.
What kills me is the misrepresentations from people especially about the bailout which is the root of the discontent in so many. Little extra money was added to the deficit for the bailouts in almost a year now. Bernake after messing up under Bush has done a great job using the Fed as the lender of last resort to get the credit markets flowing again from giving LOANS not free money. Even some bailout money has made some money since returned. If you noticed economists like Krugman was one of the people who said the president should reappoint Bernake. The bottom line is all the things the Fed did wrong to exacerbate the Great Depression, Bernanke did right to prevent another one.
The stimulus is having it’s desired effect at the right time. The cash for clunkers was a resounding success. The foreclosure program needs to start hitting high gear. But I can’t personally even slam the foreclosure plan because I had been trying to get my loan reworked after almost five years because I became disabled and have had it finally reworked in July.
I don’t care if he mentions bipartisanship especially considering his audience. But he has to stick it in the Repugs faces about the lies and give more details about his plans. He’s losing the middle on the issue who really want a public plan to compete with profitcare. He’ll still drive some in his base crazy if he does not push single payer but since he never pushed single payer that will not lose support from rank and file Dems.
I don’t agree, he doesn’t need to push single payer, just a public option. Evolution will take care of turning Public Option into Single Payer.
I don’t think a majority cares much about him demonstrating bipartisanship anymore. We get it, the Repubs have openly said they wan from him to fail and just want to block anything he supports to weaken him.
Time for some Presidential sized balls, tell the nation that this needs to be done as a moral imperitive and a key to rescuing our nation from eternal 2nd class status in the world.
Be tough Mr. Prez and we the people will do the rest.
He’s got to make the speech of his life that’s all I know.
Absolutely. He needs to wrest the issue away from the loons and own it as Kennedy owned going to the moon.
I perfectly agree. If Obama does not spit in their eye, his presidency is over.
Know what else? I have lost interest in the public option.
I want the business of health insurance nationalized. There is no value added from any of the for profit companies.
Single payer, all the way!
If Obama goes to Congress and prattles on about bipartisanship, the thugs are just going to utterly take his lunch money, every nickle of it.
Why have you lost interest in the public option?
katydids.
More power to ya I say.
I have to admit I’m totally selfish on this issue. Based on the plans in Congress, since I don’t have insurance and am disabled I will be one of the first ones eligible for a public plan.
It’s not that I don’t want everyone to have access to public healthcare at all but we all need to decide based on our true self interests.
You can’t eat a whole pizza in one bite.
With the Public Option in place, Single Payer will naturally take root. Try to bite off more than the skittish American public can chew and no change will happen….and we’re going hungry.
Natura non facit saltum.
Nature doesn’t leap.
He needs to spell it out without being pedantic or using more than two or three key points with catchy phrases, not let the Republicans have all the “kill granny” type memes.
He needs a buzzword expert:
http://medinnovationblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/interview-with-health-care-buzz-word.html
Democrats never own the reality cause they don’t own the language. Republicans really learned their lessons from being the pear-shaped, oatmeal-on-a-stick, outcasts they were throughout HS. They learned how to jeer, characterize, and misrepresent. All the things done to them, they now do to others.