I didn't watch the video. I tend to read the transcripts instead which is here:
Transcript of Associated Press Luncheon Speech
It covers the speech he gave yesterday at the Associated Press Luncheon. I think he did an amazing job at breaking down the Republican budget plan for people. Though I don't think many people that needed to watch/read it have gotten a chance to.
The last responses were really spot on regarding his recent health-care changes (Obamacare):
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Originally Posted by Obama
Health care, which is in the news right now -- there's a reason why there's a little bit of confusion in the Republican primary about health care and the individual mandate since it originated as a conservative idea to preserve the private marketplace in health care while still assuring that everybody got covered, in contrast to a single-payer plan. Now, suddenly, this is some socialist overreach.
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Originally Posted by Obama
And the point I think that was made very ably before the Supreme Court, but I think most health care economists who have looked at this have acknowledged, is there are basically two ways to cover people with preexisting conditions or assure that people can always get coverage even when they had bad illnesses. One way is the single-payer plan -- everybody is under a single system, like Medicare. The other way is to set up a system in which you don’t have people who are healthy but don’t bother to get health insurance, and then we all have to pay for them in the emergency room.
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Originally Posted by Obama
But I think what's more important is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to recognize that in a country like ours -- the wealthiest, most powerful country on Earth -- we shouldn’t have a system in which millions of people are at risk of bankruptcy because they get sick, or end up waiting until they do get sick and then go to the emergency room, which involves all of us paying for it.
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Basically you have him laying out the truth.
I really feel these kind of talking points are softening up the republican side. They've been traditionally wary of saying what kind of healthcare system they prefer. I mean they can't say "let poor people die" so you end up with awesome responses to these kind of questions.
I especially liked Caldwell's response regarding Obamacare.
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Originally Posted by Buddy Caldwell
The worst thing you can do is give it to an insurance company. I want to make my point. All insurance companies are controlled in their particular state. If you have a hurricane come up the east coast, the first one that’s going to leave you when they gotta pay too many claims is an insurance company. Insurance companies are the absolute worst people to handle this kind of business. I trust the government more than insurance companies. If the government wants to put forth a policy where they will pay for everything and you won’t have to go through an insurance policy, that’d be a whole lot better.
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Basically advocating for a single-payer system without saying it directly. Too bad Obama hasn't been able to make any movement on such a system though because Republicans labeled single-payer systems as "socialist" and wouldn't compromise on such a system forcing this mandate that people must buy insurance to protect a system that allows people to abuse the ER systems in place artificially inflating the cost of health-care for everyone else.
I wish we could get more republicans to read and analyze these issues without writing them off as not problems. I mean you have candidates right now like Santorum who admitted his private insurance sucks after he spent $100,000 out of his pocket to cover medical expenses when his insurance didn't cover things which for less fortunate people is basically end-game. Then he attacks the bill that would end up saving his family possibly millions of dollars of healthcare in the future because he has to uphold a conservative viewpoint toward fighting against supporting the ability for children with pre-existing conditions to get insurance. (Just another battle between the private health market and ethics).
How are you guys dealing with current political discussions like this popping up? I'm hoping by posting this people will think hard about the repercussions of what is happening right now. (Could just be the older generation though. Seems like the younger generation basically understands the general problems and the possible solutions).
(Also if anyone missed the Cracking Your Genetic Code Nova episode on PBS a few days ago I recommend watching it
here. The watch now link is on the right of the site. I think it does a good explanation of the problems we face with pre-existing conditions in the future, or even now).
//edit woah fixed formatting errors.