Obama says status quo no solution on health care

Sunday 13th September, 05:27 AM JST

MINNEAPOLIS —

President Barack Obama assailed critics of his health care initiative Saturday, seeking to grab the megaphone from his opponents and boost momentum in his drive for congressional passage of his chief domestic priority.

“I will not accept the status quo. Not this time. Not now,” the president told an estimated 15,000 people during a rally that had every feel of a campaign event, right down to chants of “Fired up, ready to go!” and “Yes, we can!”

Days after urging Democrats and Republicans in Congress to come together, an invigorated Obama said his plan incorporates ideas from those on both sides and he promised to continue to seek common ground.

“If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen. My door is always open,” the president said.

But he warned that he wouldn’t waste time with people who have decided “that it’s better politics to kill this plan than improve it.” He also said he wouldn’t stand by while special interests “use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are.” And he warned, “If you misrepresent what’s in the plan, we will call you out.”

The pitch came in friendly territory. Democratic-leaning Minnesota is one of the nation’s healthiest states, with relatively few uninsured residents, cost-effective medical care and top health care providers such as the Mayo Clinic.

His speech at Target Center was part of a weekend campaign by the White House to give the president as much exposure as possible after his prime-time address Wednesday to Congress.

At the rally, on network television and in his weekend radio and Internet address, Obama again sought to take the reins of the debate, a task that has proved elusive over the past three months. The challenge is to both energize his supporters and make people with insurance care about his proposal.

In Minnesota, he portrayed his proposal as a benefit to more people by arguing that chances are anyone could lack insurance for at least a little while.

He cited a new Treasury Department analysis that found that nearly half of all people under age 65 go without health coverage at some point in a 10-year period. The data came from a study that tracked the insurance status of a sample of people from 1997-2006.

The report also found that 57% of those under 21 will find themselves without insurance at some point during a span of 10 years and that more than one-third of Americans will be without coverage for a year or more.

The speech largely tracked the one days earlier on Capitol Hill, and he tore into opponents who he claimed were spreading rumors designed to scare people as they try to “bring Obama down.”

The president said he wants to see a government-run option in the plan and remains open on “how to set this up.” He stressed it would be one of many options for people seeking affordable care and no one would be forced to choose it.

In a CBS’ “60 Minutes” interview to air Sunday night, Obama said he’s focused on overhauling health care the right way. “I have no interest in having a bill get passed that fails. That doesn’t work,” he said.

He added: “I intend to be president for a while and once this bill passes, I own it.” And if it doesn’t work, Obama said: I’m the one who’s going to be held responsible. So I have every incentive to get this right.”

While the president cleared out of town, thousands of people marched along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol to protest Obama’s approach on health care and what they say is out-of-control federal spending. At the protest, people chanted “enough, enough” and “We the people” and carried signs that said “Obamacare makes me sick” and “I’m Not Your ATM.”

In the weekly Republican address, Sen. John Cornyn said Obama rejected ideas that would bring the parties together around overhauling the system and ignored the American people’s wishes. He criticized the cost and its long-term effect on the budget deficit, saying one of the House of Representatives bills works out to $2.4 trillion over 10 years, beginning in 2013.

Obama puts the cost of his plan at $900 billion for the period starting in 2010, when more revenue will be available right away.

Said Cornyn: “President Obama should work with Republicans on a bottom-up solution that the American people can support.”

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Associated Press writers Nafeesa Syeed in Washington and Martiga Lohn in St. Paul, Minn., contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Obama address: http://www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: http://www.youtube.com/user/gopweeklyaddress

FreedomWorks: http://www.freedomworks.org/

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Latest 15 of 20 Total Comments Show All

yabits at 12:54 PM JST - 13th September

There is a huge difference between 30k and 2 million. While the larger number may be accurate, I'm not happy with the competing numbers.

Uh, no. The actual number was somewhere around 60,000 to 70,000. That's the number that shows up to a lot of major college football games.

If you take the larger of those two numbers and add 30,000 to it, you should come up with 100,000. Then multiply that by 20 and you get an idea of just how far you are off from 2 million.

Just like the numbers are being trumped up about those who are supposedly opposed to health care reform.
seijichuudo9sha at 04:22 PM JST - 13th September

Yabits my friend.Our side has lost.Wingers turned out in six-figure numbers.Impartial sources are putting the number at a million,minimumThe crowd was larger than the one for President Obama's historic inauguration.I'm embarrasssed to say they also left the mall spotlessly clean upon leaving, unlike our side back on Jan 21.
GJDailleult at 05:26 PM JST - 13th September

"a system that costs almost twice as much as any other rich country’s, yet yields substandard results and leaves tens of millions of people with no health insurance at all"

That quote comes from the well known left-wing magazine "The Economist". And that's the system that people are marching to keep. Seems pretty strange to me, but I am sure they are all well-informed about health care issues and have examined the situation logically and rationally.
sailwind at 05:56 PM JST - 13th September

Seems pretty strange to me, but I am sure they are all well-informed about health care issues and have examined the situation logically and rationally.

Yes, one would think after Obama's major address to the country just two days ago they should be very well-informed by now about his plan.

I agree with you 100 percent on that one.
yabits at 09:06 PM JST - 13th September

Impartial sources are putting the number at a million,minimum.

LOL! It would appear that your sources are not that impartial. The DC fire department put the numbers at somewhere between 60 and 70 thousand. Swastikas, big lies, it's all part of the new conservative M.O.
yabits at 09:11 PM JST - 13th September

a system that costs almost twice as much as any other rich country’s, yet yields substandard results and leaves tens of millions of people with no health insurance at all... And that's the system that people are marching to keep.

I would prefer to look at the bright side on this: Among the right-wing tea-baggers, they perceive that a "Black Muslim" has taken over the White House and is ready to impose his version of socialism on the country. And they can only draw around 70 thousand out to protest that?

Must be one of those soggy, overused teabags.
sailwind at 09:35 PM JST - 13th September

Yabits,

I'd say between 200,000 to 300,000 were there.

Unless you call that steady stream of humanity passing behind that reporter and running all the way up to capitol an optical illusion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-5oWWyKnhc

Spin away the video shows much different. The line didn't finish at that spot until about 11:30 by the way and this video was done at approx 9:30.
lunchmeat at 11:11 PM JST - 13th September

Said Cornyn: “President Obama should work with Republicans on a bottom-up solution that the American people can support.”

Hmmm... Democrats are the majority and so do not need any Republican support. Sounds more like not all Democrats -- not to mention their constituents -- are on board with this.
seijichuudo9sha at 11:19 PM JST - 13th September

It is not just Drudge Report or rush limbaugh reporting crowds larger than what turned out to protest bush's war in Iraq and even the Vietnam War. The British Mail Online is reporting 2 million teabaggers were in attendance.I don't know when they learned to organize like this but it is worrisome. Yabits,I think we can actually use this AGAINST this wingers if we put our heads together and find a racial card to play.
yabits at 11:28 PM JST - 13th September

Spin away the video shows much different.

The video does not show anything related to the numbers touted by supporters of the protest. The DC fire department estimated from 60,000 to 70,000 and nothing I saw in the video causes me to doubt that estimate.
adaydream at 02:17 AM JST - 14th September

Hey lunchmeat, haven't seen your post for a while, welcome...

The insurance companies are spending money all over to keep the public option out of any proposal. This will kill their continued upward swing in rates. It's amazing to hear commercials from insurance companies that are pushing some of these changes in house. They would never have considered any of these changes if Obama hadn't become president. But they are trying to pull blinders over the eyes of those who pay their bills and stuff their pockets.

The insurance companies are gasping in horror that this might pass. < :-)
adaydream at 04:10 AM JST - 14th September

WOW!!!!!

AMA endorses Obama. Not the insurance companies though. < :-)

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/ama-endorses-a-health-care-overhaul/
Molenir at 03:27 PM JST - 14th September

The insurance companies are spending money all over to keep the public option out of any proposal.

Thats ok. The unions are also spending money all over the place to try to get it passed. They're gasping in horror at the thought it might not pass. Most doctors organizations unsurprisingly are strongly against it as well.

If theres one thing I think this rally proves, its that the wingers truly are scared when the right organizes. You all come in and start braying like sheep. Odd to see things on the other foot when just a year or 2 ago, many of you were all in favor of the anti-war rallies. I love seeing how frightened the wingers and nutjobs get over the thought that Americans might just vote them back out of office.
seijichuudo9sha at 05:41 PM JST - 14th September

Props to the editor here for refusing to link to the articles about the anti-health care reform march on DC.You are doing your part,however small,to help Obama.
Nessie at 05:47 PM JST - 14th September

Status quo? What's that in 'murken?