Obama Urges Public to Ignore Scare Strategies In Health Debate
Obama traveled to a town hall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, yesterday in a bid to counter critics and soothe the discord marking home-state forums conducted by fellow Democrats during Congresss August recess. Lawmakers have encountered protesters predicting a “government takeover” of health care and leaflets claiming the health-care overhaul would let bureaucrats “pull the plug” on elderly people.
“Where we do disagree, lets disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations,” Obama told about 1,800 people at Portsmouth High School. “What is truly scary, what is truly risky, is if we do nothing.”
Obama sought to address concerns about end-of-life consultations that would be offered under some of the bills being considered by Congress. “Somehow its gotten spun into this idea of death panels,” Obama said. “I am not in favor of that. I want to clear the air.”
People inside the hall where Obama spoke greeted the president with applause and asked questions without raised voices. Activists from both sides gathered outside carrying signs and shouting slogans.
Defensive Position
“He handled the meeting well, but I am not sure it is enough,” said Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. “The president is now in a defensive position, which is not where he wanted to be in August.”
Democrats are aiming to cover millions of uninsured Americans while reducing health-care costs that make up about a sixth of the nations economy. The effort to convince voters that legislative push is on the right track has been complicated by polls showing that Americans increasingly disapprove of the changes and a measure that may cost $1 trillion over 10 years.
“Americans dont want a better sales pitch — they want a better plan to lower costs and improve the quality of health care,” House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said yesterday in a statement. Boehner urged Obama to “candidly confront the terrible flaws” in Democratic proposals “and work with Republicans on the real, bipartisan reforms that the American people want and deserve?”
Plans under consideration would offer Americans the option of purchasing health insurance from a government-run program, while requiring everyone to get coverage and putting new restrictions on insurers. Republicans say the effort will increase costs and limit medical choices.
Obama at his town hall meeting invited skeptics to speak up so that Americans wouldnt think he had “a bunch of plants” asking questions.
Bully Pulpit
Meetings with House members are more likely to attract audience members “with an axe to grind, often from the farther ends of the political spectrum” said Rogan Kersh, a public policy professor at New York University.
Before Obamas forum, New Hampshire state Republican Chairman John H. Sununu told reporters that the president shouldnt be trying to pass the overhaul so quickly. Lawmakers should heed the “message in the emotion” at town hall meetings, said Sununu, a former New Hampshire governor who was White House chief of staff under President George H.W. Bush.
Specter, McCaskill
While Obama encountered a polite crowd in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill faced scores of critics at meetings yesterday in their home states. One man told Specter that he and his colleagues in Congress would answer to God. “Hes going to judge you,” the man said before leaving.
Participants at Specters event expressed concern about the legislations cost, whether federal money would be used to pay for abortions and whether the government would take over their health-care decisions. A man also got a round of applause after saying the bill shouldnt cover illegal immigrants.
Specter, who left the Republican Party this year to become a Democrat, told the crowd he wouldnt vote for legislation that added to the deficit or covered illegal immigrants. He also said the current proposals wouldnt change the prohibition on government money being used for abortions and that people can keep their current insurance if theyre happy with it.
Government Takeover