We hope you had a fun ride with us this year as much as we hope to have you back on 09/09/09.
Lee and the Retro Crew
President Obama uncharacteristically fell face first into a trap of his own making last week, erroneously wading into one of the most emotionally charged issues that has crippled America since its founding; race. When he had the nations full attention via the bully pulpit, he squandered an opportunity to explain carefully, clearly and precisely how Americans and America would benefit from immediate and radical healthcare reform.
The president, with strong popularity among the citizenry, a veto proof majority in congress and a general and well deserved atmosphere of loathing for big business, the insurance/healthcare industrial complex and their hired flunkies on Capital Hill, he amateurishly recapped previously detail-free speeches while punctuating the occasion by injecting himself into the now infamous Professor Gates Vs. officer Crowley controversy.
When the president could have been assuaging the fears of the 250 million Americans still fortunate enough to have some form of healthcare coverage, that they will indeed be able to keep the coverage they currently have and those that dont wont be left the evils of the free market, he instead continued to explain why we need to change the current system but failed to tell us exactly what it will look like when and if it actually happens.
Many Americans would have loved to have heard how medical practitioners were being convinced to participate in a new government public option plan that would contend effectively with their private option competitors. The medical practitioners would have loved to have been assured that current debate and negotiations were centered around providing administrative relief and less complicated billing processes. Lets face it, a healthcare plan, medical group on doctors office is only as good as the individual doctor and his or her willingness to offer their services to the aforementioned. We needed to hear that those who treat us had bought into or are close to buying into true healthcare reform.
If the old adage of, the devil is in the details, then the president needed to expose those pesky devils two Wednesdays ago. He could have done this by assuring workers that would be offered the public option by employers trying to reduce cost that his plan would not only accept them with a chronic preexisting medical condition, but they would have a strong network of primary care physicians and specialist to access when needed. He could have saved a lot of political capital by telling the Americans that the proposed public options formulary would be as extensive as any private options list of covered drugs and one should not worry about changing medications or providers should their employment status or financial condition change.
With all of the above, the president could have provided an informative evening ending with a major message to Americans about the importance of preventative care and personal responsibility for ones own health. He could have used this forum to promote his own healthy life style. After all, the president and his wife Michelle are great examples of what healthy people should look like. He could have even closed the evenings event with verifiable calculations of cost savings by living healthier lifestyles.
It is that level of detail that was left wanting in the presidents healthcare press conference and it is probably why so much undue attention was paid to his closing remarks. Instead of being focused like a laser on getting the most difficult and contentious piece of legislation passed in decades, he has been forced to revisit the age old problem of race in America.
