Posted by: Bryce Cullinane in Untagged on Sep 9, 2009
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. EDT, President Obama will address a joint session
of Congress. His address will offer a more comprehensive look at his
stance on a public option for Americans.
Just this morning, on "Good Morning America," Mr. Obama told ABC's Robin Roberts in an interview, "I,out of an effort to give Congress the ability to do their thing and not step on their toes, probably left too much ambiguity out there, which allowed then opponents of reform to come in and to fill up the airwaves with a lot of nonsense ...."
"So, the intent of the speech .. is to ... make sure that the American people are clear exactly what it is that we are proposing ... to make sure that Democrats and Republicans understand that I'm open to new ideas, that we're not being rigid and ideological about this thing, but we do intend to get something done this year. And ... to dispel some of the myths and, frankly, silliness that's been floating out there for quite some time."
We can expect President Obama to focus on the urgency of health care
reform in general, but more so on the importance of competition in the
health care industry.
The Republican rebuttal to Obama's "central[ized] control over the
health care system..." will be delivered by a physician on all three
networks. The GOP chose Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana, a
cardiothoracic surgeon, to emphasize the importance of "focusing on
strengthening the doctor-patient relationship ... to lower health care
costs and improve care," as stated by Rep. Boustany Tuesday. On that
same note, Republican leader McConnell said yesterday, "At this point,
there really should be no doubt where the American people stand: the
status quo is not acceptable, but neither are any of the proposals
we've seen from the White House or Democrats in Congress."
The New York Times compiled a list of things to watch in the speech.
Tip of the hat to Mike Allen, Nina Owcharenko and the New York Times.
(This article was written and researched by Natalie Camou) ;