Obama Addresses Seniors on Healthcare

How The President's Plan for Health Reform Will Benefit Seniors

"I want to speak directly to seniors for a moment, because Medicare is another issue that's been subjected to demagoguery and distortion during the course of this debate.

More than four decades ago, this nation stood up for the principle that after a lifetime of hard work, our seniors should not be left to struggle with a pile of medical bills in their later years. That's how Medicare was born. And it remains a sacred trust that must be passed down from one generation to the next. And that is why not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan.

The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, as well as unwarranted subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies -- subsidies that do everything to pad their profits but don't improve the care of seniors. And we will also create an independent commission of doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead.

Now, these steps will ensure that you -- America's seniors -- get the benefits you've been promised. They will ensure that Medicare is there for future generations. And we can use some of the savings to fill the gap in coverage that forces too many seniors to pay thousands of dollars a year out of their own pockets for prescription drugs. That's what this plan will do for you. So don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut, especially since some of the same folks who are spreading these tall tales have fought against Medicare in the past and just this year supported a budget that would essentially have turned Medicare into a privatized voucher program. That will not happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare."

— President Barack Obama










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A Republican Disgrace

NO RESPECT FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OR SANCTITY OF CONGRESS

The South Carolina Republican congressman that interrupted President Barack Obama by shouting “You lie!” says that the outburst wasn’t premeditated. “I will tell you this. It was spontaneous,” said Wilson.



Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Wilson did not seem to be full of remorse. “Well, I, last night, heard from the [Republican] leadership that they wanted me to contact the White House and state that might statements were inappropriate. I did it. I’m very grateful that the White House in talking with them — they indicated that they appreciated the call and that we need to have a civil discussion about the health care issues. And I certainly agree with that,” explained Wilson.

Wilson continued to assert that health care reform would cover illegal immigrants. “Congressional resource services has indicated that, indeed, the bills that are before Congress would include illegal aliens and I think this is wrong,” he said.

Time’s Michael Scherer fact checked the president’s speech:

The President’s seemingly simple statement, that “the reforms I am proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally,” is not hard to check. In the Senate Finance Committee working framework for a health plan, which Obama’s speech seemed most to mimic, there is the line: “No illegal immigrants will benefit from the health care tax credits.” Similarly, the major health care reform bill to pass out of committee in the House, H.R. 3200, contains a Section 246, which is called, “NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.”

On the night after Rep. Joe Wilson shouted "You Lie" at President Obama during an address to Congress, Keith Olbermann devotes a "Special Comment" to the Congressman, and mocked his apology.

"You embarrassed your district, you embarrassed your nation... and you were wrong!"

Olbermann said "Wrong-Way Wilson" "made himself look like an uninformed eight-year-old screaming at an adult."

He also comments on how "stupid" certain Republican talking heads have made the party look. "The tiem has come to rise up and take this country back, to again make it safe for people who actually completed the seventh grade."














Copyright @ 1998-2009
All Rights Reserved

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.