The President's Weekly Address The Patient's Bill of Rights and Health Reform

From the White House web site:

The President looks back to the bipartisan Patient's Bill of Rights, a bill that was defeated in Congress at the hands of special interests and their supporters, and notes that health insurance reform covers the same ground and much more in terms of giving the consumers the upper hand over their insurance companies. He calls on the Senate to allow an up-or-down vote, and for those opposing reform to stop using parliamentary maneuvers to drag it out.

I know there has been a huge discussion/argument about whether this bill would do what needs to be done... I don't know. I don't have the answers. I do know that I still trust my President. I don't believe he has sold us out, I don't believe he has failed us.. He has been involved, just as he is here..

He has made trips to Capitol Hill, numerous phone calls, had members of the Senate and the House at the White House talking to them about this, and stated over and over again exactly what he wanted. He has been, I think very clear.

Yet, still people think he hasn't done enough. They wanted him to be more like FDR, LBJ and Clinton. Well, lets look at what they got.

FDR tried to pass Social Security, he finally got it done, but it was nothing like it is today. It was very limited in scope and only covered a very small percentage of the population. Including minorities, who were excluded from coverage. There was no disability, there was nothing like what we have now. And FDR had a great majority of Democrats who were more liberal than anything Pres. Obama has.. They still passed a flawed bill and it has been fine tuned in the years since.

LBJ and JFK worked to pass Medicare... finally it was done.. but nothing like it is now. It was very limited in scope and coverage and it didn't contain anything like it does now. It was a very flawed bill and has been improved since.

Bill Clinton, threatened Congress with a veto pen.. He even stood in the Chamber and held up a pen and said, I will veto any bill that doesn't have Universal Health Care. He and Hillary wrote the bill and took it to Congress. It never reached a floor vote.

So, yeah.. let's make Pres. Obama just like FDR, LBJ, and Clinton. They couldn't get this passed. At least Pres. Obama has gotten us to the point we are voting on it. The House has passed their version of the bill, and now we are debating in the Senate and waiting on them to vote.

You may not like his style, he may not have been your first choice for President.. but he is getting the job done.