Schieffer: Do-or-Die Week on Health Reform
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
As the president prepares for a major address to Congress Wednesday in support of his reform plans, President Obama has faced stiff challenges, from the raucous public debates at town hall meetings to Republican (and some Democratic) legislators critical of government control over health care coverage.
When asked on CBS' "The Early Show" about the president's prospects, CBS News Chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer said that the administration has to reclaim the issue of health care from its opponents.
"This has been some summer for this president: His polls are down, unemployment is up," Schieffer told "Early Show" anchor Harry Smith. "He really has got to get everybody together and regroup. And I think the way he has to do that, the way at least he has to start it, is to make a speech to the Congress that gets this whole debate on health care off the dime.
"I think you'll see him give more specifics on exactly what he wants in this plan, but he's also on a real high wire here. . . . Polls show that most Americans still don't know what is in the plan that Congress is working on.
"If he makes a speech and a couple days down the line they run another poll and they still don't know, it's going to show there's real problems with the substance of the plan itself and not with the presentation and the arguments being made. He's got it all on the line here and he really has to get something going."
"Did he make a mistake in the first place by giving this issue to Congress saying, 'You guys come up with a plan and then we'll work it all out and you can negotiate it all out?'" asked Smith. "I'm not sure too many people in the country actually understand what the president wants to get out of health care."
"I think you're exactly right on that," Schieffer said. "What the president did not want to do is what happened to the Clinton administration. When Hillary Clinton designed a health care package, they did it in secret, then sent it up to the Congress, and it just fell like a stone — it was dead on arrival. He wanted to avoid that. But he may have learned this lesson too well.
"It's very difficult to get 535 people to come to some consensus on details of something as complicated as health care. They need to know what it is the president will be for at the end of the day because these are very tough votes for them to make. These are survival votes for many of the people in Congress. They've got to know if the president will be with them when they vote for things like raising taxes. The hope of the White House is that he can give more details and sort of lay out that and sort of reassure the Congress this time, and also build some public pressure on them by making this speech. But if he doesn't do that, he's going to have a hard time.
"I think, Harry, this may well be the biggest week of the Obama administration so far. If he doesn't get this going, if he suffers defeat here, he'll be in trouble from here on."
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#1 mis-fact: ".. (Pssst - more people watch Fox than all other's combined.."
by speakinup23 September 7, 2009 4:29 PM EDT
#2 mis-fact: "glad you brought up medicare and Social Security.
Franklin Delano. Roosevelt (Terms of Office March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945), a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He Promised:
1.)That participation in the Program would be Completely voluntary,
2.)That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program,
3.)That the money the participants elected to put Into the Program would be deductible from Their income for tax purposes each year,
4.)That the money the participants put into the Independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the General operating fund, and therefore, would Only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and
5.)That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income."
________________________
Answer to mis-fact #1 - In you own words: "Got a source for your lie ?"
Granted Fox cable news is the leader, but more people watch Fox news than all others combined? At the very least your comment is a mis-statement of fact, bordering on a bold-faced lie. Try this source: http://tvbythenumbers.com/category/ratings/top-news/cable-news, do the math and get back to us.
Answer to mis-fact #2 - So much of your argument here gets lost in the history of FICA (which interestingly enough stands for Federal INSURANCE Contributions Act, not the "Social Security Retirement Program") and the Social Security Program. The original intent of the Social Security Program, as FDR and Congress saw it at that time, was an insurance program, not a retirement program. And such, some of your "facts" within this portion of your mis-statement are correct. To call it a "retirement program" with "annunities" within the context of the New Deal is pure fiction. Social Security was intended originally to apply to retirees and disabled people who could no longer work and did not have a retirement program with annunities.
"The payroll taxes collected for Social Security are of course taxes, but they can also be described as contributions to the social insurance system that is Social Security. Hence the name "Federal Insurance Contributions Act." FICA refers to the tax provisions of the Social Security Act, as they appear in the Internal Revenue Code."
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_(United_States)
History of FICA:
"Prior to the Great Depression, the following presented difficulties for working-class Americans:
The U.S. had no federal-government-mandated retirement savings; consequently, for those people who had not voluntarily saved money throughout their working lives,...
Similarly, the U.S. had no federal-government-mandated disability income insurance....
In addition, there was no federal-government-mandated disability income insurance to provide for people unable to ever work during their lives, such as anyone born with severe mental retardation.
Finally, the U.S. had no federal-government-mandated health insurance for the elderly; .....
In the 1930s, the New Deal introduced Social Security to rectify the first three problems (retirement, injury-induced disability, or congenital disability). It introduced the FICA tax as the means to pay for Social Security."
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Insurance_Contributions_Act_tax#History
Oh and some background on your comment, then question:
"From what I understand, Congress logic at that time was that there was so much money in the Social Security Fund that it would never run out or be used up for the purpose it was intended/set aside for.
Question: Which Political Party took Social Security from the Independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the General Fund so that Congress could spend it?"
"In the 1960s, Medicare was introduced to rectify the fourth problem (health care for the elderly). The FICA tax was increased in order to pay for this expense."
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Insurance_Contributions_Act_tax#History
Maybe Congressional thinking in the 1960s influenced by the addition of the Medicare Program and how it was to be funded........? Who knows and who cares? Granted Social Security and Medicare are troubling issues, but you are obviously "hung up" on placing blame on one party going back almost 80 years. It's just surprizing you don't go back 200 years and blame the British for the tea taxes.......
Really? If you saw the President's speech today, I think you'd see what's coming on Wednesday.
"I have a majority, Republicans are liars, and are attempting to needlessly scare Americans, so I'm gonna pass MY healthcare reform package, Congress had their chance, and blew it"
In the end, we're going to have a Public Option. That, and the rest of the reform will bring down costs, and cover people who can't afford healthcare now.
The Co-Op idea won't cover everyone, and millions of people will still use the ER for standard health care issues that have gone un-treated for months and years, because these people can't afford insurance. Guess who pays for those ER visits now?
ABC news = CBS news= NBC news= etc.
They are all a bunch rumor spreading liars who make their living creating trouble.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FOXnews= FIXEDnews= Drug addict Limbaugh's KKK propaganda= Paranoid Beck's delusions and hallucinations= Hannity's anti-Christian-based rants= FOXnoise= etc.
They are all a bunch of 'inbred' rich people who make their living lying, cheating, stealing, and advocating the use of torture around the world in order to become richer!
Keep thinkin that way Ernie.
.. (Pssst - more people watch Fox than all other's combined..
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I?ve been fishing and fishing for weeks now, and finally I got a bite!
What happens to stock of a company who doesn?t have any more innovative products to sell? Well, they keep on selling the legacy products to the uneducated who don?t know any better until they tap them all out. Then the stock crashes and they go out of business.
This is the current state of the far-right wing and the Republican party.. the entire viewing audience of ?Fixednews? (also known as ?Foxnoise?).. 20% of the country tops. But, you got to hand it to them, they are devoted.
The Democrats on the other hand long ago moved on to the internet as the primary communication medium.
(Pssst- that?s how Obama won the election)
Keep thinkin that way Ernie.
.. (Pssst - more people watch Fox than all other's combined..
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I?ve been fishing and fishing for weeks now, and finally I got a bite!
What happens to stock of a company who doesn?t have any more innovative products to sell? Well, they keep on selling the legacy products to the uneducated who don?t know any better until they tap them all out. Then the stock crashes and they go out of business.
This is the current state of the far-right wing and the Republican party.. the entire viewing audience of 'Fixednews' (also known as 'Foxnoise').. 20% of the country tops. But, you got to hand it to them, they are devoted.
The Democrats on the other hand long ago moved on to the internet as the primary communication medium.
(Pssst- that?s how Obama won the election!)
ABC news = CBS news= NBC news= etc.
They are all a bunch rumor spreading liars who make their living creating trouble.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FOXnews= FIXEDnews= Drug addict Limbaugh?s KKK propaganda= Paranoid Beck?s delusions and hallucinations= Hannity?s anti-Christian-based rants= FOXnoise= etc.
They are all a bunch of 'inbred' rich people who make their living lying, cheating, stealing, and advocating the use of torture around the world in order to become richer!
- the government run Post Office is broke .. and mismanaged
- the government run Medicare is going broke .. and mismanaged
- the government run Medicaid is going broke .. and mismanaged
- the government run Social Security is going broke .. and mismanaged
Basically,
everything the government touches is going broke and mismanaged
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---The Private Banks are all essentially insolvent (even with the bailout money).. but still pay bonuses.
---The private insurance companies make 'death panel' decisions each and every day.. but still increase their profit margin.
----Private companies go bankrupt each day.. and employees lose their pensions.
---The Republicans talk everybody into putting their money into the stock market.. so they can sell out at the top, take the money and run.
---Basically,
Everything that Republicans and Private Companies do is: steal money from everybody else!
- the government run Post Office is broke .. and mismanaged
- the government run Medicare is going broke .. and mismanaged
- the government run Medicaid is going broke .. and mismanaged
- the government run Social Security is going broke .. and mismanaged
Basically,
everything the government touches is going broke and mismanaged
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---The Private Banks are all essentially insolvent (even with the bailout money)?but still pay bonuses.
---The private insurance companies make ?death panel? decisions each and every day?but still increase their profit margin.
----Private companies go bankrupt each day?and employees lose their pensions.
---The Republicans talk everybody into putting their money into the stock market?so they can sell out at the top, take the money and run.
---Basically,
Everything that Republicans and Private Companies do is: steal money from everybody else!
If the Republicans don't come up with alternatives on Health Care, they will be no better off than THE ONE.
This is because once the insurance companies are forced to cover everyone regardless, and are scrutinized over their denials of payment, they will be forced to substantially raise their rates. This will happen because 1) they will be paying much more for claims, and 2) they will still desire to maintain their exorbitant profit margins!
This will cause a public option to be much, much more desirable. The public option will allow for competition and forcing the insurance companies to lower their profit margin to keep from losing customers.
At that point, the system will be in efficient balance.