Obama: Romney wants to take women's health care back to the 1950s

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Sandra Fluke, waves at a campaign in Denver, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

(CBS News) In an impassioned appeal to women voters, President Obama on Wednesday continued hammering the Democratic message that Republicans are insensitive to issues surrounding women's health care, lambasting Mitt Romney for his positions on contraception and Planned Parenthood and warning an amped-up, mostly-female crowd that a Romney presidency could mean a retreat to 1950s-era health care policies for women.

Mr. Obama, speaking at a campaign event in Denver, emphasized his commitment to providing women with affordable care, touting a handful of provisions in the Affordable Care Act he says will benefit young people and women, and underscoring the differences between his vision for the nation and that of his Republican opponent.

"The choice we face in November could not be bigger," Mr. Obama told the crowd. "It's not a choice between two candidates. It's not even a choice between two parties. More than any election in recent memory, this is a choice between two fundamentally different paths for our country's future."

(Watch a clip of the president's remarks in the video to the left.)

Romney's economic policies, Mr. Obama said, are "bad enough," but he argued that the GOP's health care policies relating to women are downright old-fashioned.

"When it comes to a woman's right to make her own health care choices, they want to take us back to the policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century," he said, as the crowd went wild. "The decisions that affect a woman's health, they're not up to politicians, they're not up to insurance policies. They're up to you. And you deserve a president that will fight to keep it that way."

Citing his commitment to providing women - including his daughters, Sasha and Malia, and his wife, first Lady Michelle Obama - with equal opportunities as men, the president touted the appointment of Sonioa Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, and reminded voters that he the first bill he signed as president was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

"When my opponent's campaign was asked if he'd fight to guarantee an equal day's pay for an equal day's work, you know what the campaign said? They said, 'We'll get back to you on that,'" the president said. "That's not a good answer."

(Obama: Romney tax plan requires more gymnastics than the Olympics.)

"Mr. Romney is running as the candidate of conservative values," he continued. "There's nothing conservative about a government that prevents a woman from making her own health care decisions. He says he's the candidate of freedom. But freedom is the chance, the opportunity to determine for yourself the care that you need, when you need it."

In light of a new CBS News/New York Times/Quinnipiac poll showing the president trailing Romney in Colorado, the campaign is doubling down on its efforts to win over and energize women voters across the state.

Recent studies have shown that winning over single women voters - a fast-growing and increasingly influential demographic of voters - could be a key to victory in a number of the swing states, including Colorado, that both Mr. Obama and Romney are angling to win.

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seabass: "But what was the average monthly/daily (you pick) gas price in 2008 compared to 2012?"



1990-1992: Koch, along with several oil companies and Wall Street speculators, form a coalition lobbying group to deregulate oil speculation.

January 21, 1993: Wendy Gramm makes first major move to deregulate oil speculation.

1997: Koch continues to shift from oil refining and pipelines to financial products.

December 12, 2000: Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX), after being lobbied by Koch and Enron, creates the infamous "Enron Loophole" vastly deregulating the oil speculation market.

2008: Rampant oil speculation spikes prices to unprecedented levels.

2009: Koch presentation to ICE boasts that Koch is on the level of transnational big banks and can now be considered one of the world's top five oil speculators.

2010: Koch's Tea Party front groups and lobbyists fight financial reforms designed to reign in the unregulated energy market.

2011: As oil speculation again hits record highs, leading to record high oil prices, Koch's allies in Congress fight to undermine new reforms and allow unchecked speculation to spiral out of control.

2012: As the CFTC grapples with how to implement the Dodd-Frank mandated regulations on excessive oil speculation, known as position limits, newly elected Republicans, many with Koch-backing, propose steep cuts to the CFTC to undercut any rules on oil speculation.

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seabass: "But what was the average monthly/daily (you pick) gas price in 2008 compared to 2012?"




It doesn't matter, but I'm sure you have a partisan point you would like to make. Record high GASoline price in the U.S. due to high speculation in the markets, was mid-2008, and if the GOP congresscritters hadn't blocked legislation to end excessive speculation in 2008, we wouldn't have the volatility in the market that we have today, and would just have to deal with Asian demand!

What was the average price of GASoline in 1971, when all the Chinese were riding bicycles and their economic expansion hadn't started?

Why do you think GM is selling more cars today, and will be selling more cars in China for years to come? Think GLOBAL MARKET.......

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Your selective facts mean nothing, and is almost as silly trying to compare federal revenue and spending in 1912 compared to 2012. LOL!

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Research presented in Congressional testimony, academic papers, government and private studies, indicate that excessive speculation, mainly by Wall Street index-fund traders, is needlessly driving up GASoline prices, with estimates ranging up to $1 a gallon in inflated gasoline costs.

President Obama is right to challenge republicans who claim that lower GAS prices and energy security can be achieved simply with more drilling or more pipelines. And he is right to press for greater efficiency, conservation and alternative fuels. But speculation is also a problem that demands more attention and tougher rules, no matter how much the GOP resists.

[occupy_cbs]

seabass: "When's the last time you bought a pork belly?"




Don't have to buy them, since I raise them -- the ENTIRE PIG! LOL!

[seabass6251]

What was it, 12 years ago when hogs got down to $8/100 weight? Don't tell me you took any subsidies.

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Nope -- all subsidies should be stopped if we really had a "free market," and that includes all corporate welfare and energy/farm subsidies.

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seabass: "A fact huh, show me where Corn Flakes or Doritos are traded on any exchange."




LOL! How far out in right field over the fence can you go?

The commodity is CORN in CORN FLAKES and DORITOS, traded on the commodity futures trading market! Not very bright, are you?

[seabass6251]

Oh, you make your own corn flakes? And Doritos? I'm sorry, I didn't realize the umpa lumpas were in your employment.

Still doesn't change the fact that food, warmth, and health care are necessities though does it?

[occupy_cbs]

Obviously, you've plunged over the cliff of sanity with that remark, and I have nothing further for one that refuses to acknowledge our severe federal revenue problem since 2001, or that commodities like GAS and CORN are traded on the futures market, and with volatility due to the high speculation today that the GOP doesn't want to address, those prices will go UP and DOWN.

Again. our RECORD price of GASoline was in mid-2008 under bush!

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seabass: "Medicare is the worst offender of denying treatment than any for-profit insurance company has ever been."




You're kidding right? I have yet to meet any senior that doesn't like their Medicare coverage, with body replacement parts like knees, hips and shoulders, routinely done, and even paying for silly scooters for mobility! You really have gotten a hold of some bad information, and don't have a leg to stand on -- just like your failure to acknowledge our severe revenue problem since 2001.

[seabass6251]

Come into my office on the 3rd of the month and poll seniors. I'll bet you don't find one that affirms your assumption. The Medicare supplement market is nearly bankrupt because seniors love Medicare so much. Hell, even Medicare opens the window to change coverage every year because it's beloved so much.

Then again, not really.

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seabass: "You could literally increase the tax bills of EVERYONE by 50% and you still don't meet their spending totals as they stand now"



Likewise, you could put into effect the paul ryan/romney budget of tax cuts for the wealthy and draconian spending cuts, and even according to paul ryan's math, he couldn't even balance the budget until 2040 -- a full 28-years -- and that's if nothing major happened like even more military-industrial complex spending due to a conflict.

You're a little short on your American history as well, since massive tax cuts and spending cuts during the 1920s only gave us a very few "boom years" called the "Roaring 20s" before the stock market crashed and the Great Depression overtook the American economy!

Seems like the republicans of the 2000s under bush/cheney tried the same thing, like the republicans of the 1920s, and foisted even greater income inequality on us leading to another stock market crash and the complete implosion of our financial sector and housing market that has always led us out of recessions post-WWII.

Yes, the similarities of the bush/cheney Great Recession certainly mirror the same republican policies of the 1920s that led to a few boom years that turned into the Great Depression! Wonderful!

[seabass6251]

The Great Depression of the 30s lasted as long as it did because of Democratic tax increases and Democratic spending increases. It is quite normal for markets to correct from time to time. Assuming markets/economies won't ever do that is pure fantasy.

Bush/Cheney never lowered taxes and lowered spending near to the point that it would help because they were also devaluing the dollar beyond recovery. Has Obama done any better? He raised taxes...oh but that doesn't help does it?

Rallies and reactions are absolutely normal. Without them, you have manipulation that will lead to unrecoverable levels of the US dollar. Good luck then.

[occupy_cbs]

Blah...blah...blah....typical right-wing propaganda, missing the point entirely that jobs starting being created from the LOW in early 1933, all the way through WWII, but it was the massive number of lost jobs that was hard to replace overnight, but the massive government spending and debt of WWII finally ended the Depression!

Unfortunately, your ideology and republican talking points overwhelm any historical facts you might have been taught!

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seabass: "How about beef?"




Well guess what kumquat, BEEF is also a commodity like MILK, GRAINS and GAS, traded on the futures trading market just like PORK BELLIES and ORANGE JUICE -- and not a SERVICE like HEALTH CARE!

So little of the ACA has been enacted so far, you're really stretching with your conservative ideology by saying that the ACA has been the driver of increased health care costs, when costs have been increasing steadily for about 2 decades now, especially during the bush years!



Healthcare Crisis

The cost of health insurance has increased dramatically over the past decade, far surpassing the general rate of inflation.

http://www.pbs.org/healthcarecrisis/healthinsurance.html

[occupy_cbs]

Actually, the main reasons for spiraling health care costs over the past decade, is our silly "fee for service" attention to sickness, instead of treating and paying for WELLNESS!

[seabass6251]

Excluding pre-existing conditions is the multiplier...not a percentage gainer...a multiplier of health insurance premiums, which has already been enacted.

Why do you think the taxes go up now before the full bill is enacted?

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seabass: "Tax cuts must be paired with spending cuts, which will create jobs immediately. Democrat plan is to raise taxes."



LOL! That's not only not true, but a huge lie, on both counts.

First, you have no proof whatsoever that more tax cuts paired with spending cuts would EVER create jobs, since jobs are created in our consumer-based economy by DEMAND -- certainly not pixie dust!

Secondly, every time since 1981, that republicans proposed tax cuts, they also proposed spending cuts, but NEVER came through, and only increased spending. Also, "spending cuts" are quite non-specific just like willard romney on everything he proposes, so try to give us some better DETAILS on exactly what "spending cuts" and "how much".

Thirdly, President Obama and the Democrats have proposed needed revenue increases to solve our severe revenue problem since 2001, coupled with spending cuts. But, just as all the GOP presidential nominees during primary season stated, they would not accept a 10:1 ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases, so their ideology shows they are following lobbyist grover nitwitt over the cliff of insanity!

[seabass6251]

Oh yes we do. Research of our American history shows that tax cuts paired with spending cuts lay the foundation for the economy to grow. Conversely true, through our American history, shows that tax hikes do absolutely nothing to improve a failing economy.

You've really got yourself convinced that the government being ever more intrusive in the daily lives of US citizens is economic prosperity when that in fact is the reason for the economic recession/depression we currently find ourselves.

Spending cuts...this is easy. Total revenues of $2.469T. Total expenditures of $3.796T. Budget deficit of $1.327T. Decrease the budget by no less than 35% across the board.

Obama and the Democrats can't do mathematics. You could literally increase the tax bills of EVERYONE by 50% and you still don't meet their spending totals as they stand now, let alone what has been proposed.

Why would anyone agree to revenue increases when the problem is spending? What's out of control?

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seabass: "Why would anyone agree to revenue increases when the problem is spending?"



That's just not true, no matter how many conservative pundits, talking heads and republican politicians repeat it over and over again, but taxes are at historic LOWS, with federal revenue being at a mere 14% of GDP while the post-WWII average is 18.5% of GDP.

Those are the FACTS that are indisputable, no matter how much conservative republicans like you scream and whine about taxes!

[occupy_cbs]

seabass: "Gas keeps spiraling higher and higher. Food prices keep spiraling higher and higher. Insurance premiums keep spiraling higher and higher. Why not address the problem instead of forcing your neighbors to pay you bills?"



Maybe you should look into the difference between a commodity like GAS/OIL traded on the futures trading market and services like health care, since your argument is black vs. white or peaches vs. kumquats!

Commodity prices go UP and DOWN (highest GAS/OIL prices we've ever paid were in mid-2008 under bush) and I have yet to see GAS prices keep "spiraling higher and higher," and just paid $2.99 per gallon yesterday -- not even close or 'higher' than in 2008 when it was $4.29 per gallon!

I've also seen milk and cereal much higher than it is today too!

But, OTOH, services like medical care have been spiraling completely out of control for years now (150% increase just during bushworld), and will continue to increase dramatically if the for-profit insurance industry is not regulated better than by republican ideology!

[occupy_cbs]

Oh, and BTW, I have never let my neighbors pay for anything of mine, and don't expect to start anytime soon! Your generalizations are just ignorant and only make you look very arrogant!

[seabass6251]

I actually referenced those because they are considered necessities by most much as health care is deemed. You're a liberal, so I can see how that is difficult for you to understand.

Health care costs go up and down too. Inflation adjusted, a heart catheterization costs less today than 20 years ago.

Average gas price per gallon today is $3.66. But Obama doesn't deserve to be off the hook does he? What was the average price paid in 2008 compared to 2012? Poor liberal.

How about beef?

Well guess what kumquat, the ACA artifically inflates the cost of health insurance and health care more than it would have risen simply from the devaluation of the dollar. The regulation Democrats seek so much is what will be the main driver behind the price going up. It already has with the parts of the ACA already enacted. Wake up!

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seabass: "My health insurance (and consequently health care) are affordable, and I don't give a rat's tail if yours is or isn't."




Thanks for proving that you and gordon gekko are two peas in a pod, and as long as you have yours, to hell with everyone else.

This continuing saga in America by conservative republicans calling themselves "christians," is not only appalling, but downright disgusting! Your karma will undoubtedly come back to bite you hard!

[seabass6251]

It would be un-Christian for me to continually live off the *** of someone else when not needed.

I wrote I was fine with my health insurance and didn't care whether you had health insurance at all. I did NOT write that neither of us should be excluded from health care. In the US, we're not excluded from health care and the ACA did nothing to improve that.

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seabass: "In the US, we're not excluded from health care and the ACA did nothing to improve that".



Actually, we are by exorbitant prices by the for-profit insurance mafia, and those seniors under a paul ryan budget of Couponcare, would find that out very fast, just like many Americans today with preexisting conditions pricing them completely out of the market.

I'm glad you haven't had to deal with preexisting conditions, expensive procedures or yearly/lifetime caps that the for-profit insurance industry uses to increase their profits when not dropping their customers due to health care costs.

Apparently, you have never read the PPACA in its entirety, since most conservative republicans never took the time and only appear very uninformed about it through the usual right-wing sources of blather, but it certainly does have cost-cutting sections -- even some republican ideas -- so you certainly keep spewing the most misinformed propaganda!