President Obama's Statement on Trumpcare
Source: Facebook
Barack Obama
21 mins
Our politics are divided. They have been for a long time. And while I know that division makes it difficult to listen to Americans with whom we disagree, thats what we need to do today.
I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the Republican Party. Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure whats really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did.
We didnt fight for the Affordable Care Act for more than a year in the public square for any personal or political gain we fought for it because we knew it would save lives, prevent financial misery, and ultimately set this country we love on a better, healthier course.
Nor did we fight for it alone. Thousands upon thousands of Americans, including Republicans, threw themselves into that collective effort, not for political reasons, but for intensely personal ones a sick child, a parent lost to cancer, the memory of medical bills that threatened to derail their dreams.
And you made a difference. For the first time, more than ninety percent of Americans know the security of health insurance. Health care costs, while still rising, have been rising at the slowest pace in fifty years. Women cant be charged more for their insurance, young adults can stay on their parents plan until they turn 26, contraceptive care and preventive care are now free. Paying more, or being denied insurance altogether due to a preexisting condition we made that a thing of the past.
We did these things together. So many of you made that change possible.
At the same time, I was careful to say again and again that while the Affordable Care Act represented a significant step forward for America, it was not perfect, nor could it be the end of our efforts and that if Republicans could put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we made to our health care system, that covers as many people at less cost, I would gladly and publicly support it.
That remains true. So I still hope that there are enough Republicans in Congress who remember that public service is not about sport or notching a political win, that theres a reason we all chose to serve in the first place, and that hopefully, its to make peoples lives better, not worse.
But right now, after eight years, the legislation rushed through the House and the Senate without public hearings or debate would do the opposite. It would raise costs, reduce coverage, roll back protections, and ruin Medicaid as we know it. Thats not my opinion, but rather the conclusion of all objective analyses, from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which found that 23 million Americans would lose insurance, to Americas doctors, nurses, and hospitals on the front lines of our health care system.
The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. Its a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else. Those with private insurance will experience higher premiums and higher deductibles, with lower tax credits to help working families cover the costs, even as their plans might no longer cover pregnancy, mental health care, or expensive prescriptions. Discrimination based on pre-existing conditions could become the norm again. Millions of families will lose coverage entirely.
Simply put, if theres a chance you might get sick, get old, or start a family this bill will do you harm. And small tweaks over the course of the next couple weeks, under the guise of making these bills easier to stomach, cannot change the fundamental meanness at the core of this legislation.
I hope our Senators ask themselves what will happen to the Americans grappling with opioid addiction who suddenly lose their coverage? What will happen to pregnant mothers, children with disabilities, poor adults and seniors who need long-term care once they can no longer count on Medicaid? What will happen if you have a medical emergency when insurance companies are once again allowed to exclude the benefits you need, send you unlimited bills, or set unaffordable deductibles? What impossible choices will working parents be forced to make if their childs cancer treatment costs them more than their life savings?
To put the American people through that pain while giving billionaires and corporations a massive tax cut in return thats tough to fathom. But its whats at stake right now. So it remains my fervent hope that we step back and try to deliver on what the American people need.
That might take some time and compromise between Democrats and Republicans. But I believe thats what people want to see. I believe it would demonstrate the kind of leadership that appeals to Americans across party lines. And I believe that its possible if you are willing to make a difference again. If youre willing to call your members of Congress. If you are willing to visit their offices. If you are willing to speak out, let them and the country know, in very real terms, what this means for you and your family.
After all, this debate has always been about something bigger than politics. Its about the character of our country who we are, and who we aspire to be. And thats always worth fighting for.
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Read more: https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10154996557026749
First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...a decent, caring, intelligent man. That's enough, of course, for the GOP to hate him. And that's what this is about, and it's all it's about.
madaboutharry
(40,220 posts)They flat out do not care one bit about all the people who will suffer.
President Obama spent 8 years trying to summon the better angels of the republican party. There are no better angels.
MyOwnPeace
(16,937 posts)you nailed it.
That magnificent man, PRESIDENT OBAMA, "turned the cheek" so many times his head looked like it was on a swivel - only to be smacked again.
Yes, among the Pugs, there are no better angels.
panader0
(25,816 posts)dalton99a
(81,570 posts)Republicans don't give a shit about anything else
sheshe2
(83,898 posts)Fully understands the meaning of the oath he took when taking office.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,600 posts)riversedge
(70,299 posts)YUP
........To put the American people through that pain while giving billionaires and corporations a massive tax cut in return thats tough to fathom. But its whats at stake right now. So it remains my fervent hope that we step back and try to deliver on what the American people need.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Do you think MSM will even look at this piece of information. Doubt it.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)lamp_shade
(14,841 posts)pbmus
(12,422 posts)Paladin
(28,272 posts)Seems like a long time ago.
LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)sat down and read it. The entire thing. He would not speak to it without knowing the details. Unlike the pResident, who will tweet gibberish.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Politicub
(12,165 posts)He's spoken before about Dr. King and the fierce urgency of now. Well, here we are, DUrs. It doesn't get more urgent than this. Obama's Facebook post is both a plea to former colleagues, but above all, it's a plea to ourselves.
"We are the ones we have been waiting for." Do you remember?
It also expands on themes from his Farewell Address:
"When trust in our institutions is low, we should reduce the corrosive influence of money in our politics, and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service. When Congress is dysfunctional, we should draw our districts to encourage politicians to cater to common sense and not rigid extremes."
"America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured."
..
"Because for all our outward differences, we all share the same proud title: Citizen. Ultimately, that's what our democracy demands. It needs you. Not just when there's an election, not just when your own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime. If you're tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life. If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If you're disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself. Show up. Dive in. Persevere."
..
"If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history . If I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Iran's nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, and take out the mastermind of 9/11 . If I had told you that we would win marriage equality, and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens - you might have said our sights were set a little too high."
..
"But that's what we did. That's what you did. You were the change. You answered people's hopes, and because of you, by almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started."
An anxious and battered country needs your leadership again, Mr. President.
Nash Teeth
(57 posts)So good to read that and remember his style.
ewagner
(18,964 posts)A real message from a Statesman....not a politician.
stuffmatters
(2,574 posts)GOP care is death care for everybody. It surely effects people with employer insurance as much as the millions on medicaid. Why don't the Dems say what Obama just said. Everybody gets old, everybody gets sick and all families
are thrown under the bus by the GOP. Even the Medicaid cuts don't exist in a vacuum...those Medicaid cuts will insure everyone's own Medicare later is hollowed out. Not to mention that nursing homes will not be an option for future generations unless they are rich. And it's not just an attack on PP patients...already they've moved to remove birth control payments from the benefits.
The GOPrichcare bill is the epitome of their Plantation economics and harms all employees. It allows employers to bottom feed shop insurance across state lines. Lifetime caps, basic coverage for essential services, prexisting condition affordability...all can be gone if an employer decides to "cut back" or tier coverage. Who in the world does not think that corporations won't strip their employees security screaming "shareholders!"
These are just some of certainties that await the majority of Americans who currently think that GOPRich Care only harms those currently on medicaid or using planned parenthood.
The Dem have got to broaden their message and reach every American with the bulletin that this GOP has just put everybody's insurance in a "death spiral.'"
As Obama just said,"If you will get sick, get old or ever have a family, this bill will harm you." The Gop wants to devastate everybody in order to give millionaires and billionaires a tax cut from the trillion dollars that supports everybody's healthcare.
Moostache
(9,897 posts)President Obama was and is a true statesman, a politician in the noble sense of the word (from the Greek "polis" or community) and paints such a stark contrast to the current occupant of the Oval Office it should shake you to your core...
The fact that we as a nation have traded principled and noble leadership for a blow-hard and some heinous ideologues heel bent on shredding the vestiges of the social security net makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry.
BigmanPigman
(51,627 posts)ancianita
(36,133 posts)Wash. state Desk Jet
(3,426 posts)How bout calling it what it amounts to-, Trump Doesn't Care.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)StarzGuy
(254 posts)Repukes don't give a damn about the American people, period. They are mean, unpatriotic and miserable bastards. Unless of course you are among the 1%, then they love you and your millions invested in said corporations and drug companies.
Gothmog
(145,554 posts)saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)I've just returned from a visit to the oceanfront between SF and LA. What a great state. State parks and beaches are open, the people are diverse, it was a great escape from the ruby red. Pelosi and Feinstein are "worth the trouble".
I signed in to rec and express my sincere admiration for President Barack Obama.
trof
(54,256 posts)If only.
riversedge
(70,299 posts)Obama says Senate Obamacare replacement 'not a health care bill,' but 'massive' giveaway to the rich
Obama wrote that the bill "hands enormous tax cuts to the rich," and drug and insurance companies.
He also said the bill will lead to higher premiums and deductibles for many people.
Obama asked Republicans to reconsider their efforts to undo Obamacare.
Dan Mangan | @_DanMangan
51 Mins AgoCNBC.com
Former President Barack Obama posted a blistering attack Thursday on the Republican-sponsored Senate bill that would significantly change his signature health-care law, calling it a "massive transfer of wealth" from the middle-class and poor to the richest Americans.
"The Senate bill ... is not a health care bill," Obama wrote in a long Facebook message issued hours after the bill was unveiled......................
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/22/obama-says-obamacare-replacement-not-a-health-care-bill.
LonePirate
(13,431 posts)Still, I appreciate that he commented on how horrific this bill is.
Cha
(297,655 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)Then sex.
Then the internet.
Then cell phones.
Then houses.
Then clothes.
Then food.
Boomerproud
(7,964 posts)I hate to think it-but I do not think you are exaggerating what is in their minds and hearts.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)Until he speaks, I forget what having a real president in the White House is like.
yuiyoshida
(41,861 posts)Doreen
(11,686 posts)I miss our calm.
ailsagirl
(22,899 posts)In fact, the more reasonable, the more repellent to them
sick sick sick
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)Then there is no meaningful differences between the House and Senate bills. None. All of the rest is a diversion away from that central fact.
Beartracks
(12,821 posts)I most certainly do NOT want to see any backsliding compromising on how much of the ACA to DISMANTLE. THAT should NEVER be compromised. Now, if the parties want to compromise on how far to go with IMPROVEMENTS -- HOW to cover more people, HOW to make it cheaper -- but withOUT reducing eligibility OR coverage, then THAT is the way to go with any such compromise: FORWARD.
P.S. Grateful to have President Obama weigh in.
===============
riversedge
(70,299 posts)Beartracks
(12,821 posts)Compromising BACKWARDS is capitulation.
================
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)ProudMNDemocrat
(16,789 posts)With his thoughtful questions and his eloquence to hit hard at an issue in such an effective way. Will those so entrenched with Trump realize that the Republicans intend to strip them of the security the ACA gave them? Let us hope it does, for they will be the true LOSERS in all of this mess along with those whose lives have been saved because of it,