Speech To Congress: Standing Ovations, Moving Words, and Screaming Congressman

Yes, it seems the joint-session health care speech to congress was all it was hyped up to be. We saw a reemergence of President Obama as he was during the election, we saw Nanci Pelosi get an amazing workout standing up every other sentence, we saw angry Republicans waiving papers around angrily, we even saw the topic of tomorrows news as Congressman Joe Wilson showed some lack of class.

The speech obviously lived up to expectations in hype but did President Obama live up to expectations in his speech?

Our poll said 37 percent of you wanted him to be clear on the public option, another 37 percent said you wanted him to explain how he will pay for this plan, 11 percent of you wanted him to be emphatic and emotional about the strifes of the current system, and 14 percent of you wanted him to stress a bi-partisan effort. Lets take those one at a time:

Pubic Option: President Obama did, in fact advocate for a public option. And he did so forcefully. He explained the benefits of a public option, such as healthy competition and affordable insurance for everyone. He also dispelled any rumors that went along with it, such as a government take of health care. Obama clearly stated that the notion of the government taking over health care is not true. He made sure the public, and congress, knew that it would only be a option, he even quoted the Congressional Budget Committee in its estimate that only 5 percent of Americans would sign up. However, Obama, eased up a bit and did what I hoped he wouldn't do. He claimed the public option was not a necessity for health reform. While he was still adamant about the option he claimed that he would go for anything that brought costs down. Which is all good and well except for that fact it gives those opposed to reform leeway to move away fro a public option. Nothing really will bring down costs as well as a public option--and any leeway given to move away from a public option is will risk the vote of those on the far left.

Paying for the plan- Obama really scored well with the blue dogs and progressives by outlining how he is going to pay for the plan. When it came time to talk about costs, he cut right to the chase. The first thing he said probably was effective enough to win over a majority of Blue Dog democrats. He said, he will not add a dime to the deficit. Clear. Simple. Truth? Yes. He gave proof, finally. Obama stressed the idea there would be a provision in the bill that would cut spending if the savings anticipated from the reform did not materialize. Boom. There was the left jab. Obama again stresses the savings he will get the inefficiencies of medicare and medicaid, but this time goes on to claim that the rest of the plan will be paid for through the revenues of the drug and insurance companies who will stand to see millions of new customers. Another jab. Think its over? No. Obama is relentless. The reform will charge a fee for insurance companies most expensive policies, not only reducing costs, but providing the capital to pay for reform. There is the right hook. The Blue Dogs are staggering...they are backing down. But here comes the knockout.

Now, add it all up and the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years, less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration.

Ding Ding Ding! That ladies and gentleman is knockout. The Blue Dogs doubt are conquered. So what makes this really a knockout? Because those same centrist wing Blue Dogs voted for the Iraq and Afghanistan War, and the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. So, they should be complaining about costs any longer.

The current system: This one is easy. Obama was tugging on heartstrings from the get go with two heart breaking stories of people who were denied insurance and suffered a high price for it. Check it out:

One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it.

Another woman, from Texas, was about to get a double mastectomy when her insurance company canceled her policy because she forgot to declare a case of acne. By the time she had her insurance reinstated, her breast cancer had more than doubled in size.

That is heartbreaking, it is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America.

As Obama delivered these heartbreaking stories, Nanci Pelosi was fighting to stay sitting in her chair. But pathos wasn't enough. Obama went on, forcefully, to describe what will happen if we will maintain the status quo--and the he wont stand for it. Case closed.

Bipartisanship: Though this definitely wasn't on my agenda, it was on some of yours, and it was on his. President Obama made huge efforts to be bi-partisan and despite the largely partisan nature of the session, most notably from the right, he earned a thumbs up from John McCain for his bi-partisan efforts. All in all, he reached over to the isle include provisions that the Republican party advocated on mal-practice issues, incorporated John McCain's idea, and even gave leeway, much to my disdain, on the public option.

All in all, it was a great speech, aside from the public option part. He may not of hit a grand slam...but at the very least its a home run with two on base.