Bipartisan Speech, Partisan Session

While the speech was a glamorous one, the behavior in congress was hardly the same case. It was evident the wear and tear from the brutal month of August has taken it's effect on congress. The joint-session was clearly divided by partisan lines, and efforts to reach out across these lines were not evident in either party--excluding the President of course. Yet, while democrats showed their partisanship in the traditional way, by clapping and handing out standing ovations every time the President said something reasonable moving, which in Obama's case was every other sentence. Out of everyone in the democratic congress, my favorite was Nancy Pelosi, who wore a gleaming smile on her face over every word Obama spoke, struggling to contain herself from clapping or standing. Of course, if you watched the speech, you realize she didn't do too fairly with her restraint. On the other hand, she did get one hell of a work out from how any ovations she gave.

While, the democratic partisanship was rather conventional, and humorous, the GOP was a different story entirely. Their partisanship was hardly conventional, and it wasn't humorous. It was hilarious. It made the whole session out to be like a bunch of teenagers in a fight.

There was of course most notably, Sen. Joe Wilson who shouted "You Lie!" in middle of the President's speech, and proceeded to distract himself from the speech and of the glaring eyes of Pelosi and the left--and even the right, with his blackberry. Some of the older members of congress, like Rep. Rosa DeLauro, claimed she had never seen anything like that in her years of congress. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there for Wilson, he has been reprimanded by both sides of the isle non-stop, and his opponent in the 2010 election raised over 100,000 dollars in less than half a day due to Wilson's outburst. Who would of thought two words, two three letter words, uttered at probably the most inopportune time, could cost an election, and possibly a career.

But while Wilson, may be the most outrageous, and doomed, of the partisan efforts, there was still plenty more inappropriate behavior to go around the GOP. From what, I, and most of you who watched the speech live could see, the Republican Party was holding up signs and a stack of papers. The signs were from Republican members such as Louie Gohmert that read "What Bill", "What Plan?", as if he were campaigning for a high school election. The stack of papers were apparently a reference that the Republican Party had a proposed bill--apparently indicating President Obama had not in fact taken their suggestions. Why we haven't heard about these suggestion until they were waved around in the President's face is beyond me. But it seems the President has some apologizing to do--after all, he hasn't really considered the plan of the GOP; a plan they had for a substantial...five minutes. And of course, the partisan nature of the session could be most seen in the discontent faces of the GOP, when ever they weren't texting of course.

If you watched live that's about how partisan it got, however, the Huffington Post reported even more efforts to be uncivil. After the President debunked the "death panel" claim, one republican mumbled loudly enough to be heard at the floor, " Read the Bill!". When the President said he had no interest of putting insurance companies out of business, he got a loud "HA!" from the right side of the isle. Then of course there was the normal, heavy sighing, agitated whispering, and groans at the presidents claims--something that actually is conventional partisanship.

Just how partisan was this session? Well, aside from Obama's speech, the two most bi-partisan moments in the whole joint-session were: John McCain giving his trademark thumbs up to President Obama after he credited McCain with an idea proposed in the bill; The Republican party hooting and hollering, and stomping on the floor as if they were cheering on their team at the Super Bowl, after the President said he was considering the mal-practice reforms the GOP had advocated for.

Woo, bi-partisanship!

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.