links for 2009-07-23

President Obama spent most of his press conference tonight denying what President Kennedy famously affirmed — that to govern is to choose. Obama promised us health care this is at once better and cheaper, with both more regulation and more freedom to choose, featuring an assurance that government won’t limit our care and a commitment to a government panel that will save money by restricting care.

The juvenile happy talk reached its peak with this presidential statement: “If there's a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half price for the thing that's going to make you well?” Now, there’s good idea. Why hasn’t anyone else thought of that? For this reform, we need to spend $1 trillion?

On a Boston radio program this morning, Bill Cosby suggested that President Obama spoke too soon on the controversial arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.

“I’ve heard about five different reports [on the details of the arrest],” Cosby said on Boston’s WZLX. “If I’m the president of the United States, I don’t care how much pressure people want to put on it about race, I’m keeping my mouth shut.”

“I was shocked to hear the president making this kind of statement,” Cosby said referring to the president’s remarks during last night’s press conference.

President Obama today stood by his comments that the Cambridge, Mass., police department acted "stupidly" in its arrest of Henry Louis Gates, telling ABC News that the Harvard University professor should not have been arrested.
"I have to say I am surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement, because I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home," Obama said.

President Obama's Wednesday night criticism of Cambridge, Mass., police has drawn a rebuke from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

The criticism comes after Obama said Cambridge police officers acted "stupidly" when they arrested Henry Louis Gates, a friend of the president's, after he broke into his own home. Gates was arrested on disorderly conduct charges, which were then dropped. The president said it highlights ongoing problems with race relations in the U.S.

President Obama was in Shaker Heights, Ohio, today, pitching his healthcare proposal at a town-hall meeting, taking questions from voters concerned about escalating costs and cuts in reimbursements.

While Obama was touring the Cleveland Clinic with Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, leaders in the Senate pulled the plug on the president's hopes to complete reform before Congress takes its August recess.

“Working with Republicans, one of the things that they ask is for more time,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters. “The decision was made to give them more time … I don’t think it’s unreasonable. This is a complex, difficult issue.”

Over on the House side, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was open to putting off a vote on that side until after the recess. And good thing too, because the House Energy and Commerce Committee — home to many of the Blue Dog Democrats who are dubious about the high price tag on reform — canceled its hearings on the topic again today.

Gee, I’m really sorry I decided to skip this for “Ghost Hunters.” Watching The One explain how the medical industry has designs on your body parts would have been much better in hindsight. To think: The day is coming when instead of forcing you to take unnecessary tests, doctors will force you not to take necessary ones because they no longer have the resources to process them. Take that, profit motive.

This is what happens when you take health advice from a guy with a lifelong smoking habit. Exit question: Any truth to the rumor that Obama’s going to impose a new surtax on fatties? “But let me be clear: The time has come to put away the fudge.”

He's still in the thrall of Orszagism! Here we're dramatically changing insurance (no more "preexisting conditions") and insuring the uninsured and creating a health care exchange and promoting a public option and generally telling everyone they can stop worrying about whether they will have coverage. It's all going to be deficit neutral over a ten year period. Why do we have to also dramatically change the "health care delivery system" at the same time (in order to save even more money after ten years)? Doesn't that undermine the reassuring message that if you like your health coverage, nothing will change?

Minutes before a press conference where President Barack Obama could have been asked about the issue, the White House released a list of visits by health care executives.

The Secret Service had earlier rejected a request for the same information, asserting executive privilege. The issue could have been an embarassment for Obama at the presser in light of his promises during the campaign to make public White House visitors and to conduct deliberations about health care in public.

The public interest group which requested the records, Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, filed suit earlier Wednesday over the denial.

Some inconsistencies on the visitor issue remain. Chiefly, rejected requests from CREW for visits by coal industry executives and from MSNBC for all visitors to the White House since Obama took office.