WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) --
Facing mounting opposition to his health care reforms, U.S. President Barack
Obama seeks to sell his plan by speaking at town hall meetings this week.
U.S. President Barack Obama holds a town
hall meeting about healthcare at the Broughton High School in Raleigh,
North Carolina, July 29, 2009. Photo Gallery>>>
While critics say public opposition is such that
lawmakers may not be able to pass the legislation, others say the heated debate
will galvanize the president to do anything he can to push through the bill.
Obama has made his health care overhaul a priority.
He wants to provide health insurance for those who cannot afford it and prevent
companies from denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. But
opponents fret the plan could cause taxes to skyrocket, diminish the quality of
care and increase the reach of government into people's lives.
Speaking on Tuesday to a packed town hall meeting in the small community of Portsmouth, N.H., Obama said, "I need your help" to debunk misrepresentations about his reform plans.
The president promised to overhaul a system in which
insurance providers can deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.
"I believe it is wrong," he said. "It is bankrupting
families and businesses, and that's why we are going to pass health insurance
reform in 2009."
But recent polls point to rising opposition. A Wall
Street Journal/NBC News poll found that 42 percent of respondents questioned in
July thought Obama's reforms were a bad idea -- an increase from 32 percent in
June -- while 36 percent said it was a positive move.
Some believe those views will translate to Congress
and that the president will be unable to muster a "yes" vote.
"The bill will not pass as is," said Michael Cannon,
director of health policy studies the CATO Institute, a Washington D.C.-based
think tank.
The president wanted Congress to push through the
legislation before the August recess, he contended, because lawmakers would have
difficulty doing so once the public was informed of the bill's contents.
"The president knew if Americans had the time to see
what was in the legislation they wouldn't like it," he said.
Many Americans, Cannon said, view the bill as a
threat to their own healthcare coverage. "They don't want the government
deciding what their insurance should look like."
Indeed, constituents have been heckling and shouting
down lawmakers at town hall meetings nationwide. And some meetings, notably in
St. Louis, Mo. and Tampa, Fl., have become violent.
"The protests that we've seen have really stunted the
president's momentum," Cannon said.
Dean Baker, co-director at the Washington, D.C.-based
Center for Economic and Policy Research, said such meeting goers, while vocal,
do not constitute a majority and that their tactics will backfire.
"Most of the public are not thrilled with seeing
members of Congress being told to shut up," he said. "They don't come off as a
very sympathetic group on the whole."
Obama will do everything he can to muster lawmakers'
support --and the bill will pass, he believes -- including making deals with key
members of Congress and adding pork, he said.
"Obama can not allow (rowdy meeting goers) to
determine whether his health care reforms go through," he said. Baker said
people are being fed lies about the president's overhaul.
"They are really promoting a lot of craziness," he
said. "They are showing up there believing that healthcare reform is dangerous,
but they've been lied to by the pharmaceutical industry and insurance
companies," he said.
A number of media said the opposition was
orchestrated by lobbyists and activist groups and that little was genuine.
Former Congressman Ernest Istook, however, said the
protests are legitimate.
"I've conducted hundreds of town hall meetings," said
the Oklahoma Republican and fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage
Foundation. "There's no way you can turn out hundreds of (lobbyists) at this
many locations."
Opponents' anger has been ignited by the perception
that Congress is ignoring them, he said. "That's why the people are being so
loud," he said.
Cannon said if the president cannot push through the
legislation, he may scale back some of the reforms and attempt to pass a less
ambitious bill. "But if he does that he will lose support from his party's left
wing," he said.
Istook said compromise would be difficult. "The
problem is that some (politicians) for years have had in their mind that
government should run health care. Now they see their opportunity and won't
settle for less," he said.
The bill's proponents, however, tout it as
much-needed legislation in light of the millions of uninsured Americans, not to
mention laid off workers who are going without coverage in this tough economy.
But critics have taken note of the overhaul's cost,
which could amount to at least 1 trillion U.S. dollars.
Cannon said the bill is an enormous expansion of the
government at a time when the economy is not performing well. "Americans are
objecting to what they view as legislation that would expand that debt even
further," he said.
Others, however, say the cost of not overhauling
healthcare will dwarf that of any reforms.
Larry Kocot, deputy director of the Engelberg Center
for HealthCare Reform at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based
think tank, noted that costs are projected to rise to 20 percent of gross
domestic product, or 4.4 trillion dollars, by 2018 from around 18 percent this
year, according to government figures.
CHICAGO, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A rally was held in downtown Chicago Tuesday to show support for U.S. President Barack Obama' s health care reform.
The rally was organized by Chicago Democratic leaders. Illinois
Governor Pat Quinn, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulis, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and
several state lawmakers were among those firing up the Democratic base of
organized labor and liberal advocacy groups gathered at Federal Plaza in
downtown Chicago. Full
story
