ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style5 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <br /> <br /> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Obama&#39;s One-Upmanship</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Feb 1, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style5"> M</span>eeting with House leaders Jan. 29, only two days after his State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama engaged in too much one-upmanship, not enough<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>patient listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With his Wednesday-evening primetime speech throwing down the gauntlet, Barack should have spent his time with Republicans leaders breaking the ice, getting along and building rapport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>House leaders, including well-tanned 60-year-old House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), seem more bent of scoring points than meeting the president halfway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Looking to find some wiggle-room on health care, House leaders asked to go back to the drawing board to propose a less costly alternative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> That s exactly what the Republican health care proposal does, much more so than the proposal that he and Democrat leaders are trying to shove down the throats of the American People, said Boehner.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Whether or Boehner agrees with Obama s plan, he shouldn t accuse the president of imposing his plan on the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Spending months on crafting a costly, nearly $1 trillion, 2,000-page plan, Democrats miscalculated the public s objections, opposing the plan by around 60%-40%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack should take those polls seriously, not as a slap in the face but as evidence that the public wants Democrats and Republicans to come up with new plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Massachusetts state Sen. Scott Brown won the late Sen. Ted Kennedy s senate seat Jan. 19, Democrats plan was dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Democrats must catch up with real-time and accept that their ambitious plan was no longer viable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack s recent concern about growing budget deficits threatening the long-term health of the U.S. economy more closely parallels the GOP position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Democrats must jettison the old plan and start over.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Barack wants to deal with some 30-million uninsured, potentially costing the treasury $100 billion more a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When he decided Dec. 2, 2009 to escalate the Afghan War to the tune of 30,000 more troops or roughly $50 billion a year, he effectively ended realistic prospects for government subsidized health care, beyond the current system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Government currently pays of poor people under Medicaid, and seniors and permanently disabled under Medicare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack originally wanted to extend Medicare to citizens 55-or-older, something torpedoed by Republican-friendly Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Lieberman signed on to Democrats plan Dec. 1`4, 2009 after dropping the Medicare-at-55 provision, he effectively endorsed Barack s health plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Lieberman was hailed by Republicans for stopping Medicare-at-55 until he signed on Dec/. 15 to the Democrats health care plan.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Instead of arguing with House Republicans, Barack should have invited the GOP back to the bargaining table for a fresh start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Given today s stubborn recession and soaring budget deficits, adopting a more cost-neutral plan would go a long way in placating GOP concerns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If Democrats really want to end unfair insurance industry practices as they ve claimed they need to work with Republicans to end the insurance industry s antitrust exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If they did nothing more than that, they would go a long way in ending discriminatory practices, especially against self-employed individuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Longstanding insurance industry discrimination has been against individuals with preexisting conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Those same individuals regardless of prior conditions face no discrimination in group-plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Congress could very easily legislate an end to this industry-wide practice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Sitting down with Republicans, Democrats could agree to end the insurance industry s antitrust exemption, ban the practice of excluding individuals for preexisting conditions and end the ban on purchasing insurance across state lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Opening up interstate competition would automatically lower premiums for individuals and businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Democrats need to listen to the polls and target middle class voters more concerned about losing employee-based insurance plans than guessing about a new government-sponsored plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Rather than creating a government-centered bureaucracy, what you d want to do is drive down those costs, said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Ok.), supporting Boehner s plan to open up interstate competition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Coburn and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) want to offer a $2,300 tax credit to individuals, eventually ending employer-based coverage.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Barack made a compelling argument for more bipartisanship in his first State of the Union speech, warning Republicans about the unintended consequences of wasteful political gridlock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Rather than arguing with House Republicans, the president would be better off finding common ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> What the Republicans offer is not cost containment nor is it better coverage, said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-.La.), criticizing GOP tax credits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It is just a lot of empty rhetoric, showing the kind of bitterness that promises to upend bipartisanship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Democrats lost their supermajority Jan 19, it was good day for health care reform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Partisans, like Landrieu, need to take a breath, stop pointing fingers and go back to the drawing board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If Barack can only broker an end to the industry s antitrust exemption, ban discriminatory practices and permit interstate competition, he would accomplish a lot.</p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author <i>of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a></i> and <i><a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>