Obama's One-Upmanship

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Feb 1, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                    

                 Meeting 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  patient listening.  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.  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.  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.  “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.

            Whether or Boehner agrees with Obama’s plan, he shouldn’t accuse the president of imposing his plan on the public.  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%.  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.  When Massachusetts’ state Sen. Scott Brown won the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s senate seat Jan. 19, Democrats’ plan was dead.  Democrats must catch up with real-time and accept that their ambitious plan was no longer viable.  Barack’s recent concern about growing budget deficits threatening the long-term health of the U.S. economy more closely parallels the GOP position.  Democrats must jettison the old plan and start over.

            Barack wants to deal with some 30-million uninsured, potentially costing the treasury $100 billion more a year.  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.  Government currently pays of poor people under Medicaid, and seniors and permanently disabled under Medicare.  Barack originally wanted to extend Medicare to citizens 55-or-older, something torpedoed by Republican-friendly Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).  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.  Lieberman was hailed by Republicans for stopping Medicare-at-55 until he signed on Dec/. 15 to the Democrats’ health care plan.

            Instead of arguing with House Republicans, Barack should have invited the GOP back to the bargaining table for a fresh start.  Given today’s stubborn recession and soaring budget deficits, adopting a more cost-neutral plan would go a long way in placating GOP concerns.  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.  If they did nothing more than that, they would go a long way in ending discriminatory practices, especially against self-employed individuals.  Longstanding insurance industry discrimination has been against individuals with preexisting conditions.  Those same individuals—regardless of prior conditions—face no discrimination in group-plans.  Congress could very easily legislate an end to this industry-wide practice.

            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.  Opening up interstate competition would automatically lower premiums for individuals and businesses.  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.  “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.  Coburn and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) want to offer a $2,300 tax credit to individuals, eventually ending employer-based coverage.

            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.  Rather than arguing with House Republicans, the president would be better off finding common ground.  “What the Republicans offer is not cost containment nor is it better coverage,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-.La.), criticizing GOP tax credits.  “It is just a lot of empty rhetoric,” showing the kind of bitterness that promises to upend bipartisanship.  When Democrats lost their supermajority Jan 19, it was good day for health care reform.  Partisans, like Landrieu, need to take a breath, stop pointing fingers and go back to the drawing board.  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.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.