A new kind of president

Some of people’s concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost.  The best example is the claim made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but by prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. 

“Now, such a charge would be laughable if it weren’t so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple.”

The speaker addressing Congress on Wednesday night was a different Barack Obama than we have previously seen.

“Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you, Sarah Palin,” his undertone implicated.

The most evil glare that possibly could have been mustered by our solemn and unemotional president was cast to the right side of the room – more than once.

And when the barbarian Republican representative from South Carolina, Joe Wilson, temporarily forgot he was no longer in a town hall meeting, yelling  “You lie!” to the president of the United States, the death gaze of both Obama and Pelosi was enough to silence him for the remainder of the speech.

Obama very visually refused to back down Wednesday night. Everything from his stature to his icy scowl to his actual words displayed his unwillingness to continue being pushed around.

In his mind, he had already compromised enough – and compromise he had. Addressing right-wing concerns like tort reform and tax credits to purchase insurance on exchange as well as incorporating ideas from John McCain and even George W. Bush, Obama strived for bipartisanship almost to a fault.

Standing his ground, the president laid out exactly what the bill should contain – in addition to provisions and conditions to which he would refuse to sign his name. While he addressed many main concerns featured in health care dialogue during the summer, he failed to get down in the nitty-gritty of policy detail.

Very notably, he failed to mention the dreaded phrase “raising taxes.” In fact, the only time taxes were brought into it was when Obama said his health care reform would cost less than the “tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration.”

Despite this obvious absence, the speech Wednesday night revealed a president determined to get his health care reform passed – and to fight back against its opposition.

The speech was logical, was delivered eloquently and attempted to help people really understand the importance of health reform and the merits contained by Obama’s plan.