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White House Talking Points On Missing August Deadline

Hmmm... this is interesting! I've obtained a copy of White House talking points laying out just how members of the administration will publicly reckon with the delay in health care legislation.

"We are closer to real health insurance reform today than ever before," the memo reads.

Key committees in Congress have reached a striking degree of consensus about how to control costs, guarantee coverage, and provide more choices for every American....

President Obama remains committed to and confident about signing health insurance reform into law by the end of this year.

You can read the entire memo below the fold. It provides a small window into the President's playbook when he's confronted with disspiriting news and unfriendly headlines.

Talking Points: Missing the August Deadline?

We are closer to real health insurance reform today than ever before. Key committees in Congress have reached a striking degree of consensus about how to control costs, guarantee coverage, and provide more choices for every American.

The important thing now is that we keep working, because Americans have been waiting decades for reform and should not have to wait any longer.

President Obama remains committed to and confident about signing health insurance reform into law by the end of this year.

Because while reform may be coming too soon for some in Washington, it's not coming soon enough for the American people.

  • Each day we delay reform, 14,000 Americans lose their insurance.

  • Premiums continue to rise at three times the rate of wages.

  • More and more small businesses are forced to choose between covering their employees and staying afloat.

  • State and local governments' skyrocketing health costs are crowding out spending on services like public safety and schools.

  • And growth in Medicare and Medicaid continues to be the number one driver of crushing long-term federal budget deficits.


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These talking points are much better than "that *&^% Reid caved in to Republicans AGAIN". This is really is the furthest reform has come since Medicare and Medicaid, though the degree of consensus doesn't seem "stunning". I'd like to know where the estimate of 14,000 losing insurance daily comes from, but it sounds eminently likely. At least we can't say the administration is giving up or failing to stay on top of things.

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Somehow missing deadlines now matters to the MSM. Aren't we still fighting a three week war in Iraq? Yes Bush paid heavily for his blunders in terms of popularity but media sure let it slide by. I don't see how missing the president's intended deadline is that big of a deal. I think we've made great gains already but still a ways to go. Just imagine where we'd be if Obama had not given them a deadline. Congress never would have even brought it up, promise you that.

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"Each day we delay reform, 14,000 Americans lose their insurance"

- they not only lose their insurance, they also lose their jobs. But that's from the Porkulus talking points a few months back...

"More and more small businesses are forced to choose between covering their employees and staying afloat."

- and our "health insurance reform" is designed to help them choose coverage, that's for those who manage stay afloat

"State and local governments' skyrocketing health costs are crowding out spending on services like public safety and schools."

- that's why Mass,our universal model, is considering asking for federal healthcare bailout

"And growth in Medicare and Medicaid continues to be the number one driver of crushing long-term federal budget deficits."

- that's why Obama changed the tune from lowering costs to deficit-neutral and from saying "no taxes on middle class at all" to saying "middle class should not be the PRIMARY payer for the reform"

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Yaaaaawn. These troll arguments are so stretched (even for you) that it's pretty clear you're not even trying any more. Why don't you go take a vacation for a while? We'll still be ok without you. Honest.

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Trolls almost always boil down to a mix of ad hominem and tu quoque (both logical fallacies last time I checked).

Surprisingly, they have nothing much to say of substance.


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