Saturday, September 12, 2009

What was missing in Obama Speech?

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/what-was-missing-in-obamas-speech/

President Obama’s address to Congress on health care, coming after an August marked by confused messages and partisan rhetoric, had to accomplish a lot. It had to show Democrats his firm commitment to pushing through comprehensive reform this year. It had to respond to the intensifying opposition among Republicans. And it had to reassure nervous voters that change won’t leave them with less choice and less coverage.

We asked some analysts of health care politics to tell us what was good about the speech and what was missing.

* Robert Reich, former secretary of labor
* Mark McClellan, Brookings Institution
* Lisa Dubay, professor of public health
* Arnold S. Relman, professor emeritus, Harvard Medical School
* Stuart M. Butler, Heritage Foundation
* Megan McArdle, Asymmetrical Information
* Richard Huber, former chairman of Aetna
* Donald H. Taylor, Jr., Duke University