Was the President’s Speech to Congress a Game Changer?

Immediately after last night’s presidential address to Congress (Sept. 9), pundits were calling the speech a game changer in the health care reform debate. Immediate polling by CNN showed a significant bump in popularity for health care reform plans. This morning the editorials were more sober, as is always the case for post-speech analysis. We will have to wait a bit to learn what the big national polls show and longer to see how politicians will vote.

One thing is sure. If anyone hoped that distortions about the reform plans were put to rest last night, the sad news is that deliberate misinformation is not going to go away.  It has been far too effective in shaping opinion to hope that propagandists will drop their efforts and instead engage in informed debate about real issues. All we have to do is surf the TV/radio talk shows today to see that the landscape has changed very little.

What the President’s speech did was to signal that reform efforts are not dead, that the President himself is ready to take a tougher, more visible role in the fight, and that we can expect that no bill is going to pass without significant changes—for good or ill.

For a couple of morning-after analyses, check this New Yorker piece or this piece by Alan Katz.

==========================

Why is the White House plan so much shorter than the Congressional Plans?

The White House plan is merely a couple of pages, while the Congressional plans are huge—over a thousand pages for HR 3200. Why the difference?

HR 3200 is written as an actual law, with all the legal language and specificity necessary to rule out loopholes and prepare for the law’s execution. The President’s plan is a succinct list of what he will and will not support.  He does not need to present all the legal language, because the bill that will ultimately reach his desk will be written in Congress.

==========================

Comic strip for the day