Friday, September 11, 2009
Editorial: Refocusing the debate
President Obama attempted to inspire Congress to action on health care reform.
From the RoundTable blog
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President Obama tried hard in an eloquent speech to Congress Wednesday night to refocus the debate on health care reform and debunk the lies, half-truths and misconceptions that have been spread about the various congressional plans under consideration.
The question is not whether health care reform should be undertaken -- as Obama said, "Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it most. And more will die as a result. We know these things to be true."
The question is whether American politics -- in its smallness, petty partisanship and meanness -- can rise to meet such a major, all-encompassing challenge.
Obama tried to sound the call: "We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it's hard. I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility, and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history's test."
But did that call simply fall on deaf ears and closed minds?
It's hard to say. There were moments when Congress appeared unanimous in support of Obama's proposals, most often when he was taking on insurance companies' many techniques to deny care to those who need it most.
There is no doubt that the debate went completely off the rails in August, with silly talk about death panels and angry outbursts at town hall meetings, culminating in a fight between two Americans on opposite sides of the issue that ended with one biting a finger off the other.
America is better than that. The American character Obama spoke of is stronger than that.
Or we hope it is, anyway. Obama spoke with reason, outreach and pragmatism. If he is shouted down by angry lies, health care reform will die -- and with it, any illusion that the national political system remains capable of meeting the enormous challenges the United States will face in the coming years.
