Presidential News Conference

What was talked about:

1. Introduction - Say's recovery act has saved jobs. Where? The unemployment act has increased to 9.5% when the President said it would not top 8% with the recovery act. Reform health care = Socialized Health Care. We will get to keep our own health care...that is unless you want to change even one thing then you MUST join the government plan.

• Does he do anything other than campaign. How about we act instead of talk. He acts if he doesn't play politics...I have not seen him do anything other than play politics for the last six months
  

1. Question 1 - AP - Which ideas on how to pay for health care are you willing to share? Immediately he switches the question without answering. Back to his talking points. Limit deductions on "wealthy" - who will be "wealthy" under this plan? Aren't the "wealthy" Americans eventually going to run out of money to tax if we keep making them pay for every socialized program the President wants to implement?
2. Question 2 - Why the rush on passing health care? - Good questions. Will he actually answer? Says without deadline it won't get done...In other words if I don't set a deadline I will have lost American support because my numbers are sinking fast. He won't sign a bill that he doesn't think will "work." Again, in other words if it is not a socialized system that will lead to a single payer system then it won't meet his standards.
   
3. Question 3 - Explain how bill will expand coverage. Wants to cover everybody. There he goes. Without SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM we will not cover everyone. So, he will push for that single payer system but won't directly say that. Where does our Constitution say that the government should be "designing" health care?
   
4. Question 4 - Do you admit that American's will have to sacrifice for this bill? American's will be sacrificing by waiting in long line...why won't he talk about this? Again he goes to his talking points and doesn't really answer the question of what American's will have to sacrifice. And now he decides to answer a question that was not asked. Why not just give a speech if you are not going to answer the questions? So now he is saying he has actually cut spending for the Bush years by trillions of dollar.
   
5. Question 5 - What type of cuts will be made to medicare? Says it won't reduce medicare benefits. Not much said here.
   
6. Question 6 - Are you fulfilling your promise of transparency? Good lead in to question outlining multiple areas of lack of transparency. Trying to defend his administration. Again not much.
7. Question 7 - Does your administration need to take a harder line on Wall Street? Says steps taken have been the right steps. Says his steps are working and that financial system has bounced back. Says we need to pass financial regulatory reform because banks will go back to the same way they were before.
   
8. Question 8 - Can you guarantee that the government will never deny any coverage? Second, will you and congress abide by the public option? Public plan will "largely" meet the congress plan. Therefore, he won't answer the question so if you are old or a high risk they will give your treatment to a younger person. HE WILL NOT GUARANTEE THAT GOVERNMENT WILL NOT BE INVOLVED IN DECISION. Congress will have say in what type of care doctors can give their patients
9. Question 9 - What do you expect to achieve by going to Cleavland clinic? Missed answer
   
10. Question 10 - Something about race relations? Missed beginning of question

Reflection - Not much answered.

Biggest statement - HE WILL NOT GUARANTEE THAT GOVERNMENT WILL NOT BE INVOLVED IN DECISION. This should be alarming to everyone. If government has the right to determine what type of care you can get you can count of a destruction of quality care.