Obama’s Press Conference: 12/11/08

I have to admit it, I’ve been busy this week with work, my son’s birthday and my mother-in-law’s trips to the hospital. I really haven’t been following the news.

So this morning when I read that Obama was going to hold a press conference, I made sure I had a chance to watch it. Before Obama got into the reason for the press conference (introducing his health care team), he updated the nation on some of the more pressing news. He told the nation that this morning new and disturbing unemployment numbers were released, the jobless rate is the highest its been in 26 years. Wow-sah.

The news didn’t get any better as Obama pressed Washington to work out some sort of bailout for the auto manufacturers which in turn would help the thousands upon thousands people who work in the auto industry.

Now, I understand people’s anger and frustration at the situation our auto companies find themselves in today. I raised concerns about the health of our auto industry a year-and-a-half ago when I spoke to industry leaders in Detroit. I urged them to act quickly to adopt new technologies and a new business approach that would help them stay competitive in these changing times.

And while they’ve failed to move quickly enough towards these goals, at this moment of great challenge for our economy, we cannot simply stand by and watch this industry collapse. Doing so would lead to a devastating ripple effect throughout our economy.

As I have said repeatedly, I believe our government should provide short-term assistance to the auto industry to avoid a collapse, while holding the companies accountable and protecting taxpayer interests.

Can I hear another Wow-sah?

Then Obama turned to the issue at hand: introducing his health care team of Senator Tom Daschle and Dr. Jeanne Lambrew. Daschle will be the Secretary of Health and Human Services as well as heading the White House office on health reform. Lambrew will be the deputy director of the White House office on health reform. Daschle and Lambrew along with Scott S. Greenberger wrote Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis — great, another book to read.

The big news that I got from the press conference is that the Obama Administration is going to work on health care reform because of the economic crisis.

Now, some may ask how at this moment of economic challenge we can afford to invest in reforming our health care system. And I ask a different question. I ask how can we afford not to. Right now, small businesses across America are laying off or shutting their doors for good because of rising health care costs. Some of the largest corporations in America, including major American car makers are struggling to compete with foreign companies unburdened by these costs

From this liberal’s standpoint, it is great news to hear that Obama is planning on moving on health care reform. It is what is needed today, who are am I kidding, it was needed some 70 years ago. Remember the following as we discuss health care reform in the future:

Nearly 46 million Americans have no health insurance, and Americans are more likely to die of common diseases than people living in many other developed countries.

U.S. healthcare costs now account for about 16 percent of U.S. gross domestic product — or $2.3 trillion — a proportion projected to grow to 20 percent or $4 trillion by 2015.

As Daschle pointed out at the press conference:

Our growing costs are unsustainable, and the plight of the uninsured is unconscionable.

Oh, and Obama spoke briefly about the Blagojevich Scandal and reiterated what he had said before:

Let me say that I was as appalled and disappointed as anybody by the revelations earlier this week.

I have never spoken to the governor on this subject. I’m confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat. I think the materials released by the U.S. attorney reflect that fact.

I’ve asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor’s office about this vacancy so that we can share them with you over the next few days.

Finally, on this matter, let me say that this Senate seat does not belong to any politician to trade. It belongs to the people of Illinois, and they deserve the best possible representation.

Hmm, what are the chances we can move on from this non-story to more pressing issues such as the auto manufacturer bailout, the unemployment rate and health care reform?