Thoughts on the President's Speech

I'm much happier with this speech than I'd expected. I think the President made a strong case for the public option, which was in itself good. And he also referred to a plan that includes the public option "my plan". That's good, too.

But, even better, I think the President drew a line in the sand on the public option. A fine line, and a line that is open to some interpretation, but a line nonetheless. I haven't gone back to the video to confirm my notes, but I am pretty confident that I got at least the gist: he's open to any alternative to the public option that achieves its goals, that is, anything that insures that all Americans have access to affordable insurance. Short of a single-payer system--which is certainly not in the cards today and I doubt will be in my lifetime--I don't see how you achieve that goal without a government-backed insurance plan that introduces real competition into the market.

Both substantively and tactically, I think that the President made a smart move by mentioning medical malpractice reform. Republicans have a valid point about fear of lawsuits and the cost of medical malpractice insurance being a contributor to the rising cost of health care. It is far from the biggest cause, but it is a cause and we should be looking at ways to address everything that's contributing to the spiraling cost of health care in the US. I'm genuinely interested in what happens with this. Tactically, of course, it makes it just a little bit harder for the Republicans to use malpractice reform as their default alternative to broader health care reform.

Update: Josh Marshall also notes the President's drawing a sort of faint line in the sand on the public option, though he is a bit more skeptical than I am. I agree with Josh's contention that there is a lot of wiggle room in the President's position, but, I think it gives those of us who support the public option rather more leverage than I'd expected from the speech.