But not for Obama himself...

During Obama's ratings flop of an infomercial last night, he refused to promise that he would stay within his own health care system if one of his wife or daughters were sick.

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President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people -- like the president himself -- wouldn't face.

The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.

Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance.

Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.

The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if "it's my family member, if it's my wife, if it's my children, if it's my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.

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There you have it, if the president himself won't commit to trusting his own health care proposals why in God's name should we?

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During Obama's ratings flop of an infomercial last night, he refused to promise that he would stay within his own health care system if one of his wife or daughters were sick.

There you have it, if the president himself won't commit to trusting his own health care proposals why in God's name should we?

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My views on the health care reform appear to be similar to yours. Nevertheless, I don't understand your logic. There could be reasons he won't stay with his current health care system. Maybe the new system will be better than what he currently has, or maybe it'll inspire some enterprising company to come up with a much better health care program. That's the logic, anyway.

I don't care if he'll use it or not. If it means that people who couldn't get health care before can now, it's an improvement in my book. Until you've lived without the means to get even the most basic health care, you don't know how good any plan, even one that imposes limits, looks.

Hello Steve:

Incrementalism doesn't work. If a guy is drowing, getting a little closer to him each time you jump in, ISN'T saving him at all.

IF the idea is to get to single payer by killing the insurance industry by competing with it, then we should just skip to the chase. Otherwise we're going to drown.

excon

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Originally Posted by Perito

My views on the health care reform appear to be similar to yours. Nevertheless, I don't understand your logic. There could be reasons why he won't stay with his current health care system. Maybe the new system will be better than what he currently has, or maybe it'll inspire some enterprising company to come up with a much better health care program. That's the logic, anyway.

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The point is this doctor "asked the president pointedly" about him staying in his own system and he refused. If his system is that good he should be the first in line to take COMPLETE advantage of it.

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Originally Posted by hheath541

i don't care if he'll use it or not. if it means that people who couldn't get health care before can now, it's an improvement in my book. until you've lived without the means to get even the most basic health care, you don't know how good any plan, even one that imposes limits, looks.

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Who CAN'T get health care in this country?

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello Steve:

Incrementalism doesn't work. If a guy is drowing, getting a little closer to him each time you jump in, ISN'T saving him at all.

IF the idea is to get to single payer by killing the insurance industry by competing with it, then we should just skip to the chase. Otherwise we're gonna drown.

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Not sure what this has to do with my point but I'd be a lot less critical if he would just cut to the chase. But he won't because he KNOWS that would kill his chances of getting what he eventually wants. That's what bugs me most probably is the utter dishonesty about the whole thing.

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Originally Posted by speechlesstx

The point is this doctor "asked the president pointedly" about him staying in his own system and he refused. If his system is that good he should be the first in line to take COMPLETE advantage of it.

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There will always be things available to the wealthy that the average person doesn't have access to. It's impossible to have every option open to the general public, simply because there treatments and techniques that can't be made widely available. If there are 3 doctors in the entire country able to perform a particular surgery that corrects a physical ailment, that is generally treatable by other means, then it just isn't practical. The same goes for drugs that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to develop and produce. Not to mention the fact that the wealthy have the option of going overseas to medical treatment not even offered in the usa.

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Originally Posted by hheath541

there will always be things available to the wealthy that the average person doesn't have access to. it's impossible to have every option open to the general public, simply because there treatments and techniques that can't be made widely available. if there are 3 doctors in the entire country able to perform a particular surgery that corrects a physical ailment, that is generally treatable by other means, then it just isn't practical. the same goes for drugs that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to develop and produce. not to mention the fact that the wealthy have the option of going overseas to medical treatment not even offered in the usa.

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Put it this way, if I'm trying to sell you on my amazing new tonic but refuse to take a drink myself, would you buy it?