Blog Stage 6

I would have to agree with Rachel that Obama’s healthcare plan would not necessarily be beneficial to the American public. Why would America want health coverage that would not work for them and fulfill their needs? I t would make much more sense to me to give the public the money that the government was going to use for this program and let citizens decide what healthcare plan would be best for them and their family.

One problem I see is that a government funded health program would not allow you to select your own doctor/ hospital. A doctor/patient relationship is very personal. You would want to choose a doctor that you felt comfortable around, treated you with respect and took good care of your medical needs. I personally want to be able to choose a healthcare plan based on my doctor being part of that plan and not having to select a doctor based on my healthcare plan.

Competition among healthcare providers and doctors is very vital in keeping good customer service. Just like most government agencies, once competition is gone, so is the desire to “help” the customer. I do not want to be another patient in the doctor’s office taking a number, signing a million papers, and waiting for hours for my care, just like when I go get my driver’s license renewed. Does this sound like good health care to you?

So, Obama’s health care plan would not be good to America and the money would be better spent as a credit to be used to purchase your own private health insurance.

Positive Thinking?

This week, President Obama offers a “glimmer of hope” to the nation about the economy. Even though he is completely aware that there is still much work to be done and the economy is still under great amounts of stress, there has been some improvement. He also claims that we are seeing progress and “if we stick with it…we will get the economy back on track.”

Is this statement true? Statistics show that the number of American’s collecting unemployment went up this week from 5.75 million to 5.84 million. That seems to me to contradict what Obama recently said about the economy. Right?

Obama when asked about the current economy over the last several months would often respond that it will get much worse before it is going to get any better. He now seems to be trying to be more optimistic. Is he just trying to convince the nation by highlighting the positive instead of the negative?

I wonder how the 8.5 percent of Americans that do not have jobs at this point feel about his statement? I am sure they do not agree with the concept that there is a “glimmer of hope” for our economy. For the people that might be merely surviving on one income or the small amount of money drawn from unemployment, the Presidents statement does not convince them that there is, in fact, hope in the weeks ahead.

I’m not sure that merely stating that the economy is getting better will actually make it get better or convince American. To those who are not hurting from the recession, the economy already seems hopeful because they are not suffering from its effects. Maybe after three months of being president, he is just simply tired of only having bad things to report to Americans.