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President Obama’s Speech Injects Sanity Into Health Care Reform Debate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change
Wednesday, Sep 09, 2009Washington – Tonight, President Obama delivered a speech on health care reform before a joint session of Congress and the nation. The following is a statement from Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, in reaction to the President’s address:
“Tonight, President Obama injected much needed objectivity
and sanity into our heated but misinformed health care debate. The debate
unfortunately has been stolen by people peddling distortions and outright lies.
After a month of angry shouting matches, it was time for the President to take
charge.
“The President admirably gave the Congress space and time to
come up with a plan to fix our health care system. It’s now clear that
extremists and insurance lobbyists were not going to let that happen.
”It’s particularly notable that the President, again, endorsed a public option,
not because most Americans want it, which they do, but because it’s the only
way we can control costs and keep the insurance companies honest.
“We can’t let this moment escape us. Another chance for real
reform may not come around again for a generation. We have a real opportunity
to move forward together through shared responsibility and shared sacrifice.
“In the words of the President: ‘The time for bickering is
over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when
we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American
people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to
deliver on health care.”
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Since 1968, the Center for Community Change has strengthened the leadership, voice and power of low-income communities nationwide to confront the vital issues of today and build the social movements of tomorrow. www.communitychange.org.
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