LiveBlogging the President's Health Care Speech

Tune in now!

Gasp! CNN has been replaced on channel 10 with FX! Actually, I support that decision - on to MSNBC.

Michelle looking FABULOUS in vintage-y salmon-colored retro suit. Que Kennedy!

Crap! I suck - I missed the Mayoral Debate on ABC at 7pm - did anyone catch it? (Don't worry, my appearance isn't until 2028.)

Am I wrong to assume that the procession of lawmakers coming into the room would be FAR less diverse were we still under the Republican regime? So nice to see representation that actually looks like America today.

I still get chills when they announce "The President of the United States" and Barack Obama walks out!

And the speech...

Good opener prioritizing economic concerns, positing that his administration has "pulled this economy back from the brink."

"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last." HO!!

Nancy Pelosi just looks so happy. Maybe because she and Hil are matching in their adorable red power suits? Yikes, I hope they don't stand next to Michelle, clashorama.

Thank you, Barack, for explaining that those of us who are self-employed often can't afford to purchase health care on our own.

There are over 30 million citizens who cannot get coverage. 14,000+ lose their insurance every day. "It can happen to anyone."

WHAT. A woman couldn't get her double mastectomy because she didn't claim a case of acne when signing up for her insurance! Disgusting.

Prez now spelling out for the town hall idiots that the insured are already paying for the uninsured, and just how much - $1,000 per year for emergency & charitable care.

"These are the facts, and nobody disputes them. We know we must reform the system, the question is how."

Health care represents one-sixth of our economy!

Prez is recommending fixing/reforming what we have now vs building over from scratch.

"The time for games has past. Now is the time for action."

Summary of the features of Obama's proposed plan, paraphrased from speech text:

• If you already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.
• It will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
• it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most.
• They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime.
  
• We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick.
• insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies – because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse.
• if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who don't currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices... This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It's how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it's time to give every American the same opportunity that we've given ourselves.
• If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage.
  
• If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage.
• For those individuals and small businesses who still cannot afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we will provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need... This exchange will take effect in four years, which will give us time to do it right.
• individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance – just as most states require you to carry auto insurance.
  
• Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95% of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements.

Obama just gave props to McCain and McCain is smiling like crazy and everyone gave him a standing ovation - it's a total lovefest in there!

"Some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple."

I've never heard such disrespect from the floor during a President's speech. I have my theories. You?

Great analogy likening private insurers + public options to private/public college system.

What is the paper the people in the back row are holding up?

"I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. And I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need."

This one's for my mom: "I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, now or in the future. Period. ...Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan. Much of the rest would be paid for with revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies that stand to benefit from tens of millions of new customers."

MAJOR DISS! "Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for – from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy." True that, Obama, let's overturn those crap decisions while we're at this!

Seniors: "Not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will go to pay for this plan."

Creating a panel of experts to identify waste. Love it!

Bipartisan leap! Re-assessing medical malpractice laws, a big Republican push.

"Add it all up, and the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over ten years – less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration."

"I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it. I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now." Don't mess with the O!

WHOA - powerhouse closer: letter to Obama from Ted Kennedy, requested to be delivered upon his death, calling health care "that great unfinished business of our society... it concerns more than material things.... What we face is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country."

Obama is saying that caring for others is not partisan. I disagree based on evidence, but it's big of him to say so.

"When facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter – that at that point we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves."

Yep, Obama's a bigger man than I am. Still working on a bipartisan solution. Still believing that most of us care about others who are sick or in need. This is one of those rare times when I hope I'm wrong.

Complete transcript.