President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama stepped out to some music as they left the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation idinner last night. Promoting his health-care reforms, he said, there comes a time when "the cup of endurance runs over." (Photo by Earl Gibson / AP)
by Mark Silva
The word from the president's keynote address to the Congressional Black Caucus last night is that he spoke at length about advances in civil rights through the decades, but made only passing references to the "choices'' that people should have under the health-care reform he is seeking.
Promoting his health-care reforms, President Barack Obama said there comes a time when "the cup of endurance runs over."
But the public option was not on the president's lips, according to the pool report from the evening at the Washington Convention Center, where Barack Obama addressed the CBC Foundation's Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner
A cavernous hall was filled for the black tie event, the first lady in a sleeveless black dress, the president in tux and bow tie.
The president approached a podium on stage right before being directed to another stage left. "They don't want me to be on the right," Obama joked. "This is the CBC."
The address of the first African American president was heavy on advances in civil rights, starting with George Henry White, a congressman from North Carolina who served from 1897-1901. The president spoke of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
And he spoke of the economic turmoil he faced when he entered the White House. "Some people seem to have forgotten how bad things where when I took office,'' Obama said.
Turning to "health insurance reform,'' the president touched on much of what he had said in his recent speech to Congress, but his talk of "choices'' for people who currently lack insurance was notable for its omission: He emphasized the need to provide people with "affordable choices" but did not mention the so-called public option. "We are talking about expanding choices," he said.
Transcript, as they say, to follow.
With thanks to the pool reporting of Salon's Mark Benjamin
Comments
ObamaCare == "Expanding choices"?
Whoever wrote that for Obama's teleprompter should be writing comedy skits for Jay Leno.
Posted by: Change in 2012 | September 27, 2009 9:01 AM
A reasoned analysis of the healthcare issue. Please note the last paragraph. Sound familiar !!?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/opinion/27sun1.html/
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 27, 2009 11:33 AM
Notably absent from Obama's speech: the fact that it was Republicans in the Senate whok passed both the Civil Rights Act AND the Voting Rights Act...over the objections of Democrats.
Posted by: Jamal | September 27, 2009 3:41 PM
" Jamal ", I don't know what planet you escaped from, but you better get back there, before bed check. The last time the Republican-Libertarian Party did something that may be remote construed as helping the African-Americans was when President Lincoln was in power. The Democrats, with some Republicans help, before the Bush&Cheney fringe, fought hard for the constitutional rights of all Americans, especially our African-American citizens !! It was President Johnson, in the name of the assassinated President Kennedy, who shepherded the two bills through Congress, no small feet with all of the Dixiecrats in Congress. Today's Republican-Libertarians couldn't hold a candle to the Republicans of previous generations. Today's Republican-Libertarians are selfish, mean-spirited, their attitudes verge on being unAmerican and they try to intimidate and bully the most vulnerable of our citizens, the underprivileged, our seniors and our disabled. Come on, "Jamal", join the 21st century, it is the Democrats who elected our first African-American President !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 27, 2009 8:31 PM
What the Hey! The public option had better be in the bill! Single payer would be better! When a person of intelligence and conviction has reached a decision, and has chosen sides on an issue, which would better serve the nation, THEN IT IS TIME TO STAND FIRM, PERIOD. whiteagle38
Posted by: Raymond Juneau | September 28, 2009 12:27 PM
For Don Fitzgerald, ignorance is no attribute. Facts: Republican Richard Nixon signed the voting rights act on June 22, 1970. The Voting Right Act of 1965 was passed only by the leadership of Sen. Dirksen (R-IL) and his fellow Republicans at the specific request of President Lyndon Johnson because Johnson could not convince enough Democrats in the Senate to support him on the bill.
Bet you didn't know also that the Ku Klux Klan was a total Democrat organization from its founding through its hey-days of the 1920s and 30s. (Source: "The Fiery Cross."
Posted by: Jamal | September 28, 2009 2:54 PM
What the Hey, Jamal! Did you know that Lincoln was a Republican? That when he issued the emancipation proclamation, the South which was Republican turned into Democrats. In 1964 when President Johnson signed the equal rights amendment, the South magically turned into Republicans again. That is why in the early 1900's the Democrats founded the KKK. These same people are now Republicans and belong to the Sons of the Confederacy! Ask Joe Wilson. Remember the Republicans never do anything for this country, they only do things to this country! whiteagle38
Posted by: Raymond L. Juneau | September 28, 2009 7:29 PM
I don't think you can get any more sophomoric than to state that the KKK was a Democratic organization, " Jamal ". I really feel sorry for if you believe that nonsense.
As for Tricky Dick, are you referring to his southern strategy or his " benign neglect " strategy ? Your sense of history is somewhat lacking. A little more research and I think you will have a better picture of those heady days of civil rights and the tragic assassination of President Kennedy and its aftermath.
As for the KKK, they were anything but Americans, let alone given to a party affiliation. I could just as easily assert, given the unlikely number of southern Senators that are presently Republicans, a foolish assumption, that the KKK evolved into a wing of the Republican-Libertarian Party? In all honesty, I couldn't, although there are times when I give it a thought, just in passing, of course !!
There was one bright spot in your post and that was the mention of Senator Everett Dirksen. He was truly a great Senator, from our great state, and the fact that he was a Republican, doesn't matter, in the least. Although, I dare say, if he were alive today, I really do not believe he would be welcomed in the Republican Party. That is the tragedy of the Republican-Libertarian Party today, they seem to insist upon fanatics, no room for moderates or liberal Republicans. That has hamstrung their options, not to mention, their victories. I hope they can, once again, welcome citizens into their Party that are moderates, and even liberals. I don't know if you knew that ," Jamal ", their were liberal Republicans in that Party, once upon a time. Nelson Rockefeller, John Lindsay and Everett Dirksen to name a few Republicans that would no longer be welcomed into the Republican Party. That is their dilemma, in a nutshell. I hope they can find a way out of the maze they have created for themselves, but it may take them several election cycles. in the meantime, President Obama needs all the help he can get, including you, " Jamal ". Thanks to the Cheney&Bush fringe's legacy of ineptitude and malfeasance, President Obama has a full workload and I think, by the end of his second term, he will have righted America's ship-of-state.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 28, 2009 9:31 PM