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President Obama Speaks from Prince George's Community College, Analyzing the Affordable Healthcare Act; Government Shutdown Looming
Aired September 26, 2013 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's a strange argument. Don't you think that's a strange argument? And the closer we get, the more desperate they get. Over the last few weeks, the rhetoric has just been cranked up to a place I've never seen before. One Congressman said that Obamacare is the most dangerous piece of legislation ever passed.
(LAUGHTER)
Ever, in the history of America, this is the most dangerous piece of legislation. Providing --
(LAUGHTER)
-- creating a marketplace so people can buy group insurance plan, the most dangerous ever. You had a state representative somewhere say that it's as destructive to personal and individual liberty as the Fugitive Slave Act.
(SHOUTING)
OBAMA: Think about that. Affordable healthcare is worse than a law that lets slave owners get their runaway slaves back.
(SHOUTING)
OBAMA: I mean, these are quotes. I'm not making this stuff up. And here's one more that I've heard. I like this one. We have to -- and I'm quoting here, "We have to repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens." Now, I have to say, that one was from six months ago. I just want to point out we still have women, we still have children, we still have senior citizens.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: All this would be funny if it wasn't so crazy. And a lot of it is just -- a lot of it is just hot air. A lot of it's just politics. I understand that. But now, the Tea Party Republicans have taken it to a whole new level because they're threatening either to shut down the government or shut down the entire economy by refusing to let America pay its bills for the first time in history, unless I agree to gut a law that will help millions of people.
(SHOUTING) OBAMA: Think about this. Shutting down the government just because you don't like a law that was passed and found constitutional, and because you don't like the idea of giving people new access to affordable healthcare, what kind of idea is that? I mean, look, think about how that would impact Maryland. This is an area where lots of people would be badly hurt by a government shutdown. A lot of people around here wake up and go to serve their country every single day in the federal government. Civilians who work at military bases, analysts, scientists, janitors, people who process new veterans and survivors' benefit claims. They don't have to stay home and not get paid. We all know it would badly damage the economy. I mean, whatever effect Obamacare might have on the economy is far less than even a few days of government shutdown. I mean, even if you believed --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: -- even if you believed that Obamacare somehow was going to hurt the economy, it won't hurt the economy as bad as a government shutdown. And by the way, the evidence is that it's not going to hurt the economy. Obamacare is going to help the economy and it's going to help families and help business.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: As for not letting America pay its bills, I have to say no Congress before this one has ever, ever in history been irresponsible enough to threaten default --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: -- to threaten an economic shutdown --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: -- to suggest America not pay its bills just to try to blackmail a president into giving them some concessions on issues that have nothing to do with the budget. I mean, this is the United States of America. We're not a deadbeat nation. We don't run out on our tab. We don't not pay our note. We are the world's bedrock economy, the world's currency of choice. The entire world looks to us to make sure that the world economy is stable. You don't mess with that.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: You don't mess with that.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And that's why I will not negotiate on anything when it comes to the full faith and credit of the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We're not going to submit to this kind of total irresponsibility. Congress needs to pay our bills on time. Congress needs to pass a budget on time. Congress needs to put an end to governing from crisis to crisis.
Our focus as a country should be on creating new jobs and growing our economy and helping young people learn and restoring security for hard-working middle class families.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: This is not about the fortunes of any one party. This is not about politics. This is about the future of our country. If Republicans do not like the law, they can go through the regular channels and processes to try to change it. That's why we have elections.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: So they can go through the normal processes and procedures of a democracy, but you do not threaten the full faith and credit of the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And meanwhile, we're going to keep implementing the law. It's the law. And like I said, there are going to be some glitches along the way. Every law has hiccups when it's first starting off. People forget, by the way, Medicare Part D, passed by my predecessor, George Bush, passed by a Republican house of representatives, the Prescription Drug Bill passed into law ten years ago was even more unpopular than the Affordable Care Act before it took effect. Everybody was saying what a disaster it was going to be. The difference was Democrats worked with Republicans to make it work even better.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Steny remembers this.
Even though Democrats weren't happy that the law wasn't paid for, and was going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit, and we weren't negotiating a better deal with the drug companies, everybody worked once it was the law to try to make it work and today, about 90 percent of seniors like their prescription drug coverage.
So you know, we may not get that same level of cooperation from Republicans right now, but the good news is, I believe eventually they'll come around, because Medicare and Social Security faced the same kind of criticism. Before Medicare came into law, one Republican warned that, "One of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free."
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: That was Ronald Reagan. And eventually, Ronald Reagan came around to Medicare and thought it was pretty good and actually helped make it better. So that's what's going to happen with the Affordable Care Act. And once it's working really well, I guarantee you they will not call it Obamacare.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
OBAMA: Here is a prediction for you. A few years from now, when people are using this to get coverage and everybody's feeling pretty good about all the choices and competition that they've got, there are going to be a whole bunch of folks who say, yeah, no, I always thought this provision was excellent.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: I voted for that thing.
(LAUGHTER)
You watch.
(LAUGHTER)
It will not be called Obamacare.
(LAUGHTER)
But I'm always willing to work with anybody from either party. If you've got a serious idea for making the Affordable Care Act better or making our broader healthcare system better, I'm happy to work with you. Because that's what the majority of American people want. They don't want posturing. They want governing. They don't want politics. They want us to work together to make the lives of ordinary Americans a little bit better, a little bit more secure.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: So Maryland, I'm asking for your help.
(CHEERING)
OBAMA: I need your help.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We may have some very well-funded opponents. We may have some very talkative opponents. But you're going to be the best, most credible messengers to spread the word about this law and all the benefits that the American people stand to get and have earned. So tell your friends, tell your family, get covered, get on that website. Answer the questions of folks who don't know what this is all about, point them to healthcare.gov. Teach them how to use the website. Make sure they sign up. Let's help our fellow Americans get covered.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Then let's keep on working to rebuild the middle class. (APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Let's go and focus on creating more good paying jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Let's build more ladders of opportunity for everybody willing to work hard.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Let's make sure the United States of America keeps being a place where you can make it if you try.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, everybody. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
(END LIVE FEED)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So there he is, the president of the United States spending almost an hour explaining Obamacare, and really railing against Republicans, those Republicans at least who are so fiercely opposed to it. The president making his strong case why this is going to be excellent news for the American people, even though as he himself says, there may be some glitches, at least at the start of the implementation of this new healthcare law.
We've got full coverage coming up here in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington, joined by Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent; Gloria Borger, our chief political analyst; our business anchor Christine Romans; also Ari Fleisher, the former press secretary for former President George W. Bush.
Jim Acosta, there has been such a buildup over these past several weeks and months against Obamacare, led by a lot of Republicans. Here's the question: Why did the president wait until now on the eve of a potential government shutdown, on the eve of when the U.S. government has to increase its debt ceiling, why all of a sudden so late in this game is he making this strong pitch for the benefits of Obamacare?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we have asked the White House those questions, and their basic response is that they've had a lot on their plate lately from Syria to Iran to the prospect of a government shutdown. You heard the president last week in Kansas City talking about the potential for a government shutdown and breaching the debt ceiling but he also extolled the virtues of Obamacare at that event. And when the White House was saying earlier the president was going to cut through noise at this event in Largo, Maryland, this morning, that was code for the president was going to go off on Republicans for opposing Obamacare at every stop. He said, at one point during this speech, at every step of the way, in terms of trying to stop this law, they have been unsuccessful. He asked at one point, what is it that these Republicans are just so mad about? He railed against some of the past myths about Obamacare, ranging from death panels to killing granny. This was a speech, it was a campaign- style speech that was laden with political broadsides against Republicans. And keep in mind, he said at the very top of this speech that it felt good to get outside of the Beltway, get outside of Beltway politics, but that's what this speech was really all about, Wolf. He was really going after the Republicans on the prospect of a shutdown, the prospect of hitting the debt ceiling and going over the debt ceiling and into default.
But he also spent some time talking about this rollout of the insurance exchanges. At one point, comparing the cost of some of these healthcare plans out there to the cost of a cell phone bill, and encouraging people to sign up for this plan, because Wolf, if people don't sign up for these exchanges, starting on October 1st all the way until March of next year, this program is going to have some problems. The president did acknowledge that there might be some glitches in the rollout. So very much a political speech.
But also he's got a lot on the line with this. If this does not work well, he may come back to eat those words, when he said hey, Republicans out there, let this happen. He was almost taunting them, saying let this happen and if you don't like it, then you can come back -- if there are problems with it, you can come back and attack me later. He may eat those words if that doesn't work out -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Jim Acosta, stand by.
Gloria, let me play a clip of the president trying to describe, encourage especially young people to go ahead and take advantage of purchasing health insurance through these new health insurance exchanges. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Knowing you can offer your family the security of healthcare, that's priceless. Now you can do it for the cost of your cable bill, probably less than your cell phone bill.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Think about that. Good health insurance for the price of your cell phone bill or less.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Gloria, he said signing up for health insurance, for those who don't have it, as simple as booking a flight or a hotel room, if you go online to do it. And arguments that he hasn't -- I haven't heard those arguments from the president before.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. You know, what he's doing, Wolf, is trying to make this more relatable, particularly to the younger, healthier people who need to sign up for these insurance pools if they're going to work, actually, to keep healthcare costs down, because you need those young healthy people in it. He was trying to say look, you know, isn't this worth what you pay for your cable bill every month? I mean, come on, you know, this is healthcare. So what he was trying to do was say to young people, this is about you and we need you to sign up.
The other thing that I also heard from him, Wolf, to sort of piggyback on what Jim was saying, is that he really took on the Republicans in a very frontal way on this government shutdown and the raising the debt ceiling, holding Obamacare hostage, if you will. And he came out and called it blackmail, right? And he said that no Congress in history has ever been irresponsible enough -- is the way he put it -- to threaten default and economic shutdown to try and blackmail a president. So he is really setting up this fight as they want to extract concessions on Obamacare and on other things, and holding, you know, the full faith and credit of the United States hostage. And he also said shutting down the government for a couple of days would cost the American taxpayers more than anything they're talking about in terms of the healthcare reform bill. So, you know, it's really clear, he said he's not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling. We've had Republicans this morning saying they're not going to give in and that they want to delay Obamacare perhaps, if they can't kill it. So I think we're really headed into quite a battle here, Wolf. I don't see any way around it at this point.
BLITZER: Let's get some Republican reaction right now. Ari Fleisher is joining us, a CNN contributor, the former press secretary for former President George W Bush.
He reiterated, Ari, in absolute stark terms that he isn't going to negotiate with Republicans when it comes to raising the nation's debt ceiling. Listen to what the president just said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You don't mess with that.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And that's why I will not negotiate on anything when it comes to the full faith and credit of the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The Treasury Department says October 17th, the U.S. will stop being able to borrow money, in effect, because the debt ceiling will have been reached. You've been through this game many times when you worked on the Hill, you worked in the White House. The president is laying down let's say this red line and it's going to be a tough situation.
ARI FLEISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SECRETARY: Well, as with any red line the president sets, you never really know where it's going to lead. For example, when the president was a United States Senator, of course, he opposed raising the debt limit and said raising the debt limit is a sign of a leadership failure. Now, of course, he's flip-flopped and taking a different position. Look, Wolf, at the end of the day, the country's not going to default. We're going to attach something moderate and modest to the debt limit, and the president's typically sign that, and I think that's where it's going to go.
But let me go back to the healthcare, which a big part of the speech. I run a small business, Wolf, I have two full-time employees, I provide healthcare, full health insurance to both of them. I went on the page as the president spoke. I got an electronic runaround. I hope everybody clicks on it and sees if it works. It doesn't. I tried to figure out what policies to provide for my employees and family, and how much it would cost. All I got was a link from one link to the next link to the next link. I went eight or nine clicks into it. I found no useful information other than a cheerleading web page, which is what the president's speech was.
If I were advising the president, the worst forum is a partisan pep rally to convince middle America Obamacare is working. Most people understand intuitively when the government's going to give out so much for free, someone's go pay for it. What's being paid for it is higher premiums on most working Americans and that's the fundamental problem the president has.
A partisan event like that will not help the president. His popularity is now at a two-year low according to "The New York Times" with the group he needs to reach, the moderate part of the public that he can win.
BLITZER: Ari, stand by.
We'll continue our analysis, what we heard from the president. Christine Romans standing bias well, Gloria, Jim Acosta. More analysis coming up after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: President spoke for an hour on Obamacare, a possible government shutdown, raising the nation's debt ceiling. A lot to dissect.
Christine Romans is joining us now.
Christine, listen to this little clip from what the president said about what this new law will do as far as coverage for Americans. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If you're one of those folks who have a preexisting condition, these plans have to offer you coverage. They can't use your medical history to charge you more than anybody else. If you couldn't afford coverage for your child because he had asthma, he's covered. If you couldn't afford coverage because you were told heartburn was a preexisting condition, you're covered.
(LAUGHTER)
If you're one of the 45 million Americans with a mental illness, you are covered. If you're a young adult or entrepreneur striking out on your own, you're covered.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: If -- if you're a young couple, who previously had insurance that didn't include maternity benefits and now suddenly you need some maternity benefits, you're covered.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: If you lose your job and your healthcare with it, you're covered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. All of those are good things, obviously. People want to have coverage but someone's going to have to pay for it. Where is all of the money that's going to pay for the new benefits for millions of Americans, where is that coming from as part of the Obamacare proposals?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And so many people have never been able to get insurance. They're not comparing the insurance they're going to get now with what they had before. Some have been shut out for a long time.
Look, and, Wolf, if they don't get the insurance, they will be fined. Starting in January, fined, starting $95 the first year and it's going to get worse and worse for four years as the government tries to push people onto those exchanges.
Now the government's point here, this week, first revealing these numbers showing that the premiums will not be as onerous as some had feared. There's going to wide variation across the country. But what people pay out of their pocket -- you see, Wyoming is one of the worst states, so is Mississippi -- a couple of states, only two insurers, not a lot of competition. In other places like Texas, there are a lot of insurers so your out-of-pocket costs won't be as high. But you will see, Wolf, there will be fines if you don't. Those fines go back into the program. The point here is to push more people into it and get as many people covered as possible.
BLITZER: And you heard the president, he was railing against some billionaires out there he was referring, I think to the Koch Brother, who funded ads discouraging young people from getting involved in purchasing this insurance. That's going to raise some eyebrows also when he specifically mentioned "Fox News" as well for discouraging people from getting involved in the new healthcare law.
All right, Christine, there's a lot to dissect.
We're going to have a lot more coming up 1:00 p.m. I'll be back then, later in "THE SITUATION ROOM" as well. Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
AROUND THE WORLD starts after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: It's the highest-level meeting between the U.S. and Iran in more than 30 years. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart meeting face to face.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Plus, President Obama tries to sell the benefits of his healthcare reform again. We're taking a closer look at what it will actually cost. And it depends on your state, your age and your income.
