The President's speech was anything but a surrender.

[another_liberal]

President Obama did about as much as he could to explain that the blame for canceled insurance policies rightly belongs on greedy, deceptive insurance companies who dupe many people into paying for policies which are nearly worthless when medical bills start to arrive. Most importantly, he offered a fix for the problem which clearly puts the onus on those companies, ordering them to contact their canceled policy holders and explain to them why their former policy is considered deficient by the government. The President allowed that companies can also continue to offer their rip-off plans in 2014 for those who still want them, but only after those policy holders are informed of the flaws in the coverage they will be paying for.

This is all to the good, and in no way a "Surrender" to anyone.

[Lex]

1. He point blank said he wasn't going to surrender

and forget those people who will, some for the first time, be able to get insurance under the ACA.

[another_liberal]

3. He was quite firm.

The start-up problems are not going to last forever. Millions of Americans will be saved from financial disaster by this law, and that is something worth making a stand for.

[Whisp]

2. He did more than fine.

The crazyland jig from the critics here is getting tiresome

[GoCubsGo]

4. That's kind of how I see it, too.

If anything, it's going to open up a bunch of eyes, not just to the fact that the GOP has been lying to them, but also how they've been ripped off by their insurance "providers". He's forcing the insurance companies to explain to these people that they were selling them useless, crap policies, and that they can get something that will actually protect them for a comparable price, in most cases. If there are any idiots who want to keep buying that shit for another year, fine. Suit yourselves.

[another_liberal]

6. Yes, it was effective and clever response to critics of the ACA.

I was also impressed with what surely seemed to be the President's genuine pathos for those who have seen their lives ruined by uncovered health care costs. Can you imagine the stories of suffering he has been told? That's a heavy weight to carry, especially when there are such powerful forces dead set against your efforts to provide help.

[global1]

9. I'm Sure That Sometime Down The Road One Of These People That Complained About Cancellation Of.....

their policy that they wanted to keep - will befall some health calamity that will cause them to have to use their insurance that is deficient. When they find out that they don't have the coverage that they thought they had or when they are cancelled or out of pocket for most of the cost of their calamity - I hope we hear from them and the fact that they should have made the change when to the exchange coverage that has the basic assurances that they will not be bankrupted or cancelled.

Will the MSM report these instances? We all know that this will happen but will we actually hear that it did happen?

[GoCubsGo]

10. They'll find a way to blame that on President Obama, too.

It's how they are.

I doubt that the MSM will report those instances, as they aren't reporting the fact that many of these complainers never bothered to do their homework, and that they're getting a better deal under the ACA. See: The twit that FOX was parading around--until somebody sat her down and showed her the new, much better options she had. And, poof, she was gone. Nobody, other than a few of the left-leaning types (Ed Schultz, etc.) reported that.

[flamingdem]

5. He took the ammo away from the Repukes

F*** off Boner!

[Scuba]

7. Did he put it in those words? That would be awesome.

[Dawgs]

8. LOL! Good luck selling that one. n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! The Republicans are criticizing!!!! WE MUST RESPOND!!!

[Chuck Smythe]

12. another_liberal, I think the Washington Post disagrees with your claim...

You said:

"the blame for canceled insurance policies rightly belongs on greedy, deceptive insurance companies"

The ACA requires insurance companies to cancel all of the junk, substandard plans that don't meet the ACA's minimum requirements. This is what the Washington Post said about it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/for-consumers-whose-health-premiums-will-go-up-under-new-law-sticker-shock-leads-to-anger/2013/11/03/d858dd28-44a9-11e3-b6f8-3782ff6cb769_story_1.html

"Beginning Jan. 1, the new plans must cover 10 essential benefits including pediatric care, prescription drugs, mental-health services and maternity care. In general, policies that don’t offer those can’t be sold after 2013."

The fact that Obama is now telling them that they can renew these canceled plans means that Obama is literally telling these big corporations to break the law.

Personally, I favor single payer. The ACA should have been a one page bill that gave everyone the option (but not a mandate) to sign up for Medicaid. It's such a simple, easy to understand idea, with no new government agencies and no new bureaucracies, and I don't see how any Republican could possibly object to it.

[another_liberal]

13. I see it very differently.

The Washington Post opinion piece overlooks the fact that this is only a temporary option to continue offering sub-standard policies until policy holders with such plans have time to learn about better, less expensive options now available to them. I feel quite certain that few Americans will want to pay more for less insurance once they see the truth of what they have been paying for beside the much better insurance plans they could afford.

The genius of our President's approach is that he is making it incumbent upon the insurance companies themselves to educate their policy holders about the defects and deceptions in their current policies. I would say that rather than, ". . . telling companies to break the law," President Obama is actually forcing those companies to own up to their past misdeeds.

[AverageJoe90]

14. Well, that's a relief!

Thanks for posting. Maybe it'll get some folks to calm down for a second and come back down to Earth. Obama really handed it to the Repubs this time.....