Midstate Lawmakers Don’t Sound Convinced After the President’s Speech

President Obama may have tried to reach across the aisle to Republicans, but GOP Senator Bob Corker says the speech raised more questions.

After a month of being battered by protesters and angry citizens the president attempted to quell fears about health reform. He focused on the potential savings to all Americans if reform is enacted.

The message of fiscal responsibility was lost on Senator Corker who says he wanted more substance.

“There has been so much discussion about details about what a health care plan would look like. And to call the two bodies together, and to hear what I would call as platitudes. I just thought it was odd. It sounds like what a candidate running for office would say.”

Corker is asking the president to release a timeline of when each piece of the proposed program would be enacted.

Brentwood Republican Marsha Blackburn says the president’s speech reminds her of the promises made when TennCare was established. In particular, she points to the contention that short term investment in a public option will result in savings later on. “What we have learned from programs like TennCare is that those long term savings simply don’t materialize.”
The president did extend another olive branch to Republicans and moderates: tort reform.

He also said he is directing the secretary of Health and Human Services to set up demonstration projects in a handful of states.

Murfressboro Democrat Bart Gordon praised the idea of sheltering doctors from medical liabilities. But Gordon did not comment on the president’s urging a public option, which the Congressman has said he opposes.

Meanwhile, Nashville Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper, who has been critical of the cost of a healthcare overhaul, reacted to the President’s speech by saying simply: “If the details live up to the quality of the speech, then it’s a good plan.”