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Cato Dispatch for September 11, 2009

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(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)

Eight Years since 9/11

Friday marks the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed more than 3,000 people on September 11, 2001. President Obama led a moment of silence from the White House, while other memorial events took place in New York, Pennsylvania, the Pentagon and around the country.

Writing in The Washington Post shortly after the attacks in 2001, Cato President Edward H. Crane reminded readers why the attacks should refocus every American on the proper role of government.  "The events of Sept. 11 dictate that we refocus government on its proper role of protecting our liberties," Crane wrote. "That means less government interference in society, not more."

Obama Challenges Republicans in Health Care Address

In a speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, President Obama called on lawmakers to fix the nation's health care system and challenged Republicans to build on areas of agreement, condemning those who "have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it." Cato scholars live-blogged the speech. Adjunct scholar Patrick Basham characterized the President's approach as "strikingly political/partisan rather than statesmanlike," and senior fellow Michael D. Tanner commented, "I would give him an A on delivery, but at best a C on substance. There were surprisingly few details and very little new."

Writing in The New York Post the next morning, Tanner summed up Obama's speech as "all sizzle, no substance."

In President Obama's first national address on health care in, oh, 49 days, he gave us lots of showmanship. The rhetoric was as usual carefully crafted and persuasive. He threw a couple of bones to Republicans, such as demonstration projects for tort reform, and mollified liberals by defending the public option. He effectively countered some of the more hyperbolic opposition claims about things like "death panels." He even played the Ted Kennedy card. The speech was interrupted dozens and dozens of times by applause.

But, beneath all the sizzle, there remains the same bad bill.

In case you were caught up in what Tanner calls Obama's "razzle-dazzle" speech, health care expert Michael F. Cannon translated the president's address into plain English:

 "Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition."

Translation: I, Barack Obama, ignoring thousands of years of failed price-control schemes, will impose price controls on health insurance. I will force insurers to sell a $50k policies for $10k. What could go wrong?

"Some… supported a budget that would have essentially turned Medicare into a privatized voucher program. That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare."

Translation: I will never let seniors control their own health care dollars. I will never give up Washington's control over your health care decisions.

"…there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed."

Translation: There are too many lobbyists counting on me to succeed: drug-industry lobbyists, health-insurance lobbyists, physician-cartel lobbyists, large-employer lobbyists, hospital lobbyists….

President Obama Addresses the Nation's Schoolkids

President Obama took a few moments to address the nation's schoolchildren on their first day of class Tuesday, a move that sparked a debate across the country. Cato scholars reviewed the Department of Education course materials sent to the schools before the speech and in a commented on Obama's address in a new Cato video.

While watching the speech, education scholar Neal McCluskey remarked, "There are numerous reasons to take issue with the President's address to kids, several of which I hit here. Just one is that this speech is essentially a big campaign stop for President Obama. As I watch the speech, this only seems more blatantly clear. Cheering crowds. Panning across the admiring throngs. "MY EDUCATION, MY FUTURE" backdrop. Powerful stories about President Obama's life. It's all there. Of course, this is just about the kids…"

Referring to the root of the controversy, Adam Schaeffer says, "It's not about the speech":

The furious reaction to the politicized lesson plan and Obama's speech to schoolchildren cannot be understood without the context of the bailouts, the stimulus, the debt, GM, the attempt to take over health care. And now, our kids. And not just the speech and lesson plan, but federal expansion into preschool and early childhood initiatives and home visitations (however voluntary and innocuous-seeming in different times). They . . . the government, the meddlers, the nannies . . . they are coming for our money, our doctors, our guns and our kids. They won't stop until they control everything. That's how it looks to millions of Americans. Fair or not, people are now very sensitive to any actions by the Obama administration.

Chris Moody, editor, cmoody@cato.org