Labor Daze

The President spoke today here in Cincy, and his speech was fairly good, but more interesting was what Blue Dog Steve Dreihaus had to say.

President Barack Obama told a union audience in Cincinnati on Labor Day that the nation has "never been this close" before to health care reform. But he cautioned that special interests are trying to scare Americans to protect the status quo.

"We've never had such broad agreement on what needs to be done,'' Obama said in his appearance at the 23rd annual Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic. "And because we're so close to real reform, the special interests are doing what they always do - trying to scare the American people and preserve the status quo.''

Obama, in his first visit to Cincinnati as president, spoke for 36 minutes to nearly 5,000 people at the PNC Pavilion at Riverbend Music Center in Anderson Township.

Obama's speech came two days before he is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on the progress of health care reform. Obama said he didn't want to give away many details of his speech -- "I want you all to tune in.''

But Obama reiterated some core principles of reform in which people wouldn't lose health insurance if they lost their jobs, where there is a cap on out-of-pocket expenses and where people would not be denied coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition.

He also backed the creation of a marketplace where individuals and small businesses could purchase insurance at a reasonable cost.

"And I continue to believe that a public option within the basket of insurance choices would help improve quality and bring down costs,'' he said, addressing one of the most contentious parts of health care reform.

One of the congressmen unsure about the extent of reform is US Rep. Steve Driehaus, D-West Price Hill, who said at the picnic that he will be returning to Washington with Obama. Driehaus said he expects to have “some time to talk to the president and get down to brass tacks on health care and other issues.”

Driehaus has been on the fence when it comes to health-care reform proposals by the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress.

Driehaus said, “I think we have spent the last month here in the district listening to all points of view and I think I’m better for it. What I want to do now is get the president’s perspective on this.”

In other words, this Steve Dreihaus.

"Yes, I think money is access." And people wonder why health care is in trouble. Who has access to Congressmen and women like Steve Dreihaus?

Here's a hint: it's not the people of West Price Hill here in Cincy. Something to think about this Labor Day.