Barack Obama and Tom Daschle

“ Now, I understand people’s anger and frustration at the situation our auto companies find themselves in today. I raised concerns about the health of our auto industry a year-and-a-half ago when I spoke to industry leaders in Detroit. I urged them to act quickly to adopt new technologies and a new business approach that would help them stay competitive in these changing times. And while they’ve failed to move quickly enough towards these goals, at this moment of great challenge for our economy, we cannot simply stand by and watch this industry collapse. ”

“ Whether it’s administering Medicare and Medicaid, keeping our food and pharmaceuticals safe, researching the cures of tomorrow, or investing in prevention and wellness, a well-functioning Department of Health and Human Services can play a strong role in tackling the many health care challenges our country faces. And as director of the White House Office of Health Reform, I’m eager to work closely with the people from across the country to find a path forward that makes health care in this country as affordable and available as it is innovative. ”

“ We know that in state houses and city councils all across America there are times where people are not thinking about what’s best for the public good but rather making narrow political calculations. And our whole campaign was about changing that view of politics and restoring a sense that when people of good will come together and are serious about confronting the challenges that we face, that not only can that be good policy but, you know what, it can be good politics as well. ”

“ Today we received more unsettling news about our economy. Jobless claims are now the highest they’ve been in 26 years, with more than 570,000 people filing for unemployment benefits for the -- for the very first time. And this news comes at a moment when our auto industry is struggling, threatening the jobs, health care, and pensions of not just thousands of American autoworkers, but dealers, suppliers, and others all across America. ”

“ Right now, small businesses across America are laying off or shutting their doors for good because of rising health care costs. Some of the largest corporations in America, including major American car makers are struggling to compete with foreign companies unburdened by these costs. Instead of investing in research and development, instead of expanding and creating new jobs, our companies are pouring more and more money into a health care system that is failing too many families. ”

“ And, you know, here in Illinois -- as is true, I think, across the country -- there is a tradition of public service, where people are getting in it for the right reasons and to serve, but there’s also a tradition where people view politics as a business. ”

“ She held lead the effort in the White House to create the Children’s Health Insurance Program and she helped craft the president’s Medicare reform plan and long-term care initiative.
And like Tom, Jeanne has a personality perfectly suited to reaching out and building consensus. She listens. She treats people well. She, like Tom, believes, as Tom put it in his farewell address to the Senate, that the politics of common ground will not be found on the far right or the far left. That’s not where most Americans live. ”

“ Jeanne will serve as deputy director of this office working closing with Tom on these efforts. It’s hard to overstate the urgency of this work. Over the past eight years, premiums have nearly doubled and more families are facing more medical debt than ever before. Forty-five million fellow citizens have no health insurance at all. And day after day, we witness the disgrace of parents unable to take a sick child to the doctor, seniors unable to afford their medicines, people who wind up in emergency rooms because they have nowhere else to turn. ”

“ Close to 50 percent of family bankruptcies are caused because of a health care crisis. We know the strains that are being placed on businesses as a consequence of rising health care costs. So this has to be intimately woven into our overall health care -- our overall economic recovery plan. ”

“ President-elect, we’re also going to bring the American people into this conversation and make health care reform an open and inclusive process that goes from the grassroots up. Over the next few weeks, we will be coordinating thousands of health care discussions in homes all across the country through our Web site, Change.gov, where ordinary Americans can share their ideas about what’s broken and how to fix it. ”

“ And I think you can fairly expect that we’re going to have some very aggressive initiatives around things like health IT, around things like prevention that reduce costs. We’re also going to examine programs that I’m not sure are giving us a good bang for the buck. The Medicare Advantage program is one that I’ve already cited where we’re spending billions of dollars subsidizing insurance companies for a program that doesn’t appreciably improve the health of seniors under Medicare. ”

“ And a two-partner. We have the former -- the immediate former governor still moldering in the federal prison here in Terra Haute. What’s wrong with politics in Illinois?
OBAMA: Well, first of all, I can’t presume to know what was in the mind of the governor during this process, so I won’t even speculate on that. All I can do is read what was in the transcripts, like the rest of you have read it, and shake my head. Now, with respect to Illinois, look, as I said, I think in Illinois, as is true in American politics generally, there are two views of politics. ”

“ Now, we are probably going to have to, then, find additional dollars to pay for some investments in the short term, although, my charge to my team is figuring out how do we make sure that it pays for itself over, say, a ten-year period so that we’re actually saving money over the long term. ”