obama's 17 minute, 14 second answer on higher taxes and health care - lithium battery suppliers

In CharlotteC.
Today, President Obama answered a few questions from the audience gathered at the lithium battery component maker Celgard.
The company is expanding through the economy. stimulus-funded grant.
In the Q & A session, Obama raised a question about new health care reform laws and higher taxes, and gave one of our longest answers in the fourth row.
We are not saying that this is the longest answer to President Obama's presidency, but that it is "long", as Obama finally admitted ".
"For your reading pleasure and information, the fourth seat of the second row faithfully publishes the exchange records provided by the Federal Document Clearing.
We also provide the exact time for each part of the exchange. Time: 12:39 p. m.
S. Eastern time: Question: Thank you, sir. President.
We are honored to have you here today.
I'm Joyce Lavis. ph)
Lake Willie from South Carolina
I'm in Celgard.
We have great CEOs who take care of us and help the company grow.
However, my question is, is it a wise decision to add more taxes to us with health care in our current economic era? Because it ---we are over-taxed as it is? Time: 12:39 p. m.
EDTOBAMA: Well, let's talk about this, you know, because it's an area that has a lot of misinformation.
Over the next few months I will have to work hard to clean up many of the misconceptions that people have.
That's the bottom line.
First, we're the only--
Until last week, we were the only developed country that allowed 15 million citizens to have no health insurance.
The vast majority of these people work;
It's just that they didn't happen to work for a company that is big enough or generous enough to provide them with any insurance.
So this is the first point: there is an important moral mission.
Second: you don't know who will eventually become such a person in this situation.
You see, those of us who have health care now ask themselves, "Well, is this something that should be given priority now?
"But anyone here is out of work, and then the Cobra runs out, or the cobra is not subsidized as the Recovery Act ensures ---
Paying 65% for the Cobra, someone in your family is sick, or you have a sick child, and you suddenly say to yourself, "Well, now I see. "(LAUGHTER)
So part of what we have to do is always say to ourselves, "I go there except for the grace of God," and there is a basic ---
Basic safety net.
So this is the second point.
The third point is the way the insurance company works, even if you have health insurance, you don't always know what you have.
Because more and more practice is that if you're not lucky enough to work for a big company, it's actually almost a self
Insurance company, and then what happens is that you are going to the market, you may buy insurance, you think you have insurance, but when you are sick, when you need it, they decided to give up insurance;
Or they will try to find it when you are sicksic)
They think it's a pre-
It is a reasonable existing condition to prove that they cancel your policy;
Or there are some fine prints there where you have a life cycle limit and you think you have insurance as a result, but it turns out that insurance will only rise to a certain point, then after you have to start out of your pocket, even if you pay all the premiums you are now in trouble for $100,000 or $200,000, you will go bankrupt or lose your house.
The last point is that the cost of health care, putting aside anything we do in the reform, I mean, if we just keep the current trajectory going, it's out of control.
Now, I haven't talked to Bob about how much he is paying for Celgard employees, but I can tell you that the cost of medical care has gone up and the price of health care is three times higher than the salary.
So either companies have to bear these costs, which means they can spend less money on hiring new workers or investing in new factories and equipment, or they put these costs at higher premiums, higher deductible, higher co-payments.
What is happening with the federal government is that all the projects we already have because of the cost being out of control ---
Medical insurance, Medicaid, child health insurance program-
All these things are completely out of control.
So if you're worried about the deficit, what you really care about is the cost of health insurance, Medicaid and all the other programs that have been implemented.
This is what we do.
What we are saying is, first, our basic principle is that everyone can be reported.
The way we're going to do this is to say that most people shouldn't buy health insurance separately because they don't have leverage and insurance companies will use that leverage.
Instead, what we have to do is build a large pool, a market where everyone can buy this pool-
By the way, members of Congress will be part of it, so you know it's going to be a good deal because members of Congress, you know, they have to take care of their families.
They won't vote for it if it's not a good deal.
Like Wal-Mart.
Mart is able to get a very good price from the supplier as they are such a big buyer, well, this pool will be a big buyer, it will be able to get better deals from insurance companies.
So this is the first point.
This will reduce the price of the people involved and allow everyone to get a decent deal on insurance.
What we do is provide tax credits to those who still can't afford it so they can afford it.
This is the first point.
Second, our insurance reform is the most powerful in history.
So all these things that I tell you, you are unable to get insurance because of the pre-existing condition, and even though you have paid the premium for 15 years, you find yourself abandoned, all of a sudden they decided, "Sorry, we don't want you because you're sick," these policies will be over.
So as a consumer, you will be protected to make sure that you have security and protection if you already have insurance.
This is the second thing we do.
The third thing we do is that we actually set up a whole set of mechanisms to start reducing the actual cost of health care.
One of the things we do, for example, is to say, "we will start to encourage paid doctors, not based on how many tests they have received, but is anyone ultimately healthy based on the quality of the results?
"It turns out that a lot of times, you know, you get a test if you go to the doctor, then you go to the specialist and you get another test.
Then maybe you go to the third person, the surgeon, and you get a third check-up.
It's all the same test, but you have to pay three times.
So what we want to say is that we will pay for your first exam and then
Mail the test to everyone(LAUGHTER)(APPLAUSE)Right? Or. . . (APPLAUSE). . .
Or have all three doctors in the room during the exam. But --
But this is an example of saving money, which will start to reduce costs in the long run.
So what we do is we have embedded how Medicare is reimbursed and how Medicaid is reimbursed ---
All these ideas actually reduce the cost of care.
So we hope that in the next three years, four years, five years, six years, because of these changes, even though it covers more people, we actually save money from this.
So now you will-
You'll hear critics and Republicans say, "Now, it's just against common sense.
If you add 30--
If you have 30 million more people, you have to spend more money. And it --
You know, you can't pretend that this will help with our deficit.
"I have heard such criticism.
I understand.
But let me give you an example.
If you have a house, there is a big hole in the roof, it is raining and snowing on the roof, and there are some people in the room where the roof is OK, they are good and warm, and then you have a few--
You know, your family has a big hole in the roof, they are shaking, they will be cold if you fix the roof, it will cost some money.
But if all the water on your floor is damaged, all the heat on the roof is gone ---
Over time, you count all your savings, and the result may be that it is actually saving you money, and by the way, all family members are enthusiastic now.
You're not the only one who's warm, are you?
That's what we want to build.
Now, the last thing I want to say is: all the savings we expect, and when making sure it's a deficit, we don't even count those savings --neutral.
That's two ways we pay for this thing.
First, we are eliminating a bunch of waste, fraud and--
The insurance subsidies paid under medical insurance did not make our seniors healthier.
I mean you got a pretty sweet deal right now from the insurance company, in a program called "Health insurance advantage" they get $18 billion a year, used to manage about 80% of the elderly are getting it directly from the government and everything is fine.
It's just a subsidy for them and won't make anyone healthier.
So what we want to say is, let's cancel the subsidy.
"That's how we pay half the cost.
In fact, we have identified some additional taxes that we consider fair.
Let me give you an example.
I don't think it will affect you, but I don't know. -
I don't know about your family.
Now, if you have a salary, you can get from Celgard or whatever--
Any company here, you're paying health insurance taxes for all of this, right?
You're in your--
As your fika.
But if you are Warren Buffett and get most of the money from dividends and capital gains, you will not pay a health insurance tax for that.
You are eligible to attend.
You will get the same health insurance benefits as everyone else.
But since your source of income is what is called Unrealized income, capital gains and dividends, you don't have to pay for it.
Well, I was wondering how the person who cleaned the office paid the health insurance tax, and the person who made the capital was not.
So what we're saying is that if you make more than $200,000 and $250,000 a year, then you're not making more than $200,000 and $250,000 a year, from the point of view of capital gains and dividends, you should join medical insurance like everyone else, because you will use it like everyone else.
So this is a concept of fairness. (APPLAUSE)
Now, what the Congressional Budget Office says-
I'm sorry, by the way, that these questions are sometimes--
Or these answers are long.
But what I want to be sure of is, you guys, I'm really answering your questions.
I hope you feel that I really want to respect the importance of your question.
What the Congressional Budget Office is saying is that due to waste and fraud savings, plus the new source of income I just mentioned, this thing will actually reduce our deficit by trillions of dollars.
More than trillion dollars.
We are actually saving money for the government because we closed the roof and the house is now insulated and warm.
By the way, at the same time, we have a whole bunch of people who are left out and they are now being taken care. That's --
This is the concept.
But I know that there is a legitimate concern for a lot of people, and God, it seems that government spending is out of control.
I understand. I feel that.
But understand what happened.
We already had $1 when I walked in.
3 trillion deficit.
The annual deficit is $1. 3 trillion.
That was the day I was sworn in, before I did one thing.
We have accumulated $8 trillion in debt from the war in Iraq, but have not repaid it;
Prescription Drug Plan, Part D of medical insurance, unpaid fees;
Bush's tax cuts have not been paid off.
So we already have all the debts, but no one noticed because things are going well.
Just like a lot of people don't notice that their credit cards are going up, or that their home equity loans are going up because you tend not to notice when things are going well.
All the debts have accumulated.
Then, we had to spend $787 billion on the Recovery Act to do everything ---
Unemployment insurance, COBRA, the so-called FMAP, is basically helping states maintain their budgets so they don't have to fire teachers, police and firefighters ---
If this happens, all of this will further dampen the economy and we will recover a lot in the future.
Our investments in areas like clean energy and Celgard helped stimulate growth, so we had to spend the money.
But this is just a small part of our debt.
In addition, tax revenue will decrease when the economy declines.
So you put in more money to help people like unemployment insurance, but you get less and less money because people are out of work and businesses are not making money.
The bottom line is that we have a lot of debt to pay now.
That's why I freeze government spending.
That's why we
The so-called "pay while walking" was established ".
"You can't start a project without paying.
Our health care program is paid.
But if you are really worried about leaving the debt to the next generation, I know you are, the most important thing we have to solve is our medical expenses, because medical insurance is--
Medical insurance and Medicaid-
As far as our debt is concerned, this is the biggest thing to come.
Nothing else is close.
If this health care bill never existed, if I didn't take any action on it, we would actually lose trillions of dollars in the long run.
But even if there is anything-
The savings we get from health care, we still need to do more.
If you don't believe it, you know, go to our website, www. whitehouse.
You can see where--
How the federal budget works
Many people think we can balance the budget if you cancel foreign aid.
Or, you can balance the budget if you just cancel the special money.
You know, the pork program, which everyone calls pork, accounts for 1% of the budget, less than 1%.
Foreign aid accounted for about 1.
Between 5% and 2% of the budget.
Most of the budget is for health insurance, Social Security, Medicaid, defense spending and interest on government bonds. That --
This represents 70% of the budget.
So other things that we sometimes argue about are not big issues.
If we want to control our budget, we have to solve these big problems.
This is a long answer.
I'm sorry, but I hope everyone-
But I hope I answered her question. Time: 12:56 p. m.
54 seconds, EDT.