by Warren O. Brennan

Created on: August 19, 2009

President Obama has made critical missteps in following through on one of his biggest campaign promises: Health Care reform. For those of us that supported him (or in my case actually worked on his campaign), this is a huge disappointment.

While on the campaign trail, then Senator Obama pledged to essentially fight a two front war on the status of health care in the United States: 1.) Create new restrictions on Health Insurance companies, namely ending their ability to deny a patient treatment on the basis of a pre-existing condition; while at the same time 2.) Create a "Public Option", or government run health insurance plan, that citizens could buy into if they so choose. Senator Obama also came out strongly in opposition to mandated coverage (something that separated him from his then biggest contenders, Jon Edwards and Hillary Clinton) as well as expressed a need for increased transparency over the crucial process.

So 200 days into the new administration, where are we?

We have, by my count, at least five separate plans up for consideration by members of Congress in both houses. The one garnering the most attention, and the bill with the most chance of passing, is the American's Affordable Health Choices Act (or HR 3200). The bill is 1,000 plus pages long, which many members of Congress have conceded they have not read in full. The bill contains a mandate on individuals to obtain coverage and a mandate on employers to supply coverage. These are both provision that then Senator Obama said he did not support, as well as what some scholars say could be an unconstitutional use of Congressional authority.

Leaving aside Obama's now apparent support for something he campaigned so rigorously against, his leadership on reform in general has been, simply put, ineffective. He has done a poor job at explaining exactly what he expects to see in pending legislation and has instead allowed Chris Dodd and Nancy Pelosi to run the show. They have been equally as disappointing, as they try to shut out dissent rather than embrace it as a fundamental tenant of democracy.

President Obama also backed out on a pledge to televise discussions on Health Care between himself and Health Insurance providers on CSPAN, calling into question some of his campaign promises on transparency. This was mainly due to the rush to pass legislation prior to the August recess, a purely political decision that added to fears that something was being hidden by the White House.

President Obama

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