512 CHApTEr 2 2 | a ConSerVatiVe tenor | period nine 1980 to the present TopIC II | an end to history’s end^513513lose your job, or change your job, you’ll lose your health insurance too. More and
more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance com-
pany has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won’t pay the full cost of
care. It happens every day....
Then there’s the problem of rising cost. We spend one and a half times more
per person on health care than any other country, but we aren’t any healthier for
it. This is one of the reasons that insurance premiums have gone up three times
faster than wages. It’s why so many employers—especially small businesses—are
forcing their employees to pay more for insurance, or are dropping their coverage
entirely. It’s why so many aspiring entrepreneurs cannot afford to open a business
in the first place, and why American businesses that compete internationally—like
our automakers—are at a huge disadvantage. And it’s why those of us with health
insurance are also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it—about
$1,000 per year that pays for somebody else’s emergency room and charitable care.
Finally, our health care system is placing an unsustainable burden on taxpay-
ers. When health care costs grow at the rate they have, it puts greater pressure on
programs like Medicare and Medicaid. If we do nothing to slow these skyrocket-
ing costs, we will eventually be spending more on Medicare and Medicaid than
every other government program combined. Put simply, our health care problem
is our deficit problem. Nothing else even comes close. Nothing else.Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, press release, “Remarks by the President to a
Joint Session of Congress on Health Care,” September 9, 2009.prACTICIng Historical Thinking
Identify: List five reasons that Obama provides for reforming health care.
Analyze: Explain the significance of the reasons that you chose.
Evaluate: To what extent does Obama’s call for health care reform echo Bill Clin-
ton’s (Doc. 22.7)? How does Obama’s call for reform make the case differently?
Speculate as to the reasons for the difference.Document 22.17 BaraCk oBaMa, Speech on the Middle east
2011In the following speech from May 19, 2011, President Barack Obama details support for a
wave of democratic protest movements across the Middle East.... For six months, we have witnessed an extraordinary change taking place in the
Middle East and North Africa. Square by square, town by town, country by coun-
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