The question: Has President Obama demonstrated leadership on the health care reform?  The short answer is NO.  Now let me qualify that statement. I believe that if he was rated on a scale between 1 and 10, I would give him a 4.  I will explain why in this post.

The National Society of Leadership and Success, who I serve as a National Officer and Program Coordinator, outlines 6 basic steps of leadership. They are:

1.  Clarify Your Purpose
2.  Create a Shared Vision
3.  Challenge the Status Quo
4.  Inspire Positive Action
5.  Empower Others
6.  Seek Constant Improvement

I shall rate him according to this criteria as a leader.

1. Did Obama clarify his purpose?  Well, yes he did.  President Obama’s purpose was to cover the 30 million of uninsured in America and to stop the injustices of insurance companies, such as denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, and streaming lining and making the health care more efficient to reduce the costs.  I would say if health care achieved those purposes, then it would be a good thing.

However, the problem of health care is larger than this.  Some larger problems include understanding why we pay more for health care and yet we are sicker as people.  Why are American small and large businesses failing because they can’t afford to pay such high cost to cover employee health insurance? Why is there so much ambiguity about paying for doctors visits. The ideas of in-network, out of network, required doctor referrals to see another doctor, co-pays, reimbursements,  and HMO’s.  The list doesn’t stop there.  Don’t forget the debate between western orthodox and conventional medicine vs. complementary and alternative medicine.  And lastly, the idea of a doctor saying: “take the blue pill and all your problems will go away” instead of focusing on preventative medicine, exercise, lifestyles changes, and stress management.

Yes it is difficult to tackle all these problems but there are solutions. One solution, of many, is to provide universal health care.  Because health care should not be a privilege like driving a car.  It should be a fundamental right.  That is a vision I can wrap my head around which will lead to #2.

2. Did he create a shared vision? Well, yes, but not very well.  A vision is painting a clear picture of what we all want.  It motivates and inspires.  President Obama was clear in his vision for covering the 30 million Americans without health insurance.  Was that inspiring and motivating to millions of Americans with health insurance.  I would say that it almost had the opposite affect. I asked my coworker about the health care debate.  He was worried that with the proposed health care reform plan, the cost of his family insurance might actually go up. Creating a shared vision is something that brings all Americans to solve this problem.

Lack of quality vision and compromising on that vision resulted in the famous “Public Option”.   The Public Option was so watered down by special interest, even it was eventually dropped in exchange for a more meaningful comprise.

One way to achieve a vision of “health care as a fundamental right for all citizens” is to provide “Medicare For All”.  Medicare is one of the most effective government programs with a very high satisfaction rate.  How do I know this, if you are unfamiliar with the program, just ask your grandparents.  I don’t believe that health care is a democratic or republican issue.  If I see a republican woman or democratic woman dying in a hospital bed with her family at her side watching her as she dies because they can’t afford a treatment that could save her life, then I would be happy to have my taxes go to help that woman.  Anything less is barbaric.

3. Did he challenge the status quo? Well, yes but very little.  It is difficult to get people to change, you know this.  However, change only happens when you draw a line in the sand and say this is no longer acceptable.  One of my favorite shows is Real Time with Bill Maher.  He interviewed Michael Moore who has been a big advocate for health reform. Michael said that Obama started with a “compromised position” and what we have now going through congress is a compromise on the compromise which means less and less health care for Americans. Bill Moyers, who was also interviewed by Bill Maher said “I would rather see President Obama go down and lose, advocating for universal health care”. Mr. Moyers said that at least President Obama will have set the foundation and vision in place so that in the following years we would eventually get it.

4. Did he inspired positive action?  Not enough.

I will disclose that I was one of the thousand of you supporters of Senator Barack Obama before he became very popular, during the time when Hillary Clinton was the Democratic front runner.  I contributed automatic monthly payments to his campaign. For those conservatives reading this post, I will say that I did, in fact, like the 2000 version of Senator McCain for his personality, courage, charisma, and stance on a number of important issues, however he completely changed to a totally different person in 2008. I no longer recognized him nor the values he represented.

Several months ago Obama’s campaign sent me an email soliciting money to help promote health care reform.  Here was my response to an the email on June 24, 09:

Dear David Plouffe,
I was a monthly contributor in the campaign election for Senator Barack Obama. I did so because he is fair minded, rational, and intelligent and I believed that this country would move in a better direction. I read his book Audacity of Hope, and I felt, wow…this man thinks just like I do.  I have received your email to request funds to support the campaign for health care reform. I would contribute to the cause if it meant real health care reform like a single payer system of universal health care. Anybody who watched the documentary film Sicko knows what is wrong with our health care system. How we pay the more money than any other country and yet get very little for it.  Personally, my fiance’s mother, who is 59, is an American citizen with high blood pressure and is refusing to go see a doctor because she doesn’t have health insurance. She is a hard working woman who cleans homes for a living. Unfortunately, like many Americans, it might take a heart attack to force her to go to the emergency room and finally see a doctor.  We all know how that will certainly save the taxpayers a lot of money!  Something is terribly wrong with this country’s health care system.

I am waiting for the president to demonstrate some leadership on this issue.  I believe in compromise and reason just like anybody else, but sometimes you need to kick a little ass and create some enemies like the American Medical Association, pharmaceuticals, and insurance companies who care more about profit than the health of people. I know that the president has so much on his plate, economy, Iraq, and global warming to just name a few.  But unless he demonstrates leadership on this issue, you will not get one cent from me. If I can leave the president with one piece of wisdom, its this…and it comes from my favorite movie Braveheart, “Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don’t follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they’d follow you. And so would I.”

I wasn’t inspired to go out in the streets and advocate for universal health care, but I would if I were motivated by a great leader to do so.

President Obama started to demonstrate some leadership late in the game with his speech to the joint session of congress in September 9, 2009. I watched the entire speech, and I will admit, I was moved by it.  When President Obama said the line “He (Ted Kennedy) never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick; and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent – there is something that could make you better, but I just can’t afford it.”  That statement, hit me like a ton of bricks, and I started to cry.  I have a fiance who I want to have a family with someday, and somehow, I imagined myself saying those words to her.  To have to say that would be a stab to my heart and represent my complete failure as a husband and father to my children.

That one inspiring speech to a joint session of congress moved me, but unfortunately it was a little too late. I wasn’t asked to call my congressperson or write letters for universal health care.  The lack of inspiring positive action by ordinary citizens is by far the most hurtful thing President Obama has done. He redefined “HOPE” and lead millions of people to action to vote for his presidency, a unheard of grass root campaign using the latest technology.  This time, even though many people have been working hard and pushing for health care reform, I felt as if the computers were in sleep mode.

5. Empower others? He didn’t empower citizens to act as mentioned above.  However, he certainly empowered the special interest such as the insurance lobby, pharmaceuticals and others to spend 635 million dollars in the last two years on lobbying.

I understand that the special interest will lie, cheat, and spend millions of dollars misleading Americans to fight against the idea of “Medicare for all”. Why? Because it is a threat to the most important issue for our democracy….. socialism….nope….many people don’t even know what socialism means….it is about profit.

However, with all their money and lobbyist, they can be defeated if the American public demanded something more and refused to take no for an answer. Lobbyist can influence and have money, but it the voter that ultimately holds the congressperson accountable.

6. Did he seek constant improvement? Yes he did.  When the pundits were on TV blasting President Obama and the plan, it just so happened that he was planning to do his famous speech to the joint session of congress on September 9.  Again, too little to late.

As you can see, I give him a 4. What score would you give him and why?