More Softballs, Slow Pitched to the President

My goodness! Where are the sharp witted, critics of the President? Certainly not contained in any audience where he is speechifying at great taxpayer expense. Take a look at some of the softballs, slow pitched by eager seniors today. Notice W mainly gets questions, or more aptly, statements like this:

Q (Inaudible) -- subject. First, welcome to the Blue State of Maryland.

Q First off, as a resident, I wish to tell you how pleased we are that you took time out to come to Riderwood, because Riderwood beside has a wonderful -- you look around at these vibrant, elderly people, you know we have very good health care. And we're looking for good health care...

Q Mr. President, I'm happy to be here at Riderwood. I'm retired military, retired from the Veterans Administration also, and I can get treatment from VA. What is the best thing for a man like me to do? There are many retired military people here who are in the same situation.

Q No one's quite said this, this way, I don't think, sir. Speaking as one resident here, among the very diverse group, that it is an honor and a privilege to be visited by the President of all 300 million of us and the leader of the free world.

Q Mr. President, I just want to take the opportunity to thank you for your far-sighted policy in India, of assisting them in their civilian nuclear program.

Q It was particularly courageous, in view of the fact that Pakistan is one of our allies in the war on terrorism, and of course, it's going to affect their attitude to some extent.

Zoiks, are there no critics allowed into any of the halls where W shows his face? No wonder he thinks things are all rosy.

At least one person asks a challenging question. But, even that question has praise buried in it. The bigger problem facing seniors across America regarding this new, bigger government program (brought to you by the "small-government" people, btw) is did she get a good answer from the president, or not? Was the president confused by his own program? You be the judge

Q My mom is 75, she is sick, she's back in New Jersey alone. She didn't know anything about the Part D in the drug plan until I told her in February, with all the publicity and everything. I'm trying to walk her through it, but she doesn't know what to tell me. I don't know how to help her. I've punched her stuff into medicare.gov, I've got the basics, but it's still too much for her to afford. And I don't know where to tell her to go and get help. She wants to know if you guys will roll back the May 15th deadline.

THE PRESIDENT: No. And the reason why is there's got to be a fixed time for people to sign up. We want people to realize there is -- now is the time. And I'm not exactly sure about your mom's situation. I do want to thank you for helping her. Daughters ought to help their mothers realize what's available.

Now, again, there is a -- I'm not sure what the plan -- the structure looks like in New Jersey, but rolling back deadlines is not going to help your mom make a good decision. You're going to have to help her make the decision. And a lot of people like your mom were in the same situation -- they took a look, said it looks confusing. But there's a lot of help. That's what -- one of the reasons I'm here to talk about --

Q The thing I'm trying to find out is -- this is a great system where you have a group like Riderwood -- it's a great system in Riderwood, where people can come together, or the church groups. But what do you do with the people who are just sick enough, they can't go out, they don't have help, you know? Do we have a system to knock on doors, to walk --

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. That's exactly what our --

Q Where can I send her?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I happen to think -- and I don't want -- look, I'm not going to tell you your business, but I think it's your responsibility to help your mom, and I think a lot of parents -- a lot of children should help their moms. (Applause.) And I think you really ought to take a look at the different options for her. I mean, the best grassroots outreach is child to parent. There's other outreach, you're right. The church is outreaching. Again, I don't know the particulars in the neighborhood. I can -- if you can get us the area in which she lives, we can find a group that's very much involved in helping people like your mom. I appreciate it.

But that's the whole -- her -- she's got a great point. In order to -- we've got to explain this to as many people as we can. And I fully understand that it's confusing. That's why I started off the talk, it can be confusing to people. But when you work through -- work through the different options and look at the steps and have somebody explain it to you, in the end, it is a really good deal.

Now, if she doesn't choose to be a part of Part D, that's a choice that you and she and others will make. But it is -- it has proven to be a cost-effective decision for our seniors. The typical senior has their drug bill cut in half. That's across America. If your mom qualifies, she will get more than 95 percent of her drug bills paid by the government.

And so thanks for bringing it up.

Let me leave you with the words of the President and ask you two questions why you read through this last bit:

1. Do you feel well educated by your "educator-in-cheif?"
2. Isn't the GOP supposed to be the party of less, not more "new" governement?

And that's what I've come to do. Part of my job is to educate the American people about what's available. It's called the Educator-in-Chief. (Laughter.) This is a new program, and it requires a lot of work.