The Big Question, August 14: “What should President Obama be more concerned about: Passing healthcare reform, or improving the economy?”

Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research, said:

They are absolutely linked. Small businesses have had 119 percent increase in helath care costs and face the same increase in the next decade. Rising helath care costs remains the number one personal concern for families. Our businesses find it harder to compete internationall because what they pay for health care We can’t have real economic recovery without dealing with health care.

Dean Baker, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said:

It is crucial for the economy over the long-term that we fix the health care system. The inefficiency in the current system is equivalent to a annual tax of $1.2 trillion (or $16 trillion over the next decade) on the economy. That is the difference between what we pay each year relative to the size of our economy and what countries like Canada and Germany pay. That difference will amount to more than $100,000 per family over the next decade and even more as we get further out in the future.

Having once embarked on health care reform, if President Obama abandoned the effort now, it will probably be at least another decade before anyone is in a position to push it again (it is 15 years since the Clinton effort). Our broken health care system will inflict a devastating blow to the economy if it goes that long without repair. We will see many more GMs and Chrylsers–companies made uncompetitive in large part because of health care costs. READ THE FULL RESPONSE HERE.

Dick Morris said:

They are closely related. Unless he can move up his approval rating, he won’t be able to pass health care and unless he improves the economy, he won’t raise his ratings.

John Castellani, President of the Business Roundtable, said:

With U.S. workers and businesses struggling through the worst recession in decades and our economy struggling under the burden of tens of millions of uninsured Americans, President Obama and Congress are, and must continue to be, focused on both of these issues simultaneously. Health care and the economy go hand-in-hand – an unreformed health care system will continue to drag on our economy, and we need a healthy economy to fund changes to health care.

Our nation needs health care reform, and we know it’s possible this year. But it has to be the right kind of reform; it must be bipartisan and it must enhance the employer-based system, reduce costs, allow Americans to keep their existing plans and assist small employers and individuals in finding affordable coverage. This is the type of bipartisan reform that will help foster long-term economic growth, and it’s only possible if all parties – including business – continue to work as honest brokers at the negotiating table.

Tom McClusky, Senior Vice President of FRC Action, said:

How about neither. This President’s answer to “concern” over both issues is to put our nation further in debt while rewarding political cronies with the money being spent – be it through the stimulus, omnibus or the current health care overhaul and be it to ACORN, Planned Parenthood or others who contributed to his election.

I agree with Thomas Paine that even today “we still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping at the spoil of the multitude.” And President Thomas Jefferson was equally prescient when he said “[t]he issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.” If President Obama really wants to help the nation his best response would be to extend his summer vacation indefinitely and ask Congress to join him. I’ll end this quotefest with my favorite from Will Rogers, “This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.”

Bill Press, radio host and Pundits Blog contributor, said:

President Obama was right to reject the advice of those who told him he had to focus on the economy before tackling health care. You can’t separate the two. They are one and the same issue. The cost of health care consumes one out of every six dollars spent in this country, 16 percent of GDP, and is the fastest-growing expense for both businesses and families. It’s impossible to fix the economy without controlling the cost of health care.

Chris Kofinis, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

It’s not an either/or proposition. In fact, addressing the passing real reform and addressing the cost of this health care crisis is critical to growing our economy, making our workers more productive and business more competitve. Of course, there is no doubt that improving the nation’s economy is of crtiical national and political importance for the President. After inheriting an unprecedented series of economic crises and a brutal recession, it appears that that worst may be over, and that there are glimmers of a rebound. So after health care reform passes sometime in the fall, the Administration should – and no doubt will – focus like a laser on fostering this rebound and growing the economy and creating jobs.

Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, said:

Both healthcare reform and fixing the economy are such high priorities there’s no way set one above the other.

I’m part of a small business, and I can see that without health care reform, insurance costs will really damage the economy.

Brent Budowsky, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

The President is, and should be, concerned with improving the economy AND passing major health care reform. Significant health care reform will create major cost savings that will either lower the deficit or free money for job creating priorities. A major public health option, properly drafted, would lower health care costs generally, and lower premiums through increased choices for consumers that would limit the capacity for private insurers to raise prices. Major health care reform coupled with accelerated distribution of already enacted economic stimulus would promote economic growth, health care cost savings, and improved health care for consumers which are all necessary.

John Feehery, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

At first, it seemed to me that handling the economy was more important to Obama than handling health care. But the way the President has played it thus far, getting health care reform is now a critical part to restoring his credibility. His reputation has taken a beating over the health care issue, especially among independent voters, who view his efforts to take over one-sixth of the economy with great suspicion. Obama needs to cut a deal on health care thatwill restores his credibility, and that is far more important than the more general approach to the economy for the President at this stage.

Stuart Roy, Pundits Blog Contributor:

Doug Bailey, the founder of The Hotline, used to have a wonderful exercise he would go through in speaking engagements where he would show multiple political ads to the group and ask them to rank which ads were the best. After everyone voiced their opinion he would tell them they were all completely wrong because it was impossible to know which ad was the best because we had no idea what the ad was trying to accomplish or who it was designed to reach.

The same is true of a health care vs. economy debate. To know which is more important is predicated on knowing what the president is trying to accomplish. READ THE FULL RESPONSE HERE.

Ryan Davis, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

It’s disingenuous to suggest that Obama can seriously improve the economy without real health care reform. Heath Care spending represents 17% of America’s GDP and that number is forecasted to grow to 20% by 2017. Too much of this money comes out of the pockets of individuals and small businesses. Anyone serious about trying to fix the economy in a long-term way has to look to serious health care reform as a major part of the solution.

Terence Kane, a public policy analyst at Generations United, said:

Overall, a sound economy is more important than a sound healthcare system, though the two have significant interplay with each other. Healthcare represents a substantial and growing segment of economic activity, though a collapse in the economy would devastate our ability to deliver quality healthcare to everyone. Conversely, the current healthcare system with all its inefficiencies creates a drag on the economy and limits.

The question however is one of efficacy. The healthcare system is ripe for public policy adjustments. In January, during the epicenter of the financial collapse, the economy needed all the government intervention it could handle. Now that it appears financial Armageddon has been dodged, it’s time to let economy have some breathing room (reform of financial regulations not withstanding). Healthcare, on the other hand, needs some critical policy changes to encourage more market competition and incentives (exchanges, Medicare payment structure).

President Obama may not be the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, but he still has considerable power to help pass healthcare reform and it’s where he should dedicate the greatest amount of resources and time.