Affordable Health Care Act Erin Meyer
3.1 Practicing Paraphrasing Discussion
Title: The Duty to Take Care: President Obama, Public Administration, and the Capacity to Govern
Author: Cooper, Phillip J.
An examination of the early part of his presidency indicates that while President Obama plunged into
policy contests and political challenges at home and abroad, what he did not seem to recognize was that there
was and is a crisis in the capacity of the government to execute the law, and the victories to which he pointed in
his first year and a half have only added to those capacity challenges. He has not demonstrated an awareness of
serious dangers concerning the government’s ability to administer public policy – challenges brought about by
decades of campaigns run against the government by candidates of both political parties. These capacity deficits
are not challenges that can be addressed by a general demand for change in how Washington operates, a
proliferation of websites, the wider application of information technology, or the promulgation of performance
standards. While less glamorous than the adulation of adoring crowds around the nation or the elegance and
pageantry of international travels, and perhaps less engaging to most political leaders than dramatic debates
about the formulation of new public policies, this effort to ensure the capacity to govern requires the president’s
attention and highly visible action.1 The need to address this capacity deficit immediately and effectively is
critical not only for the short-term success of the president’s administration, but also for the long-term public
interest.
Erin Meyer Paraphrase Practice
This article speaks of President Obama and when he came to office there were already a list of
problems. If you remember back his main vocal point was change. In this article it speaks of his change both
good and bad. Durability is the key for civic interest, in all parts measured. Without having this durability the
deficit as well as public policy will not get better at all.
Cooper, P. J. (2011). The duty to take care: President obama, public administration, and the capacity to govern.
Public Administration Review, 71(1), 7-18. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.bellevue.edu:80/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/853425940?accountid=28125
Title: The Health-Care Debate: Obama Readies a Fallback Proposal — Scaled-Down Plan Would Expand
Insurance to About Half as Many People as Pending Bill Envisions
Author: Meckler, Laura
President Barack Obama will use a bipartisan summit Thursday to push for sweeping health-care
legislation, but if that fails to generate enough support the White House has prepared the outlines of a more
modest plan.
His leading alternate approach would provide health insurance to perhaps 15 million Americans, about half
what the comprehensive bill would cover, according to two people familiar with the planning.
It would do that by requiring insurance companies to allow people up to 26 years old to stay on their parents’
health plans, and by modestly expanding two federal-state health programs, Medicaid and the Children’s Health
Insurance Program, one person said. The cost to the federal government would be about one-fourth the price tag
for the broader effort, which the White House has said would cost about $950 billion over 10 years.
Officials cautioned that no final decisions had been made but said the smaller plan’s outlines are in place in case
