# Obama just published a policy analysis article in the JAMA under his JD. Impressive! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708 "2016-07-12T04:39:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/1 "2016-07-12T04:39:05Z")
[United States Health Care Reform](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2533698) > [@](#): > > Importance The Affordable Care Act is the most important health care legislation enacted in the United States since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The law implemented comprehensive reforms designed to improve the accessibility, affordability, and quality of health care. > > Objectives To review the factors influencing the decision to pursue health reform, summarize evidence on the effects of the law to date, recommend actions that could improve the health care system, and identify general lessons for public policy from the Affordable Care Act. > > Evidence Analysis of publicly available data, data obtained from government agencies, and published research findings. The period examined extends from 1963 to early 2016. That’s a swaggy way to begin your exit! I’m gonna miss Obamer. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/2 "2016-07-12T04:59:04Z")
Obama has to be one of the coolest guys on earth! I’m going to miss him, too. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/3 "2016-07-12T05:20:32Z")
I love the Personal Info bit at the bottom! Name: Barack Obama, JD. Address: The White House… Boss 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/4 "2016-07-12T05:58:49Z")
“And don’t feel like you have to publish it just because I’m the President. After all, my Nobel Prize isn’t in medicine.” ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/5 "2016-07-12T06:28:23Z")
Badass. I’ll miss him greatly as President. But I know he’ll be a great intellectual, and a great man, long after. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/6 "2016-07-12T12:48:50Z")
Every time he succeeds in raising the bar, Hillary must die a little bit inside. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/7 "2016-07-12T13:02:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “And don’t feel like you have to publish it just because I’m the President. After all, my Nobel Prize isn’t in medicine.” That gave me my first laugh today! Thanks! I’m an Obama supporter, and I know the man is super damned smart. But he’s also rather a busy man. I’m sure he _could_ have written that without help, but I wonder how much of the heavy lifting was done by his staff. Or, after dealing with international crises, campaigning for Clinton, and responding to civil unrest, did he pull a bunch of all-nighters struggling with histograms and citations? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/8 "2016-07-12T13:06:33Z")
just out of curiosity, what’s the procedure for submitting a paper to the journal? Can anybody send something to the editors and expect it to be read, or is there a pre-approval process before you go on to the next level? (ya know, like on _America’s Got Talent_ ) 🙂 Is the name of the author a prominent part of the process? Do the editors know the name of the author from the beginning? During the peer review, is it anonymous? Do the reviewers see his name, and does the author know who the reviewers are? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/9 "2016-07-12T13:15:28Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > just out of curiosity, what’s the procedure for submitting a paper to the journal? > Can anybody send something to the editors and expect it to be read, or is there a pre-approval process before you go on to the next level? > (ya know, like on _America’s Got Talent_ ) 🙂 > Is the name of the author a prominent part of the process? Do the editors know the name of the author from the beginning? During the peer review, is it anonymous? Do the reviewers see his name, and does the author know who the reviewers are? Normally, most medical journals do “blind” peer reviews. Double bind, actually, the author doesn’t know whose reviewing, and the reviewers don’t know who the author is. I’m sure the editors know. In this case, I’m guessing they made an exception. A few hints about the author from the article in question: > [@](#): > > In my first days in office, I confronted an array of immediate challenges associated with the Great Recession. I also had to deal with one of the nation’s most intractable and long-standing problems, a health care system that fell far short of its potential. In 2008, the United States devoted 16% of the economy to health care, an increase of almost one-quarter since 1998 (when 13% of the economy was spent on health care), yet much of that spending did not translate into better outcomes for patients.1- 4 The health care system also fell short on quality of care, too often failing to keep patients safe, waiting to treat patients when they were sick rather than focusing on keeping them healthy, and delivering fragmented, poorly coordinated care ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/10 "2016-07-12T13:49:37Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I’m an Obama supporter, and I know the man is super damned smart. But he’s also rather a busy man. I’m sure he _could_ have written that without help, but I wonder how much of the heavy lifting was done by his staff. Or, after dealing with international crises, campaigning for Clinton, and responding to civil unrest, did he pull a bunch of all-nighters struggling with histograms and citations? Perhaps not literal all-nighters, but his [usual routine](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/us/politics/obama-after-dark-the-precious-hours-alone.html) is to work, alone, for four or five hours after dinner each evening. And while he’s doing so, he snacks on precisely seven lightly salted almonds. (The article mentions that he did stay up until 4am to revise his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.) ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/11 "2016-07-12T14:18:29Z")
I wonder if he wanders out into the garden and has a cig or two in the wee hours? The OP’s link is to the full-text. JAMA has graciously provided the full-text free of charge. JAMA usually charges upwards of $35 per article if you are not a subscriber. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/12 "2016-07-12T14:22:36Z")
I don’t think it’s a matter of JAMA being generous; documents prepared by a government employee as part of his/her official duties aren’t subject to copyright. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/13 "2016-07-12T15:00:58Z")
Obama is an intelligent and educated man, literate and erudite, with earned credentials… That is not to say he was (or was not) a good president, but give credit where it is due. It’s funny how a person writes as he talks, and when reading his articlet, you can hear his voice. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/14 "2016-07-12T15:04:26Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Obama is an intelligent and educated man, Yep > [@jtur88](#): > > literate and erudite… Definitely > [@jtur88](#): > > That is not to say he was (or was not) a good president, He is. > [@jtur88](#): > > but give credit where it due. I do. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/15 "2016-07-12T15:13:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t think it’s a matter of JAMA being generous; documents prepared by a government employee as part of his/her official duties aren’t subject to copyright. Copyright is really not an issue, at least not with this paper. Although it was accepted as a “special contribution” and was not subject to peer review, it went through months of fact checking and multiple rounds of edits and revisions before publication. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/16 "2016-07-12T21:14:41Z")
It’s not like he’s going to disappear at the end of his term. He’s an impressive guy and has a lot to contribute. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/17 "2016-07-12T21:40:06Z")
Seems to me like a rehash of standard pro-ACA talking points, widely available all over the place. When the POTUS is submitting an article to your journal you don’t turn it down, but I highly doubt if this would have been published otherwise. Plus there’s this: > [@](#): > > Additional Contributions: I thank Matthew Fiedler, PhD, and Jeanne Lambrew, PhD, who assisted with planning, writing, and data analysis. I also thank Kristie Canegallo, MA; Katie Hill, BA; Cody Keenan, MPP; Jesse Lee, BA; and Shailagh Murray, MS, who assisted with editing the manuscript. All of the individuals who assisted with the preparation of the manuscript are employed by the Executive Office of the President. Sarah Palin got her name attached to an Op-Ed in the WSJ when she was running for VP, but that doesn’t mean she’s a WSJ-caliber writer or thinker. All this means is that when you’re prominent enough that having your name on an article is a Big Deal, and when you have a staff who can do the heavy lifting, you can get yourself published. OK. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/18 "2016-07-12T22:34:04Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Seems to me like a rehash of standard pro-ACA talking points, widely available all over the place. When the POTUS is submitting an article to your journal you don’t turn it down, but I highly doubt if this would have been published otherwise. > > Plus there’s this:Sarah Palin got her name attached to an Op-Ed in the WSJ when she was running for VP, but that doesn’t mean she’s a WSJ-caliber writer or thinker. > > All this means is that when you’re prominent enough that having your name on an article is a Big Deal, and when you have a staff who can do the heavy lifting, you can get yourself published. OK. Doesn’t matter. Still swaggy. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/19 "2016-07-12T22:46:24Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Seems to me like a rehash of standard pro-ACA talking points, widely available all over the place. When the POTUS is submitting an article to your journal you don’t turn it down, but I highly doubt if this would have been published otherwise. > > Plus there’s this:Sarah Palin got her name attached to an Op-Ed in the WSJ when she was running for VP, but that doesn’t mean she’s a WSJ-caliber writer or thinker. > > All this means is that when you’re prominent enough that having your name on an article is a Big Deal, and when you have a staff who can do the heavy lifting, you can get yourself published. OK. I don’t doubt he has the intelligence level to get published at a prestigious journal even if he weren’t the president. And about getting help or co-authoring, isn’t that pretty normal? Now, a legal scholar getting published by JAMA can’t be that common. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708/20 "2016-07-12T23:08:19Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > And about getting help or co-authoring, isn’t that pretty normal? Of course. But under ordinary circumstances you don’t get to have your name as the main author unless you’re genuinely the leader of that group and have made a significant contribution. But if the basis for the article being published is that you happen to be the POTUS, then it’s quite conceivable that you’ve really done very little of consequence at all. In addition, as a general rule the point is that the overall study is purporting to break some new ground somewhere, or support some new theory or something. So if the lead authors have help with some numbers-crunching or the like, that’s no big deal. In this case, as noted, there’s really nothing particularly noteworthy about any of the claims in the article, which as noted are mostly a bunch of political jive. The only thing that looks remotely impressive is the data analysis, and that’s exactly what he claims he had help with from a couple of PhDs on his staff. Hey look, Obama is pretty clearly a smart guy. But I don’t think this particular article is any sort of achievement or adds anything in the way of his intellectual accomplishments, as some have been saying. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-just-published-a-policy-analysis-article-in-the-jama-under-his-jd-impressive/759708.md?page=2)