Reaction to Pres. Obama speech on health care reform (as it relates to torts)

There are a lot of articles out there today about President Obama's speech on health care reform. A few of them are reacting (negatively) to his comments regarding medical malpractice reform. The Center for Justice & Democracy, for example, published a statement strongly opposing what it calls "President Obama’s plan to implement Bush Administration measures to limit the legal rights of severely injured patients," arguing it has apparently become part of the health care discussion "as a bargaining chip to reduce Republican opposition to much needed health care reform." See the statement here. The PopTort Blog has two good posts on the subject with lots of links to more articles and information. See here and here. An article in the Wall Street Journal (available here) states that "[I]n an effort aimed at key Republican negotiators in the Senate, the White House outlined a new pilot program to move medical-malpractice cases out of the court system and put them before expert panels and arbitrators. White House officials say the program, first floated by President George W. Bush, would be instituted by executive order and wouldn't be included in the health-care legislation." For another WSJ article go here.