Posted on 09/06/2009 8:04:10 PM PDT by kcvl
September 7, 2009 President Obama got in a little relaxation Sunday afternoon with a game of golf ahead of a pivotal week for one of his administration's key policy objectives: health care. On Monday, Obama plans to attend an AFL-CIO picnic in Cincinnati, Ohio, to rally support for his health care plan.
He won't focus solely on that topic. He will also address the state of the nation's economy when he speaks at the organized labor event. Last week, mixed reports revealed that there were fewer than expected jobs lost in August, but the unemployment rate inched closer to 10 percent — the highest jobless rate in more than 25 years.
In his weekly address Saturday, Obama acknowledged the country is still suffering through tough economic times. But he expressed the hope that by next Labor Day, the economic storms will have given way to what he called a brighter and more prosperous future.
On Wednesday, Obama will address a rare, joint session of Congress in what the White House is calling the "kickoff" to a final round of health care negotiations.
The Big Push For Health Care
In that speech, Obama will aim to remind the public what it likes about health care reform, especially because public support for the overhaul has declined in recent weeks. People have been bombarded with warnings — many of them unfounded.
But White House political adviser David Axelrod said Sunday that when people hear what's actually in the overhaul plan, they like it.
"I do feel there's been a lot of mythology around this debate. One virtue of the speech is that the president will have a chance to lay out very clearly where we should go and where we should not," Axelrod says.
The president is expected to highlight popular proposals that would, for example, prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. He'll also tell lawmakers with "force and clarity" where his own bright lines are on some of the more contentious issues — such as how to pay for expanded coverage.
One of the polarizing issues Obama will address is whether to include a public insurance option.
Some on the left, including labor unions, say it's a "must have" — that any health care overhaul worth the name must include a government insurance option. Others on the right say it's a deal breaker that any package that includes a public option is a non-starter.
Obama will likely try to steer between the two parties, by saying he likes the idea of a public option, but what's really important is choice and competition.
The White House wants to avoid the letting the push for health care overhaul run aground over this issue.
"[Obama] believes the public option is a good tool. Now, it shouldn't define the whole health care debate, however," Axelrod said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press.
Two Distractions
As he makes the health care push, Obama has been dogged by a couple of distractions that the White House is trying to put behind it.
The first is an outcry from parents who are upset that he is addressing school-aged children on Tuesday. The White House plans to release the text of the pesident's school speech Monday so nervous parents can see that he's encouraging students to study hard and stay in school.
The other distraction: Environmental adviser Van Jones resigned his White House job after what he called a "vicious smear campaign."
Jones had been under fire for disparaging comments he made about Republicans a few months ago, and for signing a petition that suggested the Bush administration may have known ahead of time about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In his resignation, Jones said he could not in good conscience ask colleagues to spend time and energy defending his past statements.
The resignation came quickly — a sign of how focused the administration is trying to stay on health care.
This guy thinks he can fix everything with a speech—probably because his golden tongue got him elected. He is learning that governing is hard work.
Don't you just love this hopey changey crap?
Wouldn't it be fun to bring our Tea Party signs to the Joint Session of Congress? Mine would read "2010 is coming!"
This loser will just get on the airwaves and whine and moan. Like it’s the end of the world....doom and gloom. Boycott the speech. Ignore the poseur. Find all the dirt on his people and send it to Glen Beck.
I hope he keeps talking to us like we are a bunch of idiots! What an arrogant b*stard!
I guess he really believes the pundits when they tell him the protesters are just 'astroturfers'. What a rude awakening he is about to get!
Who likes it? Who are these "people"?
NO....his HANDLERS think he can fix everything with a speech.....that’s what they “hired” him for.
“The White House wants to avoid the letting the push for health care overhaul run aground over this issue.”
National Public TeleFunk (Please to send us money.)
“This new development signs all the show of a new smack in the face for the putative president-san.”
Mr. Sparkle (So disrespectful to dirt!)
LOL! Jones resigned "quickly" ("quickly"?) because Obozo is trying to stay focused on health care? NPR's a joke - they've got less sense than a chicken with its head cut off.
Jones resigned - "quickly" or not - because the American people learned what an anti-American menace he is and there aren't enough words in the universe for the Obozo to spin his way out of that.
Ah, so they have revived the teleprompter.
Does anyone know where in Cincinnati Obama will be tomorrow?
Live at WKRP radio with Les Nesman reporting.
I hope the Republicans all stand up and walk out during his speech.
I haven't watched a single Obama speech all the way through. I can only stand a couple of minutes of him at the most.
I seriously experience a deep, physical revulsion from the manipulative, narcissistic, empty rhetoric that spills from his lips.
It's all chocolate-covered poision.
Thanks, while reading this, I had to go up to see what idiot wrote this piece.
The Public Option will be no better than Public Radio and a lot more complicated than Cash for Clunkers- they'll both suck and take stupidity to new heights.
Seeing this and knowing this makes it that much more difficult to imagine that the debate on Health Care still goes on. I mean, who's left to convince?
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