Posted on 09/07/2009 3:03:20 PM PDT by myknowledge
Looking to rescue his signature domestic policy initiative with a prime-time address to Congress on Wednesday, President Obama for the first time is poised to "draw some lines in the sand" over the size and shape of legislation to remake the nation's health-care system, top advisers said Sunday.
Until now, Obama has resisted taking firm positions on specific elements of a broad health-care bill, instead expressing openness to many ideas. But the approach has left lawmakers divided over contentious elements, such as how to rein in costs. And with a growing chorus in favor of a slower, less ambitious approach, Obama is inching toward a proposal that would bear his name and carry the political risks of sponsorship.
The president returned from Camp David on Sunday and spent part of the day working on his address, some of which may be tested Monday in a Labor Day appearance in Cincinnati, aides said.
"People will leave [Wednesday's] speech knowing where he stands," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "And if it takes doing whatever to get health care done, the president is ready, willing and able to go do that."
Obama is not inclined to make veto threats, as President Bill Clinton did on the issue of universal health care, Gibbs added, "but I'm sure he will draw some lines in the sand."
Even as preliminary drafts of Obama's address circulated Sunday, administration officials continued to hold out hope that bipartisan talks in the Senate may provide a road map -- and political cover -- for the direction the president will take Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Obama said the things that make a leader are Judgment,Vision, and Character along with picking talented folks to further his agenda. The American folks do not trust his judgment,reject his vision, and question his character, and question the folks he surrounds himself with. How is that Hope and change working out for you?
Preaching to the “KOOL-AID” lame brains only, the rest of America is now “Obamadeft”
Hussein: Stay on vacation...
Hope and Change?
The biggest facade unmasked.
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