WaPo: Obama Scaling Back Healthcare Reform promises?

[HopeOverFear]

He Seeks to Rally Support by Promising Less

From the start of his presidency, Barack Obama made clear that his plan for enacting comprehensive health-care reform came down to three words: fast, broad and bipartisan.

That was then.

Now, as lawmakers begin to flee Washington for a month-long recess, the White House team is retooling its message and strategy, hoping a more modest approach will reinvigorate Obama's signature domestic policy initiative and give him a first-year victory for Democrats to carry into the 2010 midterm elections.

Legislative wrangling, a well-coordinated Republican opposition and the sheer complexity of an issue that consumes nearly one-fifth of the nation's economy have taken a toll on the president and his bold ambitions. Polls show that support for Obama's handling of health reform has declined as anxiety deepens about its effect on middle-class, insured Americans.

"There was a view that because of the recession this could be sold as an economic fix," said Howard Paster, President Bill Clinton's legislative affairs director in 1993. "That's not selling. The public has spoken loudly."

By leaving the bill-writing up to Congress, Obama is better-positioned to claim success no matter which bill is adopted. Already, he has abandoned his opposition to the proposed requirement that everyone have insurance, known as an individual mandate, and signaled a willingness to consider financing schemes -- including tax increases -- that originally were not on his agenda.

His patient, hands-off style -- reminiscent of his methodical primary campaign last year -- has frustrated some anxious Democrats but stands in stark contrast to Clinton's unsuccessful strategy of crafting a 1,300-page bill in secret and then pressing lawmakers to approve it.

[ProSense]

1. Hmmmm, who to believe WaPo or

the NYT?


WaPO: "By leaving the bill-writing up to Congress, Obama is better-positioned to claim success no matter which bill is adopted."

Note to WaPo: Bill-writing is Congress' job.

[Cha]

4. Have you seen this ariticle in the WaPo?

Hissyspit (1000+ posts) Sun Aug-02-09 09:53 PM
Original message
Washington Post: Democrats Continue Anti-Bush Campaign
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

Democrats Continue Anti-Bush Campaign

Ex-President's Record Used Against McDonnell

By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 3, 2009

Six months after George W. Bush, the man, quietly decamped to a Dallas suburb, George W. Bush, the political symbol, has come out of retirement.

Convinced that Americans still hold Bush responsible for the nation's economic woes -- and will show more patience with Democratic policies if reminded of their dissatisfaction with the eight years of his presidency -- Democratic candidates have stepped up efforts to link GOP opponents to Bush, repeating a strategy that helped them take over Congress, the White House and a number of state offices in the past two election cycles.

In Virginia, Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds has pounced on statements by Republican Robert F. McDonnell indicating that Bush's tax cuts were good for the economy in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Bush name has littered Deeds's statements in the past week.

"Let's be clear: George Bush is responsible for our economic problems," Deeds said recently when asked an unrelated question about the record of the state's sitting Democratic governor. "We are more than happy to compare their records."

Likewise, in New Jersey, the only other state with a November gubernatorial election, Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) has been running ads that tie his Republican opponent, Christopher Christie, to Bush. With President Obama at his side last month, Corzine warned against handing over New Jersey's statehouse to the "same people who failed so miserably in the White House."

MORE AT LINK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[firedupdem]

6. I'm going with the Times....The post is full of it. n/t

[uponit7771]

2. ANOTHER SLOPPY M$M REPORT

Obama has said many many many times he's for a robust public option.

"Already, he has abandoned his opposition to the proposed requirement that everyone have insurance, known as an individual mandate, and signaled a willingness to consider financing schemes -- including tax increases -- that originally were not on his agenda."

The above line is a bunch of claims, means not a damn thang

[Cha]

3. When I see "Wash Post" ..I think..

Warn out facist rag ..totally irrelevant.

[firedupdem]

5. I trust the NYT over the Post's bullshit article. Seems they are

stuck in the primaries as well. Keep doubting the Prez if you want. He's going to sign a robust bill into law.

[SpartanDem]

7. Since when is retooling message scaling back promises?

[FrenchieCat]

8. What do you

Better believe it?