Let us applaud President Obama for recognizing that Stupak is a new and distinct policy issue

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

President Obama has said that Stupak must be changed to ensure that any final healthcare bill merely retains the Hyde status quo and does not introduce new restrictions on choice.

This is an important message because it dispenses with the idea that Stupak is a harmless redundancy.

I do not know how this will all play out but, as in AA, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

Stupak is an actual problem, not a paper tiger. And the President acknowledging that fact shifts the debate from "is there a problem?" to "How to fix this problem?"

Also, as a political matter, by weighing in on something where it would be a lot more fun to not comment the President is acknowledging that he MUST weigh in because choice is not a flexible issue like trigger vs. opt-out.

Many people on both sides see choice as a principle issue not subject to compromise. Even if a politician's personal principles are not strong on the matter they know that their constituents' principles are. For many Dems their career-long promise to oppose ANY roll-back of choice is as powerful as a Republican's pledge to never raise taxes.

Pro-life Dems WILL sink the whole bill over abortion and Pro-Choice Dems MAY WELL sink the whole bill over choice.

The progressives who said they would vote down any bill without a public option were negotiating.

The pro-choice caucusers who say they will vote down any final bill with Stupak may be serious.

And the anti-choice Dems are sure-enough serious.

Hence the need for the President to get involved early. It's a powder-keg.

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Added on Edit:

President Obama said today that Congress needs to change abortion-related language in the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives this weekend that includes tougher restrictions on abortion funding but said there is more work to be done before a final piece of legislation gets to his desk.

I laid out a very simple principle, which is this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill,” Obama said. “And we’re not looking to change what is the principle that has been in place for a very long time, which is federal dollars are not used to subsidize abortions.

Saying the bill cannot change the status quo, the President said “there are strong feelings on both sides” about an amendment passed on Saturday and added to the legislation, “and what that tells me is that there needs to be some more work before we get to the point where we’re not changing the status quo.”

In an exclusive television interview in the Map Rom of the White House, Obama told ABC News’ Jake Tapper that he was confident that the final legislation will ensure that “neither side feels that it’s being betrayed.”

I want to make sure that the provision that emerges meets that test — that we are not in some way sneaking in funding for abortions, but, on the other hand, that we’re not restricting women’s insurance choices,” he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abc-news-exclusive-obama-jobs-health-care-ft/story?id=9033559

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/9/802659/-BREAKING:-Obama-announces-he-is-against-the-Stupak-amendment!-