Obama Faces Calls to Grab Health Care Reins From Congress

[JohnBrowdie]

the president is out of decent options.  cramming it through congress with only democrat votes probably isn't possible, and is likely suicidal even if it was possible.  congress has made a complete shambles of the entire issue, but an "intervention" can't be the solution, because he "intervened" for the nearly three weeks until he was blue in the face, and public support for his program actually dropped.

the congressional leadership screwed the stimulus bill up.  then they screwed cap and trade up.  and then he let them screw up health care.  the definition of insanity is "trying the same thing again and again but expecting different results".

pelosi and reid are indeed worthless, but this one is on him.

Obama Faces Calls to Grab Health Care Reins From Congress
President Obama is facing mounting calls to intervene and give the health care reform debate a second chance at attracting broad-based support, by introducing his own bill.
With public support waning, President Obama is at a crossroads on health care reform: Does he attempt to breathe life into Congress' efforts or do something more drastic -- offer his own solution?

The president faces these questions as Congress returns next week from a summer recess which by most accounts took a heavy toll on reform legislation.

And more and more lawmakers, analysts and newspapers are suggesting Congress start from scratch, and some say Obama should take charge and introduce his own bill.

"I think the only way the president can turn the public debate around and win over a lot of scared, confused people is to put forward his own plan, and to spend the time and capital necessary to explain it," said Democratic strategist Dan Gerstein. "There needs to be an Obama plan. ... One of the biggest mistakes the president made was subcontracting this to Congress."

While the president has played the role of cheerleader-in-chief for health care reform and submitted his own guidelines for legislation, he left the work of writing and negotiating the bill to the House and Senate.

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[JohnBrowdie]

Robert Gibbs is another one who's mouth seems to make his boss' job nothing but more difficult. 

what good could have possibly come from that comment?  at best, you alienate whatever republicans are still at the bargaining table, and at worst, you piss off one of your most important allies in the senate. 

and although the obama administration likes to sell itself as sacrosanct on lobbyists and influence peddlers, the whole world has realized by now that they are sunday christians. :

Gibbs takes shot at Finance Committee

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs criticized the Senate Finance Committee 24 hours before President Barack Obama is set to address Congress, questioning why lobbyists have a copy of the committee bill before the administration.

Gibbs said it is "not surprising" that K Street lobbyists have the proposal, which does not include the controversial public-option plan, before the president does.

Gibbs demurred when asked if he was impugning committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), one of Obama's closest allies on healthcare.

Gibbs said he was told that "K Street had a copy of the Baucus plan, meaning, not surprisingly, the special interests have gotten a copy of the plan that I understand was given to committee members today."

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