Obama to Begin New Health-care Offensive, Top Aide Axelrod Says
“We recognize that were entering the final phases of this debate and were going to do the things that we think are necessary to bring it to a successful close,” White House senior adviser David Axelrod said in an interview yesterday.
An Oval Office address, the first of Obamas presidency, or a speech to a joint session of Congress are also being considered, another administration official said.
Obama is pressing lawmakers to extend coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans and revamp a health-care system that accounts for about a sixth of the nations economy. His proposal for a public insurance option to compete with private insurers such as Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. is among the most contentious issues, sparking anger at town-hall meetings nationwide.
Republican lawmakers say the plan would drive private insurers out of business. Potential new taxes, such as a levy on the most generous health plans, also are unpopular, and Obama has drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans for giving Congress too much leeway to write the legislation.
Obama has laid out a “set of principles that added up to a fundamental goal which is to bring security to people that have insurance and help those who dont get it at a price they can afford,” Axelrod said. “Thats still the goal that is, I think, very much within reach.”
New Season
Obama plans to talk about health insurance overhaul “whenever he has the opportunity,” taking the debate to a new level, Axelrod said. “Theres a new season coming,” Axelrod said. “Its time to bring all the strands of it, all these ideas together and synthesize them and get them done.”
None of the plans passed so far by three House committees and one Senate panel has garnered Republican support. The Senate Finance Committee, with talks continuing among six bipartisan negotiators, is seeking a compromise. Senate Democrats such as Charles Schumer of New York have said that if the negotiators cant strike a deal by Sept. 15, the party may pass legislation without Republican support.
Since July, White House advisers have been signaling an openness to abandon a bipartisan strategy if efforts to work together fail and push health-care legislation through the Senate.
The legislative maneuver known as reconciliation allows the Senate to pass, with 51 votes instead of 60 typically needed for contentious legislation, measures intended to cut the federal budget deficit either through spending cuts or tax increases.
Republicans Stepping Away
In last weeks Republican radio address, Enzi said the Obama-backed health-care proposals would raise costs and widen the deficit. And in a fundraising pitch to potential donors for his 2010 re-election bid, Grassley said he has always been opposed to “the Obama administrations plans to nationalize health care.”
Not Positive
Axelrod said the signals from the two Republicans “were not particularly positive.”
“They werent consistent with people who were engaging in good-faith negotiations, but I know theyre probably under enormous pressure from their leaders,” he said. “And it takes guts to stand up to that kind of pressure; not everybody can do it.”
“Were willing to work with anybody who wants to work with us, and when Congress returns well see who stands up,” Axelrod said.
“Obviously there are a lot of political pressures from some on the other side, from some of the leadership on the other side and that makes it difficult,” Axelrod said. “But I still think there are people in both parties who want to solve this problem and want to stand up to those pressures to do it.”