Dem leaders unite on health care strategy

Democratic congressional leaders are uniting around their last, best hope for salvaging President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul.
Their plan is to pass the Senate bill with some changes to accommodate House Democrats, senior Democratic aides said Monday. Leaders will present the idea to the rank and file this week, but it's unclear that they will have the votes to move forward.

Last week's victory by Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts cost Democrats the 60th vote they need to maintain undisputed control of the Senate, jeopardizing the outcome of the health care bill just when Obama had brokered a final deal on most of the major issues.

"We've put so much effort into this, so much hard work, and we were so close to doing some significant things. Now we have to find the political path that brings us out. And it's not easy," the No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said Monday.

The new strategy is as politically risky as it is bold. There is widespread support for Obama's goals of expanding coverage to nearly all Americans while trying to slow costs. But polls show the public is deeply skeptical of the Democratic bills, and Republicans would certainly accuse Democrats of ignoring voters' wishes.

SOURCE: Associated Press > Breitbart

White House to take new shot at health care reform despite Massachusetts setback, aide says

The White House isn't about to pull the plug on heath care reform, aides said Sunday, although they acknowledged their job now is determining "the art of the possible."

"It's very clear, people don't want us to walk away from health care," David Axelrod, a senior Obama adviser, told ABC News' "This Week." "They want us to address their concerns with the program."

Five days after Democrats lost a key Senate seat in Massachusetts, Axelrod insisted the election's message was that voters want "cooperation instead of obstructionism."

But the Massachusetts election loss - which cost Democrats their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate - clearly has the White House rethinking its options. "We don't know what's going to happen," senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said. "But what we do know is that we have a President committed to delivering for the American people."

Republicans, meanwhile - led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee - insisted their party was open to negotiating. He said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Obama should consider some of the GOP's health care prescriptions, like limiting medical malpractice lawsuits, letting residents buy health insurance across state lines and tax credits for people who buy insurance on their own.

"We'd be willing to sit down and start over from the beginning," McCain said. "There are things we can agree on."

SOURCE: New York Daily News