Obama: Health Care Bills “About 80 Percent” Agreed On
Appearing on Meet The Press, President Obama laid out his principle of health care reform: Of getting prices and premiums down, of being deficit-neutral, increasing competition, and guaranteeing coverage of pre-existing conditions. “And I actually think that we’ve agreed to about 80 percent of that if you look at all the bills that are coming through all these committees,” said Obama. “The key is now just to narrow those differences. And if I don’t feel like it is a good deal for the American people, then I won’t sign a bill.”
Obama: GOP “Not Going To Support Anything, For Political Reasons”
Appearing on Univision’s Al Punto, President Obama said that Republican opposition to his health care proposals is partly political. “Well, part of it is … that the opposition has made a decision,” said Obama. “They are just not going to support anything, for political reasons.”
Obama: Two-Thirds Of Health Care Reform Can Be Paid For By Eliminating Waste
Appearing on Face The Nation, President Obama said that his health care plans could be paid for without a middle-class tax increase by eliminating waste that has already been identified by the Congressional Budget Office: “I can still keep that promise because, as I’ve said, about two-thirds of what we’ve proposed would be from money that’s already in the health care system but just being spent badly. And as I said before, this is not me making wild assertions … So the lion’s share of money to pay for this will come from money that’s already in system.”
Obama “Skeptical” On More Troops For Afghanistan
Appearing on This Week, President Obama described himself as “a skeptical audience” on sending more troops into Afghanistan: “I am now going to take all this information and we’re going to test whatever resources we have against our strategy, which is if by sending young men and women into harm’s way, we are defeating al Qaeda and — and that can be shown to a skeptical audience, namely me — somebody who is always asking hard questions about deploying troops, then we will do what’s required to keep the American people safe.
Obama: Economy Probably Won’t Produce Enough Jobs Until 2010
Appearing on State of the Union, President Obama cautioned that the jobs numbers likely won’t improve enough until 2010: “I want to be clear, that probably the jobs picture is not going to improve considerably — and it could even get a little bit worse — over the next couple of months.” He explained how the math works. “I think we’ll be adding jobs, but you need 150,000 additional jobs each month just to keep pace with a growing population,” the president said. “So if we’re only adding 50,000 jobs, that’s a great reversal from losing 700,000 jobs [a month] early this year — but, you know, it means that we’ve still got a ways to go.”
NYT: Obama Asks Paterson To Not Run In 2010
The New York Times reports that President Obama has asked Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), who is performing very badly in all the polls, to not run for a full term in 2010. “The move against a sitting Democratic governor represents an extraordinary intervention into a state political race by the president, and is a delicate one, given that Mr. Paterson is one of only two African-American governors in the nation,” the Times writes. “But Mr. Obama’s political team and other party leaders have grown increasingly worried that the governor’s unpopularity could drag down Democratic members of Congress in New York, as well as the Democratic-controlled Legislature, in next fall’s election.”
Steele: “Stunning” That Obama Would Ask Black Governor Not To Run
Appearing on Face The Nation, RNC Chairman Michael Steele objected to the report that President Obama has asked David Paterson not to run. “I found that to be stunning, that the White House would send word to one of only two black governors in the country not to run for reelection,” said Steele. Steele denied that he thought race played a role in the decision, but also added: “It raises a curious point for me. I think Gov. Paterson’s numbers are about the same as Gov. Corzine’s. The president is with Gov. Corzine.”
ACORN Head: “Any Organization Is Not Entirely Perfect”
ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis appeared on Fox News Sunday, and pledged to hold employees to a high ethical standard in the wake of recent hidden-camera investigations by conservative activists. “Any organization is not entirely perfect,” said Lewis. “I was outraged by it. Everyone should be, and I can understand how the Congress was also.”
