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By JONATHAN WEISMAN
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, facing doubts about his economic and health-care policies, used a prime-time news conference Wednesday night to try to convince skeptical Americans that everyone has a stake in a national health plan.
"This is not just about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance," he said. "Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job. It's about every small business that has been forced to lay off employees or cut back on their coverage because it became too expensive. And it's about the fact that the biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid."
At a perilous moment in his presidency, Mr. Obama hopes to regain momentum on his ambitious domestic agenda. The message will be twofold, White House aides say: The Obama administration has brought the economy back from the brink of depression, but the next step, a national health-care plan, can't wait.
How effectively the president delivers those two messages -- and the delivery's impact on public opinion and a skittish Congress -- will have major implications for the rest of his year, and perhaps for his presidency.
"This is a big one," James Carville, a Democratic strategist in close contact with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, said of the health-care fight. "They're not playing this down. They're not saying, if we lose this, we've got more of our agenda coming down the line."
Mr. Obama tried to frame the terms of debate as action versus inaction, with his opponents embracing an untenable status quo.
"If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit," he said. "If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. These are the consequences of inaction. These are the stakes of the debate we're having right now."
Republican leaders have rejected those terms. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, Ky.) said on Capitol Hill Wednesday that Republicans are for a health care overhaul as well, just not Mr. Obama's version. But the GOP leadership's case has been made more difficult by recent statements by other Republicans, such as South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's charge that a defeat on health care would "break" the Democratic president.
And Mr. Obama has been playing off that comment ever since.
"This isn't about me," he said. "I have great health insurance, and so does every Member of Congress. This debate is about the letters I read when I sit in the Oval Office every day, and the stories I hear at town hall meetings…This debate is not a game for these Americans, and they cannot afford to wait for reform any longer."
White House budget director Peter Orszag previewed the president's themes in a speech Wednesday afternoon at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"Simply, and to a degree that we had not experienced in more than half a century, we needed to bring the economy back from the brink," Mr. Orszag said in prepared remarks. "This has clearly been no ordinary recession. So, we acted -- and acted quickly."
On the health-care debate roiling Washington, Mr. Orszag added, "Health care reform -- for all its ups and downs in the press -- is further along than it's been in decades with an array of allies that was once unthinkable."
Mr. Obama's news conference -- scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EDT and the fourth of his presidency in prime-time -- came with pressures he has not yet felt in such a setting. While his personal popularity remains formidable, recent polling shows increasing uncertainty about his policies, especially on the economy and health care.
A CNN "poll of polls" released Wednesday showed his approval rating on health care slipping below 50%. According to the tally of recent national polls, 47% approve of the way he is handling health-care policy; 44% disapprove.
Republicans, sensing a growing weakness, have ramped up their attacks and are challenging Mr. Obama on fronts foreign and domestic. At the six-month mark of his presidency, the GOP is pressing him for a change of tack.
"Americans want the president and Congress to support the private sector to help the economy get back on track, without tidal waves of spending, debt, and new taxes," Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "They want real health-care reform without a government takeover. And they want the president to lead us in this dangerous world, acknowledging the harsh reality that not every rogue regime will respond to smooth talk."
The White House appears determined to shore up Mr. Obama's image on the economy. Republicans have been battering his performance, portraying the $787 billion stimulus passed in February as a colossal waste of money with nothing to show for it. Unemployment continues to tick upward, while payrolls continue to fall.
Mr. Orszag on Wednesday and White House National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers last week said the economy's performance in recent months should be measured against the free fall the president inherited in January. The economy declined at an annualized rate of more than 6% in the final three months of 2008. In that quarter alone, household net worth fell by about $5 trillion, Mr. Orszag said.
The economy shed 1.7 million jobs in the last three months of 2008, the largest decline since the end of World War II but a figure surpassed in the first three months of 2009, when 2.1 million jobs were lost.
"It is no exaggeration to say that the economy was in the midst of a severe collapse," Mr. Orszag said.
But even White House officials concede the jobs issue continues to confound them. The bailouts on Wall Street stabilized the financial sector and lifted the stock market. The stimulus package has halted the rapid slide in the gross domestic product. Goldman Sachs economists estimate that the stimulus will add about three percentage points to GDP growth between April and September of this year.
But job losses continue. Mr. Orszag said the unemployment rate, at 9.5%, is one to 1.5 percentage points higher than it should be given the broader state of the economy.
Republicans continued their attacks Wednesday ahead of the president's appearance. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) took issue with the contention that the White House had already saved the economy from disaster.
"The 11.1% unemployment rate that we have in Ohio, I'm sure those people are looking up today wondering, wait a minute, the president is going to say we rescued the economy? I don't think so," he said on the House floor. "Not only has the stimulus not worked and the economy not been rescued, the president continues to promote policies that will create more unemployment in America."
Write to Jonathan Weisman at jonathan.weisman@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, facing doubts about his economic and health-care policies, used a prime-time news conference Wednesday night to try to convince skeptical Americans that everyone has a stake in a national health plan.
"This is not just about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance," he said. "Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job. It's about every small business that has been forced to lay off employees or cut back on their coverage because it became too expensive. And it's about the fact that the biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid."
At a perilous moment in his presidency, Mr. Obama hopes to regain momentum on his ambitious domestic agenda. The message will be twofold, White House aides say: The Obama administration has brought the economy back from the brink of depression, but the next step, a national health-care plan, can't wait.
How effectively the president delivers those two messages -- and the delivery's impact on public opinion and a skittish Congress -- will have major implications for the rest of his year, and perhaps for his presidency.
"This is a big one," James Carville, a Democratic strategist in close contact with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, said of the health-care fight. "They're not playing this down. They're not saying, if we lose this, we've got more of our agenda coming down the line."
Mr. Obama tried to frame the terms of debate as action versus inaction, with his opponents embracing an untenable status quo.
"If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit," he said. "If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket. If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day. These are the consequences of inaction. These are the stakes of the debate we're having right now."
Republican leaders have rejected those terms. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, Ky.) said on Capitol Hill Wednesday that Republicans are for a health care overhaul as well, just not Mr. Obama's version. But the GOP leadership's case has been made more difficult by recent statements by other Republicans, such as South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint's charge that a defeat on health care would "break" the Democratic president.
And Mr. Obama has been playing off that comment ever since.
"This isn't about me," he said. "I have great health insurance, and so does every Member of Congress. This debate is about the letters I read when I sit in the Oval Office every day, and the stories I hear at town hall meetings…This debate is not a game for these Americans, and they cannot afford to wait for reform any longer."
White House budget director Peter Orszag previewed the president's themes in a speech Wednesday afternoon at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"Simply, and to a degree that we had not experienced in more than half a century, we needed to bring the economy back from the brink," Mr. Orszag said in prepared remarks. "This has clearly been no ordinary recession. So, we acted -- and acted quickly."
On the health-care debate roiling Washington, Mr. Orszag added, "Health care reform -- for all its ups and downs in the press -- is further along than it's been in decades with an array of allies that was once unthinkable."
Mr. Obama's news conference -- scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EDT and the fourth of his presidency in prime-time -- came with pressures he has not yet felt in such a setting. While his personal popularity remains formidable, recent polling shows increasing uncertainty about his policies, especially on the economy and health care.
A CNN "poll of polls" released Wednesday showed his approval rating on health care slipping below 50%. According to the tally of recent national polls, 47% approve of the way he is handling health-care policy; 44% disapprove.
Republicans, sensing a growing weakness, have ramped up their attacks and are challenging Mr. Obama on fronts foreign and domestic. At the six-month mark of his presidency, the GOP is pressing him for a change of tack.
"Americans want the president and Congress to support the private sector to help the economy get back on track, without tidal waves of spending, debt, and new taxes," Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "They want real health-care reform without a government takeover. And they want the president to lead us in this dangerous world, acknowledging the harsh reality that not every rogue regime will respond to smooth talk."
The White House appears determined to shore up Mr. Obama's image on the economy. Republicans have been battering his performance, portraying the $787 billion stimulus passed in February as a colossal waste of money with nothing to show for it. Unemployment continues to tick upward, while payrolls continue to fall.
Mr. Orszag on Wednesday and White House National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers last week said the economy's performance in recent months should be measured against the free fall the president inherited in January. The economy declined at an annualized rate of more than 6% in the final three months of 2008. In that quarter alone, household net worth fell by about $5 trillion, Mr. Orszag said.
The economy shed 1.7 million jobs in the last three months of 2008, the largest decline since the end of World War II but a figure surpassed in the first three months of 2009, when 2.1 million jobs were lost.
"It is no exaggeration to say that the economy was in the midst of a severe collapse," Mr. Orszag said.
But even White House officials concede the jobs issue continues to confound them. The bailouts on Wall Street stabilized the financial sector and lifted the stock market. The stimulus package has halted the rapid slide in the gross domestic product. Goldman Sachs economists estimate that the stimulus will add about three percentage points to GDP growth between April and September of this year.
But job losses continue. Mr. Orszag said the unemployment rate, at 9.5%, is one to 1.5 percentage points higher than it should be given the broader state of the economy.
Republicans continued their attacks Wednesday ahead of the president's appearance. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) took issue with the contention that the White House had already saved the economy from disaster.
"The 11.1% unemployment rate that we have in Ohio, I'm sure those people are looking up today wondering, wait a minute, the president is going to say we rescued the economy? I don't think so," he said on the House floor. "Not only has the stimulus not worked and the economy not been rescued, the president continues to promote policies that will create more unemployment in America."
Write to Jonathan Weisman at jonathan.weisman@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com
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