CLEVELAND— President Barack Obama stepped up his us-against-them
pitch for overhauling health care Thursday, saying the American people need it
and must overcome resistance from opponents in Washington, whom he described
vaguely as naysayers and skeptics.
"Reform may be
coming too soon for some in Washington,"
Obama told hundreds who packed a high school gym in the Shaker Heights suburb of Cleveland.
"But it's not soon enough for the American people."
The president took a
few swipes at Republican critics. But his biggest obstacles are fellow
Democrats, who control the House and Senate and are moving slowly on his call
for widespread changes to U.S.
health care.
Senate leaders said
Thursday they could not meet Obama's deadline for a vote before the August recess.
And a key House committee is struggling to placate moderate Democrats worried
about the plan's costs.
Starting with a news
conference Wednesday in Washington,
Obama increasingly is pitching his remarks directly to American voters, hoping
they will pressure reluctant lawmakers. He ratcheted up the rhetoric at the
town hall forum here, likening the bid to overhaul health care to the manned
missions to the moon 40 years ago.
"There are those
who see our failure to address stubborn problems as a sign that our best days
are behind us," Obama said before taking audience questions. "Well, I
believe that this generation, like generations past, stands ready to defy the
naysayers and the skeptics."
His plan would insure
more Americans, partly through government subsidies, provide a government-run
option to compete with private insurers; require large employers to contribute
to health coverage one way or another; and control Medicaid costs by empowering
an executive branch agency to set reimbursement rates for doctors and
hospitals, subject to a congressional veto.
Obama tried to allay
worries about the proposed changes, saying the current system of rising costs
and uneven care is much worse.
"If you already
have health insurance, the reform we're proposing will give you more
security," Obama said Thursday. "It will keep the insurance companies
out of your health care decisions, too, by stopping insurers from
cherry-picking who they cover and holding insurers to higher standards for what
they cover."
For all his efforts,
which have included public statements each weekday for the past few weeks,
Republican lawmakers and other critics sense momentum building against Obama's
plan. They particularly cite nonpartisan cost projections that have not
predicted the savings the White House promises.
"What I heard
last night was a president that seems somewhat frustrated that people do not
understand what this government health care plan is all about," Rep. Eric
Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, said Thursday on NBC's
"Today" show. "I think people still have a lot of questions
about what a (new) health care plan means for them and their families."
The number of
Americans who disapprove of the president's health care plan has jumped to 43
percent, compared with 28 percent in April, according to the latest Associated
Press-GfK poll. Obama still holds a strong hand, with most Americans favorable
to him in general, and half supporting his health care agenda.
But it's the negative
trend in polls that worries his supporters, and some want the president to be
even more forceful and visible in pushing his top domestic priority.
"He's the great
communicator," said Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee,
a moderate Democrat who wants lower costs but supports the overall thrust of
Obama's efforts. "If anybody can explain this, he can."
"The White House
needs to assert more authority," said Cooper, who has focused on health
care for years. "I'll be relieved when they take over the marketing of
this because Congress has done a terrible job."
It's hard for Obama,
or anyone, to succinctly advocate health care changes just now because multiple
versions are slowly moving through the House and Senate.
"The case has
not been made" for a particular version because the eventual legislation
is unclear, said Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala.
For now, Obama keeps
insisting on all the major elements of his far-reaching proposal and warning of
dire consequences if they are not enacted. Obama privately toured the Cleveland
Clinic on Thursday before heading to the town hall forum.
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