Obama Center Stage on Health Care

Can’t get enough of President Obama? This should make you happy: “[T]he White House has launched a new phase of its strategy designed to dramatically increase public pressure on Congress [on health care]: all Obama, all the time,” according to The Washington Post. The strategy includes a prime-time news conference on Wednesday, a trip to Cleveland, and heavy use of the Internet. "Our strategy has been to allow this process to advance to the point where it made sense for the president to take the baton,” said David Axelrod. “Now's that time." Obama faces trouble right now from conservative House Democrats, who have promised to vote against legislation as it is. The Post says, “[Obama] is quietly working with conservative, Blue Dog Democrats in the House on an amendment to create an independent panel to govern Medicare reimbursement rates that could help reverse crippling health-care inflation.”