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Reporting from Washington -
President Obama, offering some concessions to Republicans and yielding some of his own ground on healthcare, maintained tonight that a "public option" of government-run insurance is only one option open to debate in the weeks ahead.
Insisting that lawmakers approve an overhaul of healthcare debated for decades by the end of this year, the president told a joint session of Congress in a nationally televised address that "the time for games has passed. . . . Now is the season for action."
"I am not the first president to take up this cause," Obama told Congress and a television audience, "but I am determined to be the last."
The president, while maintaining that some elements of his proposal were essential, made a pitch for his public option offering government-run healthcare for those who cannot find private coverage, but stopped short of demanding a plan imperiled in the Senate.
The Senate's Democratic finance chairman, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, maintained today that the Senate could not pass a public option -- while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insists that it is essential to the passage of any healthcare plan in the House.
"Let me be clear: It would only be an option for those who don't have insurance," Obama said. "We should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal."
Obama reiterated three long-stated requirements: improving health insurance for those who have it, offering coverage to those who lack it, and paying for it all without worsening the federal budget deficit.
The Democrat also reached out to Republicans by embracing some GOP-inspired ideas for a healthcare overhaul.
He announced an initiative to contain the costs of medical malpractice lawsuits, endorsing a Bush administration-inspired demonstration pilot project with alternatives to lawsuits.
And he embraced a plan put forward by his opponent in the 2008 presidential election, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, to insure people against catastrophic illnesses.
In months of contentious debate over healthcare, the president said, "we have seen Washington at its best and its worst."
"But what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government," Obama said. "Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics."
For the president, the challenge ahead remains to coalesce a divided Congress and a doubtful American public to support what he expects to accomplish in healthcare by the end of the year. Obama plans a public rally for his plans in Minneapolis on Saturday.
"The problem isn't the sales pitch; it's the product," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) "President Obama can give speech after speech, but until this legislation is fundamentally altered, Americans will remain skeptical of it."
mdsilva@tribune.com
Insisting that lawmakers approve an overhaul of healthcare debated for decades by the end of this year, the president told a joint session of Congress in a nationally televised address that "the time for games has passed. . . . Now is the season for action."
"I am not the first president to take up this cause," Obama told Congress and a television audience, "but I am determined to be the last."
The president, while maintaining that some elements of his proposal were essential, made a pitch for his public option offering government-run healthcare for those who cannot find private coverage, but stopped short of demanding a plan imperiled in the Senate.
The Senate's Democratic finance chairman, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, maintained today that the Senate could not pass a public option -- while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insists that it is essential to the passage of any healthcare plan in the House.
"Let me be clear: It would only be an option for those who don't have insurance," Obama said. "We should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal."
Obama reiterated three long-stated requirements: improving health insurance for those who have it, offering coverage to those who lack it, and paying for it all without worsening the federal budget deficit.
The Democrat also reached out to Republicans by embracing some GOP-inspired ideas for a healthcare overhaul.
He announced an initiative to contain the costs of medical malpractice lawsuits, endorsing a Bush administration-inspired demonstration pilot project with alternatives to lawsuits.
And he embraced a plan put forward by his opponent in the 2008 presidential election, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, to insure people against catastrophic illnesses.
In months of contentious debate over healthcare, the president said, "we have seen Washington at its best and its worst."
"But what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government," Obama said. "Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics."
For the president, the challenge ahead remains to coalesce a divided Congress and a doubtful American public to support what he expects to accomplish in healthcare by the end of the year. Obama plans a public rally for his plans in Minneapolis on Saturday.
"The problem isn't the sales pitch; it's the product," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) "President Obama can give speech after speech, but until this legislation is fundamentally altered, Americans will remain skeptical of it."
mdsilva@tribune.com
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