Obama to focus on costs

Jackie Calmes and David Herszenhorn

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama this week will begin a climactic push to rally restive congressional Democrats to pass major health care legislation by hammering the argument that the costs of failure will be higher insurance premiums and lost coverage for individuals and businesses.

While Mr. Obama prepared for a speech on Wednesday to outline “the way forward” and to flesh out the substance of his proposed compromise based on the bills passed by the House and Senate, the two parties on Monday stepped up their battle to define the Democrats' legislative strategy. It was framed as “a divisive trick” in Republicans' telling and, in Democrats' view, as a procedure regularly used and honed by Republicans.

Their fight for public perception could itself determine how some politically vulnerable Democrats vote.

Democrats are planning to attach any compromise revisions to a budget reconciliation measure, which would circumvent a Republican filibuster and allow the plan to be adopted by a simple majority in the Senate.

With Democratic congressional leaders, particularly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, facing a steep challenge in mustering votes for the health care legislation, Mr. Obama's remarks on its financial and fiscal implications could be crucial. In effect, officials indicate, he will contrast Democrats' proposals for expanding coverage and for regulating insurance company practices with what he sees as the shortcomings of the Republicans' incremental plans.

Mr. Obama on Wednesday “will talk about the merits of the legislation, mainly about the costs of doing nothing versus the cost of doing something and what this will accomplish,” said his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.

The White House is also pressing business supporters to take what could be a final stand in favour of the Democrats' initiative. Mr. Obama's emerging message against higher insurance costs was seconded on Monday by the Business Roundtable, a Washington group representing major corporations. Mr. Obama spoke to the group last week, and had its executive board to the White House for dinner.

Of the 38 House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November, 25 are members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. They have expressed deep reservations about whether the country can afford such an expansive and expensive bill, though it includes spending reductions and tax increases to avoid adding to annual deficits.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that the bills passed in the House and the Senate would reduce future federal deficits over the next 10 years by more than $100 billion. — New York Times News Service