Word: congressed
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...like what they have - with less. The next 90 days will be particularly treacherous, as Obama's campaign to remake the health system enters its final, make-or-break stretch. The President will need all his rhetorical skills - and some fresh legislative moves - to persuade this Congress to pass his signature domestic-policy initiative...
...Obama has gotten this far in part because he has put off the thorniest questions of who should pay and how big a role government should have. These, he says, are the issues that deepen "some long-standing ideological divisions in our Congress and, frankly, in our society." They are also the ones that have defeated Presidents who have tried to solve the problem, going all the way back to Teddy Roosevelt. But what looked like shrewd politics early in the process is increasingly being viewed on Capitol Hill as a failure to lead. As a senior Democratic congressional aide...
...there is also much about how Washington works that hasn't changed. LBJ once said the only way to deal with Congress is "continuously, incessantly and without interruption." To get anything really big done, a President must not only rally public opinion but also keep the legislative machinery turning despite the brakes applied by moneyed interests and public doubts. That is the hard work of governing, and it is very different from campaigning...
...circulated the column to his senior staff, Emanuel recalls, declaring, "This is required reading." And that night at his prime-time news conference, Obama repeated Pearlstein's argument. Top aides say he spends at least two hours a day in meetings and on the phone with key members of Congress, particularly those on the Senate Finance Committee - some of whom hear from the President almost daily. His message to them usually boils down to two words: Keep moving. (Read "Congress Seems Sure to Miss Deadline...
...wring out savings. The next day, Obama met with moderate Blue Dog Democrats who have stymied the health-care progress in the House. Drawing on advice from the economists the day before, the President revisited an idea that committee chairmen on Capitol Hill had previously rejected: take from Congress the power to set Medicare reimbursement rates and give it to an independent board. The backroom session went on for hours; by the time it was over, Obama was on his way to winning on that point...