Kennedy Plans Stop at Health Summit

Because of recession, even more people need help now

(NEWSER) - It’s a pity Tom Daschle couldn’t stick around, notes the Economist, because his experience would be useful in navigating health reform through Senate straits. The recession is depriving more of care, and though President Obama’s short-term moves are good, a big fix is needed. Absent Daschle, “the wrangling seems likely to go on for some time.” A shame, the magazine writes, because dithering is what killed earlier efforts. More»

As big ticket failures abound, Emanuel's practicality could have helped

(NEWSER) - From health care reform to unemployment to Guantanamo Bay, many Washington insiders think President Obama would be much better off today had he listened to his brash-but-practical chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. Top staffers like David Axelrod have a “strong view of the historic character Obama is supposed to be,” a supporter tells the Washington Post . But Emanuel “knows the geography better,” and is willing to do “the small, marginal things a White House could do to mitigate the problems on the Hill.” More»

President's miscalculations include scale, momentum

(NEWSER) - Scott Brown’s Senate victory in Massachusetts is the final nail in the coffin of the Obama administration’s first-year political strategy, John F. Harris and Carol E. Lee write for Politico . The miscalculations cover “three major counts":

• Believing 2008 was a game-changer: The Obama team thought the "election represented something seismic." But "the assumption that Obama would be swimming mostly with the current rather than often against it on issues such as health care, financial regulation and global warming was naive in retrospect."

Modest coverage, cost reforms now on horizon

(NEWSER) - President Obama, chastened by the voter revolt that cost the Democrats their 60th vote in the Senate, is ready to seriously pare down health care reform in an effort to salvage at least some of it. "I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements in the package that people agree on," he told ABC News, outlining features that had broad support, not including the attempt to cover most uninsured Americans. More»

President Obama schedules speech with health reform still up in the air

(NEWSER) - President Obama has scheduled his first State of the Union address for Wednesday, Jan. 27. The White House had hoped health care reform would be passed before the speech, but the tight timeline makes that unlikely, CBS News reports. The date confirms White House spokesman Robert Gibbs' assurances that the address won't conflict with the eagerly awaited premiere of the final season of Lost, scheduled for Feb. 2. More»