Grit, deals, luck seal Obama's health care plan
By CHARLES BABINGTON and BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi poured nearly all their political strength into passing a landmark health care bill that will mark Obama's legacy and shape the elections of 2010 and beyond.
Luck played a big role, too.
Three weeks after the loss of Edward M. Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat, Democratic lawmakers still were reeling and quarreling among themselves, unsure how to proceed against the Republicans' renewed ability to block legislation with Senate filibusters.
Then came word of a major insurance company's plan to raise premiums by 39 percent. California-based Anthem Blue Cross's politically tone-deaf move was the perfect opportunity for Obama and his allies to remind Americans about the costs of doing nothing.
It was a "clarifying moment" in the long, fiery health care debate, recalls Nancy-Ann DeParle, a top White House adviser on the issue.
(More here.)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi poured nearly all their political strength into passing a landmark health care bill that will mark Obama's legacy and shape the elections of 2010 and beyond.
Luck played a big role, too.
Three weeks after the loss of Edward M. Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat, Democratic lawmakers still were reeling and quarreling among themselves, unsure how to proceed against the Republicans' renewed ability to block legislation with Senate filibusters.
Then came word of a major insurance company's plan to raise premiums by 39 percent. California-based Anthem Blue Cross's politically tone-deaf move was the perfect opportunity for Obama and his allies to remind Americans about the costs of doing nothing.
It was a "clarifying moment" in the long, fiery health care debate, recalls Nancy-Ann DeParle, a top White House adviser on the issue.
(More here.)
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