Thread: Obama Steps Into Congressional Health-Care Fight With Speech

By Julianna Goldman and James Rowley

Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will take a more direct role in the legislative fight over revamping U.S. health care and make his case directly to lawmakers and the public next week by addressing a joint session of Congress.

Seeking to overcome strong opposition from Republicans and resistance from some Democrats in Congress, Obama plans to offer more details of what he wants in final legislation. The decision to hold the prime-time address in a venue typically reserved for the annual State of the Union illustrates how central the health-care overhaul is to Obama’s presidency.

The president will speak to lawmakers after their return to work from a monthlong recess, during which public support for the overhaul plan dropped and senators and representatives were sometimes confronted by angry crowds at town hall meetings.

While Obama is promoting bipartisanship, his appearance risks highlighting differences as Democrats applaud and Republicans remain silent, said Stephen Hess, a presidential historian at George Washington University in Washington.

The image will be an “audience that is very quick to cheer and quick to jeer,” Hess said. “The commentary will be how divided the Congress is, not united, by doing it this way.”

Recent polls show the uphill climb Obama and congressional Democrats face in trying to get health-care legislation passed. Obama Steps Into Congressional Health-Care Fight With Speech - Bloomberg.com

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