By Julianna Goldman Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama vowed he won’t abandon his effort to overhaul the U.S. health-care system, as Democratic Party leaders try to figure out how to revive stalled legislation. “Just in case there’s any confusion out there, let me be clear, I am not going to walk away from health-insurance reform, I am not going to walk away from the American people,” Obama said today to about 450 people at the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting in Washington. “Sometimes we may be moving forward against the prevailing winds, sometimes it may be against a blizzard.” Obama went forward with the address to party members even as the capital was buried by a major winter storm that dropped as much as 20-inches on the city. The president’s 15-car motorcade had to navigate snow-bound Washington streets to get to the Capital Hilton hotel, just blocks from the White House. An ambulance slid into one of the vehicles before leaving the White House grounds. On the way back the same vehicle was damaged when a tree branch fell under the weight of the snow. It’s “snowmaggedon in Washington D.C.,” the president said to the crowd. It may be appropriate that the DNC’s winter meeting would be held during the historic Washington snowfall, said Charlie Cook , publisher of the Cook Political Report. “A bad start to what’s almost certain to be a bad year,” Cook said. “They have to contemplate the increasing chance that they lose their House majority and most of their margin in the Senate.” Rallying Support Since his Jan. 27 State of the Union address, Obama on several occasions over the past few weeks, has addressed Democratic audiences to rally support around his proposals to boost jobs, tackle financial regulation and continue to fight for health care reform. Speaking the same week that Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown was sworn in, ending the Democrats 60-vote supermajority that lets them overcome stalling tactics, Obama told today’s crowd, “when we are still digging ourselves out of an extraordinary recession, people are going to be frustrated and they’re going to be looking to the party in power to try and fix it.” The U.S. Labor Department yesterday reported that the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent in January, the lowest level since August, and that employment fell by 20,000 jobs. Revised figures show the U.S. lost 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. ‘Tough’ Task “We knew this stuff was tough,” Obama said. “But we decided we were going to take the responsibility of changing it.” In response to Obama’s comments, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell warned the president against pushing ahead on health-care overhaul unless he commits to working with Republicans. “This particular bill deserves to be stopped. What we need to do is to start over, and get it right,” the Kentucky Republican said. “If they get past this arrogant phase that they have been in about a year, if they can work their way past that and concentrate on the real problem which is the cost, we are willing to look at it.” Obama this week also addressed two party fundraisers Feb. 4 which raised $2 million to $3 million for the DNC. He hasn’t limited himself to Democrats. Speaking about the need for bipartisanship, Obama took his message to the House Republican retreat in Baltimore on Jan. 29 where he took questions from party Congressmen for over 90 minutes. The president will also try to use sports to bridge the partisan divide. Among the Democratic lawmakers, Cabinet members and military service members who will join Obama to watch tomorrow’s Super Bowl at the White House, there will be a lone Republican: Representative Joseph Cao . The Louisiana Congressman was the only member of his party who voted in November to support Obama’s health care legislation. To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net
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Obama Tells Democrats He Won’t `Walk Away’ From Health-Care Overhaul PlanO
