THE TELEGRAPH: It did not take long for the bipartisan health care summit to degenerate into the kind of bickering and points-scoring that has created a crescendo of anger about the conduct of politics in Washington.
President Barack Obama preached that the White House health care summit should not be "political theatre where we're just playing to the camera" or about trading "respective talking points". Then he reminded his 2008 opponent John McCain: "We're not campaigning any more. The election is over."
The barely concealed message was: "I won and you lost, buddy." When Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, grumbled that Democrats had talked for 52 minutes and Republicans just 24, Mr Obama shot back: "I'm the President. I didn't count my time."
From the moment Mr Obama crossed Pennsylvania Avenue to Blair House (which is normally occupied by visiting diplomats) flanked by aides and Secret Service agents, it was clear the President meant business. He looked like an extra from Reservoir Dogs – only the shades were missing.
When the garrulous Vice President Joe Biden was a little tardy is getting to his seat, Mr Obama chided him: "Come on, Biden!" Reprising the message that the voters of Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts had rejected overwhelmingly, Mr Obama made the case that a trillion-dollar overhaul of the American health-care system was essential to rescue the ailing economy.
His opening remarks were a campaign speech in all but name. He had little new to say, evening admitting: "I'm telling you things all of you already know."
There were the customary cloying references to family. "I can certainly remember Malia coming into the kitchen one day and saying, 'I can't breathe, Daddy', and us having to rush her to the emergency room because she had asthma," Mr Obama said. >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Thursday, February 25, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Thirteen months into his presidency, Barack Obama invited 40 congressional leaders to an unprecedented meeting today at which he challenged Republicans to forge consensus on an issue that threatens to bankrupt the American economy and derail his ambition of transforming American society.
His challenge on healthcare fell largely on deaf ears, but it brought moments of high drama including a bitter rebuke of Mr Obama’s governing style over the past year from his former opponent, Senator John McCain. Mr Obama responded: “We’re not campaigning, John. The election’s over.”
Six hours of televised debate left uncertain the fate of the most ambitious social legislation in a generation – the reform of a health insurance system that accounts for nearly a sixth of the US gross domestic product. It has become a proxy for an even broader battle between liberals who last year sensed an historic chance reinvent the federal government in favour of the poor, and conservatives determined to bury Mr Obama’s campaign promises of change and render him a one-term president.
The stakes for the President were even higher than for the uninsured. As one commentator from his home town of Chicago put it: “Obama needs a victory… Either that, or he faces irrelevancy and insurrection.” >>> Giles Whittell, Washington | Thursday, February 25, 2010
