The Way We Will Get Things Done
"WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, seeking to rally his base, accused Republican leaders Thursday of trying to block a health-care overhaul from the start and again threw his weight behind a government-run insurance plan.
It was the most direct shot he has taken at Republican leaders, and it came as the president was trying to reassure liberal activists that his knees weren't buckling, as one supporter suggested.
"I guarantee you," he told the radio show caller, "we are going to get health-care reform done."
I must tell you a story. Shortly after Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected, a group of the progressive leaders who had campaigned for him so hard came to visit him at the White House, and laid out what they wanted him to do. Roosevelt said to them, "I agree with you. Now make me do it."
That's where we are today. Unfortunately, electing Obama, as hard as it was, was not enough. The Republicans and their masters have so much to lose here, and they are going to do anything they can, no matter how contemptible, to prevent us from taking control of our country. Health care is so important, but in a way, there is something far more important at stake here. A victory here means that we have finally found a way to strike back at these people. If we win this battle, the path is open to us to make our government work for the American people again.
So, we've got to make him do it. It won't be that hard. We are so beaten up from years of losing tough battles, but Obama is a different kind of guy. He will do the right thing if we stand behind him.
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