Obama Makes Health Care Push At Nevada Town Hall
BEN FELLER | 02/19/10 02:35 PM |
HENDERSON, Nev. — Days before hosting an intensive health care summit with both Republicans and Democrats, President Barack Obama made a fervent push for his overhaul, calling it critical not just for the millions without insurance but the entire country's economic well-being.
"It is vital for our economy to change how health care works in this country," Obama said Friday at a town hall meeting in a high-school gym here. "Don't let the American people go another year, another 10 years, another 20 years without health insurance reform in this country."
The president's plea for his top domestic priority, which faces an uncertain fate after nearly a year of work in Congress, earned him huge applause in the crowd. He said the drawn-out effort has cost him politically, and also has undercut the standing of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Obama was in Nevada to help the Senate leader survive a tough re-election fight this year – a race that could have a big impact on the balance of power in Washington and the fate of Obama's own proposals on health care and beyond.
"Health care has been knocking me around pretty good," Obama said. "It's been knocking Harry around pretty good."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/19/obama-makes-health-care-p_n_469243.html