Axelrod Says Healthcare Won't Wait

David Axelrod, on Meet the Press, says healthcare doesn't have to wait and that's not what Americans want. Obama's still determined to get it done. Axelrod also says people are tired of politics. Yep.
The roundtable was pretty interesting. David Brooks is right. The government can't do anything to grow jobs. The stimulus and another jobs bill can keep the situation from getting worse, but jobs won't grow until people start buying stuff again and people aren't buying stuff because they're trying to save money and be more fiscally responsible. About 10% of workers can't spend money because they don't have a job.

Companies aren't going to hire if they can squeeze the workers they have and still make a profit.
But the Obama administration, and most economists, are predicting job growth --with or without a jobs bill -- by spring.
In the future, I don't think we're going to have a consumer-driven economy anymore, which is why Obama spends so much time on the green economy. We have to create another kind of economy, one where we create things to export, not just an economy where we buy, buy, buy. There's also another hugely serious problem--there are jobs, but Americans aren't skilled enough to get them. Our education system is lagging.
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Durbin and Dean: Public Option is Still on the Table

Contrary to what republican Olympia Snowe said this morning, Dick Durbin and Howard Dean say the public option or something like the public option is still on the table. Howard dean said regulating insurance companies like utilities would do the trick. John Cornyn says something but he's irrelevant:

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Dean says it doesn't matter to the American people how healthcare is passed:

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Just a Bunch of Americans Sitting Around a Table

Painting by Mason Fetzer

On Meet the Press this morning, conservative columnist David Brooks says Obama is walking the talk, that he really wants to bring all sides together.
When Obama met recently with a bunch of conservative journalists, including Brooks, at George Will's house, Obama listened. Brooks said they were a bunch of Americans sitting around a table having a discussion. Obama really gets both sides, or at least, he wants to hear both sides, calling himself a Pragmatic Progressive. Brooks said Obama is in contrast to Bush, who always insisted that his ideology was morally superior.
Obama wants to abolish ideology and frankly, I think that's what most Americans want. Most of us aren't on the left or the right. We just want people in Washington to get something accomplished. Obama is in tune with the American people. I think ultimately, his decisions will benefit the people who need the benefit most. 
Another thing, it doesn't have to be all or nothing -- one side wins and the other loses. It can be one side mostly wins and the other gets some concessions.
Video below.
The Swamp has a good story on Obama's pragmatic progressive approach, saying that, ultimately, he'll have to choose a side. Yes, but at least he can choose a side, or make the best decision, after including everyone in on the conversation, not dismissing one view to the corner at the start.

Some liberals might think that R. Bruce Josten has no business visiting President-elect Barack Obama's transition office once, let alone 16 times. That's because Josten is the top lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, chief antagonist to one of the leading interest groups--big labor--that helped Obama win the presidency.

Yet, after talking to the transition staff, Josten has pronounced himself satisfied that the incoming administration will consider the needs of corporate America.

At the same time, labor union officials feel confident about their relationship with Obama. They hope they can persuade the incoming president to press for their No. 1 goal, a new law that would make it easier for workers to form unions. The proposed law is so disliked by business that blocking it has become a top priority of the Chamber of Commerce.

Eventually, Obama is going to have to make up his mind on whether to lobby for the law, and one of these groups is going to be unhappy. But on the eve of his inauguration, it's not clear which one. read more.

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