Mr. Obama Battles Toward Health Care Reform: News Conference

That is why I’ve said that even as we rescue this economy from a full-blown crisis, we must rebuild it stronger than before.  And health insurance reform is central to that effort.

This is not just about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance.  Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change their job.  It’s about every small business that has been forced to lay off employees or cut back on their coverage because it became too expensive.  And it’s about the fact that the biggest driving force behind our federal deficit is the skyrocketing cost of Medicare and Medicaid.

So let me be clear:  if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit.  If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket.  If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day.  These are the consequences of inaction.  These are the stakes of the debate we’re having right now.

A group of Democrats elected in recent years from some of the country's richest congressional districts have emerged as a stumbling block to raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for President Barack Obama's ambitious health-care overhaul just as the plan has begun to meet increasing resistance over its cost

Two freshmen representatives -- Dina Titus, from suburban Las Vegas, and Colorado's Jared Polis, representing Boulder, Vail and some of the tonier suburbs of Denver -- joined Republicans to vote against Mr. Obama's top-priority health-care overhaul when it faced a vote in their House Education and Labor Committee on Friday.

Strong Democratic majorities, especially in the House, give the White House plenty of latitude. But if wary freshmen team with the more seasoned centrists in the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat coalition, who are threatening the health bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the coalition could be formidable.

But confidence in his approach is slipping. Independents, middle-of-the-roaders who were vital for Obama's election, are increasingly skeptical. Forty-seven percent disapprove of how he is handling health care, up from 30 percent in April, the AP poll shows.

The tax issue is presenting many new Democrats with a quandary as they struggle to get their political footing. "These members are going to have to make their own determinations on how to balance these interests," said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and himself a representative of the affluent suburbs of Washington.

"I have no question we have the votes on the floor of the House to pass this legislation," Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday. But she hasn't scheduled a vote.

Obama was going to take a humbler path, but one that he hoped ultimately would reach the goal. His strategy was to set the tone, paint the big picture and let seasoned leaders in Congress work out the details.

Obama - like a modern-day father with a somewhat dysfunctional family - has tried to encourage, not criticize. With Congress, that doesn't seem to be working.

In the House, liberal committee chairmen drafted a bill that doesn't even represent a consensus of their own members, moderates and conservatives whose votes they need to pass it on the floor. In the Senate, Democrats headed off in different directions. One group produced a partisan bill; another keeps searching for a compromise with Republicans.