President Obama’s daughter Sasha petted a turkey yesterday during a ceremony offering the bird a Thanksgiving “pardon.’’
(Alex Brandon/ Associated Press)
Political Notebook
In health care debate, both sides being heard
President Obama’s daughter Sasha petted a turkey yesterday during a ceremony offering the bird a Thanksgiving “pardon.’’
(Alex Brandon/ Associated Press)
WASHINGTON - President Obama’s top aides met frequently with lobbyists and health care industry heavyweights as his administration pieced together a national health care overhaul, according to White House visitor records obtained yesterday by the Associated Press.
The records disclose visits by a broad cross-section of the people most involved in the health care debate, weighted heavily toward those who want to overhaul the system.
The Associated Press in early August asked the White House to produce records identifying communications that top Obama aides - including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior advisers David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete
Yesterday, the White House provided 575 visitor records covering the period from Jan. 20, when Obama was inaugurated, through August. The visitors included George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Health Plans; Scott Serota, president and CEO of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association; Billy Tauzin, head of PhRMA, the drug industry lobby; and Richard Umbdenstock, chief of the American Hospital Association.
The logs also listed Dr. Eliot Fisher, a Dartmouth College health researcher who has estimated that nearly one-third of health care dollars are wasted on unneeded services; Dr. David Himmelstein of Harvard Medical School, who is among the top advocates of a single-payer health care system; and several lobbyists for insurers, drug companies, and large employers.
The president “vowed to run the most transparent and ethical administration in our history, and our release of this records underscores our commitment to following through on that,’’ said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. He added that the list demonstrates how the president is listening to voices from across the health care spectrum.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Obama gives turkey plenty to gobble about
President Obama fulfilled a Thanksgiving tradition yesterday, granting a pardon to a turkey from North Carolina named Courage in a ceremony seasoned with humor at his own expense.Accompanied by daughters Malia and Sasha and a top official of the National Turkey Federation, Obama said he was “planning to eat this sucker,’’ but the lucky 45-pound gobbler won a reprieve from a “terrible and delicious fate’’ because of his children’s intervention.
There was a stand-in for Courage and the Obamas took two more turkeys to a food program for the homeless, so “It’s fair to say that we have saved or created four turkeys,’’ he said, making fun of himself by alluding to skepticism that his stimulus plan has saved or created jobs.
More seriously, he said he is thankful for the opportunity to serve the country and urged Americans to thank service members overseas and to be thankful, despite the economic pain.
GLOBE STAFF
White House backtracks on land mine policy
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is backtracking on an announcement that it had reviewed its policy allowing military use of land mines and decided to leave it in place.On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the administration had completed a review and decided not sign a treaty banning land mines. But in a statement yesterday, Kelly said there had been only a partial review concerning who would be the US representative at next week’s conference in Colombia on the international Mine Ban Treaty, and the administration is still looking at its overall policy.
ASSOCIATED PRESS 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
