A top House Republican today blasted a ruling by the Justice Department that allows the Obama administration to pay ACORN for services provided under contracts signed before Congress passed a law banning the community advocacy group from receiving taxpayers money.

Republicans have been on the warpath against ACORN since its voter registration efforts came under scrutiny during the 2008 presidential campaign. After conservative activists, who posed as a prostitute and pimp, released videos appearing to show ACORN staffers advising them how to skirt the law, Democrats joined in the outrage, leading to the congressional funding ban that Obama signed on Oct. 1.

Since 1994, ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has received about $53 million in federal aid, much of it in grants to help poor people obtain affordable housing. The Justice Department asked whether the funding ban applied to prior contracts. In a ruling first reported by the New York Times, a department lawyer said the payments under prior contracts should continue because the language of the law did not expressly wipe them out.

But Representative Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said "the bipartisan intent of Congress was clear -- no more federal dollars should flow to ACORN."

"It is telling that this administration continues to look for every excuse possible to circumvent the intent of Congress," Issa said in a statement. "Taxpayers should not have to continue subsidizing a criminal enterprise that helped Barack Obama get elected president. The politicization of the Justice Department to payback one of the president’s political allies is shameful and amounts to nothing more than old-fashioned cronyism."

On the eve of his big speech on Afghanistan, President Obama will huddle with the leader of a coalition partner in that war-torn country.

The White House announced today that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be at the White House on Monday, the day before Obama addresses the nation from West Point.

"Australia is an important ally of and partner with the United States in addressing the many common regional and global challenges we face. During their meeting the two leaders will confer on a range of issues including Afghanistan and climate change in the run-up to Copenhagen," the White House said.

Australia increased its troop presence in Afghanistan by about one-third to 1,550 this year (compared to about 68,000 US troops).

Obama is seeking more troops from the international coalition, but in September, Rudd said his country's contingent was "about right." His foreign minister said then that Australia would be willing to send more civilian assistance.

Rudd is less hawkish than his predecessor, John Howard, the conservative he ousted two years ago, who was one of President George W. Bush's most steadfast allies on Iraq.

The White House said today that a censure of Iran for its intransigence on its nuclear program shows that the international community is steadfast in stopping it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

More than two dozen nations on the United Nations nuclear watchdog's board approved a resolution demanding that Tehran immediately freeze construction of its newly revealed nuclear facility and comply with Security Council resolutions to stop uranium enrichment. But Iran's chief representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency declaring that his country would resist "pressure, resolutions, sanction(s) and threat of military attack," according to the Associated Press.

President Obama has offered to talk to Iranian leaders, but has made clear that they must first take steps to foreswear nuclear weapons.

"Today's overwhelming vote at the IAEA's Board of Governors demonstrates the resolve and unity of the international community with regard to Iran's nuclear program. It underscores broad consensus in calling upon Iran to live up to its international obligations and offer transparency in its nuclear program. It also underscores a commitment to strengthen the rules of the international system, and to support the ability of the IAEA and UN Security Council to enforce the rules of the road, and to hold Iran accountable to those rules. Indeed, the fact that 25 countries from all parts of the world cast their votes in favor shows the urgent need for Iran to address the growing international deficit of confidence in its intentions," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

"The United States has strongly supported the Director General’s positive proposal to provide Iran fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor - a proposal intended to help meet the medical and humanitarian needs of the Iranian people while building confidence in Iran’s intentions. The United States has recognized Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy and remains willing to engage Iran to work toward a diplomatic solution to the concerns about its nuclear program, if - and only if - Iran chooses such a course. To date, Iran has refused a follow-on meeting to the October 1 meeting with the P5+1 countries if its nuclear program is included on the agenda. Our patience and that of the international community is limited, and time is running out. If Iran refuses to meet its obligations, then it will be responsible for its own growing isolation and the consequences."

President Obama, with a jobs refrain on the brain, uses the traditional Thanksgiving Day message to tell Americans that he feels their economic pain and is doing his best to make things better.

"As much as we all have to be thankful for, we also know that this year millions of Americans are facing very difficult economic times," he says in his weekly radio-Internet address, which usually arrives on Saturday. . Many have lost jobs in this recession – the worst in generations. Many more are struggling to afford health care premiums and house payments, let alone to save for an education or retirement.

"Too many are wondering if the dream of a middle class life – that American Dream – is slipping away. It’s the worry I hear from folks across the country; good, hard-working people doing the best they can for their families – but fearing that their best just isn’t good enough. These are not strangers. They are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Their struggles must be our concern."

They are certainly the public's concern, helping drive down Obama's poll numbers. In a couple released this week, his job approval rating dropped below 50 percent for the first time in his presidency.

He touts the $787 billion economic stimulus, despite growing and gnawing doubts about the "saved or created" jobs figures put out by the White House, along with measures to stem home foreclosures and the proposed health care overhaul.

He also plugs the White House jobs summit next Thursday, when business and labor leaders, academics and economists, community activists and others will all put their heads together to come up with job-creating ideas.

"I will work with the Congress to enact them quickly," Obama vows. "And it is my fervent hope – and my heartfelt expectation – that next Thanksgiving we will be able to celebrate the fact that many of those who have lost their jobs are back at work, and that as a nation we will have come through these difficult storms stronger and wiser and grateful to have reached a brighter day."

The full address is below and can be viewed here.

Republicans say that Americans should be thankful for their blessings today -- but also very worried about the economy and the path that President Obama and Democrats are charting for the country.

"Millions of families have seen jobs and careers vanish in the midst of this recession," House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana says in the weekly GOP radio-Internet address, timed this time for Thanksgiving.

“Many are asking, ‘When will things get better?’ Many more are asking, ‘Where are the jobs?’ " he adds. "In the city and on the farm, as millions of American families struggle to balance their checkbooks this holiday season, they watch in astonishment as Washington spends billions of dollars it doesn’t have."

After trashing Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package, which he said has failed utterly given the national unemployment rate has risen to a "heartbreaking" 10.2 percent, he ridicules the president's plans for a jobs summit next Thursday.

The likely product, Pence says: “Another proposal to grow government, raise taxes and place more debt on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren. The American people know we can’t borrow and spend and bail our way back to a growing economy. The Obama administration and the Democratic majority in Congress have taken our economy from bad to worse with their failed economic agenda and big government plans."

And he says the proposed health care overhaul -- especially a government-run public insurance option -- would make the situation worse.

Pence, however, does not offer any specific solutions from Republicans, beyond the tried-and-true letting "Americans keep more of their hard-earned money."

"With many families hurting during this holiday season, now is the time for us to focus on what makes America great, to join hands and work together on common sense solutions to the problems ailing our nation," he concludes. “Let us resolve to help where we can help, let’s give where we can give, and let’s work together to get this economy moving on the time-honored principles of fiscal responsibility, equality of opportunity and growth."

The full address is below and can be viewed here.

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- George Mitchell, the former US senator from Maine who helped hammer out a peace agreement in Northern Ireland, did not look daunted when he took the podium today to announce that Israel had agreed to a partial settlement freeze that fell far short of what the Americans had been asking for.

Rumors have swirled around the State Department for months that Mitchell might quit his job as special envoy for the Middle East out of frustration at the lack of progress at getting Israelis to halt settlements on the West Bank, getting the Arabs to make conciliatory gestures towards Israel, and even getting the Palestinians back to the talks.

"So we all thought you were going to come down here and say you were frustrated and you were going to resign, but I guess that’s not the case," Matt Lee, an Associated Press reporter, called out to him. "You’re going to keep at it?"

Mitchell talked awhile about how the proposed 10-month freeze on settlements might transform into long-awaited peace negotiations, and then he vowed not to quit, reminding his listeners how many naysayers there were when he was trying to get backing for the 1998 "Good Friday" agreement in Northern Ireland.

"Although there are many differences between the Middle East and Northern Ireland, in this respect, my experience there is relevant," he said. "Over a period of five years, I chaired three separate sets of discussions. The main negotiation lasted for nearly two years. For most of that time, there was little or no progress and our effort was branded a failure. The question you asked me today I was asked hundreds of times there. But then after two years of saying no, both sides said yes. In a real sense, we had 700 days of failure and one day of success.

"I know that if anything, the Middle East is more difficult and more complex," Mitchell added. "But no matter where the conflict is or what it’s about, if you’re serious about peace, you can’t take as final the first no, the second no, or even the hundredth no. You can’t get discouraged by setbacks and you can’t be deterred by criticism. You have to be patient, persevering, and determined. Neither the president, the secretary of state, nor I have ever promised anything other than a total commitment to comprehensive peace in the Middle East. That remains our commitment and our goal."

There's now a time and place for President Obama's long-awaited announcement on Afghanistan.

He will address the nation at 8 p.m. Tuesday from the US Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., the training ground for many officers who have served -- and died -- in the eight-year war.

Obama said on Tuesday that he is confident the public will support him, once he explains his rationale for sending what is expected to be 25,000 to 30,000 more US troops into the conflict, and for when American forces can come home.

Obama held his ninth and final war council on Monday night, after having rejected all the options laid before him at the previous gathering. While he didn't disclose his decision to his senior advisers, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday that the president had all the information he needed to make a decision.

"I think that the review that we've gone through has been comprehensive and extremely useful, and has brought together my key military advisors, but also civilian advisors," Obama said Tuesday in his most recent remarks on the issue. "It is in our strategic interest, in our national security interest to make sure that al Qaeda and its extremist allies cannot operate effectively in those areas. We are going to dismantle and degrade their capabilities and ultimately dismantle and destroy their networks. And Afghanistan's stability is important to that process.

"I've also indicated that after eight years -- some of those years in which we did not have, I think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done -- it is my intention to finish the job. And I feel very confident that when the American people hear a clear rationale for what we're doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals that they will be supportive."

Obama has been criticized for taking too long to make a decision, most notably by former Vice President Dick Cheney, who called it "dithering." Public support for the war has plummeted as US casualties have risen over the past few months.

Keeping up their attack on the Obama administration's stimulus plan, top House Republicans today urged the man in charge to stop claiming jobs that haven't been confirmed.

House GOP leader John Boehner and Representative Darrell Issa, the senior Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden telling him to stop using jobs "saved or created" figures. The administration claimed nearly 650,000 saved or claimed by last month, and said that figure put the stimulus on track to reach Obama's goal of 3.5 million by the end of next year. Read the letter here.

"Washington Democrats claimed the $787-billion ‘stimulus’ would keep unemployment below eight percent and create jobs ‘immediately.’ Instead, three million more Americans have lost their jobs, and unemployment is over ten percent. The American people are asking, ‘where are the jobs?’ but rather than work with Republicans on common-sense solutions to get our economy moving again, the White House is pressing ahead with a job-killing agenda, including a ‘cap-and-trade’ national energy tax and a trillion-dollar government takeover of health care." Boehner said in a statement.

"Worse, they are attempting to disguise the fact that the ‘stimulus’ isn’t working by releasing a stream of questionable - or outright inaccurate - statistics, including the number of jobs ‘saved or created’ – a metric the Obama Administration seems to have made up out of thin air. It’s time to bring facts back to this debate, and a good first step would be for Vice President Biden to stop citing these fictitious figures."

UPDATE: For their part, Democrats are pointing out that more than a few House Republicans -- 67 and counting, they say -- have tried to reap the political benefits of stimulus projects, though they all voted against the package.

"Given that House Republicans helped create the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and not a single one voted for the Recovery Package, it's hardly surprising that they root for failure while working to distract from the mess they created. We will continue going District by District to set the record straight and expose House Republicans and their Right Wing allies' shameless hypocrisy," Ryan Rudominer, a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman, said in a statement.

The administration's jobs count from the $787 billion stimulus has been widely questioned, with some numbers inflated and others impossible to verify and recipients of grants complaining that the forms are difficult to fill out.

Independent congressional watchdogs testified last week that while the stimulus has helped, they could not confirm any count. Many economists also agree that the stimulus has helped slow job losses, though it is exceedingly difficult to quantify.

Several media organizations are reporting this morning that President Obama plans to announce his long-awaited decision on Afghanistan next Tuesday, probably in a prime-time speech.

Obama huddled with his war council Monday night for what was expected to be the ninth and final time before deciding how many additional US troops to put into the eight-year war. His top commander on the ground has requested 40,000 more as part of a beefed-up counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban and al Qaeda.

But some expect Obama to settle on an option that would deploy 32,000 to 35,000 more US troops.

UPDATE: Asked at a joint press conference with India's prime minister about his Afghanistan decision, Obama said this afternoon he will make an "announcement to the American people" soon after Thanksgiving, but declined to divulge any specifics.

He said that the "comprehensive" review of Afghanistan strategy has been useful. When he offers a "clear rationale" to the public about what the US has at stake in the country, its goals, and how to get there, the public will be supportive.

The previous administration left the mission unaccomplished, he said, adding, "It is my intention to finish the job." (His full remarks are below.)

In a new poll released this morning, Americans were evenly divided -- 50 percent for and 49 percent against -- when asked about sending 34,000 more troops.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey found 56 percent opposed to sending a smaller number of additional troops.

Public support for the war has plummeted as casualties rose to record levels this fall. In the poll, 66 percent said they believed the war was going badly.

President Obama welcomed India's prime minister to the White House this morning, kicking off the first official state visit of his presidency.

Obama called India a leader in Asia and around the world and an "indispensable partner" for the United States.

He declared that as the world's two largest democracies, the two nations have a responsibility to push for progress on global economic growth, nuclear weapons, climate change, poverty, and other issues. The president also said that as victims of terrorism -- the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, the Mumbai attacks and others in India -- the two countries must also tackle extremism.

The visit includes a series of meetings, a joint press conference, and a formal state dinner tonight. The visit also comes during a time some dissension in the relationship as the US focuses on Afghanistan and Pakistan -- to the exclusion, some say, of India.

But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also accentuated the positive, saying the two countries are "bound together by democracy" and are significant strategic partners.

"This is a moment of great opportunity for our relationship," Singh said, concluding his remarks with, "God bless America, God bless India."

Their full remarks are below, followed by White House summaries of the agreements that were signed, and a joint statement:

President Obama isn't expected to announce his decision on Afghanistan until after Thanksgiving. But that doesn't mean the choice won't be weighing on him heavily during this holiday week.

The White House announced this morning that he will hold his ninth war council tonight to discuss the best way forward. At the previous meeting, Obama rejected all the options on the table, reported to include a range of 10,000 to 40,000 additional US troops.

UPDATE: As Obama weighs his troop decision, some key Democrats are more loudly sounding the alarm on the war's cost -- and floating the idea of a "war tax" to pay for any expansion.

"There ain't going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan," House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey told ABC News today. "If they ask for an increased troop commitment in Afghanistan, I am going to ask them to pay for it."

"That's what happened with the Vietnam War, which wiped out the Great Society," Obey added. "That's what happened with the Korean War, which wiped out Harry Truman's Square Deal. That's what happened with the end of the progressive movement before the twenties when we went into World War I. In each case, the cost of those wars shut off our ability to pay for anything else."

Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said last week that higher-income Americans should be taxed to pay for a troop surge.

White House budget officials have estimated each additional soldier in Afghanistan could cost $1 million.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that while the idea of a so-called war tax hasn't come up, the president has told his military brain trust that "we have to take into account how much all of this is going to cost over a five-year, 10-year period."

Gibbs said the president will not announce his decision until next week at the earliest.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EST and is expected to last at least an hour.

The attendees, either in person or via videconference: Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, United Nations ambassador Susan Rice, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy, Joint Chiefs chairman Michael Mullen, Joint Chiefs vice chairman General James E. Cartwright, US Central Command chief David Petraeus, top US commander in Afghanistan Stanley McChrystal, US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson, National Security Adviser General James Jones, Deputy National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, and special assistant to the president Douglas Lute.

After huddling today with his full Cabinet for the first time in weeks, President Obama made clear that of all the issues clamoring for attention on his crowded agenda, his eye is squarely on jobs.

"Our economy is growing for the first time in more than a year, and we know that economic growth is a prerequisite for job growth," he said after the meeting. "But, having said that, what I emphasize today is we cannot sit back and be satisfied, given the extraordinarily high unemployment levels that we've seen. We have only taken the first step in curing our economy and making sure that it is moving on the right track. And I will not rest until businesses are investing again and businesses are hiring again and people have work again."

Obama said he was soliciting ideas in advance of a Dec. 3 jobs summit at the White House, bringing together business and labor leaders, academics and economists, and others. In advance of the summit, fellow Democrats and friendly advocacy groups have been chiding the administration for not more aggressively trying to stem unemployment, especially among African Americans and Hispanics.

"Now, this is going to be a challenging task," Obama added. "It's challenging because of the extraordinary blow that the financial crisis delivered to the economy as a whole. It is particularly difficult because both the financial sector and the housing sector were the biggest drivers of economic growth prior to the financial crisis, and so the severity of their pullback means that things are moving slower than we would like them to move."

His full remarks are below:

The partisan posturing continues apace from Saturday night, when Senate Democrats barely rounded up enough votes to open formal debate on the health care overhaul.

Three moderates -- Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska -- were the last holdouts to get Democrats to the magic 60 votes. And it took quite a bit of arm-twisting -- and even then all three made clear they're not on board to vote for the current legislation.

In Landrieu's case, she won provisions that would funnel millions of dollars to her state, a form of legislative extortion Capitol Hill wags are calling the "Louisiana Purchase."

To Republicans, the three Democrats and others violated their principles and sold out their constituents -- and the GOP tries to make the point in a new web video that assigns all sorts of nefarious motives.

“On Saturday night, a number of moderate Senate Democrats sacrificed their principles to bring America dangerously closer to government-run health care," Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said in a statement. "Ben Nelson sold out his conscience and voted in favor of federally funded abortions. Blanche Lincoln sold out her principles by voting in favor of a government-run insurance plan, something she previously said she opposed. And Mary Landrieu simply sold her vote to the highest bidder after Harry Reid added a $300 million earmark just for Louisiana. Voters elected these Senators to represent their best interests. Instead they voted in the dead of night for a health care experiment that will increase taxes, raise premiums, cut Medicare, and use taxpayer dollars to fund abortion. This is not the representation Americans deserve. It’s time for these senators to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves who they really work for – their constituents or liberal Democrats like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.”

The video says that Democrats acted in the "dead of night," but that's not actually true. The vote came at about 8 p.m. Saturday. That accusation would have been more appropriate for the House vote on health care on Nov. 7, which came after 11 p.m.

President Obama met with one foreign leader after another, ate at banquets in his honor, and even walked on the Great Wall of China.

But according to the president, his eight-day tour of Asia was, in large measure, all about jobs back home.

"As we emerge from the worst recession in generations, there is nothing more important than to do everything we can to get our economy moving again and put Americans back to work, and I will go anywhere to pursue that goal," Obama says in his weekly radio/Internet address, recorded in the South Korean capital of Seoul, his last stop.

"That’s one of the main reasons I took this trip. Asia is a region where we now buy more goods and do more trade with than any other place in the world -- commerce that supports millions of jobs back home."

While many independent analysts have questioned what substantive accomplishments he brought back, Obama also says he made progress on nuclear security, terrorism, and climate change.

"But above all, I spoke with leaders in every nation I visited about what we can do to sustain this economic recovery and bring back jobs and prosperity for our people -- a task I will continue to focus on relentlessly in the weeks and months ahead," says Obama, who is under criticism even from Democratic allies for the slow pace of the economic recovery and the continued rise in unemployment.

"If we can increase our exports to Asia Pacific nations by just 5 percent, we can increase the number of American jobs supported by these exports by hundreds of thousands," he argues.

And he cites a Massachusetts firm to make the point: "American Superconductor Corporation, an energy technology startup ... that’s been providing wind power and smart grid systems to countries like China, Korea, and India. By doing so, it’s added more than 100 jobs over the last few years."

"Increasing our exports is one way to create new jobs and new prosperity. But as we emerge from a recession that has left millions without work, we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible step we can take to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country," Obama adds, touting a Dec. 3 White House jobs forum designed to breed new ideas for turning around unemployment.

"Still, there is no forum or policy that can bring all the jobs we’ve lost overnight," he concludes. "I wish there were, because so many Americans – friends, neighbors, family members – are desperately looking for work. But even though it will take time, I can promise you this: we are moving in the right direction; that the steps we are taking are helping; and I will not let up until businesses start hiring again, unemployed Americans start working again, and we rebuild this economy stronger and more prosperous than it was before."

Obama's full address is below and can be viewed here.

House Republicans are trying to ratchet up the pressure on President Obama to decide the new strategy -- including the number of troops -- for Afghanistan.

The commander he sent to turn around the eight-year war is asking for as many as 40,000 more US troops. Obama has held eight war councils -- at the most recent, he rejected all the plans on the table -- but is not expected to announce his decision until after Thanksgiving.

In a letter dated Thursday and released this afternoon, the Republicans back General Stanley McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy that requires the additional forces.

They don't use the word "dithering" -- as did former Vice President Dick Cheney -- but they come awfully close, while at the same time tacitly acknowledging the criticism of Obama and Democrats that the Bush administration neglected Afghanistan.

"For over two months you have been engaged in a strategy review that has left the country, our military, and allies uncertain about your commitment to the war in Afghanistan and unsure about your will to do what it is necessary to win this conflict. Worse, we fear this process has emboldened our enemies," they write.

"We believe that it is long overdue for our military to be in the execution stage of the strategy instead of the evaluation phase. While no one disputes that a Commander-in-Chief should deliberate before making decisions, particularly in matters involving life and death, we believe this review is having a detrimental impact on our efforts in Afghanistan. While 68,000 U.S. forces are fighting on the battlefield, your strategy review in Washington has returned the country to the policy drift that undermined our efforts in Afghanistan for much of the war."

The full letter is below:

A new poll out this morning suggests that Americans are starting to shift blame on the jobless economic recovery to Democrats from Republicans.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey found that 27 percent of respondents say Democrats are mostly responsible for the economic woes, while 38 percent say Republicans are mostly to blame. In May, by contrast, the same survey found only 21 percent blaming Democrats and 53 percent faulting Republicans.

The poll also found that the gap between those who believe that President Obama's policies have improved economic conditions and those who think his policies have worsened the economy has shrunk -- from 14 percentage points in May to only 8 percentage points this month.

Despite the rebounding stock market and other positive signs, the survey found unrelenting pessimism about the economy: 82 percent rated conditions as somewhat or very poor, while only 18 percent said they were somewhat or very good.

The new survey was conducted Nov. 13-15 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Some of the president's own Democratic allies have begun to turn against him on the economy, saying that the administration hasn't done enough, despite the $787 billion stimulus, to reverse rising unemployment.

UPDATE: Republicans are pouncing on the dissension in Democrats' ranks, the unemployment numbers, and growing doubts about the jobs supposedly saved or created by the stimulus spending.

“Continued double-digit unemployment is not what Ohioans were promised. The White House, with the support of Governor Strickland, pledged that the ‘stimulus’ would create jobs immediately and keep the national unemployment rate from going above 8 percent. Not only has the 'stimulus' not produced jobs the Administration promised, but now we continue to discover numerous cases of waste, fraud, and incompetence in Ohio and across the country,” the House GOP leader, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, said in a statement today after word that Ohio's unemployment rate had risen to 10.5 percent last month.

“Struggling families and small businesses in our great state deserve better. In all, over the past nine months since the ‘stimulus’ was enacted, nearly 150,000 Ohioans have lost their jobs­. Immediate action is needed to create jobs and provide relief. House Republicans will continue to offer fiscally responsible solutions to create jobs by putting money back in the hands of the true drivers of economic growth: American families, small businesses and entrepreneurs.”

President Obama's grassroots organization is targeting Sarah Palin by name, showing how large a public figure she has become and hinting perhaps that it sees her as a potential rival in 2012.

Organizing for America sent an email to supporters this morning seeking to raise $500,000 to counter Palin's criticisms of Obama's health care plan. The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has drawn huge audiences for her TV appearances on her media blitz accompanying the nationwide tour for her best-selling memoir.

Earlier this fall, she was the one who popularized the contention -- later debunked -- that the Democratic health care bills would create panels of bureaucrats who would decide end-of-life care.

"Right now, Sarah Palin is on a highly publicized, nationwide book tour, attacking President Obama and his plan for health reform at every turn," national director Mitch Stewart wrote.

"It's dangerous. Remember, this is the person who coined the term "Death Panels" -- and opened the flood gates for months of false attacks by special interests and partisan extremists. Whatever lie comes next will be widely covered by the media, then constantly echoed by right-wing attack groups and others who are trying to defeat reform."

President Obama, far from changing the ways of Washington, is perpetuating one of its most established -- rewarding big fund-raisers with plum ambassador posts around the world.

The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics said today that fully one-fourth of his envoy picks so far --24 of 99 -- were bundlers who raised at least $10.9 million for his presidential campaign or his inauguration committee.

"Since the Obama campaign only released information about its bundlers in broad ranges, this figure could be thousands, even millions, of dollars higher," the center said.

On Monday, Obama nominated civic leader Beatrice Wilkinson Welters, who raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for his presidential bid, to serve as the US ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. The list also includes Alan Solomont, a longtime Democratic money man in Massachusetts who raised at least $500,000 for Obama and was nominated to be the US ambassador to Spain.

UPDATE: This evening, Obama announced two more nominees for ambassador -- career Foreign Service member Harry K. Thomas for the Philippines, and David Adelman, a Georgia state senator who raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama, for Singapore.

A leading abortion rights group said today that the Senate health care bill, while less objectionable than the House version, would still unfairly burden women.

The House bill bans a proposed public insurance option from covering abortion, and also prevents private insurers that accept federal subsidies from offering plans that cover abortion.

The bill unveiled by Senate majority leader Harry Reid is less restrictive, allowing insurers to use money from employers or consumers -- but not federal subsidies -- to cover abortions.

But NARAL Pro-Choice America said the legislation "includes a compromise that continues existing laws that unfairly single out abortion care, including a ban on federal funding."

“America’s pro-choice majority is speaking up loudly and clearly,” the group's president, Nancy Keenan, said in a statement. “Our goal is to ensure that women do not lose ground in the new health-care system and that attempts to expand existing restrictions on abortion are defeated.

"Some anti-choice politicians, such as Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), will follow Rep. Bart Stupak’s example and inject anti-abortion politics into health reform. However, we believe that senators understand that the Stupak amendment in the House bill goes far beyond the status quo and prohibits women from using their own money to buy the insurance coverage they want in the new system. Our activists will continue to remind senators that we’re expecting cooler heads to prevail at this stage of the process and that means the Stupak language is not an option.”

One of the most important interest groups in the health care debate -- Big Labor -- gave a qualified endorsement today to the bill finally unveiled by top Senate Democrat Harry Reid.

Union support is crucial to Democrats and President Obama to push through the bill, but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the nation's largest labor federation is still not happy with a tax on the most generous insurance plans, though it would hit fewer workers than the Senate Finance version. Labor argues that many employees bargained for such benefits to make up for lower or nonexistent pay increases.

Trumka did praise another financing method -- raising payroll taxes on the upper income to help pay for Medicare.

"We commend Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for bringing forward a health care bill that moves us closer to the historic goal of health care for America – high quality, affordable health care for all in our rich nation. The Senate leadership bill takes the strongest steps yet to bring down costs. But the bill is not perfect. It retains a version of the excise tax from the Senate Finance Committee bill. We continue to believe that a tax on working families’ benefits is the wrong way to finance health care and we will work hard to eliminate this provision as the bill heads to the floor," Trumka said in a statement.

"The bill’s inclusion of a public insurance plan option to hold private insurance companies accountable is a tremendous step. And the legislation should be praised for its other fair financing plans, including an increase in the Medicare tax on the wealthiest and an employer responsibility requirement, which we believe should be expanded to include more employers. The bill would expand access by covering 94 percent of Americans and reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years. Today another hurdle is cleared and we are optimistic that good, affordable care for working families will soon be law."

By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- The health care overhaul bill that top Senate Democrat Harry Reid hopes to bring to the floor as soon as Saturday would cost $849 billion over 10 years and would reduce the ranks of the uninsured by 31 million Americans.

A senior leadership aide provided those figures as Reid unveiled his bill, which he has spent weeks working on, melding major elements of the versions passed by the Senate finance and health committees.

The preliminary price tag from the Congressional Budget Office would bring the bill in under the $900 billion that President Obama has set as a ceiling. According to the preliminary CBO analysis, the legislation would reduce the federal deficit by $127 billion over the first decade and by $650 billion over the second decade.

The bill would cover an estimated 94 percent of Americans. Reid bragged that the bill would save lives and protect Medicare, the government program for the elderly.

The bill would set up new insurance exchanges, where consumers could choose plans. It would include a public option that includes a provision for states to opt out of the system -- an exemption that is upsetting liberals who say that a strong government plan is needed to compete with private insurers to ensure affordable coverage.

Like the other bills, Reid's measure would require most Americans to buy insurance coverage with subsidies for those who can't afford it, and would require larger companies to provide coverage to their workers or face fees. It would ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.

The bill would be financed by cuts in projected Medicare payments and by higher payroll taxes on upper income taxpayers. Under current law, the Medicare payroll tax is 1.45 percent of income. Under Reid's legislation, it would rise by half a percentage point on individuals' income above $200,000 a year and couples' income above $250,000.

The bill also includes a version of the tax on the most generous "Cadillac" insurance plans. The Senate Finance Committee bill proposed to tax health insurance plans costing more than $8,000 annually for individuals and $21,000 for families. Unions and others had strongly opposed that idea.

The bill the House passed earlier this month would be financed in large measure by a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and households making more than $1 million.

The bill also includes a far less restrictive provision on abortion coverage than the House bill, which would ban the public plan from covering abortion and also ban private plans that accept federal subsidies from doing so. Republicans say the provision is needed to ensure that tax money does not fund abortions, but liberals and abortion rights say it would treat women unfairly and have threatened to vote against the final legislation if it includes it.

Reid's bill calls for the exchange to cover plans with and without abortion coverage, giving consumers a choice.

Reid had been waiting for the CBO numbers before unveiling his bill, for which he is still seeking to round up 60 votes to start floor debate. This afternoon, he met privately with three wavering moderate Democrats, Senators Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

UPDATE: President Obama this evening issued a statement praising Reid's bill, calling it "another critical milestone in the health reform effort."

"I was particularly pleased to see that the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill will reduce the deficit by $127 billion over the next ten years and as much as $650 billion in the decade following, saving hundreds of billions while extending coverage to 31 million more Americans," Obama said in a statement.

"From day one, our goal has been to enact legislation that offers stability and security to those who have insurance and affordable coverage to those who don’t, and that lowers costs for families, businesses and governments across the country. Majority Leader Reid, Chairmen Baucus and Dodd, and countless Senators have worked tirelessly to craft legislation that meets those principles," the president added.

"Just yesterday, a bipartisan group of more than 20 leading health economists released a letter urging passage of meaningful reform and praising four key provisions that are in the Senate legislation: a fee on insurance companies offering high-premium plans, the establishment of an independent Medicare commission, reforms to the health care delivery system, and overall deficit neutrality. The economists said that these provisions ‘will reduce long-term deficits, improve the quality of care, and put the nation on a firm fiscal footing.’ Those are precisely the goals we should be seeking to attain.

"The challenges facing our health care system aren’t new – but if we fail to act they’ll surely get even worse, meaning higher premiums, skyrocketing costs, and deeper instability for those with coverage. Today, thanks to the Senate’s hard work, we’re closer than ever to enacting solutions to these problems. I look forward to working with the Senate and House to get a finished bill to my desk as soon as possible.”

Senator Paul G. Kirk Jr. of Massachusetts, who replaced the late Edward M. Kennedy who had made universal health care his final cause, also praised Reid's bill.

“This is a bill that would make Ted Kennedy proud,” Kirk said in a statement. “We’re a giant step closer to his long-held dream that quality, affordable health care is available to Americans. I’m especially pleased that the bill includes Senator Kennedy’s CLASS Act, so that the elderly and people with disabilities can obtain the support and services they need to continue living at home and participate in their communities.

“I particularly commend Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Dodd and Senator Baucus for their extraordinary leadership on this historic legislation, and for doing so in a way that contains costs for families and reduces the deficit over the long run. I look forward to its passage by the Senate.”

As Attorney General Eric Holder defended his decision to prosecute Sept. 11 plotters in civilian court in New York, President Obama backed him up in a series of TV interviews today.

Holder testifed this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his call to put confessed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-conspirators on trial in a federal courthouse in the shadow of Ground Zero. The decision has been slammed by Republicans, who have raised concerns about security and who have argued that terrorists should not be treated like criminals.

But Obama said that critics won't find the decision "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him."

"I think this notion that we have to be fearful that these terrorists possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up and exacting swift justice, I think that has been a fundamental mistake," Obama said on CNN.

Asked whether he would take responsibility if the decision goes wrong, the president replied, "I always have to take responsibility. That's my job."

UPDATE: Republicans aren't giving up their fight on the issue. This afternoon, House GOP leader John Boehner announced he had signed a discharge petition filed by Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the Intelligence Committee, to force a vote on a bill that would stop the transfer or release of terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States.

“Despite Americans’ strong opposition to importing terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States, the Obama Administration continues to move forward with their dangerous plans to do so anyway. The ‘Keep Terrorists Out of America Act’ does exactly what the American people want, and they deserve a vote on this common-sense bill," Boehner said in a statement.

“Despite repeated requests from Republicans in Congress, this Administration has refused to present the American people with its plan for what to do with the terrorists held at Guantanamo and for confronting and defeating the global terrorist threat. Right now, there is no evidence that this Administration has such a plan. The American people deserve better. I urge my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to listen to the American people and sign the discharge petition.”

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

As President Obama nears a decision on a strategy in Afghanistan, a survey released today by Oxfam America, a Boston-based aid advocacy group, sheds some light on how Afghans view the conflict.

The survey, which compiled interviews with more than 700 men and women across Afghanistan, shows that -- despite suicide attacks and unrelenting bloodshed -- most Afghans believe that previous periods of their country's history are far worse than what they are going through now. (Read the survey here.)

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that the communist period, which lasted from 1979 to 1992, was the most harmful to the country, while 33 percent called the period under Taliban rule, from 1996 to 2001, the most harmful. Another 22 percent named the time of civil war, from 1992 to 1996, as the worst time, while just 3 percent named the current conflict as the worst time since Afghanistan descended into chaos in 1979.

The study presents a stark picture of the human tragedy that has unfolded in the country over the last 30 years, suggesting that a significant number of Afghans may have suffered from post traumatic stress at one point in time or another. One out of every five respondents reported that they had been tortured at some point by either the Taliban, the mujahadeen, or the communists, while a third said that someone in their family had been imprisoned.

But the report does offer some measure of hope, suggesting that effective aid could bring about lasting change in the country.

Seventy percent of all respondents said they believe that poverty and unemployment is a major factor in the continuing war in Afghanistan, while 48 percent saw corruption as a major factor. Also, 36 percent named the Taliban's actions as a chief cause for the continuing conflict, while only 18% listed the presence of international forces as a major reason that fighting continues.

A new poll out today is another red flag for President Obama -- it is the first national survey to put his overall approval rating below the symbolic 50 percent mark.

In the Quinnipiac University survey, 48 percent of registered voters approve of the job Obama is doing, while 42 percent disapprove. But on the economy, 52 percent disapprove of his handling of the issue and only 43 percent approve. And on the Afghanistan war, 49 percent disapprove of Obama's performance and only 38 percent approve.

As worrisome for the White House, those who support him on the economy are not the same respondents who support him on Afghanistan.

"Increasingly, the President finds himself with two different coalitions, one that backs him on domestic matters and a completely different one that backs him on Afghanistan. That could create a challenge to his considerable political skills," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

Obama also faces gender and racial gaps in support. While 52 percent of women approve his job performance, the poll found, 47 of men do. And while 89 percent of black respondents and 62 percent of Hispanics approve, only 41 percent of whites do. His support also is lower with older and richer respondents.

The survey, conducted Nov. 9-16, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Obama, himself, doesn't seem to be worrying too much about his poll numbers.

In an interview with CNN today, he was asked whether he could envision a scenario where he didn't seek reelection in 2012.

"Here's how I think about it," Obama replied. "I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, that I don't want to be making decisions based on getting reelected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant. Obviously, if I make good decisions and I think that I'm moving the country on the right direction economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy, I'd like to think that those policies are continued because they're not going to bear fruit just in four years.

"But, you know, if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and, you know, because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll feel all right about myself," he added.

"I'd feel a lot worse if at a time of such urgency for the American people, I was spending a lot of time thinking how can I position myself to ensure reelection, because if I was doing that right now, I wouldn't have taken on health care. I wouldn't be taking on things that are unpopular. I wouldn't be closing Guantanamo. Tthere are a whole series of choices that I'm making that I know are going to create some political turbulence."

President Obama's grassroots group late this afternoon announced the winner of its health care video contest -- a bunch of cute kids at a playground listing medical problems and saying that they deserve health care.

Organizing for America said it received more than 1,000 entries (some of which are mashed together at the beginning of the YouTube video with the winner) before narrowing them to 20 finalists and picking one.

"The winning video shows that our supporters' creativity and passion is more than a match for the slick ads and partisan spin doctors on the other side. In the next few days, we'll be using this video as the basis for a new television ad that will air across the country -- and you can help, by ensuring we have the resources to make the biggest impact," Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe says in an email to supporters soliciting contributions.

"With Congress wrapping up its last round of negotiations and closely gauging the public's mood in these crucial final weeks, now is the exact time to get this grassroots message out far and wide."

The White House and its Democratic allies in Congress are refocusing on jobs. To which Republicans say: It's about time.

"I say you gotta be kidding me. They have for months now been about more spending, leaving a wake of deficits in their trail, and now they want to focus on what’s important," Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 Republican in the House, told reporters today.

"Sometimes it is difficult for us to take the other side seriously, but if they are serious we welcome this news. Republicans have been working for months now trying to forge solutions as to how to get Americans back to work. We urge Speaker Pelosi to take into consideration some of the Republican solutions for job creation and look forward to working together so that we can get this economy back on track,” he added.

UPDATE: WASHINGTON -- Continuing his focus on swine flu, Senator Paul G. Kirk Jr. today questioned why it's taking so long to get the vaccine to states.

At a hearing of the Senate homeland security committee, the Massachusetts Democrat noted that there have been about 22 million cases of H1N1 nationwide and 3,900 deaths, including more than 1,500 confirmed cases in the Bay State since April.

State officials said last month that vaccine deliveries were running three weeks behind and that shortages were being reported.

"Many of us are seriously concerned that far more individuals will come down with the virus, and far more lives will be lost, before sufficient quantities of the vaccine arrive," Kirk said in his opening remarks. (His full prepared opening statement is below.)

UPDATE: Representative John Boehner added his criticism, noting that the national debt has passed a mindboggling $12 trillion.

"A $12 trillion national debt is just the latest fallout from Washington Democrats’ unprecedented spending binge.  The American people are asking ‘where are the jobs?’ but all they are getting from out-of-touch Washington Democrats is more unsustainable spending and debt to be paid by our kids and grandkids.  Instead of taking immediate, bipartisan action to cut spending, Washington Democrats are preparing to double down on their trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ with a $1.3 trillion government takeover of health care and a promise to address fiscal responsibility sometime next year," he said in a statement.

“The American people deserve better than a government that kicks the can down the road.  It is past time for Congress to adopt strict budget caps that limit federal spending on an annual basis, which was a critical plank in the budget alternative Republicans proposed earlier this year.”

Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Cantor's Democratic counterpart, said Democrats will try to pass a job-creation plan this year that could include money for highway construction and tax credits for small businesses.

Hoyer told reporters today that it wouldn't be as sweeping as the $787 billion economic stimulus enacted in February, saying, “We need to act in a way that does get to the creation of job opportunities of people in the short term.”

Just before President Obama departed on his Asia trip, he announced a jobs forum to come up with any and all ideas to stem rising unemployment, at 10.2 percent nationally last month.

The White House announced Monday night that the forum will be Dec. 3. “During these difficult economic times, we have a responsibility to consider all good ideas to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country. At the forum next month, I am looking forward to hearing from the private sector, from CEOs and small business owners and from Americans struggling to make ends meet on how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again,” Obama said in a statement.

The White House also announced that the following day, Obama will kick off a "Main Street Tour" in Allentown, Pa., "that will take him to cities and towns across the country over the course of the next few months" to "take the temperature on what Americans are experiencing during these challenging economic times."

Americans remain divided about the health care overhaul and skeptical that it will make their lives better, according to new polling.

In the Washington Post/ABC News survey published today, 49 percent oppose and 48 percent support the proposed changes overall. But tellingly, 52 percent say they expect their own care to become more expensive, and 56 percent say the overall cost of health care in the country increasing. And among the majority of Americans who have insurance, 39 percent believe their coverage will worsen while only 13 percent said they expect it to improve.

On the contentious issue of abortion, 61 percent support banning coverage using public subsidies, but 56 percent say if private money were used to pay for abortions, even insurance for those receiving government aid should be allowed to include coverage.

Meanwhile, a poll conducted for the Associated Press found that Americans prefer taxing the high earners to taxing so-called Cadillac plans to pay for the overhaul bill.

Under the bill passed by the House, there would be a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples earning more than $1 million. The poll found 57 percent support a surtax, even it hit individuals making more than $250,000 a year.

The bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee would tax insurance plans costing more than $8,000 annually for individuals and $21,000 for families. The survey found 56 percent opposed to that approach.

UPDATE: A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released this afternoon found 46 percent in favor and 49 percent opposed to the House-passed bill. Those opposed included 34 percent who said the bill was "too liberal" and 10 percent who said it wasn't liberal enough.

Of respondents, 30 percent said that the Senate should make relatively minor changes to the House bill before passing it, 22 percent said the Senate should make major changes, 28 percent said the Senate should start over with a new bill next year, and 18 percent said the Senate should stop working on any major changes to the health care system.

Americans are also divided on whether they believe a health care bill similar to the House version will be passed by Congress this year: 49 percent said it is very or somewhat likely, but 50 percent said it is very or somewhat unlikely.

Responding to public outrage, President Obama today announced a financial fraud task force to go after Wall Street crooks and others making illegal gains.

The aim is “to prevent another meltdown from happening,” Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference. “We will be relentless in our investigation of corporate and financial wrongdoing.”

The task force will be led by the Justice Department and also include agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Treasury Department, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Obama's executive order can be viewed here.

President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao didn't agree today on much substantial on climate change.

But these days, even goodwill among the two biggest energy producers is apparently cause for hope.

“This agreement shows that economic competition and cooperation are not mutually exclusive, especially when solving the grave threat of climate change is at stake," Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts said in a statement.

“This significant agreement offers a blueprint for international clean energy cooperation between the U.S. and China, and for the rest of the world. With crucial international climate negotiations in Copenhagen just weeks away, the U.S. and China have proven today that the international community can find common ground on key energy issues," added Markey, co-author of the climate change bill passed by the House in June.

“In just a month, the conventional wisdom on US-Chinese climate politics has been turned on its head, and not a moment too soon. With just days to go before nearly 200 countries meet in Copenhagen to forge a new way forward on climate and clean energy, this agreement shows that the last remaining roadblocks are being pushed aside.”

Two-thirds of Americans disagree with the Obama administration's decision to put the reputed mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on trial in a civilian court, a new poll says.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released late this afternoon found that 64 percent want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed tried in a military court, while only 34 percent favored a civilian court.

But 64 percent of respondents also said that he can receive a fair trial in civilian court. If he is found guilty, most believe he should receive the death penalty: 59 percent said they generally support capital punishment and want Mohammed executed, another 19 percent said they generally oppose the death penalty but favor it in this case, and 19 percent are generally against capital punishment and also oppose it in this case.

The poll was conducted Friday through Sunday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

President Obama reacted with concern about a new report today that suggests hunger in America is at record levels -- and a vow to do something about it.

The US Department of Agriculture reported that in 2008 -- during the start of the worst recession in decades -- nearly 15 percent of US households, about 49 million people, struggled to put enough food on the table, the highest number since the agency began tracking food "insecurity" in 1995.

The number jumped significantly from 11 percent in 2007, and was likely higher this year as the jobless rate rose.

"It is particularly troubling that there were more than 500,000 families in which a child experienced hunger multiple times over the course of the year," Obama said in a statement. "Our children’s ability to grow, learn, and meet their full potential – and therefore our future competitiveness as a nation – depends on regular access to healthy meals.

"My administration is committed to reversing the trend of rising hunger. The first task is to restore job growth, which will help relieve the economic pressures that make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day. But we are also taking targeted steps to prevent Americans from experiencing hunger.

Among the steps, he said, is increasing benefits and expanding summer feeding programs for children.

His full statement is below:

There are two interesting developments today in the health care debate as top Senate Democrat Harry Reid tries to get his ducks in a row to start floor debate this week.

First, the Washington Post reports that the US Chamber of Commerce, a leading business group that is trying to build support against the Democratic bills, is soliciting money for a study that could be used to cast the legislation as a threat to the nation's economy. In an e-mail obtained by the Post, the Chamber's senior health policy manager proposes spending $50,000 to hire a "respected economist" to study the bill.

Also, a new poll released by the Associated Press found Americans split almost right down the middle about the health care bill and worried about the fine print.

According to the survey, 43 percent of respondents oppose the health care bill being debated by Congress, while 41 percent support it, and 15 percent remain neutral or undecided.

The poll, conducted by Stanford University with the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found broad support for President Obama's goals, but concerns about the details to reach those goals. For example, while Americans support a ban on insurers denying coverage because of pre-existing medical problems, when told that such a prohibition would probably increase costs for many, 43 percent said they would still support the ban, but 31 percent said they would oppose it.

It has been a week since the House passed the sweeping health care bill, but Republicans remain on the warpath against it.

Representative Mark Kirk of Illinois, an Afghanistan war vet, rails against the legislation in the weekly GOP radio-Internet address today.

He says the bill -- approved with only one Republican "aye" -- would increase taxes, would worsen the record federal deficits, would put government in control of health care, and would threaten Medicare.

"In the teeth of the Great Recession, the Pelosi bill would impose ten new taxes on the American economy. The top combined tax rate for my state of Illinois would be four percentage points higher than France," he says. "The Democrat bill levies new taxes on health insurance, income and even pace makers. The bill also cuts health care for seniors – my parents and many of yours – with $500 billion in cuts for Medicare doctors, hospitals and advantage patients. The bill even cuts Medicare for skilled nursing, wheelchairs and hospices.

“In sum, the bill opens a new trillion-dollar entitlement just as our national debt tops $12 trillion. Ignoring the future needs of Social Security and Medicare, the bill creates a new massive spending program, supported by heavy taxes and cuts to senior health care," Kirk adds.

The House Democratic bill does not trim Medicare, itself. But more than 10 million seniors enrolled in an enhanced, private version known as Medicare Advantage -- including 175,000 in Massachusetts -- could see their plans shrink or be replaced with traditional coverage under the health care overhaul plans proposed by Democrats in Congress.

Kirk also outlines the Republican alternative, with a heavy weight on curbing medical malpractice lawsuits, allowing people to take their coverage across state lines, and encouraging states to experiment. That plan, however, would come nowhere close to extending coverage to the millions of Americans without health insurance.

His full address is below, and can be viewed here.

The White House this morning announced its most significant staff change to date -- counsel Greg Craig is leaving and Bob Bauer, President Obama's personal lawyer, is replacing him.

Obama issued a statement praising Craig: “Greg Craig is a close friend and trusted advisor who tackled many tough challenges as White House Counsel. Because of Greg’s leadership, we have confirmed the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court, set the toughest ethics standards for any administration in history, and ensured that we are keeping the nation secure in a manner that is consistent with our laws and our values. I’m indebted to Greg not only for leading the Counsel’s office but for his many decades of service to this country as well. He has been a huge asset in the White House, and he will be missed. I will continue to call on him for advice in the years ahead.”

But there have been widespread reports of disenchantment with Craig's handling of issues, most notably Obama's pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center by early next year.

Craig's departure, which follows the announcement earlier this week that White House communications director Anita Dunn is stepping down, appears timed with the declaration this morning by Attorney General Eric Holder that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo detainees will face trial in a civilian federal court in New York, and five other suspects will be tried by military commissions.

That is a key step in plans to close the prison, but Obama is not expected to meet his self-imposed deadline of Jan. 22.

Bauer, a prominent Democratic attorney, will begin serving as White House counsel by the end of this year. He, it turns out, is married to Dunn.

“Bob has served as a trusted counselor for many years to many elected officials and is known as a tough and widely respected advocate,” Obama said in a statement. “Bob is well-positioned to lead the Counsel’s office as it addresses a wide variety of responsibilities, including managing the large amount of litigation the administration inherited, identifying judicial nominees for the federal courts, and assuring that White House officials continue to be held to the highest legal and ethical standards.”

With President Obama abroad, first lady Michelle Obama will take up the health care mantle on Friday with a speech focused on the difficulties older women face getting insurance.

Her office announced today that she will be joined by Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Health Reform Office, and three women who will share their stories. "The event will highlight the important need for health insurance reform to help women access the care they need as they age, and to provide aging adults with affordable, reliable, quality health care," her office said.

The first lady jumped into the fray in a big way for the first time in mid-September, giving a speech on the importance of fixing health care for women.

“If we want to achieve true equality for women, if that is our goal . . . we have to reform the system. The status quo is unacceptable. It is holding women and families back, and we know it,’’ she said at an event sponsored by the six-month-old White House Council on Women and Girls.

Before embarking on a week-long tour of Asia, President Obama tried this morning to reassure Americans at home that the economy is recovering -- and that more jobs will soon come with it.

He said that his administration has taken "bold steps to break the back of this recession" and that the economy is "now growing again for the first time in a year," but that there is "not yet the job growth that we desperately need."

"This is one of the great challenges that remains in our economy," he said in a brief statement at the White House.

While there are limits to what government can do or should do, he said, his team will look at "every responsible step."

In the only new wrinkle, Obama announced a December "forum on jobs" to gather those ideas.
(His full remarks are below.)

While unemployment is at 10.2 percent nationally, a quarter-century high, there was a glimmer of hope today. The Labor Department reported that first-time jobless claims dropped to 502,000 last week, the fewest since the first week of 2009.

While foreign policy challenges such as North Korea will be on his agenda, Obama will also be talking about the global economic recovery on his stops in Japan, Singapore, China, and South Korea.

He said he will be pushing for a balanced world economy that is not as dependent on US consumption and borrowing.

The Republican National Committee put it in another light: "Mr. President, meet your creditors," it said in a missive, noting that Asian countries, especially China, are buying US government bonds that enable the federal government to borrow. Obama, the RNC said, is traveling to nations "he plans to borrow billions from in order to finance his reckless big-government experiments, historic deficits."

In this morning's appearance, Obama did not address the other major item on his agenda -- sending more troops to Afghanistan.

He held another war council on Wednesday, but presented with four options, he rejected all of them until he gets more assurances of when US troops would be able to leave Afghanistan. Obama's stance came as word leaked of cables from the US ambassador in Kabul who argued that a US troop surge would only prop up a weak, corrupt central government.

A business-friendly group said this afternoon that on Thursday it will launch a $10 million nationwide TV ad blitz warning against doing too much, too fast on the health care overhaul.

The Employment Policies Institute joins the US Chamber of Commerce and others weighing in against the legislation that Democrats are trying to push through Congress and to President Obama's desk.

The ad -- to air before likely like-minded viewers on Fox News Channel as well as CNN and CNBC -- features June O’Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, arguing that the bill would deepen the national debt and hurt job creation.

"Our country is facing an enormous debt crisis. Many of the plans to reform health care will make this crisis worse. As an economist and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, I’m deeply concerned about these health care reforms," she says in the ad.

"They will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the already $12 trillion national debt. We are paying $500 million a day in interest alone. This growing debt is unsustainable. It will have huge negative effects on jobs, taxes and our economy. Unfortunately, some politicians are using accounting gimmicks to hide the cost of these changes. And many seniors on Medicare will pay the price. Changes are necessary. But I fear these reforms are definitely not the answer."

Americans are divided over whether President Obama is taking too long -- "dithering" in the dismissive description of former Vice President Dick Cheney -- to decide whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan, a new poll suggests.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this morning found that 49 percent believe the president has taken too much time, while 50 percent do not say so.

A slim majority -- 52 percent -- also say that Obama should listen to his top generals, rather than take other matters into account.

If he does follow the recommendation of General Stanley McChrystal, Obama would send another 40,000 troops, on top of the 21,000 he dispatched this year.

But the poll also found that 56 percent of respondents oppose sending more troops, and 58 percent oppose the war in Afghanistan. The survey, conducted Oct. 30-Nov. 1, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

UPDATE: Another poll out today, this one from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, found that a majority, 57 percent, now says the US military effort in Afghanistan is going not too well or not at all well, up from 45 percent in January. And while most continue to support the initial decision to use force in Afghanistan, that percentage has slipped to 56 percent now from 64 percent at the beginning of the year.

The poll also found the public divided over what to do now -- 40 percent say the number of US troops in Afghanistan should be decreased, 32 percent support increasing the number, and 19 percent favor keeping troop levels as they are now.

This afternoon, hours after observing Veterans Day by laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama convened his eighth -- and possibly last -- war council before making his decision.'

His remarks at Arlington are below:

President Obama leaves Thursday on an extensive diplomatic tour of Asia with a busy schedule of meetings during nine days in Japan, Singapore, China, and South Korea.

But not on his itinerary is a stop in either Hiroshima or Nagasaki, where the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War II.

The mayors of the two Japanese cities had invited him, noting that Obama has pledged to pursue a world free of nuclear weapons and was awarded the Nobel Peace Price. But such a visit -- the first by an American president in office -- would be highly controversial and would inflame Obama's critics who accuse him of apologizing too much for the sins of US foreign policy.

Obama, however, did tell Japanese TV network NHK on Tuesday that he would like to eventually go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki sometime during his presidency -- he just couldn't fit it into his schedule this time.

"The memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are etched in the minds of the world and I would be honored to have the opportunity to visit those cities at some point during my presidency," Obama said in the interview.

President Obama turned today to his role as mourner-in-chief, traveling to Fort Hood in Texas to console victims and their families and to lead a nationally televised memorial service.

The solemn duty -- honoring the 13 people killed and 29 wounded last week, allegedly by a fellow soldier -- is Obama's first such observance since taking office in January.

"We come together filled with sorrow for the 13 Americans that we have lost, with gratitude for the lives that they led, and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on. This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great state, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful, even more incomprehensible," Obama told the assembled Army soldiers in uniform, civilians, and dignitaries, after he and first lady Michelle Obama met privately with the families of the dead, then with wounded soldiers and their families.

To honor them, he mentioned each of the dead by name and said a little about them and their stories, speaking on an outdoor stage behind the traditional display of each victim's Army boots, rifle, and helmet, with a framed photo in front.

"These men and women came from all parts of the country. Some had long careers in the military. Some had signed up to serve in the shadow of 9/11. Some had known intense combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some cared for those did. Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity, and the decency of those who serve, and that is how they will be remembered," the president said.

"It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know -- no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts, no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice -- in this world, and the next," Obama added.

"These are trying times for our country. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the same extremists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans continue to endanger America, our allies, and innocent Afghans and Pakistanis. In Iraq, we are working to bring a war to a successful end, as there are still those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that Americans and Iraqis have sacrificed so much for," he said on the eve of Veterans Day on Wednesday.

"As we face these challenges, the stories of those at Fort Hood reaffirm the core values that we are fighting for, and the strength that we must draw upon. Theirs are the tales of American men and women answering an extraordinary call -- the call to serve their comrades, their communities, and their country. In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility. In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans."

Obama used the ceremony to pay tribute to all those in the military, saying they are as valiant and performing as important a duty as the Greatest Generations and others who served before them.

"We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes," he told the soldiers.

"This generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen have volunteered in a time of certain danger. They are part of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. They have served tour after tour of duty in distant, different and difficult places. They have stood watch in blinding deserts and on snowy mountains. They have extended the opportunity of self-government to peoples that have suffered tyranny and war. They are man and woman; white, black, and brown; of all faiths and stations – all Americans, serving together to protect our people, while giving others half a world away the chance to lead a better life.

"In today’s wars, there is not always a simple ceremony that signals our troops’ success – no surrender papers to be signed, or capital to be claimed," he added. "But the measure of their impact is no less great – in a world of threats that no know borders, it will be marked in the safety of our cities and towns, and the security and opportunity that is extended abroad. And it will serve as testimony to the character of those who serve, and the example that you set for America and for the world."

(His full remarks are below.)

The president's only similar duty was two weeks ago, paying tribute to 18 troops killed in Afghanistan, but that was far less public -- in the middle of the night at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and witnessed by only a few reporters.

Vice President Joe Biden also had memorial duty today, speaking t Fort Lewis in Washington state at a memorial service for seven soldiers killed on Oct. 27 in Afghanistan. His full remarks are below.

In a long-awaited decision, President Obama today announced he is nominating the chief scientist at the US Department of Agriculture and a former top official at the Gates Foundation as the nation's top foreign aid official.

If confirmed, Rajiv Shah will be administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

Paul Farmer, the renowned public health pioneer at Harvard, had also been believed to be under consideration.

“The mission of USAID is to advance America’s interests by strengthening our relationships abroad. Rajiv brings fresh ideas and the dedication and impressive background necessary to help guide USAID as it works to achieve this important goal," Obama said in a statement. "I am grateful for all that USAID has accomplished under the leadership of Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham, and the thousands of career men and women who fulfill USAID’s mission day in and day out – particularly their hard work in jumpstarting a landmark initiative to bring more than $20 billion for agriculture development to the world's most food-insecure countries. I look forward to working with Rajiv in the months and years ahead.”

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John F. Kerry and the committee's senior Republican, Richard Lugar, welcomed the nomination.

“I have been very concerned about the lack of political leadership at USAID, especially in the face of critical foreign policy, humanitarian and development priorities in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan," Kerry said in a statement. "I also believe having an Administrator will bring significant momentum to foreign aid reform. I look forward to a thorough nomination process.”

“For development to play its full role in our national security structure, USAID must be a strong agency with the resources to accomplish the missions we give it,” Lugar added. “The issues that we face today – from chronic poverty and hunger to violent acts of terrorism – require that we work seamlessly toward identifiable goals. I look forward to discussing ways to improve and support the development mission that benefits our long-term security as we proceed with the confirmation process.”

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton, who has painful personal experience with failure on health care reform, urged Senate Democrats this afternoon to get a bill passed.

"It's not important to be perfect. It's important to move. The worst is to do nothing,'' he said after a private luncheon.

The former president didn't specifically discuss his failed effort in 1993-94, senators in the lunch said afterwards. It was more of a pep talk, he said.

"He was upbeat. Positive with every chromosome in his body,'' said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.

Senator John F. Kerry, who came to national prominence when he testified before Congress as a Vietnam war hero turned anti-war activist, is now warning against those pushing for a troop surge in Afghanistan by asserting that the same could have turned the tide in Vietnam.

"Let me be clear: more than 58,000 American troops died because they were sent into battle based on false assumptions, flawed goals, and faulty strategies. Yes, we adopted smarter tactics near the end, but by then the die was cast. History has definitively branded Vietnam for the mistake it was—no one should believe that the deaths of nearly 60,000 Americans and at least 1.5 million Vietnamese were somehow not quite enough," Kerry, who is now chairman of the same committee he addressed in 1971, writes in the Nov. 16 issue of Newsweek magazine.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who is among those cautioning President Obama against sending the full allotment of 40,000 additional US troops sought by the top commander in Afghanistan, says there are some similarities with Vietnam.

"We are once again fighting an insurgency in a rural country with a weak central government," he writes. "Once again, our enemy blends in with the local population and finds sanctuary in a neighboring country. Once again, the danger of being perceived as an occupying force by a war-weary population remains perilous."

But he says it is dangerous to draw too many parallels with Afghanistan -- a "very different country -- vastly different history, culture, and geography—in a different era."

"The main lesson that Obama must absorb from Vietnam is the necessity to explain our goals in Afghanistan, and to choose clear and realistic strategies to meet them," Kerry adds.

"I pledged to myself long ago to be informed by Vietnam, not imprisoned by it," he concludes. "The easiest way to make a mistake is to tolerate a debate that sells our country short. In the case of Afghanistan, politics has reduced a difficult mission in a complex country to a simple, headline-ready 'yes or no' on troop numbers. What we need is a realistic assessment of our strategy, military and civilian combined. One of the architects of the Vietnam War, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, confessed decades later that he knew victory was no longer possible well before the American death toll had reached half its eventual total. He offers a horrific lesson that the time to voice concerns is now."

The full piece is available here.

Vice President Joe Biden heads to Michigan today to talk up the Obama administration's efforts to boost the economy.

He will meet with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to discuss jobs, which are in short supply in a state where the recession started earlier than much of the country and where the unemployment rate is still the nation's highest.

UPDATE: According to the press pool report, Biden told a Democratic fund-raiser that the stimulus package and other economic programs are "working," but "we've got a long way to go."

But Biden said at least Democrats "get it" and want to make investments in energy and infrastructure that will grow the economy in the long term, while Republicans are "betting on us to fail."

Echoing the president, Biden also said it's easy to forget "just how horrible things were back in January," according to the pool report.

"This was an economy built on a bubble. The rules were being made by the cowboys on Wall Street."

Biden is being greeted by a radio ad from the Republican National Committee. (Listen to it here.)

“Back in February the Obama administration promised the so-called stimulus would bring much-needed jobs to Michigan. Nine months later, 178,000 more Michiganders have lost their jobs bringing unemployment to 15.3 percent – the highest in the entire country, and our nation’s employment rate now exceeds 10 percent," RNC Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement. "More than anything the people of Michigan need jobs, yet Vice President Biden and Michigan Democrats Mark Schauer and Gary Peters are spending their time fundraising. It’s time for the Democrats to make their constituents a priority and start working to bring jobs back to Michigan.”

While the 39 Democrats who voted against the health care bill have received quite a bit of notoriety, the lone Republican who supported it is getting his share of attention.

Representative Anh Cao, a freshman from New Orleans, is a Vietnamese-American who represents a largely African-American district that had been the fiefdom of Democrat William Jefferson, was under indictment when Cao ousted him last November.

Cao said he decided vote aye after a call from President Obama on Saturday, a conversation during which he sought assurances of more federal aid for Hurricane Katrina recovery. A devout Catholic, Cao also wanted the language that was added further restricting abortion services from the bill.

"I felt last night's decision was the proper decision for my district even though it was not the popular decision for my party," Cao told CNN on Sunday. "A lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot of them are poor. It was the right decision for the people of my district."

Cao also responded to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who after last week's election threatened to "come after" lawmakers who didn't toe the party line.

"He has the right to come after those members who do not conform to party lines, but I would hope that he would work with us in order to adjust to the needs of the district and to hold a seat that the Republican party would need," Cao said.

President Obama's schedule puts him squarely in the middle of the two biggest stories in Washington.

One stop on his itinerary, the White House insists, had been previously scheduled, though it is quite appropriate. This afternoon, he makes his first visit as commander-in-chief to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to talk to the war wounded -- a day after an Army psychologist reportedly upset about being deployed to the war zone killed 13 and injured 31 at Fort Hood in Texas.

Speaking in the Rose Garden, Obama said he has been briefed on the ongoing investigation.

"We don't have all the answers yet, and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts," he said.

But what is known is that families are grieving for the victims, he said. So Obama issued a proclamation ordering flags flown at half-staff until sunset on Tuesday, with Veterans Day following the next day. (Read the proclamation here.)

"We honor their service and stand in awe of their sacrifice," the president said. (His full remarks are below.)

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said later that Obama will attend a memorial service for those killed at Fort Hood.

The service will be scheduled at the convenience of victims' families and the president's attendance could delay a 10-day trip to Asia that is scheduled to start Wednesday, Gibbs said.

UPDATE: According to the press pool report, Obama spent about 1 hour, 45 minutes at Walter Reed, about 40 minutes more than scheduled, but did not say anything to reporters afterwards.

During the private visit, a White House spokesman says, Obama visited 19 soldiers, three families of soldiers in intensive care, and hospital staff. He also awarded two Purple Hearts for combat injuries.

The Walter Reed visit follows by a week his middle-of-the-night trip to Dover Air Force Base to honor 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan in one of the bloodiest days for US forces in that eight-year conflict.

Obama had also been scheduled to sweep onto Capitol Hill today to buck up his House allies on the eve of a major vote Saturday on the health care overhaul.

But the White House announced late Thursday night that he has postponed his trip until Saturday -- right before the vote -- which suggests how thin the margin might be as Democratic leaders try to round up 218 votes.

President Obama announced this afternoon that he is dispatching Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to represent the US at the 20th anniversary Monday of the fall of the Berlin Wall -- the symbolic end of Soviet dominance over Eastern Europe and the Cold War.

But his absence is not sitting well with some conservatives.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote today that while some consider Obama's decision "an outrage, I consider it a tragedy.
 
"To commemorate, after all, is to remember," the Georgia Republican said in an op-ed published in the Washington Examiner. "And Americans need to remember, not just that the Wall fell, but why it fell. We need to remember that the Berlin Wall was the symbol of more than just the Cold War, more than just the division of Europe. It was the symbol of an evil ideology that denied human dignity, denied truth, and respected only power. When the Wall fell, truth and human dignity, in a rare moment in the 20th century, triumphed over power.

"The message of human dignity that led to the toppling of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago is a true message of hope rooted in the spiritual nature of man and the freedom to know God," Gingrich concluded. "And so it is a true shame that the President of the United States - this man who cloaks himself in the rhetoric of hope - won't be pausing to remember."

Obama's schedule next week, however, is getting complicated. He is supposed to leave Wednesday on a 10-day tour of Asia, but he has also committed to attend the memorial service for the victims of the massacre at Fort Hood in Texas, which could also be next week.

The others in the official US delegation are Philip D. Murphy, the US ambassador to Germany; Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush; and Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter.

Republicans are using the new unemployment numbers out today to pummel President Obama and the Democrats on their record on the economy -- the top issue for voters in Tuesday's election that gave the GOP the governor's offices in New Jersey and Virginia.

The Labor Department reported that the national jobless rate has exceeded 10 percent for the first time since 1983. The rate rose to 10.2 percent last month from 9.8 percent in September. Nearly 16 million people can't find jobs, and counting those who have settled for part-time jobs or stopped looking for work, the rate would be 17.5 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele again attacked the $787 billion economic stimulus package, whose benefits cited in Obama administration reports have come under scrutiny.

"Since President Obama’s inauguration, the nation has watched the unemployment rate continue to climb, and unfortunately the month of October was no different," Steele said in a statement. "With so many families looking for work, it is time the Obama administration stop spreading their phony ‘saved or created’ talking points and start creating the dependable jobs America needs. President Obama promised jobs during his campaign for president, and the elections in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday were a clear referendum on his failure to deliver on this promise.”

And Representative Eric Cantor, the second-ranking Republican in the House, cited the new numbers to argue against the health care overhaul that House Democrats plan to push through as soon as Saturday.

"As unemployment tops 10 percent this holiday season, Republicans have put jobs and the economy first, and are focused on developing real solutions that will put Americans back to work. Increasing taxes on small business, as Democrats will do to pay for government run health care, is the wrong approach. Instead, we should work to empower small businesses to hire more workers, not penalize them further, costing even Americans their jobs," Cantor said in his statement.

“Americans, particularly those with friends, neighbors, and family out of work, are pleading with leaders in Washington to focus on jobs and the economy. From coast to coast, people are concerned with the direction that Washington is heading, and are tired of the spending, tired of the waste, and are pleading for their leaders to focus on jobs and the economy. With millions of Americans desperately seeking work, I ask the President put the economy first, and sit down with Republicans to develop bipartisan solutions that will change the direction of this economy and get people working again.”

Obama this week has touted his administration's efforts to rebuild the economy, while at the same time warning that unemployment would continue to rise until the recovery takes hold.

Today, Obama did sign an extension of jobless benefits -- 14 more weeks for those who have used up their benefits or will do so by the end of the year about 2 million nationwide, including as many as 40,000 in Massachusetts. Those in states such as Massachusetts where the jobless rate is 8.5 percent or above get an additional six weeks. It is the fourth such extension in the past 18 months. (The White House release on the bill is below.)

In a Rose Garden appearance this morning after signing the bill, Obama said the "sobering" jobless numbers underline the "economic challenges ahead."

He noted that the economy grew in the third quarter, but that "job growth always lags behind economic growth."

Obama vowed not to let up on creating jobs and said his administration is looking at additional incentives, tax cuts for businesses, and more measures to free up credit.

He said while it "will take time and patience," he's confident the economy will recover and the country is headed in the right direction. (His full remarks are below.)

Responding to the new numbers, the White House issued a statement this morning from Christina Romer, chairwoman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, putting the best spin on them.

“Today’s employment report contained both signs of hope for recovery and painful evidence of continued labor market weakness," she said.

"Payroll employment declined 190,000 in October, continuing the steady trend of moderating job loss that began last spring. Furthermore, the employment loss in both August and September was revised down substantially. Importantly, employment in temporary help services, typically one of the first industries to see job gains, increased by 33,700. The motor vehicle industry also posted employment gains. These are hopeful signs that the unprecedented policy actions are working to stabilize the economy and put us on a path toward recovery.

"The unemployment rate, however, rose four-tenths of a percentage point, to 10.2 percent. That this occurred despite the rise in real GDP last quarter reflects both the typical lag between GDP growth and unemployment decline, and the recent exceptional increases in productivity. Having the unemployment rate reach double-digits is a stark reminder of how much work remains to be done before American families see the job gains and reduced unemployment that they need and deserve.”

As House Democrats prepare to push through their health care overhaul this weekend, a new poll suggests that most Americans aren't satisfied with the sweeping measure and want Congress to keep working on it.

In the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this morning, 33 percent of respondents said they wanted Congress to pass the final legislation only after "major changes" are made, another 24 percent said Congress should start from scratch and seek passage next year, and 15 percent said Congress should stop work on an overhaul altogether.

Only 26 percent said they wanted Congress to proceed with only minor changes to the proposals.

The poll also found 55 percent in favor of the public option -- a government-run plan to compete with private insurers -- though that support was down from 61 percent two weeks ago. Support for President Obama's health care plan has also declined to 45 percent from 49 percent in mid-October.

And the poll found that health care is far behind the economy in importance to Americans -- and that gap has grown in the past two weeks. Now, 47 percent rank the economy as the most important issue facing the nation, compared to 17 percent for health care -- a 30-percentage-point difference compared to 21 percentage points two weeks ago.

The new survey was conducted Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

President Obama urged Americans this afternoon to keep the men and women of Fort Hood in their prayers after a "horrific outburst of violence" at the sprawling Army base in Texas.

He said he will make sure all questions will be answered about the shooting rampage at the deployment readiness center. The death toll rose overnight to 13, with 31 wounded. The suspected shooter, an Army major and psychologist, was shot but survived, contrary to early Army reports that he had been killed.

"We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident," the president said.

"It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It's horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil," Obama added in a brief statement during remarks he had been previously scheduled to deliver at the close of a summit of Native American leaders. (His full remarks are below.)

UPDATE: Vice President Joe Biden also issued a statement this evening: “Jill and I join the President and Michelle in expressing our sympathies to the families of the brave soldiers who fell today. We are all praying for those who were wounded and hoping for their full and speedy recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the entire Fort Hood community as they deal with this senseless tragedy.”

The US House and Senate both observed a moment of silence for the shooting victims.

The political jockeying is ramping up as the House prepares to vote on its sweeping health care bill as soon as Saturday.

Not a single Republican is expected to vote for the Democratic bill, which would cost $1.2 trillion bill over 10 years, require employers to insure their employees, and prohibit insurance companies from dropping coverage for sick people.

Instead, House Republicans are promoting their own belated bill -- including in a marathon online town hall today -- that focuses far more on cutting costs than covering uninsured Americans.

(Democrats, meanwhile, issued a dismissive slap at the online town hall. "We're planning a twelve second town hall to explain every last detail of the GOP health care plan," Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement. "According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Republican 'plan' would do no nothing to stop insurance companies from denying care to Americans with pre-existing conditions or other profit protecting practices, do less to reduce the deficit and leave more people without insurance than there are today. They might as well call it the Do Nothing Act of 2009.")

House GOP Leader John Boehner is bragging about an independent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that says the Republican health care plan will lower premiums by as much as 10 percent and reduce the federal deficit by $68 billion over 10 years.

“When it comes to reforming health care, controlling skyrocketing costs is the American peoples’ top priority. Now CBO has confirmed that the Republican plan will lower health care costs for American families, and that’s good news for everyone struggling in today’s economy. The choice now could not be clearer: Speaker Pelosi’s plan raises costs. Our plan lowers them," Boehner said in a statement.

“Not only does the GOP plan lower health care costs, but it also increases access to quality care – including for those with pre-existing conditions – at a price our country can afford. The cost of the Speaker’s bill, now at $1.3 trillion and counting, is a debt that will be paid for by our kids and our grandkids. The American people deserve a better solution, and Republicans’ smart, fiscally-responsible plan gives them exactly what they want."

Boehner, however, does not mention that the CBO analysis found that the Republican plan would only decrease the number of uninsured Americans by about 3 million by 2019, leaving about 50 million without coverage. The Democratic bill, by contrast, would cover an estimated 96 percent of Americans.

UPDATE: Also, thousands of protestors, many of them "tea party" anti-tax activists, are holding a rally outside Congress in opposition to the Democratic bill and President Obama's plan. They say it would extend government control over health care and lead to higher taxes.

Speaking to the rally, Boehner called the Democratic health care bill "the greatest threat to freedom" he had seen in his 19 years in Congress.

He warned that it would lead to a government takeover with bureaucrats making health care decisions.

"I'm going to stand with you and all freedom-loving Americans," he said, holding up a copy of the Constitution and reading from the preamble about the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

According to the Associated Press, protestors' signs included one that said "Waterboard Congress," along with echoes of the rallying cry at August town halls with lawmakers, "Vote no to government-run health care."

One protester carried a placard reading, "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy," a reference to Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who died of brain cancer in August and who called universal health care the cause of his life.

A liberal-labor coalition is rebutting the GOP plan with a new TV ad that slams it as a bill to protect insurance company profits.

"This just in: Republicans in Congress have introduced the Health Insurance Industry Profits Protection Act," the announcer says in the ad from Americans United for Change.

"The Republican bill lets insurance companies continue denying care for preexisting conditions," the announcer continues in the faux newscast. "Republicans will still let insurers raise premiums four times faster than wages. And health care will remain unaffordable for most Americans."

"Well folks, it looks like when it comes to health care, the party of no is now, the party of no change."

The AARP, a powerful lobby for seniors, officially announced its endorsement today of the House Democratic bill, despite concerns about potential cuts for members enrolled in Medicare "plus" plans.

The group, however, focused on the provisions that it says will "curb insurance companies’ discrimination against older Americans and Medicare improvements that strengthen benefits while protecting the program for future generations."

“Our goals have always been to make health coverage more affordable for our younger members, those aged 50 to 64, and to protect Medicare for seniors,” Deborah Banda, AARP Massachusetts state director, said in a statement. “Having reviewed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, we believe it meets these goals by improving benefits for people in Medicare – including closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, the dreaded “doughnut hole” – and making health insurance market reforms to help ensure affordable health coverage for every American.”

President Obama, in a surprise appearance during the regular press briefing, bragged this afternoon about the support for the Democratic health care bill by the AARP and the American Medical Association, saying the endorsements bring reform closer than ever.

"This is no small endorsement," he said of the AARP support, saying it should rebut criticism that the proposals would hurt seniors.

"We're thrilled they're standing with us," Obama, who plans to visit Capitol Hill on Friday in support of health reform, told reporters.

The AMA's backing is also important, he said, because "the doctors of America know what needs to be fixed with our health care system." (His full remarks are below.)

The AMA backed the Democratic bill, plus a companion bill that would shield doctors from cuts in Medicare reimbursements.

"The time to make health system reform a reality is now,” J. James Rohack, AMA president, said in a statement. "These two bills were introduced together, and they need to be passed together. Both are essential to achieving meaningful health system reform this year."

While the health bill is "not perfect," on balance it "is consistent with our principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of physician practice and universal access," he added. "It will significantly expand health insurance coverage to Americans to empower patient and physician decision making; institute meaningful insurance market reforms; make substantial investments in quality; institute prevention and wellness initiatives; provide incentives to states that adopt certificate of merit and/or early offer liability reforms, and reduce administrative burdens."

Earlier today, the AARP officially announced its endorsement despite concerns about potential cuts for members enrolled in Medicare "plus" plans.

The group, however, focused on the provisions that it says will "curb insurance companies’ discrimination against older Americans and Medicare improvements that strengthen benefits while protecting the program for future generations."

“Our goals have always been to make health coverage more affordable for our younger members, those aged 50 to 64, and to protect Medicare for seniors,” Deborah Banda, AARP Massachusetts state director, said in a statement. “Having reviewed the Affordable Health Care for America Act, we believe it meets these goals by improving benefits for people in Medicare – including closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, the dreaded “doughnut hole” – and making health insurance market reforms to help ensure affordable health coverage for every American.”

President Obama, addressing a rare gathering of leaders of all 564 federally recognized Native American tribes, pledged this morning to give them full access to America's opportunities and get their relationship with the federal government "right."

Opening the White House Tribal Nations Conference, where each recognized tribe was invited to send one representative, Obama said his election a year ago promised "meaningful change for those too long excluded from American dream" -- and that Native Americans were perhaps the most marginalized of all.

While the tribal leaders are right to be skeptical given the bloody history, Obama said he will make sure they have the ear of top administration officials who will work with them on issues such as unemployment.

After all, he noted, he is an adopted Native American. In May 2008 while campaigning for president, Obama became the first candidate to visit the Montana reservation of the Crow Nation and was adopted under the Crow name "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land." In the ceremony, he was escorted by his adoptive parents, Hartford and Mary Black Eagle.

"Only in America could the adopted son of Crow Indians could become president of the United States," Obama said today.

His full remarks, plus exchanges with tribal leaders, are below:

Exactly one year since his historic election, President Obama sent a video message today to his grassroots supporters, telling them that they put him in office, thanking them for their dedication since, but warning that they have much more work to do.

"Victory alone was not the change we sought, it was only the chance for us to make that change," he says.

His campaign manager David Plouffe elaborates in an email to Organizing for America accompanying the video: "One year ago today, you made history.We all knew that electing Barack Obama President was only the opportunity to bring about change; that we would all have to keep working to fulfill the promise our victory offered.

"And you've come through -- by making hundreds of thousands of calls to Congress to push health reform forward, by pouring your effort into seemingly insurmountable challenges time and again, and, since January, by building on the power of our campaign to create Organizing for America. And now, with the finish line on health reform in sight, we need your voice more than ever before," Plouffe implores.

By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Americans' opinion of the health care proposals now before Congress is eerily similar to public opinion of the Clinton health reform initiatives in 1994, according to an analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine today -- and that may not bode well for Democrats.

In theory, Americans think the health care system needs to be fixed and they like many of the ideas Democrats are promoting. But they don't like the specific proposals taking shape because they do not think they will benefit them personally.

The report, an in-depth look at more than 30 polls conducted this fall and during the same period in 1994, when the Clinton health reform effort was gasping its last breaths, was co-authored by Robert J. Blendon, a Harvard professor and a leading specialist on health care and public opinion whom congressional leaders of both parties have consulted.

Critics are likely to point out that it is impossible to compare the two periods -- in the fall of 1994, Clinton had been president for a year longer than President Obama has now. Obama has had much more cooperation from Congress than Clinton has had, thanks partly to a difference in strategy. Obama allowed Congress to handle the details of the lawmaking process, while Clinton created resentment among lawmakers by employing a secretive process within the executive branch.

At this time in 1993, the parallel point in the Clinton presidency, Clinton had not yet even introduced bills; this time, five congressional committees have passed legislation, and all of the bills approach the problem of how to insure nearly 50 million Americans without coverage in basically the same way.

But Blendon's analysis hones in on a key point that Democrats are likely to pay increasing attention to, particularly after this week's elections put them on notice that voters remain deeply concerned about the economy and restless with their political leadership.

Speaking one year to the day he was elected, President Obama this afternoon used the anniversary to call for "a national mission" to improve public education and build it into a pillar -- along with an overhauled health care system and clean energy jobs -- of the new economy.

"One year ago, Americans all across this country went to the polls and cast ballots for the future they wanted to see. Election Day was a day of hope, it was a day of possibility, but it was also a sobering one because we knew even then that we faced an array of challenges that would test us as a country. We had a financial crisis that threatened to plunge our economy into a Great Depression, the worst we had seen in generations. We had record deficits, two wars, frayed alliances around the world," Obama said at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisc.

He said his administration has saved the economy from "imminent collapse" and is now moving ahead on its second core obligation -- to rebuild the economy stronger than before.

"It was an obligation to tackle the festering problems that had been kicked down the road year after year, decade after decade; problems that have to be overcome America to move forward," Obama said. "....That’s why we’ve been pushing so hard on health care reform. That’s why we’re taking up the cause of a clean energy economy that will free America from the grip of foreign oil and generate millions of good-paying jobs in the process.... And that’s why we’re taking up the cause that I’m here to talk about today – that is offering the best possible education to America’s sons and daughters."

He listed some of public schools' woes: falling behind the rest of the world in math and science education, lowering standards for students, and the achievement gap continuing for African-American and Latino students.

"Of course, these problems aren’t new. We’ve heard about them for years. But instead of coming together to solve them, we’ve let partisanship and petty bickering stand in the way of progress. It’s been Democrat versus Republican, vouchers versus better public schools, more resources versus more reform. This status quo has held back our children, it has held back our economy, and it has held back our country long enough. It’s time to stop just talking about education reform and start actually doing it," Obama said.

To that end, he formally announced $4 billion in "Race to the Top" grants available to competing states that commit to real reforms that focus on teaching kids, raising standards, developing good teachers, and, when necessary, taking over or closing struggling schools.

Straying off his prepared speech, Obama said it's up to parents to instill in their children the desire to learn -- and told about his own daughters to make the point.

He said his elder daughter, 11-year-old Malia, came home recently from the swanky Sidwell Friends private school with a 73 on a science test -- far less than the 90 percent goal. She then got a 95 on the next one, but more importantly had learned a lesson, Obama said: "I just like having knowledge,' that's what she said."

Obama's full remarks are below:

The highest-profile elections around the country on Tuesday anointed obvious winners and losers, but the races also brought some collateral political damage.

While Republicans celebrated their wins for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, the White House is licking its wounds.

It had basically written off Democrat Creigh Deeds, who was beaten badly by Republican Bob McDonnell in Virginia, where the electorate that turned out on Tuesday looked far different than the one that a year ago made President Obama the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1964.

But the White House invested more in New Jersey, where incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine was ousted by Republican Chris Christie despite several appearances by President Obama and an effort by his grassroots organization to rekindle the magic of 2008.

And in both New Jersey and Virginia, exit polls suggested that many of the independent voters who flocked to Obama went toward Republicans.

UPDATE: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs gave its spin today, insisting that the New Jersey and Virginia results reflected "very local issues that didn't involve the president."

Voters were worried about the economy, Gibbs told reporters, adding, "I don't think the president needed an election or an exit poll to come to that conclusion."

Predictably, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele sought to make the most out of the wins. He noted that it was the first time since 1997 that Republicans had swept the races for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general in Virginia. "The Republican Party’s overwhelming victory in Virginia is a blow to President Obama and the Democrat Party. It sends a clear signal that voters have had enough of the president’s liberal agenda," Steele said in a statement.

Steele saw even more import in the New Jersey result: “In a state that overwhelmingly voted in favor of President Obama, this stunning defeat of Corzine sends a clear message to Democrats across the country. Americans have grown sick and tired of big government and reckless spending, and this vote is a sound rejection of the far-left policies that are hurting our nation. While the White House sent their political machine to New Jersey in full force – President Obama and Vice President Biden each campaigning in the state 3 times – even that was not enough to convince voters to ignore the realities of their harmful liberal agenda. I fully expect this trend to continue in the coming months, and President Obama and Democrats should have reason to fear the upcoming elections in 2010.”

His Democratic counterpart, Tim Kaine, downplayed the results and their national significance. "In both Virginia and New Jersey we had strong candidates who were running against a significant historical tide and faced uphill battles from the start of this campaign. In New Jersey, the party in power in the White House hasn't won the governor's office since 1985 and the party in power in the White House hasn't won the governor's office in Virginia since 1977. It would have been historic if not unprecedented to win one or both of these races given historical trends," Kaine said in a statement. "These races turned on local and state issues and circumstances and on the candidates in each race - and despite what some will certainly claim - the results are not predictive of the future or reflective of the national mood or political environment."

But in the special congressional election in upstate New York, Bill Owens became the first Democrat to win in more than a century -- after Republican fratricide that exposed deep divisions in the party.

The official GOP candidate withdrew from the race at the last minute because conservatives including Sarah Palin backed third-party Conservative Doug Hoffman. Palin and those others who bucked the GOP are now out on the limb.

Democrats argued that election would have more meaning going forward.

“This election represents a double-blow for national Republicans and their hopes of translating this summer’s ‘tea party’ energy into victories at the ballot box," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen said in a statement. "Not only did eight extreme right-wing groups spend more than $1 million to drive the moderate Republican – and the NRCC’s chosen candidate – out of the race. Now, after losing a seat that was held by Republicans for nearly 120 years, they have to deal with an emboldened and well-funded far right-wing that refuses to tolerate moderate Republicans with differing opinions."

President Obama, trying to use diplomacy to defuse the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program, today marked the 30th anniversary of the event that ruined relations with the US -- the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran.

"This event helped set the United States and Iran on a path of sustained suspicion, mistrust, and confrontation," Obama said.

In his statement, Obama said he is reaching out to the Iranian regime, but it must now respond in kind for relations to improve.

"I have made it clear that the United States of America wants to move beyond this past, and seeks a relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran based upon mutual interests and mutual respect," he said. "We do not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs. We have condemned terrorist attacks against Iran. We have recognized Iran’s international right to peaceful nuclear power. We have demonstrated our willingness to take confidence-building steps along with others in the international community. We have accepted a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency to meet Iran’s request for assistance in meeting the medical needs of its people. We have made clear that if Iran lives up to the obligations that every nation has, it will have a path to a more prosperous and productive relationship with the international community."

"Iran must choose," the president continued. "It is time for the Iranian government to decide whether it wants to focus on the past, or whether it will make the choices that will open the door to greater opportunity, prosperity, and justice for its people."

His full statement is below:

The White House is trying to nip in the bud a budding controversy over terrorism detainees at Guantanamo Bay getting swine flu vaccine sooner than many Americans.

He directly contradicted a spokesman at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, who had said that guards and then detainees were set to receive the vaccinations later this month.

Pressed on that apparent conflict in stories, Gibbs replied, "I don't know what the Pentagon said," and reiterated that there would be no vaccine for the detainees.

The prospect set off Obama administration critics, who noted that with suppliers behind on delivering the vaccine, Americans have been lining up for the inoculations.

"I don't think it's a good idea," the top House Republican, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
"The administration probably didn't think it would be very popular either; that's why they announced it on Friday night," Boehner added.

Gibbs defended the administration's efforts to defend the nation against the H1N1 virus.

"Obviously, the president is frustrated that there's anybody that is in one of these groups, at a high-risk group, that is having trouble getting the vaccine now, and we're making progress on getting more and more of that vaccine each day," Gibbs said at his regular daily press briefing.

President Obama's overall approval rating is still at a healthy 54 percent, but a new poll suggests some weakness on major issues.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this morning shows his approval rating down from 58 percent in the same poll in mid-September.

More worrisome for the White House, the poll numbers have flipped from majority approval to majority disapproval on the economy (54 percent disapproval now, 54 percent approval in September), health care policy (57 percent disapproval now, 51 percent approval then), and the war in Afghanistan (56 percent disapproval now, 49 percent approval in August.)

On the economy, while some macro numbers are improving, unemployment continues to rise and some economists fear a jobless recovery is in the offing.

On health care, while Congress is moving in fits and starts to approving a bill that Obama can sign, the onslaught of criticism continues unabated -- both from conservatives who see it as big government, and from liberals disappointed that there isn't a stronger public option.

And on Afghanistan, while Obama decides whether to send more US troops, casualties have increased, a beleaguered Afghan president won a disputed election in a walkover, and critics are questioning why the president is taking so long.

CNN's polling director noted that Obama's overall approval rating is nearly identical to the 53 percent of the vote he won a year ago, as his his approval rating among nearly every demographic group. But he is less popular among conservatives than the share of their vote he won, and more popular among liberals.

The new survey, conducted Friday through Sunday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

As the White House declares that the economy is moving from crisis into recovery, President Obama meets this morning for the second time with his big-name advisory group "to discuss long-term, innovation based ideas to sustain growth and continue to create jobs of the future."

The Economic Recovery Advisory Board, named in November, includes CEOs of major corporations and union leaders.

UPDATE: "We have come a long way since January, when at that time we were losing 700,000 jobs per month and across the political spectrum I think there was fear of the possibility of another Great Depression," Obama said during the meeting.

"We have pulled the economy back from the brink. We got good news last week showing that for the first time in over a year the economy was actually growing once again. And we have seen some other indicators that manufacturing is beginning to pick up. That's all good news and we are pleased that the actions that we took swiftly through the Recovery Act helped to stem what could have been a disastrous situation for the economy and we are starting to see stabilization and, indeed, some improvement," he added.

"But the reason we're here today is because we just are not where we need to be yet," he said. "We've got a long way to go. We are still seeing production levels that are significantly below peak levels and most distressing is the fact that job growth continues to lag. Now, we all know that in every economic recovery there is going to be a lag between the economy growing again, businesses investing again and businesses hiring again. But given the severity of the job losses that took place at the beginning of the year and the need for us to make up a whole lot of job loss, is going to require I think some bold, innovative action on our part and on Congress's part and on the private sector's part." (His full remarks are below.)

But as the administration touts the third quarter GDP growth and the nearly 650,000 jobs it says have been saved or created by the $787 billion stimulus package, Republicans are continuing to criticize. They question the job numbers, point out that many of them are government positions rather than private-sector ones, and note that the unemployment rate continues to rise.

This morning, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a potential Obama rival in 2012, said that "the stimulus that the president and the Congress passed is not what's helped the economy."

Instead, Romney said on "The Early Show" on CBS, the economy is rebounding because the private sector has regained its footing on its own.

President Obama wishes Americans a Happy Halloween -- and says that the latest numbers show the economy is getting far less scary.

In his weekly radio-Internet address today, Obama highlights the gross domestic product report earlier in the week that showed the economy growing at 3.5 percent.

"It is easy to forget that it was only several months ago that the economy was shrinking rapidly and many economists feared another Great Depression," the president says.

But he is quick to acknowledge "economic growth is no substitute for job growth." "And we will likely see further job losses in the coming days, a fact that is both troubling for our economy and heartbreaking for the men and women who suddenly find themselves out of work," he warns.

To stem those losses, Obama says the administration has taken steps to free up credit, prevent foreclosures, and cut taxes. He also touted the $787 billion economic stimulus package, asserting that "it is clear that the Recovery Act has now created and saved more than one million jobs. That’s more than a million people who might otherwise be out of work today – folks who can wake up each day knowing that they’ll be able to provide for themselves and their families."

Republicans would dispute that number, but Obama says it shows the country is back on the right track and building a more solid economy.

"I want to emphasize that there’s still plenty of progress to be made," he adds. "And positive news today does not mean there won’t be difficult days ahead. As I’ve said many times, it took years to dig our way into the crisis we’ve faced. It will take more than a few months to dig our way out. But make no mistake: that’s exactly what we will do."

UPDATE: House Republican leader John Boehner's response: “The ingenuity of hard-working Americans will be the engine of economic growth and a prosperous future. But the Administration’s claims about its trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ just don’t pass the straight-face test. Americans were promised that it would keep unemployment from going above 8 percent, and would start working immediately. Neither have turned out to be true. No one is buying the latest claim that it created or saved 1 million jobs – a claim the Vice President acknowledged is not accurate. It’s time to get to work on policies that get our economy moving again and that don’t saddle our children and grandchildren with mountains of debt, taxes and unsustainable spending.”

Obama's full address is below and can be viewed here.

Top aides to President Obama say that, yes indeed, he did have that 3 a.m. phone call that then-rival Hillary Rodham Clinton warned he couldn't handle.

Before the Texas Democratic primary last year, Clinton aired a provocative TV ad that showed children sleeping peacefully and asking voters who they would trust to deal with a middle-of-the-night crisis.

Senior adviser David Axelrod, communications director Anita Dunn, and press secretary Robert Gibbs told CNN that it happened in April, when Obama was in Prague and North Korea tested a long-range missile.

"I think it was about 4:00 in the morning we were in there and we then discussed that and I went to wake him up and he soon joined all of us in getting intelligence briefings from in the room as well as back in D.C.," Gibbs said.

"He came in, sat down, got a read up on the military people, got on the line with Secretary Gates, General Cartwright I think. And then he says, 'OK. Here’s what we’re going to do -- bing, bing, bing,' " Axelrod continued.

Obama, who condemned the test, didn't go back to sleep. Instead, he went to the gym.

The interview is scheduled to air in full on Monday, but CNN released excerpts today.

The Obama administration said this afternoon that more than 640,000 jobs have been saved or created under President Obama's economic stimulus plan at state and local governments, nonprofit groups, and universities.

The 640,329 are in reports covering approximately $160 billion, which represents a little less than half of the funds spent through Sept. 30. Counting jobs linked to $288 billion in tax cuts, White House officials say the $787 billion stimulus plan has already created or saved more than 1 million jobs.

“These reports are strong confirmation that the Recovery Act is responsible for over one million jobs so far and we are on-track to create and save 3.5 million jobs through the Recovery Act by the end of next year. This is another encouraging sign of progress following yesterday’s news that the economy has begun to grow again for the first time in more than a year, but the President and I will not be satisfied until monthly reports show net job growth. We are working every day to create more jobs and we will continue to report on our progress doing so with the Recovery Act in the same transparent way we did today,” Vice President Joe Biden, who is overseeing the stimulus, said in an event with Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Republican, and Martin O’Malley, the Maryland Democrat.

The official numbers were posted late this afternoon on the website of the independent board overseeing the stimulus. The state-by-state breakdown can be viewed here.

A separate report released today by Jared Bernstein, Biden's chief economist, asserted that the new data confirms the administration is on-track to meet its goal of creating and saving at least 3.5 million jobs by next year. The report also found that the states with the highest unemployment rates nationwide reported 25 percent more jobs created and saved per capita than the nation as a whole.

The government numbers include 23,533 jobs that officials say were retained as a result of spending $1.9 billion in federal stimulus money over the past eight months in Massachusetts. Governor Deval Patrick announced that estimate on Wednesday, but then on Thursday announced he would eliminate nearly 1,000 state jobs to help close a $600 million budget gap.

But the Republican National Committee is aggressively disputing the numbers, citing an Associated Press report this week that an earlier stimulus status report had overstated the jobs numbers.

"Today's release from the White House will be the fourth job report in the last two months," it said today. "With a pattern of these White House 'jobs created or saved' reports being published in close proximity to releases of real data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (showing continuing job loss and rising unemployment), it is clear the Obama administration is trying to cover up economic reality by manufacturing job numbers out of thin air."

President Obama announced today that his administration is lifting travel restrictions into the country for those with HIV/AIDS.

"Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease -- yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic -- yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country," Obama declared, before signing a bill extending the HIV/AIDS treatment act named for Ryan White, who was diagnosed with AIDS at 13 in 1984 and died in 1990. The bill provides medical care, medication, and support services to about 500,000, mostly poor, people.

"If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. It's a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families together, and it's a step that will save lives."

(His full remarks are below.)

The travel ban, imposed 22 years ago, will be lifted in January, according to a final regulation that will be published Monday, Obama said.

Similar restrictions are in place in about a dozen countries to protect public health. But Obama said the travel ban unnecessarily reinforces the stigma of AIDS.

Senator John F. Kerry, who co-authored legislation that the Senate passed last year to lift the ban, praised Obama's decision, asserting that the 1987 provision baring HIV-positive individuals from travelling or immigrating to the US covered doctors and experts, as well as refugees seeking asylum despite the lack of scientific evidence supporing the ban as an effective tool for disease control.

“Today a discriminatory travel and immigration ban has gone the way of the dinosaur and we’re glad it’s finally extinct. It sure took too long to get here,” Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. “We’ve now removed one more hurdle in our fight against AIDS, and it’s long overdue for people living with HIV who battle against stigma and bigotry day in and day out.”

“At long last, our nation’s unjust policy of excluding HIV-positive visitors and immigrants has ended,” added Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement issued by Kerry's office. “We applaud the leadership of our allies in Congress, especially Senator Kerry, and of President Obama and Secretary Sebelius in bringing this discriminatory chapter of our history to a close.”

Mitt Romney's name won't be on the ballot -- and neither will President Obama's -- but both have something at stake in the battles for governor in New Jersey and Virginia next Tuesday.

Romney has campaigned and raised money for the Republican candidates, and Obama has done the same for the Democrats in what some are viewing as a one-year referendum on the president.

Today, Romney sent an email to supporters of his Free and Strong and America PAC, soliciting last-minute contributions. "A donation today can help achieve strong conservative wins in the critical states of Virginia and New Jersey and will give us the momentum we need to take back the House and Senate in 2010," he wrote.

"This is our time. Polls show that we continue to gain strength, but we cannot back down," he continues. "I am doing all I can to stand up for what we believe, but I can't do it alone."

Romney, who sought the GOP presidential nomination last year and is potential contender in 2012, has staked quite a bit of his influence on how Bob McDonnell does in Virginia and Chris Christie fares in New Jersey. The former Massachusetts governor has done more for McDonnell, who is ahead of Democrat Creigh Deeds in the polls, than for Christie, who trails incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine.

UPDATE: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele also expressed confidence in the New Jersey and Virginia races today, issuing a memo giving an extremely rosy view of the party's prospects going forward.

"Just one year ago, many political pundits had written the epitaph of the Republican Party. They claimed the nation had undergone a fundamental realignment from the center-right of the political spectrum toward the Democrats, and that the GOP had become nothing but a regional party – at best," he told supporters.

"Today, Republicans have begun to reestablish the trust of voters on a majority of issues; and, I am proud to say are turning an important corner and are moving forward with strength."
Steele's full memo is below:

Wrestling with whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan, President Obama saw the war's cost first-hand early this morning on a bleak, blustery tarmac in Delaware.

Obama saluted and honored 18 Americans killed this week -- one of the bloodiest of the deadliest month for US forces in the eight-year war -- as they returned home at Dover Air Force Base.

The 18 flag-draped transfer cases contained the bodies of seven soldiers and three Drug Enforcement Agency agents killed in a helicopter crash Monday and eight soldiers killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb Tuesday.

UPDATE: "Obviously it was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day -- not only our troops, but their families as well. And so Michelle and I are constantly mindful of those sacrifices," Obama told reporters this afternoon.

"And obviously the burden that both our troops and our families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts. And it is something that I think about each and every day."

According to the press pool report, Obama, wearing a dark suit and topcoat against the night chill, arrived at Dover with a delegation of senior officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder.

From Marine One, the president first took a motorcade to a base chapel, where he met privately with families of the killed. Then, Obama and his party boarded the mammoth C-17 cargo plane, where a prayer was led by an Air Force chaplain. They walked down the plane's rear ramp, and stood in a line at the base.

Reporters were allowed to witness Obama participating in the solemn transfer ritual for Army Sergeant Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind., whose family consented to media coverage. Obama stood at attention at the base of the plane’s loading ramp as Griffin’s family arrived. Obama saluted as six Army soldiers wearing white gloves carried the flag- draped transfer case from the plane to a waiting vehicle. As it drove away, Obama saluted again.

The unannounced trip -- Obama left the White House about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and didn't return until nearly 5 a.m. today -- was the first time a commander in chief has met returning casualties since Bill Clinton in 1996 met the body of his Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown, who was killed in Europe.

Earlier this year, Obama reversed an 18-year-old policy barring media coverage of returning war dead.

The 18 honored by the president did not include Captain Kyle R. VanDeGiesen, 29, of North Attleborough, a Marine helicopter pilot who was one of four Marines killed in a second helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Monday.

The politics of jobs numbers will be on full display the rest of the week.

The White House is crowing about the Commerce Department report this morning that the US economy grew by 3.5 percent in the third quarter, the highest growth rate in two years and the strongest sign yet that the worst recession since the 1930s is done.

The growth was fueled by consumers spending money on cars and homes provided in large measure by Obama administration programs. But many economists believe that the growth rate will slow as the impact wanes from the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

“Data released today by the Commerce Department show that real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of the year. This is in stark contrast to the decline of 6.4 percent annual rate just two quarters ago. Indeed, the two-quarter swing in the rate of growth of 9.9 percentage points was the largest since 1980. Analysis by both the Council of Economic Advisers and a wide range of private and public-sector forecasters indicates that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contributed between 3 and 4 percentage points to real GDP growth in the third quarter. This suggests that in the absence of the Recovery Act, real GDP would have risen little, if at all, this past quarter,” the White House said in a statement.

“After four consecutive quarters of decline, positive GDP growth is an encouraging sign that the U.S. economy is moving in the right direction. However, this welcome milestone is just another step, and we still have a long road to travel until the economy is fully recovered. The turnaround in crucial labor market indicators, such as employment and the unemployment rate, typically occurs after the turnaround in GDP. And it will take sustained, robust GDP growth to bring the unemployment rate down substantially. Such a decline in unemployment is, of course, what we are all working to achieve.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are highlighting an Associated Press report that the initial job numbers from the stimulus package have been overstated by thousands. The AP said some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two, three, four or even more times.

While the administration claimed that federal contracts awarded to businesses under the recovery plan already had helped pay for more than 30,000 jobs, the AP said its limited review found the number was overstated at the very least by nearly 5,000, or one in six.

The story gave more ammunition to Republicans who argue that the stimulus has been a flop.

But the White House quickly issued a lengthy response.

"“This story draws misleading conclusions from a handful of examples. It looks at only a small portion of the data – an initial upload of data representing just two percent of Recovery Act spending – that was made publicly available before a full review of its accuracy could be done. Virtually all of the errors found by the AP had already been found by our review, and were already corrected in an update to be loaded onto Recovery.gov this week," said Ed DeSeve, a senior adviser to the president in charge of the stimulus package.

"Tomorrow, more than 100,000 recipient reports will be posted on Recovery.gov. Unlike the small number of reports reviewed by AP, these reports have been reviewed for weeks, errors have been spotted and corrected, and additional layers of review by state and local governments have further improved the data quality. As a result, whatever problems the early and partial data had, the full data to be posted on Friday will provide the American people with an accurate, detailed look at the early success of the Recovery Act,” he added in a statement.

The full White House statement is below:

President Obama today is naming two former senators -- one Democrat and one Republican -- to lead his intelligence advisory board.

David Boren of Oklahoma and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska will be co-chairmen of the board, which reports directly to the president as an independent source of advice on intelligence matters including the quality, quantity, and adequacy of intelligence activities; the effectiveness of organization structure, management, and personnel; and the performance of federal agencies.

“I’m very pleased that these two distinguished Americans have agreed to serve as co-chairmen of my Intelligence Advisory Board,” Obama said in a statement released by the White House. “They have been leading voices on intelligence and security issues, and they represent the bipartisan consensus for a strong and smart national security policy. They have my full support, will report to me, and will have the full cooperation of my National Security Council staff and the organizations represented here.”

“I appreciate the privilege and opportunity that President Obama has given me to co-chair the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board,” Hagel said. “I look forward to working on behalf of our country to help build a more secure America. I am particularly grateful to participate in this effort with former Oklahoma Senator and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman David Boren. His distinguished record of accomplishment and experience will provide strong and enlightened leadership for the Board. Working with Senator Boren and the other impressive members of the board we will make every effort to provide thoughtful, informed and independent advice to the President and his team.”

Boren said in a statement, “I am honored by the president’s appointment to co-chair the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. I appreciate the opportunity the president has given me to help in the effort to strengthen our national security. I’m especially pleased that former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, for whom I have great respect, will serve as the other co-chair. It is my hope that together, with the other members of the board, we can give candid, thoughtful, and nonpartisan advice, which will be helpful to the country. This part time advisory role, which is uncompensated, will in no way alter my plans to remain as president of the University of Oklahoma. I see this appointment as a chance to perform my duty as a citizen to serve our country.”

Their full remarks at the meeting are below:

Republicans are jumping all over a published report today that President Obama -- despite all his talk of cleaning up Washington -- is marketing VIP access to the White House to big campaign donors.

"During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings," the Washington Times reported today.

"High-dollar fundraisers have been promised access to senior White House officials in exchange for pledges to donate $30,400 personally or to bundle $300,000 in contributions ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, according to internal Democratic National Committee documents obtained by The Washington Times. Top donors described in interviews with The Times how they were given a birthday visit to the Oval Office and allowed use of a White House-complex bowling alley for their family. Bundlers closest to the president were invited to watch a movie in the red-walled theater in the basement of the presidential mansion."

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele responded in a statement calling for an investigation and for the White House to release the names of the selected donors.

“Bill Clinton turned the White House into a hotel and coffee shop. Now President Obama has turned the White House into a full service resort complete with amenities for the highest Democrat bidder," Steele said.

"The seriousness of this issue requires an immediate investigation looking into the degree and details of fundraising efforts between the White House and DNC, whether there was any quid pro quo offered to donors, and the names of White House officials who were involved in such activities. The White House should also immediately release the names of donors who have accessed these perks or received special briefings from administration officials. Candidate Obama pledged to clean up the muddy waters of Washington, but President Obama has jumped in head first.”

A White House spokesman said that many donors given access were also longtime Obama family friends and, that given the millions of contributors to Obama's campaign, it wasn't surprising that some visited the White House.

"Contributing does not guarantee a ticket to the White House, nor does it prohibit the contributor from visiting," Dan Pfeiffer, the White House's deputy communications director, told the Times.

UPDATE: Asked about the report at his daily briefing today, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs asserted that the administration is the most transparent in history, noting that it will soon start disclosing the names of almost every visitor to the White House.

He joked that the only person he knew who had received special access to the White House bowling alley was his son, who had the bumpers down and was chowing down on chicken.

Senator John McCain, President Obama's Republican foe last year, has largely supported his rival since the election.

But now, the Vietnam War hero and Iraq troop surge supporter is putting increasing pressure on Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan -- and do it soon.

The president has held six war councils and counting to decide the strategy going forward, and some expect him to wait on deciding on his top commander's request for as many as 40,000 additional troops until after the Nov. 7 Afghan presidential run-off election.

But McCain said on "The Early Show" on CBS this morning that the war policy in Afghanistan "has been reviewed time and again" and it's time to act because the long delay "is not helpful to our effort" and is frustrating military commanders and making allies nervous.

And in an op-ed posted online on CNN today, McCain calls on Obama to move as quickly as possible to grant General Stanley McChrystal's request for additional troops.

McCain notes that he supported the Afghanistan strategy that Obama laid out in March, when he announced his decision to dispatch 21,000 more US troops. And the senator also stresses that he backed Obama's appointment of McChrystal as the top US commander on the ground -- so the president should listen to the general now.

"I agree with our commander's assessment of the security situation as 'deteriorating' and that our civilian and military leaders urgently need more resources, including more combat troops, to turn the tide toward success," McCain writes. "I sympathize with our president, because sending men and women into harm's way is the most difficult decision that a commander-in-chief must make. However, Americans are already serving in harm's way in Afghanistan, and the sooner we can provide the reinforcements and resources they need, the safer and more successful they will be."

(Read the full opinion piece here.)

It's like President Obama is starring in his own version of "Groundhog Day."

His schedule today sounds an awful like his itinerary on Friday -- talk up his clean energy proposals and try to boost a Democratic candidate for governor.

On Friday, he called for America to be a leader in alternative energy at a speech at MIT in the morning, and followed up in the afternoon with a fund-raiser for Governor Deval Patrick, who faces what looks like a tough re-election fight next year.

Today, he announced $3.4 billion in federal grants for "smart" power grid and other energy efficiency projects during a visit to Florida Power & Light Co.'s DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, the largest photovoltaic electricity facility in the country. (The White House release is below.)

With an array of solar cells behind him, Obama said the current power grid wastes too much energy and is too susceptible to blackouts.

Mentioning President Dwight D. Eisenhower's push for the interstate highway system, the president said it's time to make the same kind of investment in the power grid, asserting that it would save consumers and create jobs. (His full remarks are below.)

UPDATE: Senators John F. Kerry and Paul Kirk announced this afternoon that six Massachusetts communities and companies will receive a total of $36 million in smart grid grants from the economic stimulus package.

“These investments will make our electricity delivery system more efficient, give us more control over power surges and reduce the amount of energy we use,” Kerry said in a statement. “I’m grateful that the Obama Administration recognizes the benefits of investing in these projects.”

Then, Obama followed up this afternoon with a rally for Creigh Deeds, the Democrat running for governor in Virginia. (The president's prepared remarks at the rally are below.)

But there's a big difference -- while Patrick has until next year to recover in the polls, Deeds only has until next Tuesday.

In advance of today's rally at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., the Democratic National Committee said it has launched a new Facebook ad highlighting Obama's support for Deeds.

But a Washington Post poll released Monday said that Deeds trails Republican Bob McDonnell by 55 percent to 44 percent margin. And Obama might not be able to help Deeds much -- the poll also found that seven in 10 respondents say the president -- who remains relatively popular with an approval rating of 54 percent among likely voters -- won't be a factor in their vote one way or the other.

Also, McDonnell's campaign announced that the former Virginia attorney general raised more than $4 million in the first 21 days of October and finished the reporting period with $1.8 million in available cash.

Public support for a public option in health care appears to be growing, according to a new poll.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal survey found that 48 percent support a government-run plan to compete with private insurers and 42 percent oppose it -- the strongest support ever in the survey. Last month, opinion was basically divided with 46 percent in favor and 48 percent against.

The new poll, conducted Thursday through Sunday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The top Senate Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, revived the possibility of a public option being in the final bill by announcing Monday that he would include one in the version he plans to bring to the full Senate -- albeit with a big exception in that states would be able to opt out.

But at the same time, Reid's move might have cost him a vote of a Senate moderate.

The Associated Press is reporting that Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who caucuses with Democrats, is saying that while he's "strongly inclined" to vote to bring Reid's health care plan to the Senate floor for debate, he would ultimately vote no because it includes a public option.

Lieberman told the AP that he's worried a public option would be costly to taxpayers and drive up insurance premiums.

UPDATE: But Lieberman told Politico that he would join a Republican filibuster if the bill includes a public option.

"We're trying to do too much at once," Lieberman told Politico. “To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now." 

And Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only Republican to support any of the health bills so far, is saying she would vote with fellow Republicans to block the Democratic bill if changes are not made to the version that Reid outlined, the AP reports.

Counting Lieberman, Democrats control 60 votes -- just enough to overcome a possible GOP filibuster -- so Snowe's vote could be crucial.

A populist economic message -- and perhaps a little class warfare -- is alive and well today among Democrats and their allies.

In Washington, Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and Max Baucus of Montana and Representatives Richard Neal of Massachusetts and Charles Rangel of New York introduced bills today that would crack down on wealthy Americans and businesses that hide assets in offshore tax havens.

"A small number of individuals and businesses hide their assets overseas solely in order to shirk their responsibilities, even as the vast majority of hard-working Americans honor the obligations of citizenship and fulfill their responsibilities," President Obama said in a statement cheering them on.

“Shortly after taking office, I laid out a set of proposals to crack down on illegal overseas tax evasion. The legislation introduced today would fulfill that promise, putting a stop to billions of dollars worth of abuses. I look forward to working with Congress to turn these proposals into law so that honest Americans no longer shoulder the burden of the few individuals and businesses that put profit before responsibility,” the president added.

Meanwhile in Chicago, the AFL-CIO is protesting outside the convention of the American Bankers Association.

"We're gathered here today to send a message to the bankers meeting inside, and the message is this: Business as usual is over. We are shutting it down. You work for us-not the other way around," AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said. "Your job is to be stewards of our savings-to put and keep working families in homes, to lend the money companies need to create jobs. And you have failed. You've turned the American economy into your own private casino, gambling away our financial future with our money, driving us to the brink of a second Great Depression, then sticking out your hand for taxpayers to bail you out."

His full prepared remarks are below:

After weeks of uncertainty, the top Senate Democrat announced this afternoon that he wants to include a government-run option as part of the health care overhaul, though it's not clear he has the votes to get it through the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference that he favors the contentious public option, which is included in the versions passed by the Senate health committee and three House panels but not the one from the Senate Finance Committee, according to several media organizations.

"While the public option is not a silver bullet, I believe it's an important way to ensure competition and to level the playing field for patients with the insurance industry," Reid said.

Reid threw his support behind a version that would allow states to opt out of offering government-run coverage to compete with private insurers. Under his proposal, states would have until 2014 to do so.

"Under this concept, states will be able to determine whether the public option works well for them and will have the ability to opt out, if they so choose," Reid said. "I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system. It will protect consumers, keep insurers honest and ensure competition."

But the opt-out will not please liberal Democrats, who say the public option should be available nationwide and is essential to keeping the insurance industry honest.

President Obama has said he prefers a public option, but is not demanding it as part of a bill he could sign.

Reid said the bill that goes to the Senate floor will also include a provision for nonprofit co-ops as another option for affordable coverage.

He said he is sending his proposal -- which combines elements of the Senate Finance and Senate health bills -- to the Congressional Budget Office for an analysis of how much it would cost. He and Obama are aiming for a plan that comes in at $900 billion over 10 years or less.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement on Obama's behalf congratulating Reid, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, and Senate Christopher Dodd, who shepherded the health committee bill.

“Thanks to their efforts, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to solving this decades-old problem," Gibbs said. "And while much work remains, the President is pleased that at the progress that Congress has made. He’s also pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage, in this case with an allowance for states to opt out. As he said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition.”

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, a Finance Committee member, also applauded Reid for including a public option.

“This is big news, and it’s very good news. Majority Leader Reid is taking the gutsy and appropriate road in fighting for the right policy, something the American people want and an issue on which every Senator should be held accountable," Kerry said in a statement.

"That’s why I voted for it in the Finance Committee and why I’ve advocated for it since day one. Leader Reid has laid out a plan that is reasonable and fair and will help achieve quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans. Ted Kennedy once told me there were many ways to arrive at health care reform, and he always knew that the first step was in finding every possible avenue to fight for the best policy. That’s the tradition the Majority Leader is carrying on today.”

President Obama and his point man in Congress for foreign policy are both focusing on Afghanistan today.

Obama met this morning with his national security team to discuss US policy in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan as pressure builds on the president to decide on his top commander's request for as many as 40,000 more troops.

The White House said expected attendees included Vice President Joe Biden (via videoconference), Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, National Security Adviser General James Jones, Deputy National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

They met as word comes from Afghanistan that 14 American military members and civilians were killed in two helicopter crashes.

This afternoon, Obama traveled to Jacksonville, Fla., where he will speak to and meet with sailors and Marines.

UPDATE: In his speech at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Obama did not give any significant hints on his Afghanistan decision. But he did mention that debate as he pledged anew not to send US forces into combat unless absolutely necessary.

"While I will never hesitate to use force to protect the American people or our vital interests, I also promise you this -- and this is very important as we consider our next steps in Afghanistan: I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm’s way," he said. "I won’t risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary. And if it is necessary, we will back you up. Because you deserve the strategy, the clear mission, the defined goals and the equipment and support you need to get the job done. That’s the promise I make to you."

Instead, the president spent most of his address thanking the sailors and Marines for their service, mentioning the loss of 14 Americans in separate helicopter crashes in Afghanistan.

"You are the best-trained, best-prepared, best-led force in history. You -- our people -- are our most precious resource," he said.

"We were reminded of this again, with today’s helicopter crashes in Afghanistan. Fourteen Americans gave their lives. And our prayers are with these service members, their civilian colleagues and the families who loved them. And while no words can ease the ache in their hearts today, may they find some comfort in knowing this: like all those who give their lives in service to America, they were doing their duty and they were doing this nation proud."

Obama also promised to make sure members of the military are taken care of when they return home.

"We’re improving care for our wounded warriors, especially those with Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injuries. We’re funding the Post-9/11 GI Bill to give you and your families the chance to pursue your dreams. And we’re making the biggest commitment to our veterans -- the largest percentage increase in the VA budget -- in more than 30 years," he said.

"These are the commitments I make to you; the obligations that your country is honor-bound to uphold. Because you’ve have always taken care of America, and America must always take care of you. Always."

(His full remarks are below.)

About an hour after Obama's strategy session began this morning, Senator John F. Kerry delivered a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations entitled “Afghanistan: Defining the Possibilities” to examine the way forward for US strategy in Afghanistan.

Kerry was on the ground in Afghanistan and Pakistan during a seven-day trip that ended last Wednesday and that culminated in the Senate Foreign Relations chairman playing a key role in persuading Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept a Nov. 7 runoff election that US officials hope provides legitimacy to the Afghan government.

In his speech, Kerry said that the Afghanistan debate has been oversimplified and that Obama is right to take his time to decide what to do next.

"With certainty, we all know why we invaded Afghanistan. It was not a mistake to go in. We now have to choose a smart way forward so that no one is ever compelled to ask whether we've made a mistake in staying," he said.

"The easiest way to make a mistake, frankly, is to tolerate a debate that sells our country short. In recent weeks, politics has reduced an extraordinarily complex country and mission to a simple, headline-ready “yes or no” on troop numbers. That debate is completely at odds with reality. What we need, above all, what our troops deserve-- and what we haven’t had-- is a comprehensive strategy, military and civilian combined.”

Kerry said that he believes the troop request by General Stanley McChrystal is too expansive. “I am convinced from my conversations with General Stanley McChrystal that he understands the necessity of conducting a smart counterinsurgency in a limited geographic area. But I believe his current plan reaches too far, too fast. We do not yet have the critical guarantees of governance and development capacity. I also have serious concerns about the ability to produce effective Afghan forces to partner with, so we can ensure that when our troops make heroic sacrifices, the benefits to the Afghans are clear and sustainable.”

The senator also hit back at former Vice President Dick Cheney, who said last week that the White House was "dithering" and endangering US troops by taking so long to decide.

"After eight years of neglecting Afghanistan as vice president, Dick Cheney has now come out of retirement to criticize President Obama for taking time to examine assumptions before sending troops into war, this from the man who in 2002 told America, quote, 'The Taliban regime is out of business permanently.' I think this is one time I wish Dick Cheney had been right, but tragically, he wasn't, and he isn't today, and that's why we have to make the tough choices about Afghanistan now," Kerry said.

"Make no mistake: Because of the gross mishandling of this war by past civilian leadership, there are no great options for its handling today. One American officer captured well our lack of a strategy when he said, We haven't been fighting in Afghanistan for eight years. We've been fighting in Afghanistan for one year eight times in a row. That is our inheritance."

His full speech is below:

The No. 2 Republican in the House says there's still daylight for a bipartisan deal on health care.

But what Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia says the GOP would support falls far short of what Democrats and the White House want -- making even more clear how deep and wide the partisan divide is on health care.

"Given the heated rhetoric and sharp partisan divides that have characterized this year's debate, it's easy to forget that there are several key reforms in health care that Democrats and Republicans can agree on," Cantor says in an opinion piece published online on CNN.

He says both parties agree on providing more affordable health coverage, especially for Americans who change jobs; barring insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions; and going some distance on medical malpractice reform.
"Congress can accomplish the dual goals of improving the quality of care in America and trimming the ranks of the uninsured if we focus on what Democrats and Republicans can agree on, rather than on our differences. It's not too late for the majority to change course," he writes.

But Cantor says Democrats' proposals for a public option -- a government plan to compete with private insurers -- is a "poison pill" that would guarantee Republican opposition. And he accuses Democrats of a bill that "dishonestly resorts to a host of budget gimmicks to give the veneer of deficit neutrality over the next decade."

Liberals are trying to intensify their pressure on President Obama for a full-fledged public option as part of the health care overhaul.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has a petition, website, and a new TV ad urging Obama to insist on a government-run plan to compete with private insurers -- and to stop kowtowing to Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only Republican to support the health reform bill so far. She has made clear the most she would support is a public option "trigger" that would go into effect only if private insurers don't provide coverage and cut costs.

The petition, YesWeStillCan.org website, and ad all seek to remind Obama of his campaign pledges that attracted a huge grassroots groundswell that put him in the White House.

In the TV spot, an activist notes that Maine went heavily for Obama last November and that polls show a majority of Maine residents support a public option. "We worked hard for it," the activist says. "We worked hard for you."

The petition echoes, "Every day, insurance companies deny care and let people die. Getting one Republican senator's vote is not worth delaying reform -- too many real lives are at stake. We need you to fight and state clearly that anything less than a strong public option is not change we can believe in."

And Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, criticizes Obama for not putting more pressure on top Senate Democrat Harry Reid for a public option and for telling his grassroots Organizing for America group last week that they should be happy with the bill that doesn't include the government plan. "Understand that the bill that you least like in Congress right now. The one you least like, of the five that are out there, would provide 29 million Americans health care," the president lectured.

Green retorts: "Yay insurance for 29 million people -- by mandating they buy insurance from rip-off artists with no choice of a public option!"

"Here's what the White House needs to understand: Expressing a preference for the public option is not the same as fighting for the public option. Telling Harry Reid 'good luck with that' is not the same as the president saying, 'I am there helping Reid fight for those final votes,' " Green said in a statement.

"Americans clearly favor a strong bill over a bipartisan bill and are clamoring for President Obama to make good on the mandate for sweeping change that was given to him in the 2008 election. President Obama will be judged by many of his biggest 2008 supporters on whether he fights for a strong public option at this critical moment."

A senior White House economic adviser is trying today to make the economic case for a health care overhaul.

Republicans and other critics are warning that the president's proposals to remake such a significant portion of the US economy could hurt growth, balloon the federal deficit, and pinch recession-weary families.

But Christina Romer, chairwoman of White House Council of Economic Advisers, plans to tell the liberal Center for American Progress this afternoon that the only way to get the deficit under control is to trim health care costs, particularly in the government Medicare and Medicaid programs.

"Given the central role of rising health care expenditures, any solution to our long-run budget problem will simply have to include slowing the growth rate of health care costs,” Romer will say, according to advance excerpts released by the White House.

"Some have argued that it is irresponsible to reform our health care system at a time when the budget deficit is so large and our long-run fiscal problems are so severe. I firmly believe the opposite: it is fiscally irresponsible not to do health care reform.

State and local governments and private businesses alike would benefit from the health overhaul, she asserts. "Slowing the growth rate of health care costs will enable firms to once again give raises in the form of take-home pay rather than more expensive health insurance,” Romer plans to say.

“[F]iscally prudent health care reform that expands coverage to tens of millions of Americans and transforms our health care system to one that is higher quality and lower cost is possible.”

In a one-day jaunt to New England today, President Obama mixes policy and politics, talking clean energy and helping two vulnerable Democrats raise some campaign cash.

Obama started his visit by touring a research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then giving a speech challenging Americans to lead the global economy in clean energy.

During the tour, Obama said, he saw innovations including windows that generate energy by directing light to solar cells.

"That was neat stuff," he said.

Obama praised the role of MIT and other research universities in scientific advances that are crucial to economic growth -- and an important driver of American progress.

"We have always been about innovation. We have always been about discovery. It's in our DNA," he said.

Obama talked about the importance of investing in energy technology to create jobs in the 21st century and highlighted the $787 billion economic stimulus package investments that are creating jobs and making advancements in wind energy. (His full remarks are below.)

"It's an important message, and the president is going to continue to talk about things that can help grow the economy, because there are few things in this administration that are more important than creating jobs and getting this economy on track," deputy White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters traveling with the president.

Obama also made sure to credit Governor Deval Patrick's role in making sure that Massachusetts shares in the energy technology boom. Patrick was bragging about the Bay State on their drive to MIT, the president said, and he told the governor: "You don't have to be a booster. I already love the state."

Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, a chief author of the sweeping climate change bill passed by the House in June, praised Obama's speech.

“Today President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to our clean energy future and his vision of America leading the clean energy economy of the 21st century,” Markey said in a statement. “With President Obama’s leadership in the White House and clean energy legislation making its way through Congress, America can win the race for the next great clean energy technologies that will create jobs and revive our economy.”

“President Obama also expertly dispelled the myths surrounding clean energy legislation being spread by naysayers and special interests. President Obama knows we can cap carbon pollution without kneecapping our economy. States are the laboratories of democracy, and when it comes to clean energy policy there are few more successful labs than Massachusetts. There could have been no better choice for his speech than MIT and the city of Boston, the hub of the clean energy universe.”

The White House issued an advance look at the MIT event. MIT president Susan Hockfield and Ernest J. Moniz, director of MIT's Technology Energy Initiative, are to speak prior to the president. The audience of about 750 will include MIT faculty and staff, business and community leaders, entrepreneurs, and local political leaders and members of Congress, including Senator John F. Kerry, Representative Michael Capuano, Patrick, and Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray.

(The full release is below.)

Scientists at places like MIT would be at the forefront of research designed to wean the country from fossil fuels and move toward alternative energy. But it is also a center for the debate over a sweeping climate change bill that passed the House in June and is now being debated in the Senate.

In advance of the president's speech, the Republican National Committee noted that MIT-affiliated professors have warned against the centerpiece of the bill -- a cap-and-trade system in which carbon emissions would be limited, and pollution credits would be bought and sold.

An MIT study this year projected that cap-and-trade could cost American consumers between $720 and $1,200 a year. Former MIT economist Denny Ellerman testified this week before a Senate committee that American consumers could eventually be hit with a national energy tax and that cap-and-trade allows the government to pick winners and losers among energy producers.

(A sidelight: The Washington Post notes today that even though Obama will be in a state whose universal health care law is a model for his overhaul proposals, he won't be talking about it. "The president's critics say his reluctance to spotlight the Massachusetts model is real-world evidence that his vision would not work on a national scale," the Post writes.)

After the MIT speech, Obama goes to the Westin Copley Place for a fund-raiser for Governor Deval Patrick, his friend and political ally who faces what looks like a tough re-election fight in 2010. Patrick's popularity is being battered by the economic downturn, and he already faces prominent Republican and independent opponents.

Obama heads on to Connecticut, where he will tour a small business and speak at a fund-raising dinner in Stamford to boost Senator Christopher Dodd, who also faces rough sledding to keep his seat. Dodd, under criticism for being too cozy with Wall Street, faces primary as well as GOP opposition.

The White House this morning released the official first family portrait, taken by none other than celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

President Obama is in white dress shirt and tie, but without a jacket. Michelle Obama wears a black dress, and their daughters are color-coordinated with her. They're all seated, with Sasha wrapping her arm around the president, and Malia hugging her mother.

Click here to see a full-screen version (thanks to Mark Halperin of Time magazine.)

The public option -- one of the most contentious proposals in the health care fight -- might end up in the Senate health overhaul bill after all.

Several media organizations, including the New York Times and the Associated Press, are reporting this evening that there's no done deal, but there is movement toward including a provision for the federal government to sell insurance in direct competition with private insurers with individual states permitted to drop out of the system.

The Times says that the top Senate Democrat, Harry Reid, is leaning toward including the government-run health insurance plan in the bill he will soon take to the Senate floor. While Republicans and some moderate Democrats oppose the public option, those in favor of it are pushing Reid to force a vote to strip it out of the bill. "The idea is that it's better to show some fight," a senior Democratic aide told the Times.

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only Republican to support the health care bill in the Senate Finance Committee, has made clear she would only support a public plan if it is triggered by private insurers not cutting costs and extending coverage enough.

House Democrats have the public option in the bill they are finalizing, without a provision for states to opt out.

Polls have also shown public support for a public plan to keep private insurers honest, but Republicans and other critics say it would lead to a government takeover of health care.

The war of words over foreign policy is back on between former Vice President Dick Cheney and the Obama administration.

In a speech Wednesday night, Cheney suggested that the president was afraid to decide whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan and that's why it is taking so long.

"The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in danger," Cheney told the conservative Center for Security Policy. "It's time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity."

"Make no mistake. Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries," Cheney added, according to the Associated Press.

He also disputed remarks by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel on talk shows over the weekend that the Obama administration had to start from scratch to come up with an Afghanistan strategy because the Bush administration let the situation slide.

Cheney said the Bush team reviewed the eight-year-old war before leaving office and presented its findings to Obama's transition team. "They asked us not to announce our findings publicly, and we agreed, giving them the benefit of our work and the benefit of the doubt," he said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs took on Cheney today, saying that Obama is making sure he gets the strategy right.

"What Vice President Cheney calls dithering, President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public. I think we've all seen what happens when somebody doesn't take that responsibility seriously," Gibbs said during his daily briefing.

The spokesman also hit back at the Bush-Cheney team, saying it allowed the situation to worsen in Afghanistan and asserting the 21,000-troop increase that Obama approved in March had been sitting on the desk of the Bush White House for months.

Calling Cheney's comment "curious," Gibbs said, "I think it's pretty safe to say that the vice president was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan, even more curious given the fact that an increase in troops sat on desks in this White House, including the vice president's, for more than eight months, a resource request filled by President Obama in March."

"I find it interesting that he's blaming us for something that he didn't see fit to do over, best I can tell, seven years of a war in Afghanistan," Gibbs added.

UPDATE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came to the president's defense.

"The president has a very difficult decision to make," she told reporters this afternoon on Capitol Hill. "He's got to have the facts to make that. We all pray for the difficult decision he has to make. I don't think it's very constructive for the vice president to say that - he's forgotten whose administration made matters worse in Afghanistan by their neglect."

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who sits on the Armed Services Committee and has visited Afghanistan, also said Obama is right to take the time for a full policy review.

"They say that elephants don't forget, but it looks like many members of the Republican Party have a mass case of amnesia. The same politicians who were demanding that the current president stop dithering and do whatever his generals suggest forget that the previous administration ignored and under resourced our commanders and soldiers in Afghanistan for nearly eight years," Reed said at a news conference.

Saying he found Cheney's comments "very puzzling," Reid asked, "Why didn't the former vice president ask George Bush to just do what it takes to win in Afghanistan for the seven years when he was in office, instead of blindly rushing into Iraq and allowing Afghanistan to drift into chaos?"

"I voted against the Iraq war in part because I knew it would shift the focus and hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of our troops away from Afghanistan, the area where our greatest threat emanates from," Reed added. "And had the Bush administration conducted a thorough review and looked at all the facts prior to the invasion of Iraq, they might have avoided a major foreign policy disaster that also has ended up crippling our economy back home."

Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee also sided with Obama.

"I think President Obama is entitled to take sufficient time to decide what our long-term role ought to be in Afghanistan," Alexander said on MSNBC. "Then I think he should come to Congress and say to the American people what that plan is and see if he can persuade us and all of the American people of the rightness of it because he needs to have support all the way through to the end of that mission, so I want him to take the time to get it right."

Cheney's reappearance on the public stage also brought a sharp rebuke from a liberal-leaning security think tank.

"The record is clear: Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were incompetent war fighters," National Security Network senior adviser, retired General Paul Eaton, said in a statement. "They ignored Afghanistan for 7 years with a crude approach to counter-insurgency warfare best illustrated by: 1. Deny it. 2. Ignore it. 3. Bomb it. While our intelligence agencies called the region the greatest threat to America, the Bush White House under-resourced our military efforts, shifted attention to Iraq, and failed to bring to justice the masterminds of September 11.

"The only time Cheney and his cabal of foreign policy 'experts' have anything to say is when they feel compelled to protect this failed legacy. While President Obama is tasked with cleaning up the considerable mess they left behind, they continue to defend torture or rewrite a legacy of indifference on Afghanistan. Simply put, Mr. Cheney sees history throughout extremely myopic and partisan eyes," continued Eaton, who served more than 30 years in the United States Army and from 2003-2004 oversaw the training of the Iraqi military.

"As one deeply invested in the Armed Forces of this country, I am grateful for the senior military commanders assigned to leading this fight and the men and women fighting on the ground. But I dismiss men like Cheney who inject partisan politics into the profound deliberations our Commander-in-Chief and commanders on the ground are having to develop a cohesive and comprehensive strategy, bringing to bear the economic and diplomatic as well as the military power, for Afghanistan -- something Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld never did. No human endeavor can be as profound as sending a nation's youth to war. I am very happy to see serious men and women working hard to get it right."

The former vice president had lain rather low since the remarkable, high-profile face-off in May with Obama on the war on terror.

In back-to-back speeches before different audiences, Obama and Cheney each forcefully laid out their sharply different views on how to keep America safe from terrorism, the effectiveness of harsh interrogations, and whether the Guantanamo Bay detainees pose an imminent danger if brought to US soil.

It's not quite as powerful as he wanted, but President Obama this afternoon praised the approval of a new consumer protection agency designed to prevent abuses by banks, lenders, and others.

The House Financial Services Committee, on a 39-29 vote, endorsed the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, one of the most contentious parts of a financial regulation overhaul that lawmakers hope will avert another meltdown like last year.

Republicans and the industry opposed the new agency and won many exemptions to the agency's oversight, including retailers, auto dealers, real estate brokers, and accountants. The committee's chairman, Barney Frank of Massachusetts, said the exceptions would make clear that the agency will monitor financial products and not every financial transaction of Americans. But he drew the line at Republican proposals, including one that would have exempted student loan providers.

The agency proposal will now be part of the bill that goes to the full House.

"I congratulate the House Financial Services Committee and Chairman Barney Frank on passing a bill out of Committee to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Agency," Obama said in his statement. "The Consumer Financial Protection Agency will prevent predatory lending practices and other abuses and will ensure that consumers get clear information they can understand about financial products like credit cards and mortgages.

"This bill has now passed a major hurdle and this step sends an important signal to the American people that we will not stand by and allow big financial firms and their lobbyists to mobilize against change," the president added. "They are doing what they always do -- descending on Congress, using every bit of influence they have to maintain the status quo that has maximized their profits at the expense of American consumers, despite the fact that recently those same American consumers bailed them out as a consequence of the bad decisions that they made."

Democrats picked a big, highly visible target for the latest in their series of "call 'em out" missives -- GOP chief Michael Steele.

The Democratic National Committee today announced a multimedia effort aiming at the Republican Party chairman for "continuing to spread lies about health insurance reform."

It is using a website and a web video and urging supporters to use Facebook and Twitter to go after Steele, whom the DNC says is spreading misinformation by claiming, among other assertions, that the health care overhaul being pushed by President Obama and congressional Democrats would "dump" millions of Americans out of their insurance and would cut Medicare.

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry, fresh from a diplomatic coup in Afghanistan, said this afternoon that President Obama should wait until after the Afghanistan presidential run-off before deciding whether to send more US troops.

After briefing Obama in a private 45-minute one-on-one meeting, Kerry said it wouldn't be "common sense" to determine the best US strategy without knowing how the election goes and who will be in charge of the country.

"You need to know what kind of government is coming out of it," Kerry told reporters at the White House. "I would absolutely counsel [Obama] to wait until after the run-off."

While Kerry said he did not discuss the issue with Obama, "I'd be surprised if he wasn't on the same wavelength..."

The president, however, told NBC News today that it's possible that he will announce before the Nov. 7 run-off his decision on a request by the top US commander for as many as 40,000 additional troops.

"I think it is entirely possibly that we have a strategy formulated before a runoff is determined. We may not announce it," Obama said in the NBC interview.

"I think we're still in-- finding out how this whole process in Afghanistan is gonna unfold. I thought that the steps that President Karzai took yesterday, agreeing to the certification of a second round was positive. What we've said is that it is important to make sure that we understand the landscape and the partner that we're gonna be dealing with," the president added.

"Because our strategy in Afghanistan is not just dependent on military forces. It's also dependent on how well we're doing with our civilian development efforts, how well we're doing in stemming corruption. So this is part of a comprehensive strategy; it always has been. And our basic attitude is that we are going to take the time to get this right.  We're not gonna drag it out, because there is a sense that the sooner we get a sound approach in place and personnel in place, the better off we're gonna be. But we also want to make sure that we don't put resources ahead of strategy."

Kerry said since it would take months to actually get additional forces in place, if that is what Obama decides, a two-week delay would not interfere. "Two weeks is a very short span of time, folks, to determine whether you have a government to work with during a war."

Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who supports a troop increase, said there's no need to wait until after the run-off.

“We’re there not to advocate or protect any particular leadership of Afghanistan; we’re there really to secure the people of Afghanistan and to help them determine their own future," Lieberman said on Fox News Channel. “If the president makes this decision to increase troops before Election Day it’s going to give more Afghans the confidence to come out and vote.”

Kerry, who is being lauded for his role in persuading Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept a run-off election in hopes of removing the taint of balloting fraud in the first go-round, also dismissed suggestions that he had eclipsed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was given the job Kerry wanted.

"That's an unfair characterization," Kerry said, noting that he was in frequent touch with Clinton during the talks with Karzai.

Earlier today, the top Senate Democrat heaped praise on Kerry. Though it remains unclear whether the run-off can happen on schedule or without more shenanigans, Karzai's decision, announced Tuesday with Kerry at his side, averted an immediate crisis.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor this morning that Kerry's diplomatic success is the latest example of his "service to our country" -- as a decorated Vietnam War veteran, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, and now as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

"What he's doing in Afghanistan is something that is vitally important to not only our country, but to the world," Reid gushed.

President Obama is unveiling more help for the nation's small businesses today, hoping that they can hire more people and drive down the unemployment rate.

The package, already dismissed by Republicans as a repackaging of existing programs, is designed to make it easier for small firms to borrow money so they can expand.

"Over the past decade and a half, America’s small businesses have created 65% of all new jobs in this country. And more than half of all working Americans working in the private sector are either employed by a small business or own one – more than half. These companies are the engine of job growth in America. They fuel our prosperity. And that is why they must be at the forefront of our recovery," Obama said at Metropolitan Archives, a family-owned small business in Landover, Md., that recently expanded with an SBA loan.

"The problem is, our small businesses have been some of the hardest hit by this recession," Obama added. "From the middle of 2007 through the end of 2008, small businesses lost 2.4 million jobs. And because banks shrunk from lending in the midst of the financial crisis, it has been difficult for entrepreneurs to take out the loans they need to start a business. For those who do own a small business, it’s been difficult to finance inventories, make payrolls, or expand if things are going well."

(His full remarks are below.)

UPDATE: The No. 2 Republican in the House, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, responded to Obama by asserting that the real help small businesses need is freedom from new taxes.

“Small business job creators must be protected. While the President’s announcement that he will repackage some of the same SBA and TARP programs for small businesses is fine, it remains clear that neither this Administration nor the Speaker of the House understand the struggles that small business job creators face," Cantor said in a statement.

“As the President spoke today, Democrats in Congress continued their push for new taxes and mandates on small businesses to pay for their government health care overhaul – policies that will force many small businesses to close and cost even more workers their jobs. Today, I call on the President to pledge to small business job creators across this nation that he will veto any legislation that will raise their taxes."

The White House summary can be viewed here, and a rundown is below:

The political pendulum has swung slightly away from President Obama on health care, though a majority of Americans still want an overhaul, and still want a public insurance option, a new poll says.

According to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this afternoon, 49 percent favor and 49 percent oppose the health overhaul. That's down from 51 percent support last month, though better than the 48 percent in late August after protestors at town halls railed against the president's plan.

The rest of the poll had better news for Obama.

A majority -- 53 percent -- said it would be better for the country to pass a bill along the lines proposed by the president instead of leaving the current health system in place.

The poll also found that 61 percent support a public option -- a government-run plan to compete with private insurers -- up from 55 percent in August. And 40 percent said they would support the overhaul bill only if it included the public option.

And respondents trust Obama far more than Republicans -- mocked by Democrats as the "party of no" -- on health care; 50 percent said they trust Obama more to deal with major health care changes, while 34 percent picked congressional Republicans.

The poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Pro-Obama groups said this morning they ended up at 315,023 calls to Congress on Tuesday pushing the health care overhaul, tripling the original goal of 100,000.

The massive effort was put together by Organizing for America, the president's grassroots group from the campaign. (Click here for updates.)

"As you know, we set a big goal: 100,000 calls to Congress placed or committed to in a single day by OFA supporters and allied organizations. By 2:30 p.m., you had crushed it. So, we gulped and said let's go for 200,000, not knowing what would happen. But the calls just kept pouring in -- keeping phones ringing off the hook in congressional offices in D.C. and your representatives' district offices around the country," the group's national director, Mitch Stewart, told supporters this morning.

"Then, OFA supporters gathered in over 1,000 living rooms and community centers from Macon, Georgia to Missoula, Montana. You called hundreds of thousands of key voters in your community and got them to agree to call Congress and speak out for reform, too. President Obama joined in at a call party in New York -- and he had some amazing words of support for the folks like you who make this movement possible."

Obama, himself, addressed thousands of supporters who are making calls via live webcast Tuesday night from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, where 2,500 people will be making similar calls in support of reform.

"You know why this is so important," he told them. "You know premiums have doubled over the past decade."

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

President Obama's economy event on Friday is a speech at MIT on US leadership in clean energy technology.

Obama, who is in town to attend a political fund-raiser for Governor Deval Patrick, will "address state and community leaders, business leaders and entrepreneurs, and MIT students and staff," the White House said late this afternoon.

After the address, the president will head to a luncheon fundraiser for Patrick at the Westin Copley Place Hotel’s American Ballroom.

Patrick’s campaign team sent out a message this afternoon to supporters, saying tickets were still available, perhaps an indication that they’re having trouble selling seats that cost $500 a person.

“Massachusetts is poised to come out of this economic downturn stronger and faster than the rest of the country because of the work done by President Obama, Governor Patrick and Lt. Governor Murray,” read the message. “It is an honor to have the President as such a strong supporter of our efforts.”

President Obama praised Afghan President Hamid Karzai this morning for agreeing to a runoff election -- balloting that the US hopes gives legitimacy to the regime in Kabul and is expected to free Obama to decide whether to send more US troops.

"I welcome President Karzai’s statement today accepting the Independent Electoral Commission’s certification of the August 20 election results, and agreeing to participate in a second round of the election. This is an important step forward in ensuring a credible process for the Afghan people which results in a government that reflects their will," Obama said in a statement issued through the White House.

"While this election could have remained unresolved to the detriment of the country, President Karzai’s constructive actions established an important precedent for Afghanistan’s new democracy. The Afghan Constitution and laws are strengthened by President Karzai’s decision, which is in the best interests of the Afghan people," Obama added. (His full statement is below.)

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, helped persuade Karzai to accept an independent commission's findings that there was enough voter fraud in the first round of balloting to push him below a majority and force a runoff, expected on Nov. 7.

Kerry stood next to Karzai today when he announced he would accept the runoff, and said that Karzai's move had transformed a crisis into a "moment of great opportunity."

(Kerry's full prepared remarks are also below.)

The Republican National Committee announced today that it is getting donations from a record number of small donors.

The RNC said that it raised $8.74 million in the month of September and had $18.9 million cash on hand at month's end with no debt. It averaged 2,400 new donors a day during the month, an off-year record and an increase of about 2,000 new donors per day since February, the RNC said.

The average donor contribution in September was $36, with a year to date average donation of about $41.

The RNC also unveiled its latest web video, slamming top Senate Democrat Harry Reid for negotiating the details of the health care overhaul in private.

The video has Reid promising transparency, saying, "No longer can we allow special interests and lawmakers to conspire behind closed doors." It also shows Obama making similar pledges.

But now, the video points out, Reid is working closely and privately with the White House to meld the version the Senate Finance Committee approved last week, and a more liberal version that the Senate health committee passed earlier.

They're talking in secret because they don't want the public to realize the health care bill would raise costs and mean a far greater government role, the announcer says.

"It may be Halloween, but the Democrats' intentions cannot be disguised," the announcer concludes.

The chief spokeswoman for the nation's private insurance companies is defending a report that many saw as the industry trying to kill the health care overhaul.

America's Health Insurance Plans issued the report just before the Senate Finance Committee voted last week, asserting that the bill would dramatically raise premiums. The report has been widely pilloried for not accounting for cost-saving measures in the bill. (To reach the entire bill, click here.)

In an opinion article in today's Washington Post, Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of AHIP, writes, "Let me be clear and direct: Health plans continue to strongly support reform. In fact, last year we proposed new insurance market rules and consumer protections to achieve universal coverage, remove restrictions on preexisting conditions and end the practice of basing premiums on health status or gender. We firmly believe that all the cost concerns the report raised can be resolved."

She adds, "The report's central finding has long been noncontroversial in health policy and economic circles: namely, that implementing reforms of the insurance market without a strong requirement that everyone participate will cause adverse selection and significantly increase costs for individuals and small businesses. This finding echoes the message President Obama delivered in his address to Congress last month."

But liberal groups supporting the health bills are continuing their assault on the insurance industry.

Americans United for Change released its latest ad today featuring an insurance horror story -- this one about a woman who purportedly was told she would have to be sterilized to keep coverage.

"The new spot is our latest salvo against the shameful practices of the health insurance industry, which finally dropped the ‘we want reform, too’ façade last week with AHIP’s release of that amazingly disingenuous “report” asserting of all things that reform would mean 'higher premiums' – laughable stuff coming from the folks that raised premiums three to four times faster than wages the last ten years," Americans United for Change said.

A new poll finds support rebounding for a public option and some discomfort with President Obama among his liberal allies.

The Washington Post/ABC News survey released this afternoon found that 57 percent of Americans favor a public insurance option, while 40 percent are opposed. But opinion continues to be split -- 45 percent for, 48 percent against -- for the overall health overhaul bills being debated in Congress.

Obama's aides repeated over the weekend that while the president prefers a bill that includes the public option -- a government-run plan to offer affordable coverage and to compete with private insurers -- he isn't wedded to it.

While 7 in 10 Democrats back the plan being put together, Obama's strong approval ratings on health care from fellow Democrats have dropped 15 percentage points since mid-September.

More broadly, while 57 percent approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, "strong approval" among liberal Democrats is down 16 percentage points over the past month.

President Obama, acknowledging that not enough has been done to stop the genocide in Darfur, nonetheless charted a new course today, offering to engage the Sudanese government and offer incentives.

"Today, my Administration is releasing a comprehensive strategy to confront the serious and urgent situation in Sudan," Obama said in a statement.

"For years, the people of Sudan have faced enormous and unacceptable hardship. The genocide in Darfur has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and left millions more displaced. Conflict in the region has wrought more suffering, posing dangers beyond Sudan’s borders and blocking the potential of this important part of Africa. Sudan is now poised to fall further into chaos if swift action is not taken.

Many activists have been wary of the Obama administration's new policy and have criticized special envoy Scott Gration for being too close to the regime.

But the administration says that the new approach is designed to end “gross human rights abuses” in Darfur and follow through on a peace deal that ended war between northern and southern Sudan.

The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died in the civil war in Darfur and 2.7 million people have been driven from their homes.

"Our conscience and our interests in peace and security call upon the United States and the international community to act with a sense of urgency and purpose. First, we must seek a definitive end to conflict, gross human rights abuses and genocide in Darfur. Second, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South in Sudan must be implemented to create the possibility of long-term peace. These two goals must both be pursued simultaneously with urgency. Achieving them requires the commitment of the United States, as well as the active participation of international partners. Concurrently, we will work aggressively to ensure that Sudan does not provide a safe-haven for international terrorists," Obama's statement continued.

"The United States Special Envoy has worked actively and effectively to engage all of the parties involved, and he will continue to pursue engagement that saves lives and achieves results. Later this week, I will renew the declaration of a National Emergency with respect to Sudan, which will continue tough sanctions on the Sudanese Government. If the Government of Sudan acts to improve the situation on the ground and to advance peace, there will be incentives; if it does not, then there will be increased pressure imposed by the United States and the international community. As the United States and our international partners meet our responsibility to act, the Government of Sudan must meet its responsibilities to take concrete steps in a new direction.

"Over the last several years, governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals, and from around the world have taken action to address the situation in Sudan, and to end the genocide in Darfur. Going forward, all of our efforts must be measured by the lives that are led by the people of Sudan. After so much suffering, they deserve a future that allows them to live with greater dignity, security, and opportunity. It will not be easy, and there are no simple answers to the extraordinary challenges that confront this part of the world. But now is the time for all of us to come together, and to make a strong and sustained effort on behalf of a better future for the people of Sudan."

Senator John F. Kerry, who as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee visited Sudan in April to meet with government officials, humanitarian workers, and Darfuri refugees, endorsed the new policy.

“I support the comprehensive Sudan policy announced today by the President and Secretary of State. This strategy, which will be spearheaded by the United States Special Envoy, General Scott Gration, both emphasizes the urgency of working for peace in Darfur and seeks to ensure that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between North and South Sudan does not collapse, which would lead to further devastation for the people of the region," Kerry said in a statement this afternoon.

"Importantly, this strategy builds on lessons learned from past efforts and addresses the situation as it exists today, promoting both engagement and accountability.”

After a decidedly underwhelming count last week of jobs created by federal contractors hired under the $787 billion economic stimulus plan, the White House today asserted that the stimulus accounted for at least 250,000 education jobs across the country.

It said that "preliminary indications" are that state governments later this month will credit the recovery package with that total of jobs saved or created. The Domestic Policy Council, in cooperation with the US Department of Education, cited preliminary data on states using stimulus grants to restore nearly all of their projected education budget shortfalls for fiscal 2009 and 2010, thereby averting layoffs of educators in school districts and universities across the nation. Click here to see the report.

"This is one more indication of how the Recovery Act is helping soften the blow of tough times, by keeping educators on the job and teachers in the classroom," Vice President Joe Biden, who is overseeing the stimulus plan, said in a statement.

UPDATE: Par for the course, Republicans expressed deep skepticism about the administration's findings.

"From coast to coast, families and small business job creators believe that to date, the President’s policies have not created jobs, and no amount of campaign-style events or spin will change that reality unless there is significant change in the Administration’s policy," Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for No. 2 House Republican Eric Cantor, said in a statement. "Rather than even more deficit spending, Republicans continue to offer solutions that empower small business job creators to put Americans back to work and safeguard our children from the Democrats’ endless spending binge. The House Republican economic working group, led by Republican Whip Eric Cantor, continues to focus on policy solutions that get people working again and ensure that America’s economy once again provides opportunity for all. "

Seeking to buff up his foreign policy credentials and reaching out to Israel's supporters, Mitt Romney is telling a major pro-Israel group today that he is "very concerned" by the Obama administration's Mideast policy.

"In pursuit of a peace process, the United States today has exerted substantial pressure on Israel while putting almost no pressure on the Palestinians and the Arab world," the former Massachusetts governor, 2008 Republican presidential hopeful, and possible 2012 contender said to the AIPAC national summit in San Diego.

Obama has been pushing for a renewal of negotiations toward a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority -- and has been pressuring Israel to stop expanding settlements on the West Bank.

But saying that America and Israel are "bound together by common commitments and shared values," Romney says US policy should recognize that.

"Inexplicably, the United States now places the burden on Israel to make still more unilateral concessions," he said. "At the United Nations, we decried the building of new Israeli settlements but ignored the launching of Palestinian rockets. How is this possible? Have we not yet learned from the concessions in Gaza, as well as from all recorded history, that giving in to the demands of oppressors always and only leads to more demands, not to peace?

"We can encourage both parties in the conflict, but we must never forget which one is our ally. Nor must we forget that Hamas, like other violent Jihadists, does not have a two-state solution as its objective—it has the conquest and annihilation of Israel as its objective. The notion that Hamas and violent Jihadists are motivated by 'shared interests' and 'common goals' is naďve in the extreme and dangerous to the entire free world."

Romney also inveighs against the United Nations, which is about to consider a report accusing Israel of war crimes during its assault in Gaza, saying it "has become a forum for invective against the Jewish state."

And Romney urged a hard line against Iran's nuclear ambitions and warned against Obama's desire for talks.

"At this late stage I would simply say that it is long past time for America to recognize the nature of the regime we are dealing with," he said. "The Iranian regime is unalloyed evil, run by people who are at once ruthless and fanatical. Stop thinking that a charm offensive will talk the Iranians out of their pursuit of nuclear weapons. It will not. And agreements, unenforceable and unverifiable, will have no greater impact here than they did in North Korea. Once an outstretched hand is met with a clenched fist, it becomes a symbol of weakness and impotence."

His full prepared remarks are below:

Liberals are ramping up the pressure on top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, one of the key players in the negotiations over the health care overhaul.

Trying to craft a plan that can draw at least 60 votes in the Senate, Reid, the White House, and other moderate and conservative Democrats are waffling on whether a "public option" -- a government-run plan to offer affordable coverage and compete with private insurers -- should be in the final bill. Worried liberals say that health reform without it would be less than half a loaf.

Today, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee unveiled a TV ad in Nevada, where Reid face re-election next year, and sent an email to 225,000 activists nationwide seeking to raise at least $100,000 online to air the spot 200 times.

It features Nevada nurse Lee Slaughter, who says she has spent 20 years providing critical care -- and seeing patients cut off because of insurance. "Now, it's happening to me," she says, saying that she broke both her hips and that her insurer isn't providing all the care she needs. broke both hips insurers

Slaughter says she's a swing voter for supported Reid and President Obama, and says that in 2010, she will vote on only one issue.

"I'm watching to see if Harry Reid is strong and effective enough as a leader to pass a public health insurance option into law," she says.

A health care bill within sight, President Obama aggressively takes on his critics who he says are trying to stop the overhaul by misleading and scaring Americans with dire warnings of higher premiums and other damage.

In his weekly radio-Internet address, Obama targets insurance companies, one-time allies who have gone on the attack, blasting a bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee this week.

"In fact, the insurance industry is rolling out the big guns and breaking open their massive war chest -- to marshal their forces for one last fight to save the status quo," Obama says. "They’re filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They’re flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they’re funding studies designed to mislead the American people."

"It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s bogus. And it’s all too familiar," the president adds. "Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, “Take one of these, and call us in a decade.” Well, not this time. The fact is, the insurance industry is making this last-ditch effort to stop reform even as costs continue to rise and our health care dollars continue to be poured into their profits, bonuses, and administrative costs that do nothing to make us healthy – that often actually go toward figuring out how to avoid covering people. And they’re earning these profits and bonuses while enjoying a privileged exception from our anti-trust laws, a matter that Congress is rightfully reviewing."

Asserting that Americans voted for change when they made him their president, Obama urges Congress "to stand against the power plays and political ploys – and to stand up on behalf the American people who sent us to Washington to do their business."

The full address is below and can be viewed here.

The White House announced this evening that while President Obama is in Boston for a fund-raiser next week for Governor Deval Patrick, his friend and political ally, he will also hold an event on the economy.

There were no other details on the public event next Friday, when Obama will later attend a fund-raiser for Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.

But in recent speeches, Obama has talked about what his administration has done to pull the economy back from the brink and what yet needs to be done, both on health care and financial regulation reform.

Hillary Rodham Clinton -- former first lady, presidential contender, and now secretary of state -- knows painfully first-hand how difficult a lift health care is.

So she counsels patience as Congress and the White House tries to come up with a bill that can pass -- and that can work.

"I'm very encouraged by the action that's going on in the Senate. But I think I, probably better than anyone, know how difficult this is," she said in an interview aired on CNN today.

"But we've made a lot of progress in the last nine months. And I'm very optimistic we're going to get a health care plan that will really improve the lives of the American people," added Clinton, who led a White House health care task force in 1993-94 that submitted a detailed bill to Congress that was derided as "Hillarycare" and went nowhere.

In the interview, Clinton also preached patience on Obama's decision whether to dispatch more US troops to Afghanistan, saying that "it's to the president's credit that he has had the patience and the persistence to really force the process without responding prematurely."

The president, she said, needs to closely scrutinize the broad view of what the US mission in Afghanistan should be and how best to accomplish it, citing a recent strategic review.

"It was quite remarkable that the report came in with two big ideas that had not, in my view, been fully either explored or certainly implemented in the prior eight years," she said. "One was you've got to look at Afghanistan and Pakistan together. Now, that may sound self-evident. But that wasn't what was being done previously. And you have to have a much greater integration of the civilian and the military efforts."

The full transcript of Clinton's interview with CNN's Jill Dougherty, as provided by the network, is below:

President Obama told a Democratic fund-raiser late Thursday night that he understands the way that Washington works and the need for the loyal opposition.

But he also chided his Republican opponents for not offering constructive alternatives.

"I believe in a two-party system where ideas are tested and assumptions are challenged -- because that’s how we can move this country forward.  But what I reject is when some folks decide to sit on the sidelines and root for failure on health care or on energy or on our economy," he said at the Democratic National Committee event at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. "What I reject is when some folks say we should go back to the past policies when it was those very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place."  (Applause.)

He used the analogy of the White House and congressional Democrats "busy with our mop cleaning up somebody else’s mess." "We don’t want somebody sitting back saying, 'You're not holding the mop the right way.' Why don’t you grab a mop, why don’t you help clean up. 

" 'You're not mopping fast enough, that's a socialist mop.' " the president mocked critics as saying.  

"Grab a mop –- let’s get to work," he implored. "I think all of us in Washington have a greater purpose.  We have a higher calling.  And let me tell you, as long as I have the privilege of holding this office, I will do my very best to live up to my responsibilities to our country, to our children, to the future that we hold in common." 

The remainder of his remarks were largely a recitation of what he sees as his administration's accomplishments on the economy and a repeat of his vows to get health care done.

The full remarks are below:

The Democratic National Committee said today it is going after the insurance industry in the latest of its “Call ‘Em Out” series targeting those who it says is trying to mislead the public on the health care overhaul.

Democrats are criticizing an industry-funded study that said insurance premiums would rise under the bill approved Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee and assailing an insurance industry ad campaign warning seniors of cuts in Medicare.

"After fighting health reform with lies, deceit, and multi-million dollar ad campaigns, the health insurance lobby -- America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) -- just released a report on the 'effects of health reform.' Surprise! It's full of flawed claims that reform would increase costs," the DNC told supporters in a email accompanying a video.

"We're not going to take it sitting down. So this week, we're calling out the health insurance lobby. The lobby has invested millions trying to convince Congress to oppose reform. So this week, we're not simply debunking lies: The best way to Call 'em Out is to cut through the spin and tell our representatives to say 'no' to deceitful lobbyists and 'yes' to reform. "

President Obama is activating his grassroots army again, trying to get 100,000 of them to call Congress on a single day to push for health care.

Organizing for America's national director, Mitch Stewart, announced today that Obama will join thousands of "Time to Deliver" events on Oct. 20 via a live webcast

"These call parties couldn't come at a more important time -- the final Senate committee just passed their version of the plan, so the debate is about to move to the full Congress for the first time. And the insurance industry lobby is throwing everything they've got at us to distort the issues and derail progress. Our voices must be heard," Stewart said in an email to supporters.

Organizing for America, housed within the Democratic National Committee, is the post-election iteration of Obama's vaunted campaign organization.

President Obama today signed a bill, championed by Senator John F. Kerry, that increases US aid to crucial, but volatile ally Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year.

"This law is the tangible manifestation of broad support for Pakistan in the U.S., as evidenced by its bipartisan, bicameral, unanimous passage in Congress," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

"As President Obama said on March 27, the United States wants to engage Pakistan on the basis of a strategic partnership, 'grounded in support for Pakistan's democratic institutions and the Pakistani people.' This Act formalizes that partnership, based on a shared commitment to improving the living conditions of the people of Pakistan through sustainable economic development, strengthening democracy and the rule of law, and combating the extremism that threatens Pakistan and the United States."

On Wednesday, Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held a joint news conference with Pakistan's foreign minister to clarify that the conditions attached to the aid aren't meant to delve into the country's internal affairs.

In its latest effort to prove that its $787 billion economic stimulus package is working, the Obama administration today released new data showing that federal contractors using stimulus cash created or saved about 30,400 jobs, including nearly 600 in Massachusetts.

The figure represents the payoff from only the first $16 billion in spending, but is the first hard data on the recovery package, which has been assailed by critics who point to rising unemployment, at 9.8 percent last month. The White House has previously relied on economic models for its estimates of success.

"It is too soon to draw any global conclusions from this partial and preliminary data, as it reports on just $16 billion of the $339 billion in Recovery Act efforts before September 30th, but the early indications are quite positive," Vice President Joe Biden's chief economist Jared Bernstein said in a statement. "The direct count by Recovery Act recipients of jobs created or saved from this small percentage of the Recovery Act exceeds our projections. All signs -- from private estimates to this fragmentary data -- point to the conclusion that the Recovery Act did indeed create or save about 1 million jobs in its first seven months, a much needed lift in a very difficult period for our economy. We look forward to the much larger, comprehensive report due on October 30th.”

Republicans, however, quickly asserted that the new figure -- which counts only those directly hired by contractors that received stimulus money -- is far smaller than the 600,000 to 1.1 million estimate of jobs saved or created that the White House Council of Economic Advisers put out last month.

Biden, put in charge of overseeing the stimulus, will be in St. Louis today to tout how the package is creating jobs and aiding law enforcement.

The nonpartisan, normally genteel League of Women Voters is taking the unusual step of airing a TV ad taking a tough issue position -- urging Americans to support the Democratic-supported health care overhaul.

The League said it is airing the 30-second spot in the home states of key senators, including Maine, where Olympia Snowe was the only Republican on the Finance Committee to support the bill on Tuesday and where fellow Republican Susan Collins suggested she might go along.

“Health care reform is a critically important issue for Americans – an issue that requires action from all of us,” League President Mary G. Wilson said in a statement. “After watching opponents of health care reform repeatedly attempt to scare people with lies and disorderly conduct, the League decided that we must speak up.”

“This is an unusual step for us. But as a nonpartisan membership organization that believes in reasoned and civil debate we felt compelled to take a stand against the lies and the distortions,” Wilson added.

“Health care is too important to let the nay-sayers and the special interests stand in the way of real reform. We have an obligation to get the facts straight.”

Senator John F. Kerry did a little diplomatic two-step today to reassure Pakistan that a foreign aid bill he championed does not impinge on the precarious nation's independence.

As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry held a joint press conference with House Foreign Relations Chairman Howard L. Berman and Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi to release a "joint explanatory statement."

"It affirms that the primary intention of the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act is to demonstrate the American people’s long-term commitment to the people of Pakistan. It will be placed in the Congressional Record today along with the final version of the legislation that the President will be signing," Kerry said.

“It affirms that the United States values its friendship with the Pakistani people and honors the great sacrifices made by Pakistani security forces in the fight against extremism. And it also makes absolutely clear – and I want to emphasize this point – that the legislation does not seek in any way to compromise Pakistan’s sovereignty, impinge on Pakistan’s national security interests, or micromanage any aspect of Pakistani military or civilian operations.

Both the Senate and House have passed the bill, which would provide Pakistan with $1.5 billion a year over the next five years to spend on democratic, economic and social development programs. The bill awaits President Obama's signature.

Pakistan's military has objected to provisions in the bill that links money for counterterrorism assistance to a crackdown on militants and other conditions.

The full explanatory statement is below:

Two major players in the health care debate -- Big Insurance and Big Labor -- are both registering their objections to the bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee.

But they're coming at it from far different vantage points.

America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents the big insurers, is airing a TV ad that criticizes the bill's provision that would trim Medicare Advantage, the premium coverage that seniors get through private insurers.

"Most people agree we need to reform health care but is it right to ask 10 million seniors on Medicare Advantage for more than their fair share," the announcer says.

The Democratic bills would cut Medicare Advantage by more than $120 billion over 10 years, meaning that 10 million seniors -- including 175,000 in Massachusetts -- could have their health plans shrink or be replaced with traditional coverage.

On the other hand, a dozen of the largest labor unions are taking out full-page ads in Washington and national newspapers complaining that the Finance bill does not include a public option -- a government-run plan to compete with private plans -- and does call for penalties on people who do not obtain coverage.

The ad, entitled "Our Bottom Line for Health Care Reform," says that "Unless the bill that goes to the floor of the U.S. Senate makes substantial progress to address the concerns of working men and women, we will oppose it."

The White House and Democrats were thrilled that Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine broke ranks with Republicans to give a bipartisan patina to the Senate Finance Committee's approval of a health care overhaul.

But Republicans predictably are not as impressed.

“One Republican vote out of 40 in the Senate does not bipartisan make,” GOP chairman Michael Steele said today on Fox News Channel.

“You’ve got a long way to go Mr. President before you get to bipartisanship in terms of really putting together a bill that makes sense,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that there could be a second Republican vote for the health care bill -- Snowe's fellow Mainer, Susan Collins.

Collins said that the bill approved on a 14-9 vote Tuesday by the Finance Committee needs substantial improvements. "My hope is we that can fix the flaws in the bill and come together with a truly bipartisan bill that could garner widespread support," Collins said in the AP interview. "I think this bill is far superior to the ones passed by the Senate [health]) committee and the three House committees, but it needs substantial additional work."

Steele said the health package would have to be far different to draw more Republican support. “If it doesn’t have triggers for a government plan, if it doesn’t have little hidden mechanisms and features that Congress is famous for doing that ultimately gets us on a road to government controlled health care, I think you will see a lot of Republican support,” he said on Fox.

Back from a failed bid to bring back the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago, President Obama returns today to the issue he initially said would keep him too busy to go to Copenhagen to make the sales pitch in person.

In his weekly radio-Internet address, Obama asserts that his health care overhaul would help America's small businesses, which he says a crucial job engine but are being "overwhelmed by rising health care costs."

Obama, who also plans a health care event on Monday, bringing doctors from across the country to the White House, says health costs are stopping budding entrepreneurs from going out on their own because they're afraid to lose their health coverage and preventing firms from growing and hiring more workers.

The health care legislation before Congress will allow small businesses to buy health insurance through a new exchange where they can compare policies and will offer tax credits to help them pay for it, the president says

"These small businesses are the mom and pop stores and restaurants, beauty shops and construction companies that support families and sustain communities. They’re the small startups with big ideas, hoping to be the next Google, or Apple, or HP. Altogether, they create roughly half of all new jobs." he says.

"So we know that reforming our health insurance system will be a critical step in rebuilding our economy so that our entrepreneurs can pursue the American Dream again, and our small businesses can grow and expand and create new jobs again."

The full address is below and can be viewed here.

A liberal-labor coalition is trying to keep up its support for a "public option" in the health care overhaul -- and going after House Republican leader John Boehner in the bargain.

Americans United for Change unveiled a new TV ad airing on cable TV in Boehner's district in Ohio that attacks what they call his "laughable claim" that “I’m still trying to find the first American to talk to who is in favor of the public option” as part of health insurance reform.

It says that Boehner is out of touch with his constituents, noting a recent Quinnipiac University poll showing that 57 percent of Ohio voters support the idea of a government-run option as part of the health care overhaul.

“Maybe Congressman Boehner should spend a little less time schmoozing with lobbyists on golf courses in Florida and a lot more time talking to his constituents back home about the kind of health insurance reform they are demanding," Tom McMahon, acting executive director of Americans United for Change, said in a statement.

Just before leaving Copenhagen on his whirlwind Olympics trip, President Obama managed this morning to squeeze in his first face-to-face meeting with his top commander in Afghanistan.

General Stanley McChrystal, who is believed to be seeking reinforcements totaling as many as 40,000 troops, talked with the president for about 25 minutes aboard Air Force One.

"The president wanted to take the opportunity to get together with Gen. McChrystal," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

McChrystal was summoned from London, where on Thursday he gave a speech warning that the militants are gaining strength and more troops are needed to "buy time" for the Afghan military and police forces to prepare to take control of the country in 2013. He said there is a “huge risk’’ al Qaeda terrorists will again find safe haven in Afghanistan unless new tactics are put in place in the near future.

Obama and McChrystal had talked only twice previously, including by videoconference on Wednesday when the president huddled with his top military and diplomatic advisers as he mulls a new strategy in Afghanistan, including the request for more troops on top of the 21,000 he has already dispatched.

President Obama hailed the Senate Finance Committee's endorsement early this morning of a health care overhaul that follows most of his principles -- a major step in his push for reform.

“Thanks to the unyielding commitment of Senator Baucus and members of the Senate Finance Committee, we have reached another milestone in our effort to pass health insurance reform," the president said in a statement. "Over the past two weeks, the Committee has engaged in long hours of thoughtful deliberation and vigorous debate. They have considered hundreds of amendments, and incorporated many of the best ideas from both parties. And they have shown a spirit of civility, a seriousness of purpose, and a willingness to compromise that embodies our democratic process at its very best.

“The Finance Committee’s work is the culmination of tireless efforts over the better part of this year by the five committees and many members of Congress involved in health reform -- holding numerous hearings and bi-partisan meetings; reaching out to stakeholders across the spectrum; and striving to find common ground. As a result of this work, we are now closer than ever before to finally passing reform that will offer security to those who have coverage and affordable insurance to those who don’t. We have a long way to go, but I am confident that as we move forward, we will continue to engage with each other as productively as the members of the Finance Committee, and will get reform passed this year,” Obama added.

The Finance Committee put off a final vote until next week so congressional budget officials can certify the $900 billion bill does not add to federal deficits. Then, Senate Democrats and the White House will have to try to meld the bill with one passed earlier by the Senate health committee.

President Obama, who vows to support science in contrast to his predecessor, is touring one of the nation's epicenters for research today to announce that $5 billion in grants have been awarded for cutting-edge work.

Obama is at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and is announcing that the institute has already handed out more than 12,000 grants from the $10 billion it received from the economic stimulus package he championed.

He said the grants are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs over the next two years and are part of a total of $100 billion in the stimulus package that is broadly going to science and technology.

“We know that this kind of investment will also lead to new jobs: tens of thousands of jobs conducting research, manufacturing and supplying medical equipment, and building and modernizing laboratories and research facilities,” Obama said in a statement. “I’ve long said, the goal of the Recovery Act was not to create make-work jobs, but jobs making a difference for our future. There is no better example than the jobs we will produce or preserve through the grants we are announcing this morning.”

The grants include $1 billion for research, using the technology produced by the Human Genome Project, to study genetic changes linked to cancer, heart, lung, and blood disease and autism -- in hopes of finding new treatments and cures. Of the money, $175 million will go to collect more than 20,000 tissue samples from more than 20 cancers, and determine in detail all of the genetic changes in thousands of these tumor samples.

“This historic investment demonstrates this administration’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of science and turning those discoveries into benefits for the American people. NIH researchers and grantees are already conducting some of the world’s most groundbreaking biomedical research," added Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who is accompanying Obama on the tour. “These awards will accelerate our progress towards the new medicines, treatments, and cures that will help Americans live longer, healthier lives."

UPDATE: Senators John Kerry and Paul Kirk today announced that Massachusetts will receive a total of $434,036,356 in Recovery Act funding for cutting edge medical research. The funding comes in the form of 1,148 separate grants for 84 schools and organizations across the state.

The funding will be used to support the full spectrum of medical research – from clinical studies to basic research.

“These significant investments in medical research across Massachusetts will save lives, create jobs and ensure that our state remains a world leader in medical technology,” said Senator John Kerry. “12,000 grants were awarded nationwide and more than 1,000 right here in our state. I'm grateful that President Obama has once again recognized the cutting edge work being done by our medical institutions.”

Senator Paul G. Kirk said, “These grants are well-deserved and will enable our world class universities, hospitals and research centers across the Commonwealth to continue their groundbreaking work in medical research. Massachusetts is and will continue to be a leader in this field, and I commend the Obama Administration for committing these essential funds.”

Obama's full remarks are below:

President Obama, who called out Iran last week for secretly building a new uranium enrichment plant, this afternoon sounded a note of cautious optimistic after Iran agreed to continue talks and open the plant to United Nations inspectors.

He said the moves were "a constructive beginning," but must be followed with "constructive action" by Iran to show that its nuclear program is for only civilian, not military, purposes.

"We're not interested in talking for the sake of talking," he said. "Pledges of cooperation must be fulfilled."

Obama said Iran is responding to a united front, and said the progress shows that his overtures to Iran -- which were roundly criticized in some quarters -- are paying off.

In Geneva earlier today, officials from Iran, the US, and five other world powers ended their meeting with an agreement to meet again later this month for more discussions. There was also a rare direct huddle between the senior US and Iranian delegates. And diplomats said Iran will open its newly disclosed nuclear plant to inspectors, probably within a few weeks.

Obama called on Iran to allow unfettered inspections within the next two weeks and to let a third country enrich its uranium.

"Taking the step of transferring its low enriched uranium to a third country would be a step towards building confidence that Iran’s program is in fact peaceful," he said.

His full remarks are below:

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry made clear today that, while he is weighing the wisdom of adding additional troops to Afghanistan, he does not believe that withdrawal is an option.

"I don't see that as on the table," he said. "I don't think that there is anyone up here who is talking about that."

Kerry spoke at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing -- the third in a series he has called on Afghanistan -- that probed what the impact of additional troops would be on stability in Pakistan, a fragile, nuclear-armed neighbor.

Maleeha Lodhi, former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said an increase in US combat troops in Afghanistan could lead to an increase in suicide attacks, militant groups, and support for extremism in Pakistan.

"A further military escalation in Afghanistan is unlikely to succeed," she said.

Lodhi, Milt Bearden, who served as the CIA station chief in Pakistan during the 1980s, and Steve Coll of the New America Foundation, said the Obama administration should put the emphasis on brokering a political solution to the fighting.

"I think we are going to have to start understanding who they are and deal with them," Bearden said. "There will always be enough Pashtuns to meet our troops in the field."

Kerry's opening statement is below.

As the Globe reported Wednesday, Kerry is trying to carve out a significant role on US policy in Afghanistan as Obama comes up with a new strategy and decides whether to approve a military request for more reinforcements.

Kerry has also weighed in on Pakistan. Thursday, the House gave final approval to a bill that he championed in the Senate that would give Pakistan $1.5 billion in aid a year over the next five years focused on democratic, economic, and social development programs. Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.

Kerry issued a statement congratulating the House on its vote. “The final version of the bill is the product of several months of intense consultation and compromise between the Chambers, and I am delighted that we were able to forge this landmark piece of legislation on a bipartisan, bicameral basis," he said. "This bill reaffirms the depth of America’s long-term commitment to the people and Government of Pakistan. By tripling past years’ level of non-military aid to $1.5 billion a year for fiscal years 2010 to 2014, we demonstrate our steadfast support for Pakistani efforts to combat violent extremism, defeat al-Qaeda and solidify democratic government."

President Obama is having his usual briefings and meetings today at the White House as chief executive and commander-in-chief.

But he'll put on different hats for the more intriguing items on his daybook.

This afternoon, he plays partisan politician, headlining a major fund-raiser for the Democratic Governors Association.

Obama is counting on their support for his domestic agenda, particularly on the economy and health care. But the Republican National Committee notes that some Democratic governors are concerned that the health care overhaul will increase their states' costs -- but not the money to cover the new mandates.

The president said that the health reform would help states by reducing costs to families and businesses, including start-ups and small firms that are the most entrepreneurial and create a big share of jobs. Without the overhaul, costs for businesses would continue to rise.

"We can't afford a health system that hampers America's economy in the 21st century," Obama said.

He also told the governors he's "absolutely committed" to giving them the support they need on the front lines of the "economic storm."

"They have a full, committed partner in the White House," Obama said.

One big example, he said: the $787 billion stimulus package that he said has eased the burden on the states with money to keep police officers and firefighters on payrolls, with infrastructure spending, and extensions of unemployment benefits.

(His full remarks are below.)

Then this evening, Obama takes on the role of hometown booster, leaving for Copenhagen, where he hopes to close the deal on Chicago winning the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Republicans have bashed Obama's trip, saying it shows he does not have his priorities in order. But the schedule has the president getting his usual sleep aboard Air Force One, where he has a full office if necessary. He will set down in Denmark at about 2 a.m. EDT Friday, just before his presentation to the International Olympic Committee. And he will leave at 7 a.m. EDT Friday, several hours before the IOC is expected to announce its decision.

The military's manpower needs as it fights two wars is reaching into the highest reaches of the White House.

The White House announced today that Mark Lippert, deputy National Security Director and National Security Council chief of staff, will be returning to active duty in the US Navy.

Though there are reports that Lippert rubbed some the wrong way, he did serve in Iraq during the presidential campaign. Denis McDonough, deputy National Security adviser, and two others will take over Lippert's duties.

“I will miss Mark and his counsel, his excellent work at the NSC, and his good cheer. At the same time, I was not surprised when he came and told me he had stepped forward for another mobilization, as Mark is passionate about the Navy. I support his decision. He is a close friend, and I admire and respect his devotion to our country and answering the call to active duty service. He will always have a senior foreign policy position in this White House, when he chooses to return to civilian life," President Obama said in a statement.

As the US and its allies begin high-stakes talks today with Iran to demand an end to its nuclear weapons program, Senator John F. Kerry put in his two cents on what he calls "the most important American diplomatic engagement with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution."

In Geneva, officials from the US and five other world powers are meeting with representatives of Iran, a week after President Obama called out Iran at the G-20 economic summit, disclosing intelligence that it had been secretly building a new uranium enrichment plant.

In an op-ed piece published in today's Financial Times, Kerry says that the Western powers enter the talks from a position of strength. "Consider the view from Tehran," he writes. "It is on the defensive – caught red-handed in another nuclear deception. In contrast to the rancorous run-up to the war in Iraq, America and Europe are increasingly reading from the same script and Russia is signalling an openness to further sanctions."

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says that for the diplomatic overtures to work, " two things are vital. First, if Iran is not willing to negotiate in good faith, it must understand the consequences. Pressure is not an alternative to engagement; the two strategies complement each other."

"Second," Kerry adds, "we must be willing to take yes for an answer. An important lesson of Iraq is that intrusive inspections can work. Our ability to detect and monitor the Qom enrichment facility for years before publicly revealing it is encouraging."

The Massachusetts Democrat acknowledges that diplomacy could very well fail.

"And yet, it remains vital to seek a diplomatic solution to the stand-off," he concludes. "The international community is finally in a position to force Iran to choose either pariah status or a more constructive relationship with America and the world. Certainly the real possibility of either military conflict or a nuclear-armed Iran compels us to give diplomacy a chance."

Representative Eric Cantor, the second-ranking Republican in the House, is less optimistic that the negotiations will be fruitful.

"The unfortunate reality for President Obama is that there is absolutely no evidence that Iran is willing to reach any agreement acceptable on U.S. terms – much less use negotiations for any purpose other than to buy more time for its illicit nuclear enrichment activities," Cantor writes in an op-ed published today in Politico.

The congressman says that Obama should not delay in winning international support for "crippling sanctions" to force Iran to comply.

"The key point is that we have been down this road before – and it has reached a dead end. This time around we simply don’t have the luxury of time," Cantor says, adding that Obama "must treat Iran’s government as the oppressive and unyielding engine of terror that it is, not as the trustworthy and compromising rational actor we all wish it could be. Should he expeditiously follow through on the heavy sanctions Iran deserves, the president will have the support of a clear majority of Congress."

Mr. President, meet General McChrystal. General, meet your commander-in-chief.

President Obama huddled privately with his entire national security team for three hours this afternoon -- and spoke directly for only the second time with the top US commander in Afghanistan. And even this time, Stanley McChrystal wasn't be there in person, but via a secure videoconference link.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs tonight issued this report of the private session:

"In today’s meeting, the President engaged his national security team in a candid assessment of the progress that has been made and the challenges we still face in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the President's strategy was announced in March. As a part of this review, the President will consult with his national security team, including his military commanders, civilian leadership, and Ambassadors in the region. He will also consult closely with our Allies and with the United States Congress.

"As the U.S. aggressively confronts al Qaeda and its leadership around the world, the President has set a clear goal in Afghanistan: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and their extremist allies. When it come to decisions as important as keeping this country safe and putting our troops into harm’s way, the President has made it clear that he will rigorously assess our progress. That is why he held this meeting today and will take the next several weeks to review our strategy.

"This was the second of five scheduled intensive sessions with National Security Council as well as field commanders and regional ambassadors. The President has also directed his inter-agency team to provide regular consultation sessions with Congress, during this period, starting with Gen. Jones’ briefing of all US senators this evening."

Gibbs said Obama will meet again with his national security team to discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan on Oct. 7.

The Associated Press reports that Obama made no decisions during the meeting.

The AP quotes a senior administration official saying that the president pushed for specifics and details, focusing on what the goals of the US strategy should be. The official, who was involved in the session, said no decisions about increased troop levels were discussed.

The other top officials who were supposed to be in attendance, either in person or via video hookup: Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, special envoy Richard Holbrooke, Joint Chiefs chairman Michael Mullen, Central Command General David Petraeus, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, CIA Director Leon Panetta, National Security Adviser James Jones,
US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, and US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson.

It was an unusual gathering in the White House situation room -- the top-secret retreat seen only in movies and TV, where the president is responding to one world crisis or another.

Obama is trying to find the right US strategy after eight years of war in Afghanistan -- even as he is buffeted from the left and the right over a pending request from McChrystal for thousands more US troops, on top of the 21,000 the president has already dispatched.

Senator John F. Kerry, a fellow Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is trying to prevail on Obama to take as long as it takes for the review of the Afghanistan mission.

"I am arguing that the president has the time and we have the time," Kerry told the Globe Tuesday.

But Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, urged Obama today to quickly approve the request for additional troops.

"Time is not on our side so we need a decision pretty quickly," McCain, who is likening the request to the troop surge that turned around the situation in Iraq, said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I think history is pretty clear that when the Taliban took over, it became a base for attacks on the United States and our allies."

President Obama has had doctors and nurses by his side as he pitches his health care plans.

Now, his political group wants to put the medical professionals in new TV ads to rebuild public support for an overhaul of the health care system.

"The cavalry is here -- and they're in white coats and scrubs: More than a half a million doctors and millions of nurses are joining forces to help pass real health reform. Americans listen to their nurses and doctors when it comes to health reform -- and for good reason. If we can help them amplify their voices, it'll be a huge boost to our campaign for change," Mitch Stewart, national director of Organizing for America, told supporters in a fund-raising solicitation today.

Stewart said the group is trying to come up with $300,000 by Thursday for the ad, which would note that the reform effort has the backing of the American Medical Association and a dozen other physicians groups representing 500,000 doctors, plus the American Nurses Association and other organizations representing millions of nurses.

A liberal-labor group supporting President Obama and the Democrats on health care has a new web ad that uses a more humorous, tongue-in-cheek approach to make the case that Republicans don't have a plan to offer.

The video from Americans United for Change puts together clips of various Republican lawmakers to argue that the GOP plan for those without insurance is to go to emergency rooms and seek charity care; for those seeking better benefits to get a federal government job; and for those trying to cut costs by dropping maternity care.

"This has been Republican Party health care solutions," the video ends.

Democrats are keeping up their assault on Republicans for what they say is scaring seniors by warning of cuts in benefits that would come from the health care overhaul.

The new TV ad today from the Democratic National Committee cites news reports that question the truthfulness of the Republican critiques and the AARP conclusion that Republicans are using "scare tactics." The spot is clearly aimed at the elderly set, down to the key points appearing on a billboard and on a piece of paper inserted into an ancient Royal typewriter.

The ad asserts that instead of cuts, seniors will benefit from lower prescription drug costs and premium payments.

While Republican accusations that the Democratic bills could lead to rationing of care have been largely debunked, independent analysts say that the GOP does have a point when it comes to a portion of the Medicare program. Under the Democratic proposals, more than 10 million seniors enrolled in an enhanced, private version of Medicare known as Medicare Advantage could have their coverage shrink or be replaced with traditional plans.

As the Senate Finance Committee today voted against including in the health care overhaul a government-run public option to compete with private insurers, the back-and-forth continues over an existing government program.

After Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus complained about a mailer sent by Humana, one of the nation's largest insurers, warning seniors that they could lose important Medicare benefits under the Democratic health care bills, Health and Human Services ordered Humana and other private companies that contract with Medicare to stop sending customers information about the overhaul's potential effects on their benefits.

While Democrats deny that the bills would cut Medicare benefits, the Congressional Budget Office and independent analysts said some seniors could lose some enhanced benefits under the Medicare Advantage program .

Republican leaders responded late last week by warning HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that they will block confirmations of any agency appointees until she lifts what they call the "gag order" on insurers.

Today, the liberal-labor coalition Americans United for Change unveiled a new TV spot going after Humana and the Republicans.

The Halloween-themed ad accuses the insurance industry and its GOP allies of resorting to fear tactics.

"This year Halloween comes early for health insurance giant Humana," the announcer says. "Humana is sending letters to its senior citizen policy holders intended to frighten them into opposing health insurance reform. The letters say health insurance reform threatens their Medicare benefits. AARP says: that’s just not true."

"But we shouldn’t be surprised," the announcer says as images of Republican leaders in various costumes flit across the screen. "Whether it’s the insurance companies or their Republican allies, the case against health insurance reform always gets down to one word."

"Boo!" it says on screen.

Baucus did not include a public option in his draft plan, largely because he does not believe that a bill that includes it would pass the Senate. Liberal groups launched a new TV ad this week in his home state trying to pressure him to change his mind.

But Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, is proposing a public plan modeled on Medicare, the government program for the elderly.

President Obama has said he prefers a public option, but is not firmly wedded to it, as long as there is competition for private insurers.

President Obama huddled today with the leader of NATO and the main topic for discussion was the war in Afghanistan.

NATO casualties have risen, along with American ones, as the coalition forces more aggressively take on the Taliban and al Qaeda.

After the meeting, Obama said he and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen agree it's "absolutely critical" to be successful in destroying the al Qaeda network and to work with the Afghan government on improving security.

"This is not an American battle, this is a NATO mission," Obama said.

Rasmussen echoed that view, saying it is a "team effort."

The president did not offer any hints on where he will come down on a recommendation from the top US commander on the ground for more troops. He has already dispatched 21,000 more troops, bringing the total to about 68,000 by year's end.

Rasmussen said NATO officials are also reviewing the recommendation and said that Obama is right to determine the strategy first, then decide what resources are needed.

Obama also said the two men discussed the missile defense system, which the president is revamping from the Bush model, focusing more on the threat of short- and medium-range missiles from Iran and no longer deploying interceptors and radar in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Their full remarks are below:

The latest health care poll is also the most recent to suggest that the battering the Democratic bills took during the protests and shouting that met August congressional town halls has dissipated as the focus returned to Capitol Hill.

According to the sixth tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 57 percent of Americans believe that tackling health care reform is more important than ever, up from 53 percent in August. The proportion of Americans who believe their families would be better off after an overhaul is up six percentage points to 42 percent and the proportion who think that the country would be better off is up eight points to 53 percent.

Also according to the survey, most Americans support the principles at the core of the bills supported by President Obama and congressional Democrats, including a requirement that individuals obtain coverage (68 percent), a mandate that most employers offer coverage (67 percent), and an expansion of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (82 percent).

Majorities also back "having health insurance companies pay a fee based on how much business they have” and “having health insurance companies pay a tax for offering very expensive policies,” according to Kaiser.

The Kaiser poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, was conducted Sept. 11-18 -- just after Obama gave a nationally televised address to Congress to lay out what he wanted in a health care bill. He has kept up the drumbeat for reform since with rallies and repeated TV appearances.

Other polls have also shown rebounding support for reform after the drumbeat of criticism led by conservative activists and Republicans in August drove down the numbers.

The office in charge of overseeing the $787 billion economic stimulus package opened its new and improved website for business today.

The portal (click here) features several different ways to track how the money is being spent, including by state (Massachusetts has received nearly $5.6 billion so far) and by agency.

“Today’s launch of the latest version of Recovery.gov marks a significant step forward in our efforts to provide unprecedented transparency and accountability of Recovery Act dollars at work," Vice President Joe Biden, put in charge by the president, said in a statement.

"Visitors to the site now have at their fingertips agency-level information about every area of Recovery Act spending through new interactive maps, graphs and other user-friendly features – and this is just the beginning. Starting next month, this pioneering project will go even farther with the posting of data directly from recipients showing how they have put Recovery dollars to work on projects nationwide. I applaud the work of Earl Devaney and his team at the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board leveraging the latest technology to provide the public with more information about their taxpayer dollars at work than with any previous program in the history of our government. And I look forward to watching Recovery.gov continue to grow along with the Recovery Act.”

Liberal groups are trying to intensify the pressure on Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus on the eve of his panel's vote whether to include a "public option" -- a government-run plan to compete with private insurers -- in its bill.

Seeking support from moderate Democrats and Republicans, Baucus did not include it in his draft. The finance committee is expected to vote Tuesday.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America are airing an ad in Baucus's home state of Montana and in Washington, D.C., featuring a Billings man as a real-life example of the need for a public option.

Bing Perrine says he had to have heart surgery, but didn't have insurance. While friends and strangers held bake sales and other fund-raisers, he still owes $100,000, he says in the ad.

Perrine goes on to assert that Baucus has received nearly $4 million in campaign contributions from health care interests.

"Senator Baucus, when you take millions of dollars from health and insurance interests that oppose reform, and oppose giving families like mine the choice of a public option, I have to ask: 'Whose side are you on?' the Montana farmer asks.

A new GOP web ad aims straight for the sensitive spot in the health care overhaul from President Obama and Democrats -- that the proposals would mean higher taxes.

The ad claims that the bills would mean taxes on tests, scans and X-rays; on medical supplies; and on charities and small businesses. “Hundreds of billions in new taxes, all of it passed right back to the consumer,” the announcer says over images of a laughing Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, juxtaposed with worried consumers.

The GOP ad then notes that the bill calls for a penalty for those who don't obtain health insurance, though it doesn't mention that there would be subsidies to help them: “And if you think you can’t afford it, you can’t afford not to, because they’ve even proposed a tax for not having health insurance.”

Obama has insisted that the penalty does not amount to a tax increase, but many independent observers disagree and the ad shows the dictionary definition.

"Obama health care taxes,” the announcer concludes. “Wrong for health care. ”

“For months, President Obama has tried to convince the American people that his government-run health care experiment will be all gain and no pain, but they aren’t buying it," Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said in a statement. "The fact is, his plan contains huge new taxes that will harm the economy and cost more jobs. Democrats are paying for their dangerous experiment with higher taxes on small business owners, charitable giving, and even middle-class families who can least afford it. I encourage President Obama to abandon these health care taxes and set a course for a truly bipartisan bill that embraces reforms Americans actually want and need.”

Democrats, however, argue that the Senate Finance bill does not include any mandate on employers and that both businesses and individuals would end up eventually benefiting from lower health care costs.

"Apparently undeterred by the facts, the RNC is again relying on scare-tactics to ‘kill’ health insurance reform in a new web video released today," the Democratic National Committee said in its response. "The RNC’s latest attempt to mislead voters accuses the President of being 'in denial' over 'new taxes' that the RNC claims would result from reform. The only person guilty of that charge, however, is the Republican Party’s own Chairman who just this morning on Fox News denied that this country’s 'health care system' was 'going broke.' ”

For its part, the Democratic National Committee today sent out an email bashing House Republican leader John Boehner -- the second missive in its "Call 'em out" campaign targeting Republicans for repeating "falsehoods" about the Democratic proposals.

"As the Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner could use his important position to forge honest consensus around reforms that most Americans overwhelmingly support. Sadly, Boehner is choosing to be a leading peddler of health reform lies instead," says the email to supporters, urging them to criticize Boehner on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and to write letters to the editor.

"When Boehner repeated his claim that reform would result in a government takeover of health care, it was clear he's been too busy trying to score political points to read the overwhelming evidence -- including a post from the non-partisan FactCheck.org -- debunking this claim," the email continues. "And cruelly scaring seniors with lies about benefit cuts, even though his own party voted to gut Medicare? On his side of the aisle, that's become standard operating procedure. Then of course there's Boehner's blatant lie that reform will provide taxpayer-funded abortions, a claim rejected even by groups that oppose abortion. His lies have been thoroughly debunked, but John Boehner just won't stop -- so we're calling him out."

Boehner responded to the Democrats' attack: "There's a reason why the majority of Americans oppose the Democrats' government takeover of health care, $500 billion in Medicare cuts, tax hikes, and mountains of new debt on our kids and grandkids. It's because they are in their bill. Try as they might, Democrats have a major credibility problem. Americans don't trust them with their health care, and they shouldn't."

Senator John F. Kerry, an influential adviser to President Obama on Afghanistan, is bending his ear about the lessons of Vietnam.

The Massachusetts Democrat is asking whether a more limited counterterrorism mission in Afghanistan would be a better strategy than than sending thousands more US troops for a full-blown counterinsurgency operation.

Obama is taking another look at the US strategy as General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander on the ground, has asked for more forces.

Kerry, who came to politics as a Vietnam War veteran turned antiwar protestor, has called several hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to explore those arguments. And he makes them again in an op-ed published in today's Wall Street Journal.

"We in Congress have our own assignment: to test all of the underlying assumptions in Afghanistan and make sure they are the right ones before embarking on a new strategy," Kerry writes. "For example, one assumption of the proposed counterinsurgency plan is that our troops and civilians will be working in partnership with a legitimate and reliable government in Afghanistan. After the deeply flawed presidential election last month, we must ask whether we can succeed if our partner is weak and viewed with deep suspicion by his own people.

"We also need to know whether a full-blown counterinsurgency, with its increased footprint and inevitably higher casualties, is a fundamental part of our plans to go after al Qaeda and avoid destabilizing Pakistan. Could a far smaller, well-honed counterterrorism strategy work as well or better?" Kerry asks.

He goes on to assert that "one of the lessons from Vietnam—applied in the first Gulf War and sadly forgotten for too long in Iraq—is that we should not commit troops to the battlefield without a clear understanding of what we expect them to accomplish, how long it will take, and how we maintain the consent of the American people. Otherwise, we risk bringing our troops home from a mission unachieved or poorly conceived."

Wrapping up a week of meetings on the world stage, President Obama uses his weekly address to claim progress on economic stability and international security -- even as he still faces unemployment woes and a recalcitrant Congress on health care at home.

"Over the past nine months my administration has renewed American leadership, and pursued a new era of engagement in which we call upon all nations to live up to their responsibilities. This week, our engagement produced tangible results in several areas," Obama says.

At the United Nations, he became the first president to preside over the Security Council, which unanimously passed a nuclear nonproliferation resolution and brought together Israeli and Palestinian leaders for the time in almost a year, though little progress was reported.

At the G-20 summit that concluded Friday in Pittsburgh, leaders agreed to steps to prevent another financial meltdown. He also joined leaders from Europe and Russia in firmly declaring that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons after disclosing a second, secret uranium enrichment site.

"This is a serious challenge to the global nonproliferation regime, and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion. That is why international negotiations with Iran scheduled for October 1st now take on added urgency." he says.

"My offer of a serious, meaningful dialogue to resolve this issue remains open. But Iran must now cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and take action to demonstrate its peaceful intentions. On this, the international community is more united than ever before."

Obama issued another stern warning to Iran's leaders, saying they "must now choose – they can live up to their responsibilities and achieve integration with the community of nations. Or they will face increased pressure and isolation, and deny opportunity to their own people."

"These are the urgent threats of our time," he concludes. "And the United States is committed to a new chapter of international cooperation to meet them. This new chapter will not be written in one week or even one year. But we have begun. And for the American people and the people of the world, it will mean greater security and prosperity for years to come."

His full address is below and can be viewed here.

President Obama, backed by the leaders of Britain and France, issued a stern warning to Iran today after announcing that it has been building a secret, second nuclear site.

At the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Obama said the three western powers submitted evidence of the uranium enrichment facility to the International Atomic Energy Agency and now demand that Iran open the site to IAEA inspectors.

The disclosure came a day after Obama presided over the United Nations Security Council as it adopted a US-backed resolution that supports Obama's goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

"Iran has a right to peaceful nuclear power that meets the energy needs of its people. But the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program," Obama said at a news conference.

"Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow, endangering the global nonproliferation regime, denying its own people access to the opportunity they deserve, and threatening the stability and security of the region and the world."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown added, "We will not let this matter rest. And we are prepared to implement further and more stringent sanctions.

"Let the message that goes out to the world be absolutely clear: that Iran must abandon any military ambitions for its nuclear program."

(Their full remarks, along with those of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are below.)

UPDATE: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, asked about a possible military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, said today that diplomacy can work and is the better option.

"The reality is, there is no military option that does anything more than buy time," Gates said during an interview airing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "The estimates are one to three years or so. And the only way you end up not having a nuclear-capable Iran is for the Iranian government to decide that their security is diminished by having those weapons, as opposed to strengthened."

"While you don't take options off the table, I think there's still room left for diplomacy," he added, in excerpts released by CNN this afternoon. "The Iranians are in a very bad spot now because of this deception, in terms of all of the great powers. And there obviously is the opportunity for severe additional sanctions. And I think we have the time to make that work."

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad abruptly cancelled a press conference he planned to hold at the United Nations today after Obama's news conference.

Ahmadinejad learned of Obama's announcement this morning during an interview at Time Magazine. He called the accusation "a mistake" and claimed that the Iranian government would have informed the IAEA of its new nuclear facility being built near the holy city of Qom in due time.

"This does not mean that anything was done secretly," he said. "We are the ones who always inform the IAEA of our activities."

An Iranian dissident group revealed the existence of the first clandestine uranium enrichment facility at Natanz in 2002. Under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, such a facility must be open to international inspectors. But Iranian officials argued that they did not have to inform the international body of its construction until they brought nuclear material there.

Senator John F. Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, echoed the leaders' warnings.

“In light of Iran’s continuing deception, the international community must step up its demands that Iran halt its enrichment and reprocessing work, answer the International Atomic Energy Agency's questions, and provide IAEA inspectors with the full complement of access and transparency they require," he said in a statement.

“President Obama has offered Iran every opportunity to open a constructive diplomatic dialogue on its nuclear program. To this point, there is no evidence that Iran intends to reciprocate. I continue to support engagement with Iran, but now is the time to supplement engagement with more robust international sanctions. That’s the only way to dramatically increase the economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran from the outside and help leverage pressure on the regime from its own population which wants a different relationship with the world. Tehran must make a fundamental decision on whether it wants to continue its pariah status or enter a more constructive relationship with the world.”

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio also weighed in with a rebuke of Iran, and warned that the United States should not directly negotiate with the country, as Obama has suggested he would be open to doing.

“Today’s announcement about Iran’s secret nuclear facility is further confirmation of its pattern of deception and denial. For years, the regime in Tehran has done everything in its power to hide the truth that it is committed to building a nuclear bomb to threaten the United States and our allies. The IAEA must be allowed into the country to conduct immediate, unimpeded, and comprehensive inspections, and there must be full transparency regarding the results of those inspections," Boehner said in a statement.

“This revelation should put the international community on notice that its collective willingness to give the Iranian regime ‘one more chance’ is not working. How will we respond to a regime that refuses civil liberties, denies its citizens free and fair elections, and aims to dominate a critical region through violence, terrorism, and nuclear weapons? How will we respond if Iran does not let inspectors in? Why should we feel confident they are being honest about anything else?

“The United States should not participate in direct negotiations with Iran – negotiations that will further legitimize this brutal regime – until we have answers to these important questions. Unfortunately, the Administration has not, to date, given Iran reason to believe we are serious about preventing them from acquiring or developing a nuclear capability, especially in light of the Administration’s recent policy decision regarding missile defense in Central Europe and its public remarks about Israel and the Middle East peace process. The United States and our European allies must demonstrate a willingness to quickly impose meaningful sanctions against the regime in Iran. We can do so even if other nations like Russia and China refuse to join this effort, and we should. Finally, Congress needs to get serious about moving a sanctions bill, and it needs to do so now.”

Senators John F. Kerry and Richard Lugar praised their colleagues today for passing a bill that triples foreign aid to Pakistan, an ally with a nuclear arsenal that is beset by internal divisions and Islamic militants.

The bill they championed includes $1.5 billion a year over the next five years for democratic, economic, and social development assistance. It could win House passage as early as Friday, sending it to President Obama for his signature, the Associated Press reports.

Kerry broke the news of the Senate vote to Pakistan's foreign minister in a telephone call during a meeting in New York of senior diplomats pledging support for Pakistan. The room broke out into applause, reports the Globe's Farah Stockman.

President Obama also attended that meeting, where he said he wanted to "reaffirm my country’s deep commitment to the people of Pakistan."

(His full remarks are below.)

"This Act represents a collaboration between both Democrats and Republicans, in both Senate and the House, to forge a new long-term relationship between the people of America and Pakistan. The fact that President Obama was able to announce this at the United Nations sends an important message to Pakistan and the world of our strengthened commitment to this relationship," Kerry said in a statement.

“I am delighted by the action of my colleagues today—and by the unanimity displayed in the Senate vote. This landmark piece of legislation is the product of careful consultation between both Chambers, and both sides of the aisle: I salute my friends Dick Lugar and Howard Berman for their leadership. It is my hope and expectation that the House will pass this bill speedily, so that the President can sign it into law without delay.”

Lugar added, “The United States has an intense strategic interest in Pakistan and the surrounding region. The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate last year painted a bleak picture of the converging crises in Pakistan. A growing al-Qaeda sanctuary, an expanding Taliban insurgency, political brinksmanship, and a failing economy are intensifying turmoil and violence in that country. These circumstances are a threat to Pakistan, the region, and the United States.

“We should make clear to the people of Pakistan that our interests are focused on democracy, pluralism, stability, and the fight against terrorism. These are values supported by a large majority of the Pakistani people. If Pakistan is to break its debilitating cycle of instability, it will need to achieve progress on fighting corruption, delivering government services, and promoting broad based economic growth. The international community and the United States should support reforms that contribute to the strengthening of Pakistani civilian institutions.”

President Obama this morning became the first US commander in chief to preside at a United Nations Security Council session -- and he used the forum to renew his vision for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Calling the use and spread of nuclear weapons a "fundamental threat" to humankind, Obama said a single bomb detonated in a major city like New York would kill hundreds of thousands of people and destabilize the globe.

Aftter the 15-member council unanimously approved a draft resolution on nonproliferation, he announced that the United States will hold a summit next spring to work on enforcement.

“We harbor no illusions about the difficulty of bringing about a world without nuclear weapons," Obama told the council. "We know there are plenty of cynics, and that there will be setbacks to prove their point. But there will also be days like today that push us forward – days that tell a different story. It is the story of a world that understands that no difference or division is worth destroying all that we have built and all that we love. It is a recognition that can bring people of different nationalities and ethnicities and ideologies together. In my own country, it has brought Democrats and Republican leaders together.”

(His full remarks are below, followed by the White House release.)

He announced the goal in a speech in Prague in April, and said that the United States had a "moral responsibility" to lead because no other country has used one. The US has agreed to reduce its stockpile of nuclear weapons, has committed to negotiate a new strategic weapons reduction treaty with Russia, and is leading efforts to control nuclear material in the former Soviet Union.

As the Globe reported in June, another tool Obama is proposing is an internationally managed nuclear fuel bank, which could remove the "peaceful use" justification for Iran and other nations that might be trying to use a civilian nuclear program as cover to make nuclear weapons.

Many arms-control specialists consider the idea of a "fuel bank" controlled by the International Atomic Energy Agency a key way to test the sincerity of Iranian leaders, who maintain that their enrichment program is only for civilian use and necessary because they cannot be assured of energy supplies from other countries.

Senator John F. Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement applauding the resolution's passage.

“I commend the President for reasserting American leadership on the vital issue of nuclear nonproliferation and for securing unanimous Security Council approval of an important resolution. The world has long looked to our nation to lead in combating nuclear proliferation, and today’s action by the Security Council demonstrates the concrete benefits to our own nation’s security that can be achieved when the United States takes up that mantle of leadership.

“With this resolution the Security Council has called upon all states to follow the United States’ lead and take on the goal of securing all of the world’s vulnerable nuclear material in four years. It has also put governments of the world on notice that the international community will not tolerate cynical efforts to take advantage of the rights to peaceful nuclear energy that are enshrined in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“I am especially pleased that the Security Council has called upon states to adopt stricter export controls over sensitive nuclear equipment and technology, will address any move by a state to withdraw from the NPT, and has affirmed that a state that withdraws from the NPT remains responsible for any violations of the Treaty that it committed before withdrawal.”

The White House also released a joint statement from former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Secretary of Defense William Perry, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and former Senator Sam Nunn, who in 2007 penned a widely circulated opinion piece also calling for a nuclear weapons-free world.

"The Summit in the UN Security Council brings much-needed global focus to the risks posed by the spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear know-how and nuclear material. By convening heads of state, the meeting can help build the necessary political will around the urgent steps required to reduce nuclear dangers," they said.

"The four of us have come together in a nonpartisan effort, deeply committed to building support for a global effort to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons, to prevent their spread into potentially dangerous hands, and ultimately to end them as a threat to the world. We remain committed to working toward this vision and advancing the steps essential to achieve this goal. We welcome the leadership of the U.S. administration in this effort."

Vice President Joe Biden jumped all over the congressional watchdog's report on the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan, saying the report shows that the stimulus is working.

“Today’s report from the Government Accountability Office confirms what I have been hearing from people across the country: the Recovery Act is working to jump-start critical infrastructure projects, cushion the impact of record state budget deficits and provide new job opportunities for hard-hit communities," Biden, who has been put in charge of making sure the stimulus money is not wasted, said in a statement.

"As the GAO notes, Recovery Act funds are being put to work ahead of schedule, and project bids are frequently coming in under-budget -- with the millions of dollars of cost-savings often redirected to communities that need the economic boost the most. The fact that a survey of nine major Recovery Act programs across sixteen states by the government’s top watchdog, showed such significant progress is a testament to the care with which we have put taxpayer dollars to work.”

“We look ahead to receiving the first reports directly from recipients of Recovery Act funds next month on what it has meant for their business or organization. We appreciate the GAO’s recommendations for carrying out that process. I am also stressing to agencies the importance of responding to the GAO’s other recommendations for improvements in execution and oversight of this highly complex effort.”

Biden didn't mention, however, that the GAO also warned that a government's plans to measure the success of a $1.2 billion jobs program for teenagers are so lax that they "may reveal little about what the program achieved.

The Associated Press reports that many teens didn't get jobs, partly because unemployed adults sought the same low-wage, entry-level positions. Youth unemployment rates hit 18.5 percent in July, the highest rate measured among 16- to 24-year-olds in that month since 1948, the AP notes.

Republicans have also kept up a barrage of criticism of the stimulus, saying it hasn't created the promised jobs.

House Republican leaders added their voices today to those who say the focus on health care on Capitol Hill is crowding out other crucial issues, namely what to do in Afghanistan.

“With Afghanistan now becoming such a very troublesome issue, we should be making progress on health care so it doesn’t get in the way of a very, very important national security issue,” Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, told reporters after a private GOP meeting. “Central Asia is the Persian Gulf of the 21st century. We are foolish to be ignoring that threat right now."

"Health care in this building has made it so that it seems we can't get anything else done. We have burning issues out there is this country," Cantor added.

Obama, who is weighing a revamped strategy for Afghanistan and whether to send even more reinforcements than the 21,000 he has already dispatched, is likely to need Republican support for whatever he decides because the vast majority of Democrats are opposed to any escalation of the US mission.

"With all the attention there is on health care, the attention that needs to be paid to what is happening in Afghanistan isn’t happening,” added Representative John Boehner, the House Republican leader.

He and other key lawmakers have demanded that General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, appear before House and Senate committees to explain his report to the White House that calls for additional troops.

"What strategy does he believe is going to be necessary in order to secure Afghanistan so that we deny the Taliban and al Qaeda a safe haven from which to train, operate and organize to come after Americans again? And so, we need General McChrystal up here as soon as possible to help members understand. I think the President ought to take his request as soon as possible,” Boehner added.

“I do believe that there is a lot of danger in the delay. First, with insufficient troops in the field, we put the troops that we do have there at greater risk. Secondly, if the President doesn’t come to a decision soon—what will happen is— we will miss the window of getting more troops into the theater as the spring thaw occurs, when the additional troops are going to be necessary. And so, I would hope that the timetable that’s been discussed by the Administration gets sped up, and gets sped up rapidly.”

As the Globe reported on Monday, some lawmakers and advocates are chafing that the sluggish pace on a health care overhaul has backed up priorities including climate change, transportation, and financial regulation.

On Fox Business Network this afternoon, Boehner said House Democrats should realize that their plan, with a government-run public option, is not going to get through.

"They're still moving in the direction of those big government plan, high taxes and big deficits. At some point it's going to become clear that this can't pass. I don't know whether that's three weeks from now, four weeks from now, six weeks from now, but at some point it's going to become clear," Boehner said.

"And then they're going to have to make a decision - do they accept the defeat or do they hit the reset button and scrap all these big government ideas and work with Republicans to make our current system work better."

President Obama tapped Representative William Delahunt of Massachusetts and Partners Health Care board member Elaine Schuster today as US delegates to the United Nations General Assembly session this week.

They are joined by Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, and as alternate representatives former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and New York lawyer Laura Gore Ross.

The White House mini-biographies on them are below:

Senator John F. Kerry, who has picked up some of the health care mantle from the late Edward M. Kennedy, lashed out today at Republicans complaining that the issue is being rushed.

“Only in Washington could people argue that we’ve rushed this process,” Kerry said in a statement. “This has been America’s battle for decades, and those suffering in a broken system cannot afford the political gaming of stall and delay – they simply will not survive it. We are going to get this done. I’ve been confident of that all along, and I’m confident of it now. We’re going to do it because we have to and because it is the right thing to do. And in the end, I think, we will show something about the character and the compassion of the American people.”

As the Senate Finance Committee started deliberating and amending a proposal from Chairman Max Baucus, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the panel's senior Republican, said the mid-September deadline preempted bipartisan talks. "I find it utterly and completely appalling," he said.

Baucus unveiled his bill last weeks after months of negotiations toward a possible bipartisan deal proved fruitless.

Kerry's full statement to the committee is below:

Before hosting a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, President Obama made clear today that he wants the stalled Mideast peace talks to pick up momentum again.

"Simply put it is past time to talk about starting negotiations -- it is time to move forward.  It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that’s necessary to achieve our goals.  Permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon.  And more importantly, we must give those negotiations the opportunity to succeed," he said after meeting separately with the two leaders.

"And so my message to these two leaders is clear," Obama added. "Despite all the obstacles, despite all the history, despite all the mistrust, we have to find a way forward.  We have to summon the will to break the deadlock that has trapped generations of Israelis and Palestinians in an endless cycle of conflict and suffering.  We cannot continue the same pattern of taking tentative steps forward and then stepping back.  Success depends on all sides acting with a sense of urgency."

But expectations for any kind of breakthrough are extremely low. Obama's Mideast envoy, former Senator George Mitchell of Maine, came home without any progress, particularly on the thorny issue of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John F. Kerry sounded a note of hope.

“President Obama has shown a commendable commitment to making Middle East peace a priority," Kerry said in a statement. "I hope that today’s meeting between President Obama, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas is the first step back to the negotiating table—and eventually toward a comprehensive peace. Progress towards peace requires bold steps from all sides. Ultimately, it’s up to Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders to seize this opportunity and match the President’s leadership.”

Obama's full remarks are below: 

In one of his first forays into the thick of the health care debate, Vice President Joe Biden today used a new White House report on premium increases to warn that without an overhaul, families will face higher and higher costs.

"The status quo of rising premiums is simply unsustainable for families, for businesses, for state budgets, and for our national economy," Biden told state insurance commissioners.

According to the White House report, the national average annual family premium for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $13,375 in 2009, up 5.5 percent during a recession when overall inflation fell by 0.7 percent. The report found that families’ premiums have gone up between 90 percent and 150 percent over the last decade, depending on the state, far faster than wages and inflation.

In Massachusetts, premiums jumped 119 percent between 1999 and 2009, nearly three times the 35 percent increase in wages, according to the report.

Click here for the full report.

Biden's full remarks are below:

With President Obama opening the door a crack to tort reform as part of a health care overhaul, the nation's trial lawyers are trying to slam it shut again.

The American Association for Justice announced today it is launching what it called the first phase of a nationwide ad campaign "to educate lawmakers about the epidemic of preventable medical errors and how tort law changes won’t lower costs or cover the uninsured."

The ads, running in Washington publications and on online news sites, say the estimated 98,000 deaths from preventable medical errors is “like two 737s crashing every day for a whole year.”

But the ad concludes: “Would we blame the passengers or the airlines?”

The group, formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, also has a website on the issue.

“Our health care system is clearly broken, and if we are serious about improving it, we need to fix preventable medical errors,” AAJ President Anthony Tarricone said in a statement. “This new ad campaign gives Congress 98,000 reasons why they should put patients’ health first – before the profits of insurance companies. If we work to improve our health care system and reduce medical errors – rather than strip people of their rights – there would be far fewer victims that need legal recourse.”

Obama, in his speech to Congress earlier this month, said while he didn't see malpractice reform as a "silver bullet," he was open to looking at ways to decrease "defensive medicine," when doctors order extra tests and procedures to avoid malpractice lawsuits.

Last week, the White House followed up by announcing $25 million in grants to help states and health care systems test models designed to compensate patients for malpractice but also reduce frivolous lawsuits and lower insurance premiums paid by doctors.

Kicking off four days of meetings with world leaders, President Obama declared this morning that the international response to global warming will determine how history views their success.

"Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it – boldly, swiftly, and together – we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe," he said at a climate change summit in New York hosted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"It is true that for too many years, mankind has been slow to respond to or even recognize the magnitude of the climate threat. It is true of my own country as well. We recognize that. But this is a new day. It is a new era. And I am proud to say that the United States has done more to promote clean energy and reduce carbon pollution in the last eight months than at any other time in our history," he bragged.

The president cited new fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, clean energy investments in the economic stimulus package, and energy efficiency initiatives. He also noted that in June, the US House passed a landmark climate change bill that calls for a cap-and-trade system that includes a limit on carbon emissions and a market for pollution credits.

"We understand the gravity of the climate threat," Obama said. "We are determined to act. And we will meet our responsibility to future generations." (His full remarks are below.)

But with health care backing up legislation in the Senate -- and vehement opposition from Republicans and others to cap-and-trade, it is uncertain at best that Obama will be able to deliver a signed, sealed, and delivered climate change law in time for a major global warming summit in December in Copenhagen, where advocates hope a groundbreaking agreement is approved.

Indeed, Obama is being upstaged at today's UN meeting by news that China will unveil plans to aggressively increase its energy saving programs to combat climate change.

Obama has a busy schedule on the world stage the rest of the week.

Today, he huddles separately with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, then brings together Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a trilateral meeting. Later, he meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Wednesday, Obama delivers his first speech to the UN General Assembly and meets with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Thursday, the president presides over a UN Security Council session on nuclear proliferation. And on Friday, Obama hosts the main session of the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh.

President Obama and his host mixed the serious with just the plain wacky as Obama tonight becomes the first sitting president to appear on "Late Night with David Letterman."

During the taping in New York, Letterman offered up his top 10 reasons why the president had agreed to do the show, including that Obama said yes without thinking about it, according to the Associated Press account. "Like Bush did with Iraq," Letterman said.

But Obama joked that he showed up because of the unusual prop that an audience member brought to the show: "The main reason I'm here? I want to see that heart-shaped potato."

The woman tossed the potato to Letterman and agreed to let Obama keep it, the AP says.

The 40-minute interview also covered a series of sober topics, including Obama's upcoming decision on whether to send more troops to win the war in Afghanistan.

The president also had his most irreverent answer yet when asked whether the intense opposition to his health care plan stems at least in part from racism.

"First of all, I think it's important to realize that I was actually black before the election," Obama said to big laughs from the audience.

The Letterman appearance followed up interviews on five Sunday talk shows, leading some to suggest that the president is getting overexposed.

"He's been on everything but the Food Channel," Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, joked on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

The health care bills in Congress run to the hundreds of pages -- not surprising since they would remake a huge chunk of the US economy.

But in a new video today, the White House that suggests that all Americans need to know can be summarized much more briefly.

"The Obama Plan in Four Minutes" shows the president explaining the basic benefits -- both for those with and without insurance -- in his speech this month to a joint session of Congress. The video ends with Obama's clarion calI for action, with him imploring lawmakers, "Now's the time to deliver on health care."

Meanwhile, with Obama busy at the United Nations on Wednesday, giving a major speech to the General Assembly, Vice President Joe Biden will pick up the slack on health care.

Biden, joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and White House health reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle, will lead a discussion in Silver Spring, Md., on "how health insurance reform will lower costs, cut waste, and improve health care quality for seniors across the country," the White House announced this afternoon.

With Biden taking a larger role in the health care debate, Republicans gleefully reminded that earlier this month, the vice president joked, "I do foreign policy, I don't do health care."

In his remarks at the Brookings Institution, Biden went on to say that one reason why is that foreign policy is "a lot easier than health care, and a lot less complicated." "And that's not a joke," he said.

Before taking the world stage the rest of the week, President Obama held one last economy event today, focusing on his hope that innovation will reverse painful job losses.

He toured and spoke at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., the beneficiary of $2 million in federal grants to retrain workers in clean energy work. He is being accompanied by Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden and a long-time community college instructor.

Obama declared that manufacturing cities like Troy have been hit hard during the economic downturn, but innovation jobs hold the promise of rebirth.

"There are those who suggest that nothing government can do will make a difference; that what we’ve seen in places like Troy is inevitable; that somehow, the parts of our country that helped us lead in the last century don’t have what it takes to help us lead in this one," the president said. "I am here today to tell you that this is just flat out wrong. What we have here is a community filled with talented people, entrepreneurial small businesses, and world-class learning institutions. The ingredients are right here for growth and success and a better future."

Citing local projects in nanotechnology and a semiconductor plant, he said that his innovation strategy will lead to "sustained growth and widely shared prosperity."

"Our strategy begins where innovation so often does: in the classroom and in the laboratory – and in the networks that connect them to the broader economy. These are the building blocks of innovation: education, infrastructure, and research," he said.

(His full remarks are below.)

The White House says that Obama's "innovation strategy" builds on more than $100 billion from the stimulus package. "It seeks to harness the inherent ingenuity of the American people and a dynamic private sector to ensure that the next expansion is more solid, broad-based, and beneficial than previous ones. It focuses on critical areas where sensible, balanced government policies can lay the foundation for innovation that leads to quality jobs and shared prosperity," the White House said in its release.

The full release is below:

Following up on his speech on Wall Street earlier this week warning that financial firms can't return to business as usual, President Obama uses his weekly address to put on the hard sell for his proposal to create a new agency to oversee consumer loans.

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is a centerpiece of the financial regulation overhaul sought by Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress. But it is strongly opposed by much of the financial industry.

"Part of what led to this crisis were not just decisions made on Wall Street, but also unsustainable mortgage loans made across the country. While many folks took on more than they knew they could afford, too often folks signed contracts they didn’t fully understand offered by lenders who didn’t always tell the truth. That’s why we need clear rules, clearly enforced. And that’s what this agency will do," Obama says in his weekly radio and Internet address.

"Consumers shouldn’t have to worry about loan contracts written to confuse, hidden fees attached to their mortgages, and financial penalties – whether through a credit card or debit card -- that appear without a clear warning on their statements. And responsible lenders, including community banks, trying to do the right thing shouldn’t have to worry about ruinous competition from unregulated and unscrupulous competitors."

Obama notes the opposition, but argues, "We cannot let the narrow interests of a few come before the interests of all of us. We cannot forget how close we came to the brink, and perpetuate the broken system and breakdown of responsibility that made it possible."

In the address, the president also pledges to continue to work on the economic recovery with other world leaders, whom he will meet at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh next week.

The full remarks are below, and can be viewed here.

President Obama wanted to talk about his health care proposals, but in the early excerpts released of the five interviews he taped today for broadcast Sunday, race was the focus.

Obama was asked about former President Jimmy Carter's assertion this week that much of the most vociferous opposition to the president is based on racism. Republicans slammed Carter, saying that the criticism is over his policies on health care and other issues, not race.

"Are there people out there who don’t like me because of race? I’m sure there are,” Obama said on CNN. “That’s not the overriding issue here.”

“I think there are people who are anti-government,” Obama continued. “I think there’s been a longstanding debate in this country -- that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition or when presidents are trying to bring about big changes. The things that were said about FDR were pretty similar to the things that were said about me. He was a Communist. He was a socialist. Things that were said about Ronald Reagan when he was trying to reverse some of the New Deal programs were pretty vicious as well.”

In his interview with ABC, the nation's first black president also made the argument that the dispute is really over the role of government.

"Look I think that race is such a volatile issue in this society, always has been that, it becomes hard for people to separate out race being a sort of part of the backdrop of American society versus race being a predominant factor in any given debate. And what I’ve said, when we talked during the campaign, Are there some people who don’t like me because of my race? I’m sure there are. Are there some people who voted for me only because of my race? There are probably some of those too.

"The overwhelming part of the American population, I think, is right now following this debate and they are trying to figure out, 'Is this gonna help me? Is health care going to make me better off?' Now there are some who are, setting aside the issue of race, actually I think are more passionate about the idea of whether government can do anything right. And I think that that’s probably the biggest driver of some of the vitriol."

He also did interviews with CBS, NBC, and Univision.

On the same day that current first lady Michelle Obama jumped into the fray on health care, the last first lady to take on the issue expressed optimism that President Obama's plan will be approved.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose "Hillarycare" was soundly rebuffed in the mid-1990s, promoted her experience on health care in her campaign against Obama in the Democratic primaries, saying she had the scars to prove it.

"It won't be pretty. It's like sausage-making. But we will end up with a bill for the president to sign that will be an advance," Clinton, now Obama's secretary of state, said today at the Brookings Institution. "We all have to calm down here, take two aspirin, go to bed, think about it in the morning."

President Obama called on his better half today to help make his sales pitch on health care as his overhaul plan faces brickbats from both the left and right.

First lady Michelle Obama spoke to a family-themed event sponsored by the White House Council on Women and Girls after women had told their stories of health care hardship.

According to the press pool report, the testimony came from a widow with a teenage son who had trouble finding affordable coverage, a cancer survivor who had to declare bankruptcy due to her copay and out-of-pocket costs, and a woman who has a non-cancerous lump in her breast but no insurance and who sat in the first lady's box for the president's health care speech to Congress last week.

Similar stories are happening all over the country because women are " being crushed -- crushed -- by the current structure of our health care," Michelle Obama said. "Crushed."

"This is why we are fighting so hard for health insurance reform," the first lady declared. "This is the face of the fight....People are hurting in this country right now."

And women "know the pain, because we are the ones dealing with it," she added, noting that in most families, mothers are dealing with the health care of their children, relatives, and often their husbands, as well, drawing laughter from the audience that included members of the Business and Professional Women, the YWCA, the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and the National Council of Negro Women.

The first lady also told the story of her daughter Sasha, who at four months old contracted meningitis, and said she often wonders what would have happened if the Obamas didn't have a good pediatrician and generous insurance.

She said it's "still shocking to me" and it keeps her up at night that women are denied coverage or charged more for insurance, and that many policies don't cover basic services that women need.

"The status quo is unacceptable. It is holding women and families back," Michelle Obama said, then going on to explain major elements of the president's plan.

"I think this is a pretty reasonable plan, I don't know about you," she said, urging the audience to "mobilize like you've never mobilized before" over the next few weeks to educate people about the plan and to rebut false allegations.

"No longer can we sit by and watch the debate take on a life of it own. Now, more than ever, we have to channel our passions into change."

Also according to the press pool report, the first lady plans similar health care events, though not in the next two weeks, when she will be busy with United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York, the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh, and the International Olympic Committee meeting in Copenhagen, when the executive committee will choose the host for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The first lady, who previously has made helping military families her signature issue, has a significantly higher favorability rating these days than her husband.

In the most recent poll measuring both, Gallup found in April that 72 percent of Americans had a favorable impression of Michelle Obama and only 17 percent unfavorable, compared to a 69 percent favorable-28 percent unfavorable split for her husband.

The president's favorability rating has dropped since, during the heated battle over health care, to 63 percent in a Washington Post/ABC News survey earlier this month.

Her full remarks today are below:

In his recent stump speeches on health care, one of President Obama's big applause lines has been a warning to his opponents:

"I won't stand by while special interests do the same old tricks to keep things exactly the way they are....If you misrepresent what’s in the plan, we'll call you out. We will call you out," he told a rally at the University of Maryland on Thursday.

Today, the Democratic National Committee followed up by launching a new "Call ‘Em Out” campaign to help "set the record straight on GOP lies, scare tactics, and mistruths on health insurance reform" with emails and other missives to activists.

The target of the first call to action is Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, a potential Republican challenger to Obama in 2012, who the DNC says is embracing the "salacious and thoroughly debunked charge of death panels" -- committees of bureaucrats who would decide end-of-life care under the health overhaul. The DNC also put up a web video slamming Pawlenty.

"The message to Tim Pawlenty and the opponents of change who would lie or misrepresent the truth should be clear: you are not going to get away with it," DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement. "We are going to respond forcefully and consistently with the facts and you will no longer be able to peddle your lies with impunity. Through tools like 'Call 'Em Out,' you will be met with aggressive push back from our supporters who will be armed with the facts and who will hold you accountable for playing politics with the most important issues facing our country today.”

But even many Democrats acknowledge that Republican and other critics of the health care bills got the upper hand during the August congressional recess, making it more difficult to pass a bill.

Also today, Organizing for America, Obama's grassroots political arm housed within the DNC, launched a new TV ad that uses footage from the Thursday rally where the enthusiastic crowd joins the president's chant of "Fired up, ready to go."

President Obama, who vows to "reset" the tense relationship with Russia, announced this morning he is removing a major point of dispute, scrapping plans for an elaborate missile defense system in Europe.

But the decision is being met with disappointment among some NATO allies -- and is sure to lead to more accusations from the president's conservative critics that he is soft on national defense.

In a hastily-called White House announcement, Obama said his new approach will provide "stronger, smarter, and swifter defenses" of US forces and the US mainland.

He said is committed to deploying strong missile defenses -- but those that respond to 21st century threats that are adaptable, utilize proven technology, and are cost effective.

(Obama's remarks are below, followed by the White House "fact sheet" on the new approach.)

Obama's move overturns another Bush administration policy -- it announced in 2007 planned to put 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. While the US insisted that the system was not aimed at Russia but instead at Iran and other potential rogue nuclear states, Russia adamantly opposed the missile shield and issued bellicose threats against the countries that would have hosted it.

The US also needs Russia's help in diplomatic moves to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Obama said that a seven-month review concludes Iranian short- and medium-range missiles are a greater threat than long-range missiles, and those missiles could be defended with other systems.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates followed up Obama's announcement by telling reporters that better sensors and interceptors allow the US to more quickly deploy a missile defense system in southern Europe (reports suggest Turkey) and on Aegis ships.

Gates said the new approach is better than the one he recommended to President George W. Bush nearly three years ago and that it means deployment six or seven years earlier, filling in the gap until 2015 when an upgraded missile shield can be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, backed Obama on the change.

“President Obama’s decision to restructure missile defense in Europe is correct and timely," Kerry said in a statement. "Proven technologies and responsible diplomacy must be at the core of missile defense in Europe, and now is the time to press forward with the more flexible missile defense architecture that the President and Secretary Gates have chosen. NATO is the bedrock of our security, whether a country is at the geographic heart of the alliance or on its frontiers. The President’s new proposal will provide a stronger and more effective defense for American forces and our NATO allies."

Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, the Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, also generally endorsed Obama's move.

“While I look forward to reviewing the details of the President’s plan, it appears the new missile defense strategy for Europe is a comprehensive approach that will counter the most immediate missile threats from Iran and protect our allies and our troops in the region," he said in a statement.

“As a practical matter, deployment of the European third site was still a long way away. This new approach, which has the support of both the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, focuses our resources where they will do the most good. The plan is also consistent with NATO’s policy that the deployment of ballistic missile defenses be prioritized according to the imminence of the threat and the level of acceptable risk.”

But Senator Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, called the decision "dangerous and short-sighted."

"Not only does this decision leave America vulnerable to the growing Iranian long-range missile threat, it also turns back the clock to the days of the Cold War, when Eastern Europe was considered the domain of Russia. This will be a bitter disappointment, indeed, even a warning to the people of Eastern Europe," Kyl said in a statement.

"The message the administration sends today is clear: the United States will not stand behind its friends and views 're-setting' relations with Russia more important. This is wrong!"

Representative John Boehner, the top House Republican, also blasted Obama's decision.

“Scrapping the US missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic does little more than empower Russia and Iran at the expense of our allies in Europe," Boehner said in a statement. "It shows a willful determination to continue ignoring the threat posed by some of the most dangerous regimes in the world, while taking one of the most important defenses against Iran off the table. Since taking control of Congress, House Democrats have cut our missile defense budget by $1.2 billion, undermining our commitment to our allies and weakening our national security. I urge the President to reconsider this ill-advised decision, stand with our allies, and do what’s right for the safety and security of the American people.”

Another Republican, Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, went as far as to accuse Obama of appeasement.

“Seventy years ago today, the Soviet Union invaded Poland. And, today, at the Russians’ request, the Obama Administration has agreed to abandon the missile defense shield developed to protect our close allies in Eastern Europe," Blunt said in a statement.

“The administration’s decision to scrap the missile defense plan is incredibly shortsighted and comes at the expense of our allies in the War on Terror....Appeasement of dangerous nations does not inspire peace. We must stand firm and send the signal that we will not back down when the safety of Americans and our allies is at stake.”

President Obama took his health care pitch to a college campus today, telling a cheering crowd at the University of Maryland that he is keeping his promise to not just clean up the messes he inherited, but build a better future.

In a message tailored for the young people who powered his campaign, Obama said his domestic agenda is designed to "ensure your generation" has the same opportunities as his.

He specifically mentioned that Congress is on the cusp of overhauling the student loan system to make it simpler and cheaper for students. "That's the change you worked for, that's the change you voted for, that's the change I will deliver," he said.

The president said another defining struggle for the younger generation is his push for sweeping changes to the nation's health care system. While young people might think they're immune from health problems, one third have trouble paying their medical bills, he said.

Despite all the machinations on the details of the health care bills, Obama said the bottom-line issue is simpler:

"It's about what kind of country you want to be. You gave time to this campaign because you believe America can still do great things.

"I may not be the first president to take up the cause of health care reform," he said. "I am determined to be the last -- with your help."

His full remarks are below:

The part of President Obama's health care speech last week that many Republicans liked most was when he suggested he'd be open to changes on medical malpractice.

"I don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I've talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs," Obama told Congress. "So I'm proposing that we move forward on a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine."

Today, the White House followed up, announcing a $25 million demonstration project to help states and health care systems test models with the following goals: "Put patient safety first and work to reduce preventable injuries; foster better communication between doctors and their patients; ensure that patients are compensated in a fair and timely manner for medical injuries, while also reducing the incidence of frivolous lawsuits; and reduce liability premiums."

"This is an area we know we can do better," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters today. "As many as 98,000 Americans die every year from medical errors. And though malpractice premiums themselves count for only a small percentage of total medical costs, many doctors report that they practice costly defensive medicine because they are fearful of lawsuits."

Tort reform has long been a goal of Republicans and doctors -- and long opposed by trial lawyers who are among the most generous donors to Democrats.

The trial lawyers association immediately weighed in with its concerns.

“Any changes to the malpractice system must focus on patient safety and preventable medical errors, not limiting patients’ legal rights," American Association for Justice President Anthony Tarricone said in a statement.

“The goals outlined by the White House – such as reducing the number of injuries, fostering better communication, compensating patients quicker, and reducing doctors’ premiums – move the debate in the right direction. However, 46 states have already enacted tort reform and health care costs continue to hurt the pocketbooks of American families. Because of these tort reforms, patients injured through no fault of their own are often unable to seek justice.

“It is critical that these demonstration projects preserve Americans’ 7th Amendment right to a trial by jury. The details matter significantly, but any efforts to limit patients’ rights are not acceptable. Promoting greater patient safety and reducing preventable medical errors are tenets doctors, attorneys, hospitals, and all Americans can support.”

UPDATE: "I don't think it's a silver bullet, but I want to explore the ideas," Obama told a health care rally today at the University of Maryland.

But Republicans are skeptical, to say the least.

"The half-trillion in Medicare cuts, the tax hikes, expansion of government health care and nearly a trillion dollars in spending—all real, all supported by the administration. But the 'bipartisan outreach” on medical liability reform is a “demonstration project?' Really?" Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell's office said in a statement.

"And looking over their proposal, it’s difficult to find any reference to any of the typical medical liability provisions, such as: limits on punitive damages, appropriate standards for awarding punitive damages, limits on non-economic damages, limits on attorneys’ fees, requirements for proportional or 'fair share' liability (no joint and several liability), reasonable statute of limitations."

Obama's proclamation on the initiative can be viewed here, and the White House background paper is below.

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Even as President Obama said today that he won't make a quick decision on an expected Pentagon request to send more US troops to Afghanistan, senior White House officials gave a long-awaited confidential briefing to members of Congress on the benchmarks that the administration intends to use to measure the success of the military mission there.

The metrics, which Obama promised in a high profile speech in March, were meant to send the message that the White House has narrowly tailored its objectives in Afghanistan to focus on terrorism. At the time, Obama announced that he was sending 21,000 more US troops, bringing the force to about 68,000 by year's end, and said he would demand measurable progress.

But some of the 40 or so lawmakers who attended today's briefing complained that the administration's benchmarks describe a far more open-ended commitment in Afghanistan.

"The stated goal is rhetorically narrowing the missions but it is anything but that," said Senator Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "There is no question in my mind based on the metrics that have been laid out that this is nation-building."

Senator Robert Casey Jr., a Pennsylvania Democrat who serves on the same committee, offered a more generous assessment, but said he, too is "not yet satisfied."

He also said the White House should make the metrics public as soon as possible. "They need to be out there," he said. "The American people need frequent reporting."

The list of 46 metrics, obtained by the Globe and first posted online by Foreign Policy, includes some obvious measures of success, such as the percentage of the population living under insurgent control and the capabilities and size of the Afghan national army. But the list also contained some nontraditional measures, such as support for human rights, the ability of the Afghan government to collect taxes, and the ability to hold credible elections.

Click here to see the metrics.

He doesn't have any Republican support, and many Democrats aren't all that thrilled, either. But Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus stuck to his deadline and this morning formally unveiled his plan to overhaul the nation's health care system.

The bill would cost about $856 billion over the next 10 years, require all individuals to purchase coverage or pay a fine, and ban insurers from charging more or denying coverage to people with health problems. It does not include the public option -- a government plan along the lines of Medicare -- but does call for nonprofit coops to compete with private insurers.

The bill would create a new exchange where consumers could compare and buy insurance plans. Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor, would be expanded.

Baucus would pay for the expansion of care with $507 billion in cuts to government health programs and $349 billion in new taxes and fees, including a new tax on generous insurance plans -- so-called Cadillac coverage -- and new fees on insurance companies and medical device manufacturers.

Click here to see "America's Healthy Future Act of 2009."

The Senate Finance bill is expected to be the vehicle for the proposals sought by the White House and described by President Obama in his speech to Congress last week.

"We will act and pass health reform legislation this year," Baucus declared as he promoted his bill in a Capitol Hill news conference this afternoon, saying that it would expand coverage, slow the rise in health care costs, and keep insurers honest.

"It follows the criteria laid out by President Obama," Baucus said, adding that the bill will eventually draw bipartisan support.

"This is a good bill, this is a balanced bill," Baucus said, calling it "a common-sense bill that can pass the Senate."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called the legislation an "important building block" that "gets us closer to comprehensive health care reform."

The legislation protects Medicare and preserves patients' right to keep their doctor, he continued, while keeping the deficit under control by offering the most generous coverage possible while keeping the price tag under Obama's target of $900 billion over 10 years.

Still, he acknowledged that there are "honest and principled differences" on the proposals and that his plan "may not represent all of our first choices."

UPDATE: The top House Republican wasn't buying the Baucus plan.

“It looks like the same kind of plan we’ve seen in House," said Representative John Boehner of Ohio. "It’s got a little different language, but it’s still a big government plan, it still calls for higher taxes and more spending and I don’t think it is going to get enough support to get very far in the United States Senate.”

Despite months of negotiations, however, Baucus was unable to get the three Republicans in the so-called Gang of Six to sign on. One of them, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, bemoaned what he called an "artificial deadline."

"I’m disappointed because it looks like we’re being pushed aside by the Democratic leadership so the Senate can move forward on a bill that, up to this point, does not meet the shared goals for affordable, accessible health coverage that we set forth when this process began. In addition to concerns about costs to taxpayers and affordability for individuals, there are still some serious outstanding issues that have yet to be resolved like preventing taxpayer funding of abortion services and the enforcement against subsidies for illegal aliens," Grassley said in a statement.

"On top of all that, there’s no guarantee that a Finance Committee bill, even if it becomes bipartisan, will stay that way after it leaves the committee. An overriding issue for some time has been the fact that members of the Democratic leadership haven’t made a commitment to back a broad bipartisan bill through the entire process," added Grassley, who negotiated along with Republicans Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Olympia Snowe of Maine.

But in an op-ed published in today's Wall Street Journal, Baucus said he couldn't wait any longer.

"Health care is a complicated and deeply personal issue; it takes time and effort to get reform right. Legislating every piece of this puzzle would be impossible and counterproductive," he wrote. "What we can do is seize this opportunity to put America back on a fiscally sustainable path. The Senate Finance Committee proposal builds on what already works and fixes what threatens to break the bank for future generations."

Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, said he considers the Baucus bill "a draft" for subsequent negotiation. He said on MSNBC that the House will pass a bill that offers more protections and more coverage -- and that would also be more expensive than the Senate bill, closer to $1 billion.

UPDATE: A key Democratic group criticized Baucus's plan, saying it "absolutely fails to meet the most basic health care needs of working families and it fails to meet the expectations we have set for our nation."

"It fails to put pressure on private insurers to control health care costs. There is no history or logic behind the claim that health care co-ops would provide real competition for the giant private insurers that have a stranglehold on health coverage today," AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said in a statement.

"If you're an individual who does not purchase private health coverage, it sticks you with a hefty tax penalty even though it fails to provide sufficient subsidies to make plans affordable for low and moderate income families. But if you're an irresponsible employer who does not provide coverage, you get off scot free," he continued.

"Outrageously, the plan imposes a 35 percent tax on high-cost health care plans without prohibiting insurers from passing on the tax to consumers who happen to be in groups that are older or sicker than average or live in high cost areas.

"The Senate Finance proposal, sadly, is little more than a throwback to the failed policies of the last three decades that advantaged corporations over taxpayers and bestowed special breaks on the wealthy while ignoring the middle class. The proposal does include the important insurance reform and health care delivery system improvements adopted by earlier congressional committees, and it builds on these by reforming the way we pay for health services to focus on the quality of services instead of the quantity. But the proposal's strong points are nowhere near sufficient to outweigh its problems. However well intentioned the attempts at bipartisanship, the final product reflects the bankrupt policies of the past more than the forward-looking policies needed to drive meaningful health care reform.

"We are counting on finance committee Democrats to fix the bill and side with working families, not insurance companies."

President Obama signaled today that he won't make a quick decision on an expected Pentagon request to send more US troops to Afghanistan.

"My determination is to get this right," Obama said after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose country is part of the coalition fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Obama has already sent 21,000 more US troops, bringing the force to about 65,000 by year's end. But the top US commander in Afghanistan is expected to formally seek more reinforcements, and the nation's top military officer told a Senate committee yesterday he will support that request.

But several key Democrats in Congress have said in recent days that they are very wary of sending more troops.

"When I came in, I had to make a series of immediate decisions about sending additional troops to ensure that the election could take place during the fighting season. But I was crystal clear at the time that post-election we were going to need to do an additional assessment," Obama told reporters.

"General McChrystal has carried out his own assessment on the military's strategy, but it's important that we also do an assessment on the civilian side, the diplomatic side, the development side, that we analyze the results of the election, and then make further decisions moving forward."

And if there were any doubt, Obama went on, "I just want to be absolutely clear, because there's a lot -- been a lot of discussion in the press about this, that there is no immediate decision pending on resources.

"Because one of the things that I'm absolutely clear about is you have to get the strategy right and then make the determinations about resources. You don't make determinations about resources, and certainly you don't make determinations about sending young men and women into battle, without having absolute clarity about what the strategy's going to be."

The president also said he was "extremely grateful" to the Canadian armed forces for fighting with staying power and suffering losses.

While welcoming the additional US presence, Harper said he was concerned by the strength of the insurgency.

(Their full remarks are below.)

UPDATE: Senator John F. Kerry, presiding over a hearing today on Afghanistan, voiced the concerns of many Democrats.

"Frankly, I am concerned by where we are today in Afghanistan -- about the rising number of casualties among our troops and those of our allies, about the deeply flawed presidential voting that took place, about the impunity with which drug traffickers operate, and about the rampant corruption undermining the faith of Afghans in their government and ours," he said at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

"And most of all, I am concerned because at the very moment when our troops and our allies’ troops are sacrificing more and more, our plan, our path and our progress seem to be growing less and less clear."

(His full prepared remarks are below.)

If you're watching TV Sunday morning or late Monday night, it'll be rather difficult to avoid President Obama.

CBS announced today that Obama will be the sole guest Monday on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

"President Obama's appearance will mark the first by a sitting US president on the 'Late Show' and his first visit back to the show since his election. In total, this will be President Obama's sixth visit to the broadcast -- he last appeared on the 'Late Show' September 10, 2008 during the height of his 2008 presidential election campaign," the announcement said.

Also, CNN announced that Obama will be interviewed on its "State of the Union" show on Sunday. He will also appear on Univision.

That follows word Monday that Obama will appear Sunday on "This Week" on ABC, "Meet the Press" on NBC, and "Face the Nation" on CBS.

At this point, Obama is skipping Fox News Channel, which a study released Monday found had been very critical in its coverage, and the Fox broadcast network, which has recently refused to preempt primetime programming to air Obama's speeches. MSNBC does not have a Sunday news interview show.

All the face time on television comes as Obama puts the hard-sell on for his health care overhaul plan, whose fate in Congress could be decided in the next few weeks.

By Stephanie Vallejo, Globe correspondent

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's nominees for ambassador to Spain and Norway -- Massachusetts residents Alan Solomont and Barry B. White -- touted their commitment to public service and leadership before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today as they moved a step closer to confirmation.

Democratic fund-raiser Alan Solomont of Weston, nominated as the chief US envoy to Spain, highlighted his roots in community organizing and his experience as the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees national service programs.

“I am grateful to have served at a time when support for national and community service has never been greater,” Solomont testified at the confirmation hearing presided over by Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. “I hope to showcase this important American tradition at embassy Madrid.”

White, the nominee for envoy to Norway and an executive board member of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and director of the Massachusetts Alliance for International Business, noted his work as chair of Lex Mundi, an association of independent law firms, in developing its pro bono foundation serving social entrepreneurs worldwide.

White also spoke of Norway’s role in promoting human rights and democracy internationally, its healthy trade relationship with the United States, and its potential as a partner in energy and environmental matters.

President Obama is in union country today to talk up his economic agenda, and get in a plug for his health plan as well.

In a campaign-style speech this morning at the GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio, Obama vowed to stand up for working people who helped put him in office.

He acknowledged the long-running economic crisis in the industrial Midwest, but said he's not willing to accept it.

"There are some who see this pain and suggest that it's all somehow inevitable -- that the only way for America to get ahead is for communities like yours to be left behind. But I know better. We know better," Obama said. "We know that our success on a nation depends on the success of communities just like this one. We know that the battle for America's future is not just going to be won in the big cities, not just on the coasts, but in towns like Elkhart, Indiana, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Warren, Ohio, and Youngstown.

"You deserve better than the attitude that's prevailed from Washington to Wall Street to Detroit for too long; an attitude that valued wealth over work, selfishness over sacrifice, and greed over responsibility. And that's why I want you to know that every day I step into the Oval Office, I am thinking about you, I am working for you, and I am fighting on your behalf," he added.

Obama said his administration has already been doing so, with the government support for GM and other automakers, the cash-for-clunkers program, and the push for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

"There's little debate that the decisions we've made and the steps we've taken have helped stop our economic freefall. In some places, they've helped us turn the corner. Home sales are up, business investment is starting to stabilize, for the first time in 18 months, we are actually seeing growth in American manufacturing instead of decline. I know that's small consolation when so many people you know are still out of work. It's going to take some time to achieve a complete recovery. But I want you to know: I will not rest until anyone looking for a job can find one - and I'm not talking about just any job; but good jobs that give every family decent wages, decent benefits, and a fair shot at the American Dream. That's what I'm fighting for every day," Obama said.

"And yes, just in case you were wondering, we are fighting for an America where no American should have to worry about going without health insurance or fear that one illness could cost them everything. We're going to reform the system to provide more security and stability to those of you who have health insurance; we're going to offer quality, affordable choices to those who currently don't have health insurance; and bring health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government under control."

(His full remarks are below.)

UPDATE: This afternoon, Obama was greeted with rapturous applause and cheers at the AFL-CIO national convention in Pittsburgh.

"You guys are making me blush," the president said. "The White House is pretty nice, but there's nothing like being back in the house of labor."

Obama paid tribute to outgoing AFL-CIO president John Sweeney and incoming chief Richard Trumka and said that being with union members reminds him of what's important in Washington and why he ran for president.

He wants to help working families reach the American dream, he said, telling of a union member choking up when talking about not being able to afford health coverage for his wife.

"When our middle class succeeds, that's when the United States of America succeeds," he declared.

He won some of his biggest applause when he expressed support for labor's biggest legislative priority -- a bill that would make it easier for workers to organize.

The bill is vehemently opposed by business groups and Republicans, and has languished in Congress. Labor leaders have hinted that they would accept a compromise that would force quicker elections, rather than the original bill that would remove the requirement for secret union elections.

He also gave an impassioned pitch for his health care overhaul, saying that union members know well that many families are one medical emergency away from financial ruin and need coverage that they can count on.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Obama asked. "We can't wait."

"We can't wait!" the crowd chanted in reply.

(His full remarks to the AFL-CIO are below.)

Big labor was a big reason why Obama won the presidency, and the Republican National Committee sent out a research paper suggesting that he's still beholden to unions with policies that will damage the US economy.

The nation's top military officer, seeking another term in the job, will face some tough questions on Afghanistan before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is preaching patience, telling the Globe recently that it will take 12 months to 18 months to turn around the mission after it received short shrift during the war in Iraq.

But patience appears to be running out in Congress and in the public as the US death toll rises eight years into the war.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Armed Services chairman Carl Levin both made highly public statements last week to express deep skepticism about an expected request to send more US troops, beyond the 21,000 that President Obama has already dispatched.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this morning found public support for the war at its lowest point. In the survey, conducted Friday through Sunday, 39 percent of respondents said they favor the war and 58 percent said they oppose it.

As recently as May, a majority supported the war in the CNN poll. But July and August were each the bloodiest of the war for US forces.

UPDATE: Mullen told the committee that winning in Afghanistan "probably means more forces," though he said he does not know how many troops the top military commander in the country will seek.

"It's very clear to me that we will need more resources," to carry out the new counterinsurgency strategy, Mullen said, according to the Associated Press.

The much fought-over public option -- a government-run plan along the lines of Medicare that would be widely available -- is looking less likely as part of a sweeping health care overhaul.

But a liberal group is not giving up.

Health Care for America Now launched a new ad airing on national cable today slamming insurers for getting rich by jacking up premiums and denying treatment and overpaying CEOS -- and urging supporters to tell Congress that a public plan is the only way to keep insurance companies in check.

"If the insurance companies win, you lose," the announcer says.

President Obama has been walking a thin line on the public option, trying to reassure his allies that it is his preference, but also bowing to political reality by suggesting it's not a deal-breaker. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll published Monday, support for a health care overhaul rose significantly if a public option was deleted.

A public option is not in the plan that Senate Finance chairman Max Baucus is putting together -- and that is likely to be the vehicle for Obama's plan in Congress.

Also today, a faith-based coalition that is helping Obama make the "moral" case for health reform -- he spoke to them in a webcast last month -- is urging its members to call their members of Congress today. And on Wednesday, clergy, advocates, and others will lobby lawmakers personally.

In recent weeks, the coalition said, "the faith community demonstrated widespread support for affordable quality health care for all — 300,000 people listened to the August 19th health care web-cast and call-in with faith leaders and President Obama, clergy in congregations across the country preached about health care reform and called for a civil and honest debate, and the faith community held large public events to build support for affordable health reform nationwide."

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- After a string of high-profile skepticism from Democrats in Congress about the war in Afghanistan, Senator John F. Kerry will also express concern in an interview airing Tuesday on PBS and in hearings he will preside over on Wednesday ("Countering the Threat of Failure") and Thursday ("Exploring Three Strategies for Afghanistan") as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Key Democrats have done their best to preempt any potential request for more troops from Obama. At a press conference on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she did not believe there was much support for sending more troops. In a floor speech on Friday, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin said he wants to see an increase in Afghanistan's armed forces before committing more US troops.

Tuesday on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Kerry will express his own "long-standing concerns" about whether the current military footprint in Afghanistan is the best way to achieve US goals, according to Kerry communications director Frederick Jones.

But Jones said that Kerry, who first made his name opposing the Vietnam war, will "reserve final judgment on troop levels and our policy writ large until he hears from the administration and military leaders."

A liberal-labor coalition is up with a new TV ad arguing that opposition President Obama's health care overhaul could cost members of Congress at the polls next November.

The spot from Americans United for Change shows a political consultant apologizing to a losing candidate at 11:03 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 2, 2010.

"Congressman as your political consultant," he says to the camera. "I’m sorry you lost. I was wrong. Turned out the voters hated the stranglehold the insurance companies have on health care, raising premiums, cutting off people with pre-existing conditions, making health care decisions instead of doctors. And they didn’t much like the millionaire insurance CEO’s you were hanging with either. Guess your vote against health insurance reform turned out to be bad politics.”

But a new poll shows why some lawmakers are so skittish about jumping aboard the Obama health care bandwagon.

The Washington Post-ABC News survey published today found that while opposition has eased somewhat since the August town halls, Obama still faces deep skepticism about key elements of the Democratic plan.

In the poll, 48 percent oppose the proposals, while 46 percent favor them, and 48 percent of respondents approve Obama's handling of the issue, while 48 percent disapprove.

The public is also evenly divided -- 51 percent in favor, 47 percent against -- on whether people should be required to have health insurance.

UPDATE: A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released this afternoon also showed the public still largely divided on Obama's health care plan: 51 percent said they favored it and 46 percent opposed it, a slight improvement for the president from 48 percent in favor and 51 percent against in late August.

The survey also showed an uptick in how Americans view Obama's handling of the issue to 51 percent approval and in his overall job performance to 58 percent approval.

The CNN survey, conducted Friday through Sunday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

President Obama's honeymoon with the public ended a while back -- and it has with the press as well.

According to a new study out today, Obama has received generally negative coverage since his first 100 days in office ended in April, reversing generally positive coverage for his early administration.

Researchers at George Mason University in Virginia and Chapman University in California found that every major policy of the administration has received more criticism than praise from the press.

The study, coordinated by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, covered nearly 2,500 news stories about the Obama administration that appeared on the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts, the front page of the New York Times, and Time and Newsweek magazines from his inauguration on Jan. 20 through Aug. 19, in the middle of the congressional recess when critics of Obama's health care plan showed up in force.

Stories during the first 100 days of his presidency were 59 percent positive but dropped to only 43 percent positive from May through mid-August. Overall, coverage is still slightly more positive than negative, by 53 percent to 47 percent.

According to the analysis, Obama has received mainly favorable coverage in the New York Times (61 percent), evenly balanced (50 percent positive) at the broadcast networks, and slightly negative (48 percent positive) in the news magazines.

A separate analysis of nearly 1,200 stories on the Fox News Channel “Special Report” found that he received far more negative coverage, only 23 percent positive.

The president’s economic stimulus plan garnered the best press – 47 percent positive – and the war on terror the worst – only 26 percent positive. On other issues, Obama's health care policies received 44 percent positive coverage, financial bailouts 35 percent positive, policies on Israel and the Middle East 30 percent positive, and Afghanistan policies 29 percent positive.

Speaking one year to the day from when the collapse of Lehman Brothers threatened the entire US financial system, President Obama declared today that it's time for the federal government to extract itself from rescue efforts.

But he also asserted that to prevent a similar meltdown, the government needs to impose stricter and more sweeping regulations.

He started what the White House billed as a "major" speech by reminding Americans how close the economy came to the brink.

"This was no longer just a financial crisis; it had become a full-blown economic crisis, with home prices sinking, businesses struggling to access affordable credit, and the economy shedding an average of 700,000 jobs each month," Obama said.

Thanks to the government support to Wall Street, the loosening of credit, and the $787 billion economic stimulus package, the economy is on the road to recovery, the president said.

"Eight months later, the work of recovery continues. And though I will never be satisfied while people are out of work and our financial system is weakened, we can be confident that the storms of the past two years are beginning to break," Obama said.

"In fact, while there continues to be a need for government involvement to stabilize the financial system, that necessity is waning," he added. "After months in which public dollars were flowing into our financial system, we are finally beginning to see money flowing back to taxpayers. This doesn’t mean taxpayers will escape the worst financial crisis in decades entirely unscathed....While full recovery of the financial system will take a great deal more time and work, the growing stability resulting from these interventions means we are beginning to return to normalcy."

"But here's what I want to emphasize is this: normalcy cannot lead to complacency," Obama argued.

And that means new and improved regulation -- what he called "the most ambitious overhaul of the financial system since the Great Depression" -- that includes a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to enforce new rules safeguarding the public and an oversight council to bring together regulators from across markets so problems don't slip through the cracks.

His audience at Federal Hall in the heart of New York's financial district included Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, leaders of consumer advocacy groups, Wall Street CEOs, and members of Congress, including Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who with Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut is shepherding financial regulatory reform.

"We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this crisis, where too many were motivated only by the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses," Obama vowed. "Those on Wall Street cannot resume taking risks without regard for consequences, and expect that next time, American taxpayers will be there to break their fall."

The president said he believes in free markets and wanted to work with the financial industry to come up with the regulations. But he also said the firms receiving help owe a debt to American taxpayers and that those who oppose government intervention do so at their own peril.

"I certainly did not run for president to bail out banks or intervene in the capital markets," he said. "But it is important to note that the very absence of common-sense regulations able to keep up with a fast-paced financial sector is what created the need for that extraordinary intervention. The lack of sensible rules of the road, so often opposed by those who claim to speak for the free market, led to a rescue far more intrusive than anything any of us, Democrat or Republican, progressive or conservative, would have proposed or predicted," he said.

"What took place one year ago was not merely a failure of regulation or legislation; it wasn't just a failure of oversight or foresight. It was also a failure of responsibility -- it was fundamentally a failure of responsibility -- that allowed Washington to become a place where problems – including structural problems in our financial system – were ignored rather than solved," he chided. "It was a failure of responsibility that led homebuyers and derivative traders alike to take reckless risks they couldn’t afford. It was a collective failure of responsibility in Washington, on Wall Street, and across America that led to the near-collapse of our financial system one year ago....

"One year ago, we saw in stark relief how markets can spin out of control; how a lack of common-sense rules can lead to excess and abuse; how close we can come to the brink. One year later, it is incumbent upon us to put in place those reforms that will prevent this kind of crisis from ever happening again; reflecting the painful but important lessons that we’ve learned; and that will help us move from a period of recklessness and one of crisis to one of responsibility and prosperity. That is what we must do. And I’m confident that is what we will do."

(His full remarks are below.)

Republicans immediately warned against a bigger government role in the markets, saying that taxpayers will ultimately pay.

“For the average American, the best measure of the economy is whether or not they have a job so they can pay the mortgage, make the car payment and put food on the table. For more than 3 million Americans who have lost their jobs this year, the president’s policies have been a failure," Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said in a statement.

"His $787 billion stimulus bill has led to wasteful spending but hasn’t created the jobs he promised. And every time he has wanted to expand the government’s influence over the economy and our daily lives, from his takeover of GM and banks to his proposed government-run takeover of our health care, it has meant spending more money we don’t have and digging America deeper into debt. Those are the real results of the president’s experiments on our economy, and no amount of speeches will convince the American people otherwise.”

The top House Republican, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, faulted Obama for not saying more clearly how taxpayers will be taken off the hook for the financial bailouts.

"Missing from the President’s remarks today was a clear exit strategy for the federal government’s involvement in the private sector. American taxpayers have had enough of open-ended bailouts that have left them stuck with an eye-popping tab in the form of trillions in new debt. This generational theft must end. If the President wants to restore consumer and investor confidence, he should work with Republicans in Congress to craft policies that help hard-working families and small businesses weather this storm and get back to creating good-paying jobs," Boehner said in a statement.

“With consumer spending just about frozen and unemployment near double-digit levels, the last thing we need are new layers of bureaucracy and burdensome regulations that restrict access to financial products and discourage economic growth. House Republicans have delivered a to reform our financial system smartly by bolstering anti-fraud protection efforts, streamlining the hodgepodge of confusing federal agencies, and strengthening transparency and accountability so that consumers can make informed choices. We hope Democrats will work with us on responsible solutions as Congress moves forward on this issue.”

Displaying once again the close coordination between policy and politics, the Democratic National Committee released a web video this morning to buttress President Obama's "major" speech marking the one-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse that precipitated the Wall Street crisis.

The web ad starts with the words "One year ago" on screen, then shows a series of news reports on the financial meltdown, with commentators talking about crisis, crash, perhaps another Great Depression. "Lest we forget," it ends.

In his speech at Federal Hall in New York, scheduled for shortly after noon EDT, Obama is expected to talk about the steps he has already taken to rescue the economy from the brink and to call for sweeping new financial regulations to avert another crisis.

But Republicans question the value of the $787 billion stimulus bill and warn about more government intervention in the markets.

And a new Associated Press-GfK poll found that the public remains deeply concerned about the economy. About 80 percent said the economy is in poor condition and about 70 percent said they are not confident that the federal government has taken safeguards to prevent another financial meltdown. Only 17 percent of those surveyed said the stimulus has improved the economy, though that's up 10 percentage points from July.

The poll, conducted Sept. 3-8, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

President Obama points today to a new Treasury report to warn that many Americans could face the loss of health insurance -- a plight that could be prevented with his health care overhaul plan.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says he's continued to hear from worried Americans since his speech to Congress on Wednesday night -- and for good reason since during the last year of economic turmoil, "nearly six million more Americans lost their health coverage – that’s 17,000 men and women every single day.

"We’re not just talking about Americans in poverty, either – we’re talking about middle-class Americans. In other words, it can happen to anyone," says Obama. "And based on a brand-new report from the Treasury Department, we can expect that about half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years. If you’re under the age of 21 today, chances are more than half that you’ll find yourself uninsured at some point in that time. And more than one-third of Americans will go without coverage for longer than one year."

(Click here to read the report.)

"I refuse to allow that future to happen," declares the president, who holds a health care rally later today in Minneapolis. "In the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they’ll go without health insurance – not for one year, not for one month, not for one day. And once I sign my health reform plan into law – they won’t."

Obama then runs down his plan, and vows again to get a bill passed this year.

"Affordable, quality care within reach for the tens of millions of Americans who don’t have it today. Stability and security for the hundreds of millions who do. That’s the reform we seek," he says.

"We have had a long and important debate. But now is the time for action. Because every day we wait, more Americans will lose their health care, their businesses, and their homes – but also the dreams they’ve worked for and the peace of mind they deserve. They are why we have to succeed."

Click here to watch the address. The full remarks are below:

Fresh off his health care speech to Congress that polls suggest reassured the public and that reenergized some fellow Democrats, President Obama takes his health care pitch on the road.

Saturday, he will hold a rally at the Target Center in Minneapolis. On Tuesday, he will speak in Pittsburgh to the convention of the AFL-CIO, one of his biggest backers on health care. And on Thursday, Obama will hold another health care rally in College Park, Md., the White House announced this evening.

When he arrives in Minneapolis, he will be greeted by a TV ad from the Minnesota GOP.

The spot shows Obama vowing to "change the world" at a campaign rally last year in the same arena -- before the announcer says he is proposing a "risky" health care plan, citing news reports to assert that Obama's plan would cut Medicare, ration care, raise taxes, and explode the federal deficit.

"Mr. President, let's slow down and do health care reform the right way," the announcer says.

The bipartisan "Gang of Six" -- three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee -- are trying to reach a compromise by early next week.

The Senate Finance bill appears to be the most likely legislative vehicle for the blueprint Obama laid out to Congress on Wednesday night. Chairman Max Baucus's plan dovetails with Obama's on most major issues and has the same general cost of $900 billion over 10 years, while bills passed by House Democrats include measures the president has not embraced.

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- President Obama has planned a whirlwind 2 1/2 day schedule at the United Nations later this month, going well beyond the traditional routine for US presidents.

In addition to the annual speech at the opening of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23, the same day Obama will host a luncheon for African heads of state and hold a separate gathering for the largest contributors to peacekeeping. The next day, he will preside over an unusual summit meeting of the Security Council on arms control. In addition, Obama will speak at the Secretary General's Climate Change Summit.

"We are taking a new approach to the United Nations," UN ambassador Susan Rice told reporters today, adding: "We're rolling up our sleeves" to push for changes from within rather than "criticizing from the outside."

But the ambitious schedule is also likely to lead to some moments of discomfort. The Security Council summit will feature heads of state -- rare for the 15-nation body -- and that gives Muammar Gaddafi, the unpredictable leader of Libya, a high-profile platform.

But efforts have been taken to prevent awkward encounters. Obama will not bump into Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the American reception that he is hosting on Sept. 23 because Iran is not invited.

Rice said US officials will meet with their counterparts from Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany to discuss the appropriate response to a five-page letter from Iran pledging to "embark on comprehensive, all-encompassing and constructive negotiations."

The letter did not name the nuclear program as an issue for the talks, and US officials said Thursday that it did not go far enough to address international concerns.

But Rice took a softer tone.

"We are going to take the time very carefully over the next days an weeks to evaluate the Iranian response," she said. "I don't want to prejudge the outcome of our assessment."

Republican Party chief Michael Steele is raising eyebrows again -- this time for questioning President Obama's use in his health care speech of a letter the president received from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Making it public for the first time, Obama quoted from it near the end of his speech Wednesday night to urge lawmakers pass health care as a moral issue that showed the country's character.

But Steele called it a "political tool."

Questioned this afternoon on CNN about that characterization, Steele backtracked a little.

"I'm not slamming the president on this," he said. "I just thought something like that was so personal in many respects, and particularly so soon after the senator's death -- I just didn't think it was the right time to reveal that or have that conversation or to say it. That was all. It was just an opinion."

Acknowledging that Kennedy might have wanted the letter read publicly since he championed health care reform, Steele added, "Be that as it may, the reality of it is, that to me is more of a diversion and a distraction from the underlying speech itself. Which, in my view, the president, I think, missed an opportunity to clearly define in a common-sense, straightforward way, exactly how we should go about the business of reforming those aspects of our health care system that we have particular problems with."

Democratic Congressional Campaign Chairman Chris Van Hollen blasted Steele.

“Last night, President Obama called on us to replace acrimony with civility, yet Republican Chairman Steele’s outlandish comments only serve to increase the acrimony and deny the American people the substantive debate on health insurance reform that this critical challenge merits," Van Hollen said in a statement.

“The late Senator Kennedy devoted his life to reforming health care in America and he would have been proud of President Obama’s eloquent call for action last night. Michael Steele’s time would be better spent condemning Congressman Joe Wilson’s outrageous outburst, rather than further poisoning the political discourse by attacking the heartfelt intentions of a dedicated American who spent his life working on health care reform.”

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama, told the Globe Wednesday night that Kennedy's widow had informed the White House of the letter that the senator wanted delivered after his death and that Obama was so moved by it that he wrote the closing part of the speech mentioning it himself.

Following up his more assertive pitch Wednesday night for a sweeping health care bill, President Obama focused this morning on insurance fixes, saying Americans live "at the whims" of insurance companies.

"I will not allow reform to be imperiled or postponed," he told members of the American Nurses Association. "We've talked this issue to death."

Obama cited new Census figures out today that the number of uninsured Americans rose slightly to 46.3 million last year and said that surveys shows that 6 million have joined the ranks of the uninsured during the economic recession.

Then saying, "just in case people weren't tuned in last night," he did a quick rundown of the changes he wants to prevent insurers from denying coverage for preexisting conditions and other changes.

A nonpartisan Massachusetts research group noted this afternoon that the Census estimates showed that Massachusetts had the lowest percentage of uninsured, about 5.4 percent, compared to about 15 percent nationally.

MassBudget credited the state's landmark health care law, which mandated that indivdiduals get coverage and offered state help for those who couldn't afford it. It noted that when the health reform legislation took effect in April 2006, about 9.8 percent of the commonwealth's population did not have health insurance.

Many of the proposals that Obama supports are modeled, at least in part, on the Massachusetts law.

Obama also praised America's nurses for their compassion and skill, noting their care for his daughters Malia and Sasha and for his mother and grandmother in their final days. "I love nurses," he said. "You're the bedrock of our medical profession."

(His full remarks are below.)

He also plans a series of rallies across the country, starting Saturday in Minneapolis, to put more pressure on Congress.

Vice President Joe Biden, making the rounds of morning new shows, predicted that the bill will be done by Thanksgiving, thanks to an emerging bipartisan consensus and the impact of Obama's speech to Congress.

The president "re-centered" the debate and "also debunked a lot of the myths out there, the idea of death panels, that we were going to insure undocumented aliens," Biden said.

Republicans remain unimpressed and unmoved.

“We appreciated having the President here last night. Unfortunately, what the American people got wasn’t a new health care plan, it was just another lecture. He had a chance to really put the government-run plan to bed, but unfortunately he didn’t do it. … When it’s all said and done; when you listen to the President’s speech and thought about it, there was nothing new in the President’s speech last night,” said Representative John Boehner, the top House Republican.

At a Capitol Hill news conference this afternoon, Boehner disputed some of Obama's key assertions. He told reporters that the Democratic bill could force people to change their insurance plans, could offer access to illegal immigrants, and could slash Medicare benefits.

And, Boehner asserted, Americans are angry and worried about sweeping changes to their health care.

Congress, he said, can find "common ground on sensible changes" to the existing system.

UPDATE: Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele followed up this afternoon with an email to supporters urging them to send a "Declaration of Independence" electronic postcard to Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress.

"Once again, President Obama stepped in front of the prime time TV cameras to attempt to sell the Democrats' leftist health care scheme to legislators and anyone else who might still be paying attention," Steele wrote in the fund-raising solicitation. "The charm offensive isn't working. Americans no longer feel the need to give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt.

"They have seen through the hype and media adoration to understand that the Obama Democrats are determined to push their far-left agenda on our country whether the American people like it or not," Steele added.

"You can feel the rising mood of freedom-loving Americans across this country. Not afraid, but incensed and determined, that their government not be a menace to our hard-earned liberty and prosperity. They are extremely concerned that the President and his congressional allies are launching an unprecedented assault against the principles upon which America was built."

President Obama is willing to let bygones be bygones, and so is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

But at least one member of Congress wants Representative Joe Wilson censured for yelling at the president "You lie!" during his health care speech Wednesday night.

Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, quickly apologized for his outburst, which stunned colleagues, prompted boos from some Democrats, and caused Obama to respond by saying "It's not true."

"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me," he said in a statement. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility."

But Wilson stood by the subject for his shout, which he described today as "spontaneous" -- the assertion that illegal immigrants could benefit from the health care overhaul.

Even so, Obama told reporters today that he accepted Wilson's apology.

"Yes, I do," he said after a cabinet meeting. "I'm a big believer that we all make mistakes. He apologized quickly and without equivocation, and I'm appreciative of that.

"I do think that, as I said last night, we have to get to the point where we can have a conversation about big, important issues that matter to the American people without vitriol, without name-calling, without the assumption of the worst in other people's motives.

"We are all Americans; we all want to do best for our country," Obama added. We've got different ideas, but for the most part, we have the same aims, which is to make sure that people who work hard in this country and who act responsibly are able to get good jobs, good wages, raise their families, make sure those kids have a good education; that they are protected from misfortune or accident by having health care and retirement security in place....Our goals are generally the same, whether we're Democrats or Republicans, and in fact, most Americans don't even think about those labels all that much. They are turned off when they see people using wild accusations, false claims, name-calling, sharply ideological approaches to solve problems. They want pragmatism; they want people to stay focused on the job. And I hope that some of the fever breaks a little bit."

Pelosi also told reporters that she's not interested in sanctioning Wilson. "As far as I'm concerned, the episode was unfortunate. Mr. Wilson has apologized. It's time for us to talk about health care and not Mr. Wilson," she said today.

But according to the Washington Post, Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican-turned-Democrat from Pennsylvania, tweeted, "Rep. Wilson apologized immediately afterward but I don't think that's adequate. There ought to be a reprimand or censure of Rep. Joe Wilson to discourage that kind of conduct in the future."

President Obama's economists asserted today that the economic stimulus package he championed had created or saved "slightly more" than 1 million jobs so far.

The White House Council on Economic Advisers said that the $787 billion stimulus bill has had "particularly strong effects in manufacturing, construction, retail trade, and temporary employment services." While the benefits have been spread across the country, states most hurt by the recession have been helped most, it said.

The council also said that about $151 billion has been spent so far, and that the stimulus added 2.3 percentages to the real growth of the economy during the second quarter. (Click here to read the report.)

The council's first quarterly report to Congress on the stimulus represents the latest salvo in the war of statistics on the $787 billion stimulus bill.

Obama promised it would create or save 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year. But critics have questioned the figures as far too rosy and said that it is extremely difficult to determine whether a job has been "saved."

The administration has acknowledged that the recession was deeper than it believed when it pushed Congress to pass the plan in January. Unemployment is still hovering near 10 percent nationally, and the Labor Department reported last week that since the recession began in December 2007, the jobless rolls grew by 7.4 million Americans.

Republicans kept up their stimulus skepticism in response to the council's report.

“Today’s White House jobs report is one more example of this administration’s use of smoke and mirrors to mask the failure of the Democrats’ costly $787 billion stimulus bill," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement.

"The reality for countless Americans whose jobs have not been ‘saved’ is they get to join the ranks of the three million neighbors, friends and family members who have become unemployed since President Obama took office," he added. "We have watched the unemployment rate increase to 9.7 percent and seen more than 216,000 workers lose their jobs in the past 30 days. The president’s economic stimulus experiment clearly isn’t working as promised. Another report to claim phantom jobs have been ‘saved or created’ won’t convince people otherwise.”

President Obama tried tonight to thread the proverbial political needle on health care: keep enough liberals on board to pass a bill, reach out to moderates and even some Republicans -- and all the while convince an increasingly skeptical public that an overhaul would make their medical care better and less expensive, not worse and more costly.

Delivering a nationally televised, high-stakes speech on his top domestic priority to a joint session of Congress, Obama laid down his markers for what he wants in a bill and to say he will accept ideas from Republicans as well as Democrats -- as long as a bill gets done.

"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," he said, drawing a standing ovation from lawmakers.

"Our collective failure to meet this challenge – year after year, decade after decade – has led us to a breaking point," he added. "Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans. Some can’t get insurance on the job. Others are self-employed, and can’t afford it, since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer. Many other Americans who are willing and able to pay are still denied insurance due to previous illnesses or conditions that insurance companies decide are too risky or expensive to cover. We are the only democracy, the only advanced democracy on Earth -- the only wealthy nation -- that allows such hardships for millions of its people."

"The time for bickering is over," Obama declared. "The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."

"The plan I’m announcing tonight would meet three basic goals: It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don’t. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government. It’s a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge – not just government and insurance companies, but everybody, including employers and individuals. And it’s a plan that incorporates ideas from senators and congressmen; from Democrats and Republicans – and yes, from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election."

Obama repeated his proposals to ban insurers from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, to limit out of pocket expenses, and to require insurance companies to cover routine checkups. He also calls for a new exchange where individuals and small businesses can buy affordable coverage.

Obama disputed "bogus claims" by those trying to kill reform that there would be "death panels" of bureaucrats who would decide end-of-life care, that illegal immigrants would receive benefits, and there would be a government takeover of health care.

On one of the most controversial issues -- the so-called public option, a government-run plan along the lines of Medicare, Obama said it was only one part of his plan and "only a means" to the end of creating needed competition to private insurers to hold down costs and improve policies -- "and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal."

"Let me be clear – it would only be an option for those who don’t have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it; it would not impact those of you who already have insurance," he said.

Trying to appeal to Republicans, he said while he does not believe that medical malpractice reform is "a silver bullet," "I have talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs" and he's willing to "move forward on a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine."

While he said he'll work toward a bipartisan deal, Obama also warned that his patience has a limit.

"I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than improve it," he said. "I won't stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in this plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.

"Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it most. And more will die as a result. We know these things to be true. That is why we cannot fail. Because there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed – the ones who suffer silently, and the ones who shared their stories with us at town halls, in emails, and in letters."

Obama called on Edward M. Kennedy's legacy and memory as part of his call to action on health care, especially for bipartisan cooperation for the greater American good.

He said one of the letters he had received recently was from Kennedy, in which the late senator "expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform – 'that great unfinished business of our society,' would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that 'it concerns more than material things.' 'What we face,' he wrote, 'is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.' ”

"I’ve thought about that phrase quite a bit in recent days – the character of our country," Obama said.

"On issues like these, Ted Kennedy’s passion was born not of some rigid ideology, but of his own experience. It was the experience of having two children stricken with cancer. He never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick; and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent – there is something that could make you better, but I just can’t afford it.

"That large-heartedness -- that concern and regard for the plight of others -- is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people’s shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand. A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play; and an acknowledgement that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise."

(His full remarks are below.)

The official Republican response came from Representative Charles Boustany Jr. of Louisiana, a former heart surgeon.

In excerpts released in advance by House Republicans, Boustany said that "Republicans are pleased that President Obama came to the Capitol tonight. We agree much needs to be done to lower the cost of health care for all Americans. On that goal, Republicans are ready -- and we’ve been ready -– to work with the President for common-sense reforms that our nation can afford.”

But Boustany also said it's time to start over, not cobble together the bills already passed by Democratic-controlled committees in the House and Senate.

“It’s clear the American people want health care reform, but they want their elected leaders to get it right," he plans to say. "Most Americans wanted to hear the President tell Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and the rest of Congress that it’s time to start over on a common-sense, bipartisan plan focused on lowering the cost of health care while improving quality. That’s what I heard over the past several months in talking to thousands of my constituents. Replacing your family’s current health care with government-run health care is not the answer. In fact, it’ll make health care much more expensive.”

Boustany repeated the Republican assertion that the Democratic bill would mean bigger government and higher taxes, saying that it " creates 53 new government bureaucracies, adds hundreds of billions to our national debt, and raises taxes on job-creators by $600 billion. And, it cuts Medicare by 500 billion dollars, while doing virtually nothing to make the program better for our seniors.”

(His full prepared remarks are below.)

Democrats spent much of today trying to trash Boustany, pointing out that at one point he seemed to support the "birther" movement that questioned whether Obama was born in Hawaii (despite a verified birth certificate) and thus ineligible to be president, that he supported end-of-life counseling (that have been mischaracterized as "death panels') and that he had been sued for malpractice (though not an unusually high number of times).

Senator Edward M. Kennedy didn't live to see an universal health care bill pass in Washington.

But when President Obama spoke tonight to Congress to plead with them to pass a bill, he was there in spirit.

President Obama called on Kennedy's legacy and memory as part of his call to action on health care, especially for bipartisan cooperation for the greater American good.

He said he had received a letter recently from Kennedy. "He had written it back in May, shortly after he was told that his illness was terminal. He asked that it be delivered upon his death.

"In it, he spoke about what a happy time his last months were, thanks to the love and support of family and friends, his wife, Vicki, and his amazing children who are all here tonight," Obama continued. "And he expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform – 'that great unfinished business of our society,' would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that 'it concerns more than material things.' 'What we face,' he wrote, 'is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.' ”

"I’ve thought about that phrase quite a bit in recent days – the character of our country. One of the unique and wonderful things about America has always been our self-reliance, our rugged individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government. And figuring out the appropriate size and role of government has always been a source of rigorous and sometimes angry debate," the president said.

"For some of Ted Kennedy’s critics, his brand of liberalism represented an affront to American liberty. In their mind, his passion for universal health care was nothing more than a passion for big government. But those of us who knew Teddy and worked with him here -- people of both parties -- know that what drove him was something more. His friend, Orrin Hatch, knows that. They worked together to provide children with health insurance. His friend John McCain knows that. They worked together on a Patient’s Bill of Rights. His friend Chuck Grassley knows that. They worked together to provide health care to children with disabilities.

"On issues like these, Ted Kennedy’s passion was born not of some rigid ideology, but of his own experience. It was the experience of having two children stricken with cancer. He never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick; and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent – there is something that could make you better, but I just can’t afford it.

"That large-heartedness -- that concern and regard for the plight of others -- is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people’s shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand. A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play; and an acknowledgement that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise."

UPDATE: Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod told the Globe that Victoria Reggie Kennedy called to say the senator had written the letter in May he wanted delivered to Obama after his death.

"The president read it and it became the basis of the closing" section of the speech that Obama wrote himself in longhand, Axelrod said in a brief interview. "It was something that moved him a lot."

The full letter is below.

Several of Kennedy's children and his widow were in places of honor in the House chamber.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced this afternoon that Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island would escort Obama to the well, then watch from the gallery.

Ted Kennedy, Jr., and Kara Kennedy and her two children, Grace and Max, will watch from the front row of the speaker's box.

Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, sat with First Lady Michelle Obama in her box.

Others invited for those primo seats are patients who illustrate the problems of health care and the benefits of an overhaul, along with doctors and other health professionals. Among the latter category is Dr. Wayne Myers, an organic farmer and pediatrician from Waldoboro, Maine, who the White House said "has been active in rural health care for many years" and "understands the health care challenges present in accessing care and affordable insurance in rural areas."

The full guest list is below:

President Obama reacted to his own speech by sending out an appeal tonight to the 13-million-strong email list of his grassroots group, Organizing for America.

"I just finished laying out my plan for health reform at a joint session of Congress. Now, I'm writing directly to you because what happens next is critical -- and I need your help," Obama wrote in the email. "Change this big will not happen because I ask for it. It can only come when the nation demands it. Congress knows where I stand. Now they need to hear from you."

"We've come closer to real health reform in the last few months than we have in the last 60 years. But those who profit from the status quo -- and those who put partisan advantage above all else -- will fight us every inch of the way," he added.

"We do not seek that fight, but we will not shrink from it. The stakes are too high to let scare tactics cloud the debate, or to allow partisan bickering to block the path. Your voice, right now, is essential."

UPDATE: In an instant CNN/Opinion Research poll, 56 percent of respondents said they had a "very positive" overall reaction to Obama's speech, and another 21 percent "somewhat positive," while 12 percent said "somewhat negative" and 9 percent "very negative."

Also, 70 percent said Obama's proposals would move the country in the right direction, up from 60 percent in a similar poll conducted Saturday through Tuesday, and 67 percent said they favored Obama's plan to reform health care, up from 53 percent before the speech.

The new poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, and 18 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Republicans, 45 percent as Democrats, and 37 percent as independents.

Other reaction to his address to Congress divides, not suprisingly, along party lines.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele: “The president has proven his ability again to speak very well and say very little. He continued to try and sell his government-run health care experiment even though it will increase costs, increase taxes and increase the deficit. He said he wants to work with Republicans, but Nancy Pelosi and liberals in the House have opposed Republicans every step of the way. If the Democrats are serious about passing health care reform this year, they should stop pointing fingers and truly start working with Republicans to pass common-sense bipartisan health care reform that Americans want and deserve.”

Brad Dayspring, spokesman for Representative Eric Cantor, the second-ranking House Republican: “Tonight the President failed to say anything different or offer clear specifics, and with that in mind the reason for this overhyped speech is strangely unclear. The President has now delivered over 100 speeches where he’s discussed health care and said the same thing. He's held prime time press conferences, hosted television specials from the White House, and addressed a joint-session of Congress and only thing he’s made explicitly clear is that the status quo is unacceptable, a fact that we all agree on. While the President continues to blame unnamed special interests and Republicans, the fact is that the Democrats overwhelmingly control both the House and the Senate. The President and his party have failed to lead by offering reform that Americans are comfortable with. Families understand that a costly government-run plan will force them to pay more and get less.”

Senator John F. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat: “Tonight President Obama regained the initiative in a debate that must be won this year - not for a party, but for people who desperately need relief. This was a presidential moment and real presidential leadership. Americans need a real debate -- no more distortions, no more political games, no more scare tactics, it’s time for leaders everywhere to find the common ground to do what’s right for our country.
It won’t be easy, it will require tough decisions and hard-fought compromise, but letting another year go by without reforming health care is not an option. Now is the moment to achieve affordable insurance for those who don’t have it, stability for those who do, and cost controls for the businesses struggling to provide it to their workers.

"I was pleased to see the President made a compelling case for one of the ideas I’ve advanced on the Finance Committee – a meeting in the middle to control costs by placing an excise tax on insurers who offer high cost plans – a proposal that should be targeted to protect hard working Americans. Now we need to find Republicans willing to find those kinds of compromises for the greater good. That’s what our friend Ted Kennedy did at times like these, and there’s no greater action we can take now to honor his legacy than to deliver on the cause of his life.”

Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat: “Tonight the President offered a strong case for comprehensive health care reform, and I commend him on an excellent speech,” said Markey. “President Obama’s plan will offer stability and security for those with health insurance. No one should have to fight off a deadly disease while also fighting with their insurance company. The President’s plan puts a stop to denial of coverage based on a pre-existing condition and contains other vital reforms to protect Americans who already have coverage. President Obama’s plan also will finally enable the more than 45 million Americans without health insurance to get quality, affordable health coverage by creating a new insurance exchange where individuals and small businesses can shop for health insurance at competitive prices.

“We are now entering a new phase in the debate. Our current system is broken and in urgent need of an overhaul. Now is the time to heed the President’s call and pass comprehensive health care reform. The stakes are too high and the costs of inaction are too great to delay any longer.”

All sides are furiously trying to set expectations in advance of President Obama's big health care speech tonight to a joint session of Congress.

It's not clear how much the address, scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT, will be highlighted by new specifics -- or will be a more coherent restating of what the president wants in a health care overhaul.

Obama will "speak clearly to the American people about what's in health care reform; for those that are fortunate to have insurance, to demonstrate for them that his plan will bring them security and stability; and for those that don't have health insurance, that we'll provide an affordable way for them to get accessible insurance," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One as Obama headed to New York to speak at a memorial service for revered newsman Walter Cronkite.

On one of the most contentious issues, Obama will make his case for why he believes a government-run option is the best way to create more competition to private insurers, but he isn't expected to say he would veto a bill without it, a senior administration official told the Associated Press.

Obama, himself, in an interview aired today on ABC's "Good Morning America," offered few specifics, but did outline this preview of his address: "So, the intent of the speech on is to, A, make sure that the American people are clear exactly what it is that we are proposing. B, to make sure that Democrats and Republicans understand that I’m open to new ideas, that we’re not being rigid and ideological about this thing, but we do intend to get something done this year.”

The challenge facing Obama tonight -- as he tries to mollify liberals and not give up on a bipartisan deal -- was put in starker relief by a new poll out today.

The Associated Press-GfK survey says that 52 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's handling of health care, up from 43 percent in July. The poll also shows that 49 percent disapprove of his overall job performance, an increase from 42 percent in July.

Also in the poll, 49 percent said they oppose the bills under consideration in Congress, while only 34 percent favor them, and respondents were evenly split over whether lawmakers should keep trying to pass a bill this year or start over again.

The survey, conducted Thursday through Tuesday, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

UPDATE: Even before his speech, the White House announced this afternoon that Obama will take his health care pitch on the hustings.

He plans a "rally" -- not the town hall format he has been holding -- on Saturday in Minneapolis where he "will discuss what’s at stake for the American people in this debate – why we need health insurance reform and why we need to act now."

Republicans expect the president not to stake out much new ground tonight.

Representative John Boehner, the House GOP leader, said today the real question is whether Obama has been listening to the American public.

“I think the American people have made it pretty clear that they don’t really want another lecture, they want a new plan. They understand that we have a good system that works well for many people. Everybody understands that we’ve got problems in the current system that can be addressed. But to replace the entire current system with a big government-run plan is not what the American people want and certainly isn’t what I want.”

And the government-run public option isn't the only problem with the Democratic bills, Boehner said.

"It’s not the only bitter pill in their plan," he said. "They have a mandate on every employer to offer insurance and if they don’t there is a big tax. At a time when we are trying to create jobs this will make it more difficult to create jobs, and, as a matter of fact, probably cost our economy jobs. This $3,800 tax that has been proposed in one of the Democrat plans on individuals if you don’t buy health insurance is another non-starter. And so it really is time to stop, hit the reset button, and sit down in a bipartisan way and begin to deal with what we can deal with to help make our current health care system work better.”

Meanwhile, the American Medical Association issued an open letter to Obama and Congress urging them to reach a health care deal. "As our nation's elected leaders, you have an historic opportunity to improve the health and well-being of the American public," wrote J. James Rohack, the AMA's president. (Click here to read the letter.)

But it does not appear that the best hope for a bipartisan compromise will be in place before Obama speaks.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus had set a deadline of sorts of this morning for the "Gang of Six" to weigh in on his proposal, which would cost about $900 billion over 10 years, financed in part by new fees on insurers, drug companies and others in the industry, and does not include the public option.

But the key Republican in the negotiating group -- Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine -- is in no hurry to sign on to the Baucus plan before hearing from the president. "That's the cart before the horse, as they say in Maine," she said, according to the AP.

After Baucus met privately with Democrats on the committee, the chairman told reporters this afternoon that while he still hopes for a bipartisan deal, he will formally introduce his bill next week -- with or without Republican assent -- and have his panel debate it the week after that.

"I very much hope and do expect Republicans will be on board," he told reporters. "I don't know how many, but if there are not any, I will move forward anyway."

The idea of "death panels" -- hardhearted government bureaucrats who would decide when to pull the plug on terminally ill patients -- has been rather thoroughly debunked.

But former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin raises their specter again in an op-ed piece published in the Wall Street Journal today, on the eve of President Obama's much-anticipated health care speech.

"In an interview with the New York Times in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of 'normal political channels,' should guide decisions regarding that 'huge driver of cost . . . the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives . . . .' Palin writes.

"Given such statements, is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats' proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans. Working through 'normal political channels,' they made themselves heard, and as a result Congress will likely reject a wrong-headed proposal to authorize end-of-life counseling in this cost-cutting context. But the fact remains that the Democrats' proposals would still empower unelected bureaucrats to make decisions affecting life or death health-care matters."

After the firestorm of controversy over the "death panels" in Democratic bills, bipartisan negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee agreed to drop the end-of-life provision.

But the Democratic National Committee hit back this morning at Palin, last year's Republican vice presidential nominee.

“The way Sarah Palin is trying to scare Americans you'd think it's Halloween already," DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement. "But, by continuing to peddle what Pulitzer Prize winning independent fact checkers have found to be ‘pants on fire’ lies and doubling down on the GOP recommendation to end Medicare for future generations, the only thing that's in costume here is Sarah Palin's supposed concern for the health care of Americans. What the American people find truly scary is that insurance rates have doubled this decade and continue to rise at a rate three times faster than their wages, and that rather than take on the insurance industry Republicans have become their biggest defenders. And what Sarah Palin should find truly scary is that her reputation as a serious leader can in fact sink even lower than it already has when she continues to stand by such outlandish claims.”

The rest of Palin's piece is far less controversial -- more of the Republican mantra that too much government would make health care worse, not better.

"Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. And common sense tells us to be skeptical when President Obama promises that the Democrats' proposals "will provide more stability and security to every American," Palin writes.

"With all due respect, Americans are used to this kind of sweeping promise from Washington. And we know from long experience that it's a promise Washington can't keep.

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration seems poised to commit significantly more blood and treasure to Afghanistan for the next three years to try to turn the tide of the insurgency there.

A copy of the yet-to-be-officially-released plan submitted to the president by the top US commander in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal, and the US ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, spells out how the dream team in Kabul hopes to execute their mission over the next three years, with special emphasis on showing measurable success within the "crucial window" of 12 to 18 months.

The report, obtained by Politico (click here to view it), sets out an ambitious agenda of improving local governance in Afghanistan, improving access to jobs, credit and justice, and protecting the population among other things. They plan to fight drug traffickers and corruption as well.

Although no budget numbers or troop levels are attached to the document, the 41-page report dated Aug. 10 mentions that the effort in Afghanistan "requires a commitment to provide military commanders and civilians on the ground with the resources they need to execute the president's strategy. This is based on a strong recognition that the effort in Afghanistan to date has lack unity of effort and the resources for success."

The nation’s top military officer told the Globe on Aug. 25 that due to years of neglect and focus on Iraq, the United States is "starting over" in Afghanistan despite President Obama sending 21,000 additional troops.

Acknowledging that public support for the war is waning, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the US operation needs “12 to 18 months to turn this thing around.’’ "It is doable, but it is going to take some time,’’ he said, urging Americans to be patient.

President Obama's health care speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night has many of the trappings of a "State of Union" address, and perhaps more at stake with his top domestic priority in the lurch.

So the opposition party is treating it as such, announcing today that a doctor who is also a congressman will deliver the Republican response immediately afterwards.

Representative Charles Boustany of Louisiana has been tapped to make the speech. The GOP says that he has more than 20 years of medical experience and has long advocated for changes that lower health care costs and maintains the doctor-patient relationship.

“As a doctor, I know we must lower costs and improve care, which we can accomplish by focusing on strengthening the doctor-patient relationship and working in a bipartisan way,” he said in a statement. “Health care is a kitchen table issue that affects all Americans, and I believe we need an honest discussion about how we come together to fix what’s broken, while building on what works. That’s why I’m pleased the President will speak to Congress tomorrow night, and I look forward to presenting commonsense reforms that Republicans and all Americans can stand behind.”

“Dr. Boustany has been a tireless advocate for reform that lowers health care costs and expands access for the American people at a price our nation can afford,” Representative John Boehner, the top House Republican, said in a statement. “He understands why a Washington bureaucrat – as Democrats have proposed – should never get between a doctor and his patient. I’m pleased Charles has agreed to speak to the American people about a Republican vision for reform and the need for both parties to come together to craft a responsible proposal at a time when people across the country are focused on jobs.”

UPDATE: Health professionals, as a group, are the most generous donors to Boustany's campaigns. They gave him $240,250 for the 2008 election and $48,300 so far for the 2010 election, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Boustany was a "fitting choice" for Republicans opposed to a health care overhaul, noting his votes against expanding the children's health insurance program and funding community health centers.

Boustany is a "credible voice for special interests, but not for hardworking Louisianians who struggle with health insurance companies,” Jessica Santillo, the southern regional spokeswoman for the DCCC, said in a statement. “Louisianians deserve an honest debate on how to rein in health cares costs, improve care, and increase access, not more of Congressman Boustany’s attempts to block solutions and protect the status quo.”

Also, the Republican National Committee plans to respond minute by minute to Obama's speech, announcing this afternoon a "live blog will offer 'real-time' fact-checking during President Obama's address concerning his proposed government-run health care experiment and how it will impact all generations of Americans."

Republicans use their Labor Day weekend radio-Internet address to try to pound it into Americans' heads that President Obama's health care plan would be a job killer that would balloon the federal deficit.

Obama, who plans to make his case before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, is being buffeted by liberals in his own party as well as Republican opponents on what he should insist be in a health care bill.

Representative John Kline of Minnesota talks about what he heard from constituents in the town halls he hosted during the August congressional recess.

"What I hear from them is what my colleagues are hearing from Americans all across this great nation -- a sense of uncertainty about the health care legislation moving through Congress like a runaway freight train. They ask: 'What will happen to my coverage, and my choice of doctors? Will I have to stand in line to receive treatment? Or get approval from someone in Washington before getting a knee replacement or filling a prescription for the latest diabetes medication?' " Kline says.

"Access to quality care and the comfort of a familiar physician isn’t the only thing on my constituents’ minds. With trillion dollar price tags becoming almost commonplace in Democrat-controlled Washington, American families are worried about what all this spending means for their jobs -- and their children -- and their children’s children.

With so many worries, Kline says it's time to start over -- and to try to draft a truly bipartisan bill.

"Democrats have crafted this legislation behind closed doors, creating a partisan blueprint that – at last count – clocked in at more than 1,000 pages. It’s complicated, it’s convoluted, and it’s quite simply not going to work.

"It’s time to press the ‘reset’ button," Kline says. "Health care reform doesn’t have to be a partisan battle. It doesn’t have to take away coverage from Americans who like what they have. It doesn't have to put federal bureaucrats in charge of what procedure is covered and what medication is not.

"Our goal must be to fix what’s broken in our health care system while preserving those features that work well. We can drive down costs without sacrificing quality. We can expand coverage without orchestrating a government takeover. And we can do all of these things without squeezing small businesses and destroying more jobs at a time when our economy needs them most."

His full address is below and can be viewed here.

Republicans have their senior's bill of rights, trying to win the elderly to their side in the health care debate.

Democrats retaliated this evening with a new TV ad that accuses the GOP of wanting to kill Medicare, the main government health program for seniors.

The Democratic National Committee cited a vote earlier this year in the House in which 137 Republicans voted for a budget proposal offered by the Republican leadership that the DNC says would have ended Medicare for Americans under age 55. Instead, the proposal called for younger workers to enroll in private plans and receive subsidies equal to the average Medicare benefit.

"Republicans want to end Medicare," the announcer says in the spot. "You heard right, Republicans actually voted to abolish Medicare for future generations -- one of the most important programs for seniors.

"America's seniors have relied on Medicare for over 40 years -- and Democrats are working to strengthen Medicare," the narrator continues, over images of smiling seniors. "But the plain truth is, Republicans have opposed Medicare from the start.

"Their leaders have called for cutting Medicare -- and now for killing it. The Republican Party -- no friend of seniors," the announcer concludes over photos of House Republican leader John Boehner and Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele.

The DNC says the ad will air on national cable in and in 10 the districts of 10 Republican members of Congress, including Boehner, his No. 2 Eric Cantor, and favorite liberal target Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

In unveiling the seniors' bill of rights earlier this week, the RNC vowed to protect Medicare, which it asserted was in jeopardy under the proposals of President Obama and Democrats to find savings and efficiencies.

“Let’s agree in both parties that Congress should only consider health reform proposals that protect senior citizens,” Steele says in his ad. "For starters, no cuts to Medicare to pay for another program. Zero."

President Obama's grassroots group is bringing its health care overhaul push to Boston on Labor Day, with newly minted US Senate candidate Martha Coakley and a possible competitor, Representative Michael Capuano, featured at the rally.

Organizing for America announced this afternoon that the rally will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common. It plans to present 30,000 declarations of support for Obama's proposals from Massachusetts residents to the Bay State congressional delegation.

"The rally will be an opportunity for supporters of reform to show their backing for President Obama’s principles for health insurance reform which have been simple and consistent -- reform will lower costs, protect choice and ensure all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care," the announcement said.

Besides Coakley, now Massachusetts attorney general, and Capuano, Representative John Tierney and leaders of the Service Employees International Union and Health Care for America Now! will attend.

Organizers said there will be a moment of silence for the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Coakley announced Thursday she is seeking the seat, and Capuano is also considering a run.

Organizing for America says it held more than 2,000 health care events during August, culminating in a two-week bus tour that ended Thursday and stopped in Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, Des Moines, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Charlotte.

Republicans immediately sought today to capitalize on the new unemployment numbers to press their argument that President Obama's economic stimulus package is failing.

The Labor Department reported today that the jobless rate rose to 9.7 percent last month from 9.4 percent in July after 216,000 more Americans lost their jobs. It is the highest rate since 1983, and analysts say it shows that while the economy is improving, a sustained recovery will be difficult at best.

UPDATE: Vice President Joe Biden, who on Thursday led the cheerleading for the $787 billion stimulus package, said this afternoon that the administration will not be satisfied until "we're adding, not losing, thousands of jobs a month."

He cited an analysis that the stimulus package saved or created at least 500,000 jobs in its first 200 days, a milestone that hits Saturday -- or in other words, that another 500,000 jobs would have been lost without the recovery package.

Biden spoke as he announced a $535 million loan guarantee for a Fremont, Calif., company that makes solar panels. “This announcement today is part of the unprecedented investment this Administration is making in renewable energy and exactly what the Recovery Act is all about,” Biden said in a statement. “By investing in the infrastructure and technology of the future, we are not only creating jobs today, but laying the foundation for long-term growth in the 21stcentury economy.”

But Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele beat him to the punch.

“Yesterday, Vice President Biden gave yet another speech to try to convince the American people that President Obama’s stimulus bill is creating the jobs he promised. In fact, Vice President Biden said that he believes the Administration has ‘met or exceeded’ their goal to create or save 600,000 jobs in the past 100 days. Today’s unemployment report proves that this Administration is ignoring reality," Steele said in a statement.

"The unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent. More than 216,000 Americans lost their jobs in the month of August alone. That means more than 3 million Americans have lost their jobs since the president took office. The president’s economic experiment simply isn’t working, and Americans shouldn’t expect his government-run health care experiment to work, either.”

Not a single House Republican voted for the stimulus bill, and Representative John Boehner, the GOP leader in the House, chimed in with his own statement that also tried to use the jobless numbers to continue his assault on Obama's health care overhaul plans.

"Where are the jobs? Approximately 2.4 million private-sector jobs have been destroyed since February 2009. In light of these numbers, it is more clear than ever that the President and the leaders of his party in Congress need to abandon their plans for a job-killing government takeover of health care and work with Republicans for a more responsible approach to health care reform. The Democrats' bloated 'stimulus' isn't working, and we can't afford another trillion-dollar mistake on the backs of our children and small businesses," Boehner said.

"It is increasingly clear that as a consequence of this administration's misguided policies, any economic recovery that lies ahead will be a jobless one hampered by massive new debt. This is not what the American people were promised; nor is it what they deserve. Better solutions were offered in good faith by Republicans but rejected by the Administration in favor of what has proven to be a trillion-dollar mistake. The Administration said its bloated 'stimulus' would create millions of jobs and keep the unemployment rate from going above 8 percent. Instead, unemployment has now soared to nearly 10 percent, millions of jobs have disappeared, and massive new debt has been needlessly piled on future generations," Boehner continued.

"Washington Democrats must listen to the American people and abandon their plans to impose a job-killing government takeover of health care and a new job-killing national energy tax. Both will inflict further harm on small businesses and wipe out millions of additional American jobs, compounding the costly mistake of the flawed 'stimulus.’ It’s time for the President to hit the reset button and work with Republicans for better solutions, before more debt is piled on our children and more American jobs are destroyed."

The White House expressed its dismay today to Israeli plans to expand settlements on the West Bank -- one of the thorniest issues that is a major irritant in US-Israeli relations.

Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today he would approve hundreds of new housing units in the settlements before considering a temporary freeze in construction, the Associated Press reports. The aides said any freeze would not encompass building the new units and finishing some 2,500 others currently under construction.

"We regret the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction.  Continued settlement activity is inconsistent with Israel's commitment under the Roadmap," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in the statement.
‪
"As the President has said before, the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge that it stop.  We are working to create a climate in which negotiations can take place, and such actions make it harder to create such a climate.

"We do appreciate Israel's stated intent to place limits on settlement activity and will continue to discuss this with the Israelis as these limitations are defined. The US commitment to Israel’s security is and will remain unshakeable.  We believe it can best be achieved through comprehensive peace in the region, including a two-state solution with a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel. That is the ultimate goal to which the President is deeply and personally committed.

"Our objective remains to resume meaningful negotiations as soon as possible in pursuit of this goal.  We are working with all parties – Israelis, Palestinians, and Arab states -- on the steps they must take to achieve that objective."   

Democrats, ramping up their rebuttal to GOP attacks on health care, unveiled a web video today going after Representatives John Boehner and Michele Bachmann and commentators Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

The video shows the critics repeating debunked claims, including that the health care bill would create death panels of bureaucrats who would decide who lives and dies, and using terms such as "communist" to describe the plan.

“Since Congressional Republicans and their right wing allies can’t win with the facts on health care, they’ve resorted to using fear, fiction, and scare tactics of the worst kind to shamelessly try and ‘kill’ health insurance reform,” Ryan Rudominer, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “This new web video is just another way that we are exposing their lies and over-the-top rhetoric while empowering our grassroots supporters to hold them accountable for trying to deny families quality, affordable health care.”

The video is part of Democrats' strategy of advertising, phone calls, letters to the editor, fact checks, and telephone town halls in targeted Republican districts to try to regain momentum.

Republicans and other critics have taken the upper hand during the August congressional recess, one reason why President Obama plans to give an unusual "State of the Union"-like speech to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday to make his case for a health care overhaul.

President Obama will address a joint session of Congress next Wednesday as he tries to regain momentum on the health care debate.

With a bipartisan deal looking less likely and many Americans confused by the debate, the White House has been signaling that Obama will try to sharpen his message on what exactly he wants Congress to put in a health overhaul.

Obama has held a series of town halls, and a prime time news conference, but senior adviser David Axelrod said in a series of interviews late Tuesday and early today that the president was considering giving a major health care speech soon after he returns from his Camp David vacation and Congress reconvenes next week.

"We're entering a new season," Axelrod told CNN today. "It's time to synthesize and harmonize these strands and get this done."

So far, Obama has left the details of bill drafting to Democrats in Congress. But as the Globe reported today, Democrats are increasingly dismayed by Republican recalcitrance and are considering using the "nuclear option" of a parliamentary maneuver to ram through a health care bill with a simple majority in the Senate. And as the Globe reported last week, Obama has stepped on his own message at times.

A CBS News survey released Tuesday said that two in three respondents said they were confused by the proposals before Congress, and 60 percent said that Obama has not clearly explained his health proposals.

The address, scheduled for prime time Wednesday night, will be only Obama's second as president to a joint session of Congress. His first, in late February, amounted to his "State of the Union" address and focused on the financial crisis and deepening recession.

"The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation," Obama said then. "Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more."

If parental encouragement isn't enough, America's school kids will get a pep talk next week from the commander-in-chief.

President Obama plans to give a back-to-school speech next Tuesday to stress to students "the importance of taking responsibility for their success in school," the White House announced today.

The president, who has made it a goal to have America lead the world in going to college, will speak from Wakefield High in Arlington, Va., and it will be broadcast live on the White House website and on C-SPAN.

In advance, the Department of Education is offering "resources developed by and for teachers to help engage students and stimulate discussion about persisting and succeeding in school," the White House said.

President Obama's job approval rating is at the lowest point in his presidency -- a drop largely caused by erosion in support among the political independents who gave him an electoral landslide, a new poll suggests.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey results released late this afternoon show his overall approval number at 53 percent, down from 76 percent in early February, just after he took office.

The increasingly bitter partisanship, particularly on health care, appears to be taking a toll on the president.

While his approval number among fellow Democrats rose slightly to 90 percent from July, it fell to 43 percent from 53 percent among independents and to 15 percent from 23 percent among Republicans. It's the first time in a CNN poll that a majority of independents gave a thumbs down to Obama.

Majorities now disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy, health care policy, taxes, the federal deficit, and Medicare. He still gets majority support for his handling of foreign affairs, race relations, terrorism, and Afghanistan.

Obama will have plenty of time to mull his situation. The White House announced late today that Obama, just back from a week on Martha's Vineyard (though interrupted for Senator Edward M. Kennedy's funeral), will leave for Camp David on Wednesday morning for more R&R and not return until Sunday.

The new survey, conducted Friday through Monday, has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, and a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points within each political group.

President Obama, taking a quick break from week two of his vacation, jumped on the latest economic numbers to declare that his recovery program is working.

A key indicator of manufacturing activity grew last month for the for first time in 18 months.

That shows that companies are making more cars, computers, appliances, and other goods, Obama said.

"It means these companies are starting to invest more and produce more, and it is a sign that we're on the path to economic recovery," the president said, diverting from planned remarks on the H1N1 flu to brag.

But he added, as usual, that there is a "long way to go" and that he and his administration will not let up until Americans -- nearly 10 percent of whom are still unemployed -- can find jobs.

Still, Obama said, "this is another important sign that we're heading in the right direction, and that the steps we've taken to bring our economy back from the brink are working."

The war of words and ads over health care has left most Americans confused, according to a new poll released today.

The CBS News survey found that two in three respondents -- including 69 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Democrats -- call the proposals before Congress confusing, while only 31 percent said they have a clear understanding of the proposed changes.

Moreover, 60 percent of Americans say that President Obama has not clearly explained his health proposals, though he has held a series of town halls and other events. (Click here to see the entire poll.)

The at-times heated town hall meetings during the August congressional recess didn't help matters, and 49 percent of those who said they heard of the sessions said angry protestors featured on cable TV did not reflect the views of most Americans.

Not surprisingly, there was a partisan division, with 66 percent of Republicans saying the protestors did speak for most of the public, but 73 percent of Democratic respondents said they did not.

The poll, conducted Thursday through Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Republicans immediately jumped on the poll findings. "Over a month ago, President Obama changed his message from 'health care reform' to 'health insurance reform.' Though the message changed, the underlying product didn’t," Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said in a statement. "New polling from CBS shows that the American people weren’t fooled."

The truce during the mourning for Senator Edward M. Kennedy is a memory, Congress returns to work in a week, and the calendar has turned to September.

So it's time to rejoin the battle over the health care overhaul.

Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the top Republican on the Budget Committee, is warning that he has lots of objections ready if Democrats try to push a health care bill through the Senate with a simple majority.

Democrats might need to resort to the procedural maneuver, known as reconciliation, because with Kennedy's seat vacant, they control 59 votes -- one shy of what is needed to overcome potential filibusters.

Gregg told The Hill newspaper in an article published online today that Republicans could file "hundreds" of points of order objections, each one requiring 60 votes to overcome.

"We are very much engaged in taking a hard look at our rights under reconciliation," Gregg told The HiIl. "It would be very contentious."

The Republican National Committee this morning unveiled a new TV ad that promotes its "seniors' bill of rights" for any health care changes -- aiming squarely at a constituency worried what reform would bring and at a voting bloc least supportive of President Obama.

“Let’s agree in both parties that Congress should only consider health reform proposals that protect senior citizens,” RNC Chairman Michael Steele says in the ad. "For starters, no cuts to Medicare to pay for another program. Zero.

"Make it illegal to ration health care based on age,” he continues. "Prevent any government role in end-of-life care. And stop bureaucrats from getting between seniors and their doctors. A few things we should all agree on. The Seniors’ Bill of Rights. Stand with us and stand with senior citizens. After all, they’ve earned it.”

Democrats, however, point out that Steele has seemingly contradicted himself in recent days over whether he supports savings (or cuts, according to critics) in Medicare -- the government health program for seniors -- to help bring health spending under control.

Democrats also note that the AARP declared that “nothing in the bills that have been proposed would bring about the scenarios the RNC is concerned about.”

"Michael Steele and the Republicans are unbelievable," Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse said in a statement today responding to the RNC ad. "After failing to stop the President on the Recovery Act, the budget, equal pay for women and children's health care, Republicans have decided that they have no other choice when it comes to blocking health insurance reform than to lie to the American people and try to scare seniors - all in their admitted effort to 'break' the President on this issue and 'kill' reform for political gain.

"The RNC's 'Senior's Bill Of Rights' is nothing more than a scare tactic built on a foundation of lies about the effort to reform health insurance. Which begs the question, why can't Republicans debate health insurance reform on the merits instead of making stuff up out of whole cloth? Because they know the crux of what President Obama has proposed -- lowering costs, preserving choice, expanding access and reversing decades of unfair insurance industry practices -- is popular with the American people and they don't stand a chance of blocking reform if they deal with the issue honestly."

Democrats -- in the form of President Obama's grassroots group Organizing for America -- are continuing their "Health Insurance Reform Now: Let’s Get it Done!" bus tour today in Columbus, Ohio, and Wednesday in Pittsburgh. The events, in part, are designed to hammer home the message of Obama's eight health "guarantees" for Americans who already have health insurance: "1) no discrimination for pre-existing conditions, 2) no exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles, or co-pays, 3) no cost-sharing for preventive care, 4) no dropping of coverage for the seriously ill, 5) no gender discrimination, 6) no annual or lifetime caps on coverage, 7) extended coverage for young adults, and 8) guaranteed insurance renewal."

President Obama, in a message overnight to his 13 million-strong grassroots group, said that Senator Edward M. Kennedy "a true leader who challenged us all to live out our noblest values."

"I personally valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've benefited as President from his encouragement and wisdom," Obama added in his message to members of Organizing for America. (His full message is below.)

Obama did not mention the issue that he and Kennedy were most closely working on in the months before his death and that his grassroots group is now crusading on -- a health care overhaul.

But Vice President Joe Biden says that Kennedy's death -- and the outpouring of tributes -- could break the partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill.

"God willing maybe his loss and all about him will be the catalyst to make people come around and, you know, begin to compromise to get something done," Biden said in an interview aired this morning on NBC's "Today" show.

The vice president, however, also acknowledged that the impact could go the other way -- that Kennedy's absence will make a bipartisan deal even more difficult. Several key Republicans, including last year's presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, have argued in recent days that a health care deal would be closer if Kennedy had been in the Senate the last few months.

Biden said that Kennedy's attitude and persistence should be an example.

"Everything was about possibilities. I never, ever, ever in 36 years of being with him ever saw him down in terms of, 'We can't get this done,' 'things aren't going to get any better,' 'the deficit's too big,' 'we can't get this passed' -- never, never, never," Biden said.

"I watched him on the renewal of the civil rights legislation. I watched him on hate crimes legislation. I watched him go back at it and go back at it, and I watched him change people's minds."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that Kennedy's death would "make things more difficult" on health care legislation, MSNBC reports.

Asked about the possibility of naming the bill in Kennedy's honor, she said that would be an appropriate tribute, but said "it would be best to pass health care."

But conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh took a decidedly different stance.

"Placing [Kennedy’s] name on a health-care bill, in memoriam, or using his name as a sympathy ploy to advance a health care bill that would deny Americans the choices Senator Kennedy had is an insult and is supreme hypocrisy,” he said on his show Wednesday. "The senator's passing is going to give them the opportunity to use the sympathy play to get as much done in his name as possible."

Meanwhile, a second group opposing Democrats' health care plan announced today it is withdrawing its TV ads out of respect for Kennedy.

The Associated Press reports that the US Chamber of Commerce said it is suspending its $7.5 million, 21-state campaign, which criticizes the government-run coverage that many Democrats favor, until early next week.

On Wednesday, Conservatives for Patients Rights also said it was temporarily halting its ads, including one running in the Boston area that was aimed at Obama vacationing on Martha's Vineyard.

UPDATE: Asked today about how President Obama looks at some liberal groups' "win one for Kennedy" push on health care, White House spokesman Bill Burton replied, "Our country lost a beloved leader and the politics and implications of that are the last thing on the president's mind right now."

Pressed on whether Kennedy's death is being used in a "political way," Burton said, "We've all experienced a pretty big loss and Americans are going to have different reactions and find different ways to memorialize his life. [The president]'s not going to make a comment on what every single person does to memorialize or remember or talk about Senator Kennedy and his passing. There will be a time when it's appropriate to have discussions on different ramifications, but I don't think anybody thinks that now is it."

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff

The nation's top military officer, in a deeply pessimistic assessment of the war in Afghanistan, said today that due to years of neglect the United States is basically "starting over" in its battle against the radical Taliban movement and its Al Qaeda allies.

Acknowledging that public support for the war is waning, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the US operation needs "12 to 18 months to turn this thing around."

"It is doable, but it is going to take some time," he said, urging Americans to be patient.

With the intense focus until recently on fighting the war in Iraq -- where the United States plans to keep nearly twice as many troops as in Afghanistan until at least early next year -- he said that the Taliban is far more potent than it was during the US invasion in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Its alliance with Osama bin Laden and other leaders of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, who he said are hiding in neighboring Pakistan's lawless border region, is also stronger than ever, he said.

"This is the eighth year, but there is a newness here," Mullen told Globe reporters and editors today. "There is a starting again, or starting over. Iraq has been the focus, it hasn't been Afghanistan."

Mullen's wide-ranging interview came on a particularly bloody day in Afghanistan. Five car bombs simultaneously hit Kandahar, the country's largest southern city, killing at least 41 people. And four more US troops were killed by another bomb in southern Afghanistan, bringing the August total to 41 and making this year the deadliest yet of the war for American forces.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll this month found that 51 percent of Americans now say that the war is not worth fighting and that only 24 percent support sending more troops. President Obama, in a speech last week to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, conceded that the fighting has become more fierce, but called Afghanistan "a war of necessity."

Military commanders on the ground told Richard Holbrooke, the president's special envoy, over the weekend that the force was not big enough to defeat the Taliban, particularly in southern and eastern Afghanistan. The United States currently has about 68,000 troops dedicated to the war in Afghanistan, including 21,000 additional forces ordered by Obama earlier this year who are still flowing into the country.

Mullen, however, said he is awaiting a new assessment by the top commander in Afghanistan, Army General Stanley McChrystal, before making any recommendations on whether more US troops are needed to take on an increasingly emboldened Taliban.

But Mullen indicated that he believes that, at a minimum, more specialists will be needed to train the Afghan security forces. "We all believe there is going to be a need to accelerate the training of the Afghanistan security forces, army and police, and that is going to take additional trainers," he said.

Mullen, who became the nation's top military officer in October 2007, visited patients at the Veterans Affairs medical center in Jamaica Plain earlier today and plans to speak Wednesday at a Harvard Medical School conference about traumatic brain injuries, which have become much more common among combat troops.

Taking a quick break from his Martha's Vineyard vacation, President Obama this morning announced he is nominating Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term.

Bernanke, who has economics degrees from Harvard and MIT, has played a key role in dealing with the financial meltdown last year and now in lifting the nation out of recession. His current term expires Jan. 31, and Bernanke, a Republican originally picked by George W. Bush, would need reconfirmation by the Democratic Senate to keep his job.

"As an expert on the causes of the Great Depression, I’m sure Ben never imagined that he would be part of a team responsible for preventing another. But because of his background, his temperament, his courage, and his creativity, that’s exactly what he has helped to achieve," Obama said.

"Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall."

UPDATE: Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Banking Committee that will hold Bernanke's confirmation hearing, offered qualified support.

"While I have had serious differences with the Federal Reserve over the past few years, I think reappointing Chairman Bernanke is probably the right choice,"  Dodd said in a statement.  "Chairman Bernanke was too slow to act during the early stages of the foreclosure crisis, but he ultimately demonstrated effective leadership and his reappointment sends the right signal to the markets."

"There will be a thorough and comprehensive confirmation hearing.  I still have serious concerns about the Federal Reserve’s failure to protect consumers and I strongly believe these responsibilities should go to an independent consumer financial protection agency.  I expect many serious questions will be raised about the role of the Federal Reserve moving forward and what authorities it should and should not have."

While Wall Street appears to be responding well to Obama re-upping Bernanke's tenure, he is not without his critics.

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, issued a scathing statement:

"As a result of the greed, irresponsibility and illegal behavior of Wall Street our country has experienced the worst economic decline since the Great Depression. Mr. Bernanke was head of the Fed and the nation's chief economist as this crisis, driven by reckless speculation, developed. Tragically, like the rest of the Bush administration, he was asleep at the wheel during this period and did nothing to move our financial system onto safer grounds," Sanders said.

“As the middle class of this country continues to shrink, we need a chairman of the Federal Reserve who is more concerned about expanding the productive economy – increasing decent-paying jobs for all Americans – than continuing to fan the flames of Wall Street greed and outrageous compensation packages.”

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney offered his backing for Bernanke, but said there needs to be more accountability at the Fed and more focus on jobs.

"Ben Bernanke has served ably as Chairman of the Federal Reserve at a time of great challenges. He has been forced to account for the serious failings of his predecessor," Sweeney said in a statement.

"The Federal Reserve must be made into a more publicly accountable body that makes job growth a central focus in the years ahead, particularly given signs that the economic recovery will be weak. We believe it's important that Chairman Bernanke's views on the governance and role of the Federal Reserve system also be a focus of his confirmation hearings. Finally, we must determine whether the Federal Reserve will oppose the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency that will rein in Wall Street's excesses and look out for America's working families.

"We are eager to engage the Administration, Chairman Bernanke and the Congress in the weeks ahead about reform of unregulated financial markets that destroyed millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in investment capital."

The president's full remarks, and those of Bernanke, are below:

The White House, issuing its new budget deficit projection this morning, said the numbers look better in the short term but worse in the long run.

Budget Director Peter Orszag said that the deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 is now projected to be $1.58 trillion -- or 11.2 percent of gross domestic product -- down $262 billion from a previously projected $1.84 trillion or 12.9 percent of GDP. That's still an all-time record by far.

And the red ink looks worse in the next decade because of updated economic data that show that "we inherited a deeper recession than projected in February," Orszag wrote in his message. (Read it here.)  

The White House is projecting that the deficit for 2010-2019 will be $2 trillion higher than it forecast in February, now an eye-popping $9.05 trillion.

"During an economic downturn, one wants to allow the deficit to increase, so deficit reduction should be focused on the out-years -- after the economy has recovered," Orszag writes. "That said, the out-year deficits hover in the range of 4 percent of GDP, which is higher than desirable. Getting the out-year deficit under control is a top priority of the Administration."

Republicans are accusing the administration of fudging the numbers to make the deficit appear smaller for the current year, largely by changing assumptions about the costs of the financial bailout.

"Let’s be clear, this is spin and nothing more," economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin wrote in a memo to House GOP Leader John Boehner. "The lower estimate is strictly the result of the Administration massaging their budget assumptions, not reality. The reality is, putting these gimmicks aside, that the FY 2009 deficit is larger. And, even the Obama Administration will have to admit that the deficit for every year after 2009 is even worse than they admitted earlier this year. (Read his memo here.)

But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office put out is own figures this morning, and they closely track the White House's in the short term and are actually lower in the long term.

The CBO estimated that the deficit will be $1.59 trillion in fiscal 2009 and $1.38 trillion in fiscal 2010 as the economy recovers. It also lowered its projection of the 10-year budget deficit to $7.14 trillion.

One reason for the CBO's lower 10-year number: It assumes that the tax cuts put into place by the Bush administration will expire as scheduled by 2011, but Obama's projection keeps the tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year.

Republicans are also warning that Obama's agenda will mean even higher deficits, threatening to bankrupt the country.

"The mushrooming federal debt poses a grave danger to America’s prosperity, threatening to plunge our economy and future generations into the abyss of stagnant growth and national decline. But given the reckless way the administration is spending your money, you’d never know that the debt is a cause for concern. Staggering sums of money have been tossed around so casually that the very notion of dishing out 'trillions' of dollars is no longer a shock to many in Washington," Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, writes in an op-ed for Politico.

American can't afford Obama's health care plan, estimated to cost $1 trillion over the next 10 years, Cantor argues.

"In this economy, as families review their own budgets and adjust accordingly, they expect their government to act in a manner that reflects the challenging times we are in. Much of the public frustration with Washington has been evident in town halls across the country, and many Americans believe the administration’s top priority should be cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term," Cantor writes.

"Instead, the administration seeks to force a massive new government health care program that most people don’t want and certainly cannot afford. And they will do so even if it means imposing new taxes on the middle class and small business job creators. Now is not the time to double down on a deficit that is $2 trillion more than the administration projected, but instead to moderate spending, and move forward responsibly."

Boehner added his criticism in a statement:

“Today’s reports confirm what the White House has been trying to hide: the Democrats’ out-of-control spending binge is burying our children and grandchildren under a mountain of unsustainable debt. Instead of putting the brakes on Washington’s spending habits as they promised they’d do, Democrats have stepped on the accelerator and spent taxpayer dollars with reckless abandon all year, refusing to make tough choices and putting all the sacrifice on future generations. That’s not leadership; it’s negligence.

“The costly government-run health care plan put forth by President Obama and Speaker Pelosi is just the latest in a long line of expensive Democratic experiments that will add to the deficit, raise taxes on families and small businesses, and cost more American jobs. It’s time for the Administration and congressional Democrats to face the consequences of this dangerous fiscal agenda and change course."

UPDATE: Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, blamed the Bush administration for running up the deficits and following policies that led to the need for costly rescue measures, including the $787 billion economic stimulus package that passed without a single Republican vote in the House.

"Today's deficit projections are a legacy of Bush Administration fiscal policies that turned our surpluses into deficits and led the way toward an economic and financial crisis that has required historic short-term intervention. If pay-as-you-go principles had been in place for the last 8 years, this deficit would be $5 trillion smaller over the next decade," she said in a statement.

"We are working with President Obama to restore fiscal responsibility and to ensure that statutory pay-go, already passed by the House, is signed into law. Under President Obama's leadership, we have ended the Bush-era practice of hiding the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- gimmicks and accounting tricks that have no place in our budget process. And working with the President, Congress has laid out a budget blueprint that reduces our deficit, lays a new foundation for job creation and economic growth, and invests in more broadly shared prosperity for all Americans. "But we cannot reduce the deficit in the long-term without getting health care costs under control. Nor can health care reform add to the challenge. That is why our health insurance reform is fully paid for and will not increase the deficit.

"These deficit projections send a clear message: fiscal discipline must be the order of the day as we come out of this recession. Our economic recovery efforts are starting to pay dividends for America's families. Today's announcement that consumer confidence and home prices are on the rise represent new signs that our economy is moving in the right direction. And now, we must remain on-track to tackle our fiscal challenges, advance policies to promote job growth, reinforce the foundation of our prosperity, and return the United States to the days of financial stability."

The Bush State Department declared the horrific violence in Darfur a genocide. President Obama, as a candidate, pledged to do more.

But US policy toward Sudan seems to be in wait-and-see mode, so activists are going public today with their disappointment, trying to light a fire under the president/

A coalition of anti-genocide advocacy organizations launched a campaign called "Sudan Now: Keep the Promise" to challenge the Obama administration to live up to promises by taking strong and immediate action to help end the crisis in Sudan, where as many as 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced.

The coalition -- which includes Humanity United, the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, Stop Genocide Now, and Investors Against Genocide -- bought full-page ads in several newspapers to press home that message.

The ads feature past statements made by President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The ads are to run in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and two papers on Martha's Vineyard, where Obama is vacationing this week.

(Click here to see an ad.)

The coalition says the situation in Sudan is urgent with nearly 3 million Darfuris living in squalid camps and the possibility of a full-scale civil war before a 2011 vote on splitting the country.

Some of the activists have been critical of Scott Gration, Obama's special envoy to the Sudan, for what they see as too much emphasis on carrots for the Sudanese government to cooperate rather than sticks, or the threat of punitive action.

“On numerous occasions, President Obama has spoken eloquently -- and firmly -- about the urgency of the situation in Sudan and America’s responsibility to help bring lasting peace and stability to the people of that country,” Randy Newcomb, president and CEO of Humanity United, said in a statement. “Such conviction demands strong action.”

By Matt Viser and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

OAK BLUFFS -- While President Obama isn't a scratch golfer by any means, he apparently doesn't ask for as many mulligans (do-overs in golf lingo) as Bill Clinton famously did.

He was spotted looking for his ball after an errant tee shot as he played today in a foursome with friends UBS Investment Bank President Robert Wolf and Chicago physician Eric Whitaker and White House aide Marvin Nicholson.

Curious spectators lined the perimeter of the course, some on their bicycles, and the route from the golf club to Blue Heron Farm, where the Obamas are staying.

Bridgette Allen, 49, who has a home in East Chop, couldn't contain her glee when she spied Obama on the course.

"President Obama!" she shouted as Obama was about to work his way out of a sand trap early into his game.

He halted, glanced her way through the trees, and slightly shook his hips.

"I am thrilled. What more could I ask for?" Allen, who volunteered for Obama's campaign, said afterward. "I got a little booty shake."

On his first full day of vacation on Martha's Vineyard, President Obama managed to make some news today anyway, as his spokesman confirmed that Obama has approved a new FBI unit to interrogate terrorist detainees -- duties that had been done by the CIA but with some abuses.

But otherwise, the president is taking it easy, deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton told reporters at Oak Bluffs School.

Obama had dinner Sunday night with friends, including adviser Valerie Jarrett; worked out this morning; and played tennis with Michelle. Later today he plans to play golf with Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Burton said. The foursome also includes White House aide Marvin Nicholson and banker Robert Wolf, CEO of UBS Americas and a major donation bundler for Obama's presidential campaign.

Obama also has some vacation reading. He plans to read two serious books: "John Adams," David McCullough's acclaimed biography of the founding father, and "Hot, Flat, and Crowded," New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman's tome about the promise of clean energy and other "green" technology.

His reading list also includes three novels: "Lush Life," Richard Price's take on class and race in the Lower East Side of New York; "The Way Home," a story by George Pelecanos of a juvenile delinquent's journey to redemption in Washington; and "Plainsong," Kent Haruf's meditation on family, romance, and small-town life in Colorado.

Obama has been to Martha's Vineyard a half dozen times over the last decade. "He enjoys it. It's comfortable. The beaches are nice. The people are particularly nice. There's really good food to eat," Burton said. "There's a lot of great things about Martha's Vineyard."

While Bill Clinton, during his presidential visits, met the public on numerous occasions while traipsing around the island, Obama plans, for now, to keep mostly to himself, ensconced at the Blue Heron Farm estate.

"His desire in Martha's Vineyard is to get a little break," Burton said. "He certainly appreciates the hospitality of the folks who are here. But his desire here is to relax and spend time with the family."

Burton repeated that there are no plans for Obama to visit Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and that the White House is not getting involved in Kennedy's request that Massachusetts leaders change state law to accelerate a temporary replacement should it be necessary.

Burton did acknowledge, however, that Kennedy's absence from the health care debate is having consequences.

"I don't think that there are many people in the history of our country who have worked harder toward health care reform than Senator Kennedy. So, obviously, any support from Senator Kennedy is critically important," he said.

Obama is getting daily briefings and talking to advisers on health care, Burton said.

In their latest assault on President Obama's health care plans, Republicans are aiming for a vulnerable spot -- the fears of seniors that their care will get worse or more costly.

"Republicans want reform that should, first, do no harm, especially to our seniors," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele writes in an opinion piece in today's Washington Post. "That is why Republicans support a Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights, which we are introducing today, to ensure that our greatest generation will receive access to quality health care. We also believe that any health-care reform should be fully paid for, but not funded on the backs of our nation's senior citizens."

The bill of rights for seniors includes protecting Medicare from major cuts, preserving the doctor-patient relationship, banning any rationing of care or interference in end-of-life decisions, guaranteeing that seniors can keep their current coverage, and protecting current veterans' health care programs.

Obama and Democrats plan on substantial savings in Medicare, but insist that those changes would not mean less care. They also support more research to determine the most cost-effective treatments, but adamantly deny that would lead to rationing of care -- which they argue is being done by private insurers already.

"Barack Obama campaigned on 'post-partisanship,' " Steele concludes. "As president, however, Obama has shown that he is beholden to his party's left-wing ideologues. It's not too late for him to honor his pledges for bipartisan health-care reform. Reversing course and joining Republicans in support of health care for our nation's senior citizens is a good place to start. Doing so will help him restart the reform process to give Americans access to low-cost, high-quality health care." (Read his full op-ed here.)

The Democratic National Committee responded by saying that the health overhaul would help seniors by holding down costs and closing the so-called donut hole in prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D. It also said that Republicans are continuing to mislead the public in their attempt to kill the overhaul.

“It should be no surprise that the Republican Party - which whipped many Americans into a frenzy at town hall meetings on health care this month by spreading one lie about reform after another - has now taken to scaring seniors who have nothing to fear and much to gain from reform," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said in a statement. "But what's really incredible is that this feigned interest in Medicare and the plight of seniors is coming from the Republican Party -- the very party which opposed Social Security and only four years ago tried to dismantle it -- and the very Republican Party which opposed the creation of Medicare to begin with. Republicans are fighting against reform for one reason - to 'break' President Obama and gain political advantage. As a result, when it comes to their arguments against reform -- for Republicans it's any port in a storm.”

He may be on vacation, but through the magic of prerecorded video and audio, President Obama is keeping up his health care campaign today.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama both tries to debunk what he calls "outrageous myths" and seeks to rally support.

Taking on his critics, he says that while he welcomes a vigorous debate, "it also should be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions, spread by the very folks who would benefit the most by keeping things exactly as they are."

In the Republican response, Representative Tom Price of Georgia, a doctor by trade, says while that the status quo on health care is unacceptable, giving the government too much control -- represented by the "one-size-fits-all approach" of Obama and congressional Democrats -- would make the situation worse.
"Now whether it’s the government choosing what should be in your family’s health care plan, or a bureaucratic board deciding what treatments are appropriate and who should receive them, the president’s plan is a 1,000-page expression supporting the notion that Washington knows best when it comes to your family’s health care," Price says. "And that’s simply not true."

Obama ticks off some false claims by opponents: "Let’s start with the false claim that illegal immigrants will get health insurance under reform. That’s not true. Illegal immigrants would not be covered. That idea has never even been on the table. Some are also saying that coverage for abortions would be mandated under reform. Also false. When it comes to the current ban on using tax dollars for abortions, nothing will change under reform. And as every credible person who has looked into it has said, there are no so-called 'death panels' -- an offensive notion to me and to the American people. These are phony claims meant to divide us.

Obama also says he does not support a "government takeover" of health care, and tries to clarify the "public option" -- a government plan along the lines of Medicare to compete with private insurers. "It would be just an option; those who prefer their private insurer would be under no obligation to shift to a public plan," he says.

The president, who has used his weekly address to state his case on health care for more than a month now, then goes on to list the help that he wants to give people who already have insurance, including protections from being denied coverage for preexisting coverage and being charged exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses.

"Taken together, the reforms we’re seeking will help bring down skyrocketing costs, which will mean real savings for families, businesses, and government," he says, trying to rally more support.

"It has never been easy, moving this nation forward. There are always those who oppose it, and those who use fear to block change. But what has always distinguished America is that when all the arguments have been heard, and all the concerns have been voiced, and the time comes to do what must be done, we rise above our differences, grasp each others’ hands, and march forward as one nation and one people, some of us Democrats, some of us Republicans, all of us Americans," Obama adds, perhaps somewhat more hopefully than realistically.

In rebuttal, Price says that as opposition to Obama's plan has grown, the president says he wants to "stamp out some of the disinformation floating around out there.

"The problem is the president, himself, plays fast and loose with the facts," Price says." So as someone who’s taken care of patients, I’d like to take a moment to clear up a couple of the President’s worst offenses."

He asserts that while Obama says Americans can keep their insurance plan, a provision in the bill would require every plan within five years to meet new guidelines "that your current plan might not match, even if you like it."

Price also says that a public option plan, "when the government is setting the rules and is backed by tax dollars," will "destroy – not compete – with the private sector.
"But perhaps the most striking misinformation the president has put forth is that there are only two options out there for America -- that it's his way or the highway. That it's either the government running the show -- or insurance companies. The truth is there is a third way -- a better way, a patient-centered way to reform health care," Price says.
And Republicans are offering that approach, he says: "We have plans to increase coverage and lower costs without putting a bureaucrat between you and your doctor.  We believe that what’s good for patients is good for American health care."

Obama's full address can be viewed here and is below.

Price's full address can be viewed here and is below.

Would President Obama's health care push be going more smoothly if his first choice for health reform czar was working for it?

It's a Washington parlor game hypothetical, but it's also interesting that the last person that Obama talked to today on the topic before starting his 10-day vacation was Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader who was the nominee to be both health and human services secretary and health czar.

His nomination was derailed by tax issues, and Obama split the job between Kathleen Sebelius as health secretary and Nancy DeParle as health czar. While accomplished in their own right, neither has the combination of congressional clout and political savvy Daschle possesses.

"The president invited Senator Daschle to the White House for a quick check-in on the health insurance reform process and to exchange views on the process moving forward," the White House said in a statement after today's private session.

"Senator Daschle is one of the foremost experts on health care and on the legislative process, and has been a friend and sounding-board for the President for several years. The two agreed that substantive reform that lowers costs, reforms the insurance industry, and expands coverage is too important to wait another year or another administration, and they agreed to stay in touch over the coming weeks and months as this critical effort moves forward.”

In his first extended comments on the Afghanistan presidential election, President Obama called it "an important step forward" for Afghans taking control of their future in the face of violent extremists.

"This election was won by the Afghan people," he said on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for Camp David, then a week on Martha's Vineyard starting Sunday.

The balloting Thursday was marred by some violence, but officials asserted that enough voters braved threats from the Taliban to make the election a success.

"We knew the Taliban would try to derail this election," Obama said, arguing that they failed because of the numbers of voters and the record number of women running for office.

Obama has dispatched 21,000 more US troops to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban, root out Al Qaeda elements along the Pakistan border, and to support the Afghan government.

Obama reiterated that his administration did not support one candidate or another, but wanted a free and fair election. (His full remarks are below.)

While the election commission doesn't plan to release partial preliminary results until Tuesday and final preliminary results until Sept. 3, many observers expect President Hamid Karzai and chief challenger Abdullah Abdullah to move on to a second round of voting.

Some worry about that runoff will exacerbate ethnic tensions between Pashtun supporters of Karzai and Tajiks who back Abdullah. Reuters reports that Obama's special envoy to the country, Richard Holbrooke, urged both camps today to control post-election tensions and wait for the official results.

It was his most curious turn of phrase as President Obama tried to rally the troops on health care.

Speaking Thursday to Organizing for America, his grassroots army, Obama compared the worries that he's lost his momentum on health care to August 2007, when he was well behind in the Iowa caucuses -- which he eventually won as a springboard to the Democratic nomination -- and to last August, when the buzz over Sarah Palin temporarily boosted the Republican ticket.

"The media was obsessed with it, and cable was 24 hours a day, and 'Obama's lost his mojo,' " the president said to laughter. "You remember all that? There's something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up. I don't know what it is. But that's what happens."

The "wee-weed up" part raised some eyebrows, and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was asked for a definition today.

"I don't know if I should do that from the podium. It's a phrase I use, but..." he said, telling reporters he wanted to keep the briefing "family friendly."

"I think wee-weed up is when people just get all nervous for no particular reason," Gibbs continued. "So this is just sort of an August pundit pattern between people getting overly nervous for something that still has a long way to go.

Finally, Obama's chief spokesman gave it up: The PG-rated term for "wee-weed" is bed-wetting.

Two New England officials in the Obama administration will be part of the official delegation to the funeral of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the White House announced this afternoon.

Harold Koh, the former Yale Law School dean who is now chief legal adviser to the State Department, will attend the services on Sunday. So will Stephen Bosworth, dean of Tufts' Fletcher School of Diplomacy who is now Obama's special envoy to North Korea.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright will lead the delegation, the White House said.

The full delegation is below:

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine and the two other Finance Committee Republicans in the "Gang of Six" trying to come up with a bipartisan health bill are under pressure from the right not to give away the store.

The conservative Club for Growth launched TV ads targeted at Snowe, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, and Charles Grassley of Iowa.

The spot notes the key role the three senators are playing. "There's no harm in talking," the announcer says.

But the announcer then warns that what Democrats are talking about includes a government-run health plan, bureaucrats deciding coverage, new regulations that would kill small business, and tax hikes.

"Tell Senator Snowe not to cave in to the liberals on health care," the announcer concludes.

The Gang of Six had a conference call Thursday night, and according to the Washington Post, they agreed to continue working toward a bill that could win support from the rank-and-file in both parties, despite increasing reports that Democrats and President Obama are prepared to go it alone, if need be.

The group agreed to talk again on Sept. 4, three days before Congress reconvenes after its August recess, the Post said.

If President Obama turns on the TV while on holiday on Martha's Vineyard, he likely won't escape attacks on his health care plan.

Conservatives for Patients' Rights, the group founded by former health executive Rick Scott that has helped organize protests at congressional town halls, is putting up a TV ad called "Surf's Up."

"The beach is nice this time of year," the announcer says over a seaside scene. "But while President Obama vacations, concerns mount about his health care plan."

The announcer criticizes the public option that Obama prefers -- a government plan like Medicare that would compete with private insurers -- and says it would lead to government-run health care, higher taxes, and higher deficits.

"Let's get on with real reform to lower costs and protect patients rights," the announcer concludes.

The group plans to spend $150,000 airing the spot in the Boston-area TV market, including on NESN during games next week between the Red Sox and Obama's beloved Chicago White Sox, CNN says.

Another poll out today is cause for concern for President Obama's health care agenda as he leaves for vacation first at Camp David, then Martha's Vineyard.

In the Washington Post/ABC News survey, 49 percent of Americans say they believe Obama will be able to drive significant improvements in the health care system, down nearly 20 percentage points from before he took office.

As Republicans and other critics continue to hammer his health care proposals, confidence in Obama's overall leadership is also eroding, according to the poll: 49 percent of respondents express confidence that he will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60 percent at the 100-day mark in his presidency.

His overall job approval rating, 57 percent, is down 12 percentage points from its April peak, and his disapproval number has risen to 40 percent, its highest yet.

The national survey was conducted Aug. 13-17 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this week suggested that Obama and Democrats had lost control of the health care message as many Americans believed what critics had been saying about the proposals.

A liberal-labor coalition is trying to turn the contretemps over "death panels" on its head with its latest TV ad that says the real death panels are the insurance company committees that deny coverage.

The ad from Americans United for Change, which it says will start airing next week, points out that opponents' claims that Democratic health bills would create committees of bureaucrats who would decide who would receive life-saving care have been widely debunked. (But a key negotiator in the Senate says it won't be in the bill because of the room for misinterpretation.)

"Unfortunately, there are real death panels in America," the announcer says.

Linda Peeno, a former medical director for both Humana Insurance and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, is shown testifying at a congressional hearing, "In the spring of 1987, as a physician, I denied a man a necessary operation that would have saved his life and thus caused his death…and I am haunted by the thousands of pieces of paper on which I have written that deadly word, 'denial.' "

"We need health insurance reform now," the announcer concludes.

“Conservative politicians and pundits will do anything to keep the 'death panels' fantasy alive and well as part of an unscrupulous and concerted effort to kill health insurance reform. But where’s the hysteria from these same conservatives over the real death panels that exist right now in America with the big insurance companies denying millions of Americans the care they need by citing 'pre-existing'’ conditions?” Jeremy Funk, Americans United for Change's communications director, said in a statement today.

It is among the groups supporting President Obama and congressional Democrats in their health overhaul push -- and fighting Republican and conservative groups running ads and organizing protests as members of Congress hear from their constitutents during the August recess.

President Obama is making his health care pitch today to two very different audiences -- one friendly, one not so much.

Obama is on the air with Philadelphia-based talk radio host Michael Smerconish, who is broadcasting his program from the Diplomatic Room in the White House. Smerconish's audience is generally conservative and will likely include quite a few foes of the president's health care proposals, though the host endorsed Obama last year.

Smerconish, who said he has received more than 5,000 emails in the last 24 hours, asked whether Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, misspoke when she said on

"She didn't really misspeak," Obama replied, asserting that his message has stayed the same -- that a public option is one way, but not the only way, to control costs. "The press got a little excited and some folks on the left got a little excited."

Obama also disputed that he favors a government takeover of health care. "I would love the private marketplace to handle this without any government intervention," he said. "The problem is, it's not working."

The president said he wants to preserve the private market, but add consumer protections.

In response to a listener's question, Obama strongly disputed claims that the Democratic health care bills would provide coverage to illegal immigrants.

"No one has talked about giving health insurance to illegal immigrants. I want to make that absolutely clear," he said.

But he said it will continue to be the case that if an illegal immigrant shows up in the emergency room, he or she will get treated.

Obama said he doesn't want a situation that a child with tuberculosis isn't treated, then returns to the playground and threatens to infect "our kids."

Plus, he said, there should be "a basic standard of decency" to provide care when someone faces a life-threatening illness or injury.

Another listener asked whether Obama's "knees were buckling a little bit" even with Democrats controlling Congress and the White House.

"I guarantee to you Joe that we're going to get health care reform done," Obama declared, bemoaning what he called "hand-wringing" and media fascination with every legislative twist and turn. "Passing a big bill like this is always messy."

He also said he wants to give Republicans a chance to be part of a compromise, but won't compromise his core principles on health care. (The full transcript of the interview is below.)

Representative Eric Cantor's office responded to Obama's interview by questioning the sincerity of his bipartisan push.

"We would love to know when, exactly – time, date, place – the President or his staff reached out to Republican Leaders?" Brad Dayspring, spokesman for the No. 2 House Republican, said in an email.

"In fact, the White House blatantly ignored our outreach effort. In May, House Republican Leaders sent the President a letter detailing Republican principles, asking to work together on meaningful, bipartisan reform that Americans could support. And the President’s response? Meeting? Nah. Work together? No thanks. Further discussion? Nope. Instead, they went with, ' Thanks for the letter.' ”

Later this afternoon, Obama held an online-phone strategy meeting with Organizing for America, the current iteration of his presidential campaign that is armed with 13 million or so email addresses.

UPDATE: Obama did the pep rally in a small room at the Democratic National Committee, where about 50 volunteers chanted "Yes, we can," Obama's campaign slogan.

According to the press pool report, Obama talked about the hardships of his longshot campaign, and compared them with his push for health care reform.

"Now, we all know this has been an emotional debate. We've seen tempers flare. Accusations have been hurled. And sometimes it seems like one loud voice can drown out all the civil, sensible voices out there," Obama said.

"But remember one thing: Nothing's more powerful than millions of voices calling for change. That's how we won this election. You know this. And that's why, since OFA launched its health reform campaign in June, you've hosted 11,000 events in more than 2,500 towns in every single state and every single congressional district, which is remarkable."

"We are not going to give up now," Obama said after answering questions. (Listen to the event here.) The full transcript of the event is below.

He needs to rally his troops, whom Democratic officials acknowledge have not been as energized by the complex health care debate as by Obama's "change we can believe in" campaign last year. Valerie Jarrett, a top Obama adviser, warned liberal bloggers last week that the health care push is "an uphill battle, and it won't happen unless we energize our base."

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, told supporters in the email invitation for today's huddle that "the special interests and partisan attack groups who oppose reform will not let up, and they will tell whatever lies they can to spread fear. There's a lot more work for all of us to do."

Late Wednesday, the group told backers it has launched its own truth-squadding website (the White House already has one) called "Setting the Record Straight."

"It feels like a new lie about health insurance reform crops up each day. Government taking over all health care? Not true. Euthanasia for seniors? Couldn't be more false. Rationing of care? Reform will stop rationing, not increase it," wrote Organizing for America director Mitch Stewart.

"These lies create fear and anger, and we're seeing the results around the country....It's time to set the record straight -- and, more importantly, expose the special interests and partisan attack organizations behind the lies and misinformation."

Mitt Romney is probably one of the last people President Obama is looking to for advice on how to get a health care bill done.

But the former Massachusetts governor, who sought the GOP presidential nomination last year and could very well run again in 2012, offered some guidance anyway this morning.

Romney said on CBS's "Early Show" that the president is to blame for the slowing momentum on the bill, faulting Obama for giving too much say to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic liberals.

"If the president wants to get something done, he needs to put aside the extreme liberal wing of his party," Romney said.

While Obama has been stumping for a sweeping health care bill, he has left the details of the drafting to Congress, where majority Democrats are divided. Members of the Blue Dog coalition of conservative Democrats have balked at some provisions, and more moderate Democrats in the Senate are still trying to cut a deal with Republicans. The intraparty divisions emerged clearly this week when it appeared that Obama was backing away from insisting that a public option be part of any bill.

Wanting their voices heard in the health care debate as well, two religious-based groups are holding events today -- but only one will get a cameo appearance by President Obama.

Faith in Public Life had Obama plus a senior administration official for a live webcast call-in this afternoon called “40 Minutes for Health Reform."

UPDATE: The coalition said that an estimated 140,000 people listened in on the call.

In the conference call with the liberal religious leaders, Obama called health insurance coverage for all Americans a "core ethical and moral obligation." He disputed claims that Democratic bills fund abortions, give benefits to illegal immigrants, or create "death panels" that would decide who gets expensive end-of-life treatment.

"I know that there's been a lot of misinformation in this debate and there are a some folks out there who are, frankly, bearing false witness," Obama said. "I need you to spread the facts and speak the truth."

The group says that "people of faith who have experienced the consequences of our broken system will share their stories" and that "clergy working in their own communities to reform health care will highlight ways they are impacting the debate. "

The group, which is sponsored by more than 30 religious denominations and organizations, says it includes lay leaders, clergy, and others from across the political spectrum and from different ideologies, religious traditions, and races.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele put his own spin on the meeting with faith leaders, who talk about the moral dimension of health care.

“President Obama was hoping to be on offense during the month of August to travel the country and put on the hard sell for government-run health care," Steele said in a statement this afternoon. "Instead, President Obama is frantically struggling to shore up his base. The religious left talks about their desire for ‘social justice.’ No bill that funds abortion or strips health care services away from seniors and low-income Americans can or should be considered just, and that is precisely what the president’s plan does.”

Meanwhile, another organization will hold a counter-conference call later tonight to offer an anti-abortion alternative and mobilize its voters on health care. More than 320,000 pro-life voters will be invited to take part in the teleconference.

“Tens of thousands of pro-lifers across America have already contacted their legislators to urge the preservation of our long-standing tradition of limiting taxpayer funds for abortion, but now is the time to turn up the heat," Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. "Without language to explicitly exclude an abortion mandate, the legislation will result in Americans footing the bill for abortion on-demand in the largest expansion of government-backed abortion since Roe v. Wade.”

UPDATE: That group claimed that 160,000 took part in its conference call.

Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, added in a statement:

“The call for reform as a ‘moral imperative’ rings hollow with Americans because the overwhelming majority firmly oppose taxpayer funding for abortion coverage. Abortion is not healthcare. Real healthcare respects life. As the Hippocratic Oath reminds us, health care grounded in a moral imperative protects the most vulnerable among us including the unborn and the elderly. Real healthcare does not fund the destruction of unborn children and it does not delay or deny care to the sick, elderly and weak among us, but that is the prospect we currently face.”

And Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said in a statement:

“The Religious Left, that has blindly put their faith in this Administration’s attempted takeover of health care, has repeatedly said they do not want to get into the weeds on the policy aspects of health care reform. Instead they say their focus is on the moral mandate that all people have health care. Ensuring that taxpayer are not forced to fund abortions and that the conscience rights of health care workers are protected is not getting into the weeds, but rather it is ensuring that health care reform is kept on a higher moral plain.”

There's quite a bit of buzz today that Democrats might go it alone on a health care overhaul, giving up on a bipartisan bill because of Republican intransigence and unwillingness to compromise.

But that prospect isn't all that new.

In April, congressional Democrats reached a deal that would let the Senate pass a bill with a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster. Under that agreement, the parliamentary maneuver -- known as reconciliation -- would be used only if the Senate fails to pass a bill by Oct. 15.

The New York Times and CNN, among others, are reporting that there is more focus on just getting enough Democrats' votes to pass a health care bill after the Republican criticism during the town halls being held by members of Congress during the August recess.

But the White House is already pushing back, with spokesman Robert Gibbs telling reporters this morning that it's still only mid-August and there is plenty of time to shape a bill that could win broad support.

Gibbs told reporters this afternoon that the White House still wants a bipartisan deal and believes that key Republicans are still working toward one in good faith.

"The president believes strongly in working with Republicans and Democrats, independents, any that seek to reform health care, that want to see costs cut, coverage increased, insurance reforms implemented that no longer discriminate against families and individuals," he said.

But asked whether that preference trumps Obama's oft-stated goal of getting a bill passed this year, Gibbs replied, "It does not."

And Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus said he's still optimistic that his bipartisan "Gang of Six" is on track to produce a compromise bill by Sept. 15.

Republicans, instead of going ballistic about being frozen out, are treating the possibility as old news. The office of Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, said today that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it clear for a while now that Democrats would pass a bill without GOP support and that the White House has not made much effort at reaching out to Republicans.

“The announcement that Democrats will abandon bipartisanship in order to pass their costly government takeover of health care is nothing new," House Republican leader John Boehner said in a statement today. "From day one, the White House has taken a go-it-alone approach on health care. Months ago, Republicans sent the president a letter noting areas of potential common ground on health care reform and requesting a meeting with him to discuss a bipartisan way forward.  The administration rejected our efforts to work together, choosing instead to craft a costly government takeover of health care and to march forward on a partisan basis solely with Democrats in Congress. 
  
“Now, Democratic leaders find themselves all alone in support of a plan that will drive health care costs higher than ever, increase the federal deficit, slash Medicare, and let government bureaucrats make personal medical decisions that only patients and doctors should make," Boehner added. "The more the American people learn about this plan, the less they like it.  It’s time for President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and congressional Democrats to scrap this costly plan, start over and work with Republicans on reforms that make health care more affordable and accessible for middle-class families and small businesses.”

President Obama's grassroots group's new leader in Massachusetts is a Boston College graduate who worked on the presidential campaign in New Hampshire before that pivotal primary, and helped Obama win Pennsylvania in November.

John Spears will be Bay State director of Organizing for America, the group announced this afternoon. Now housed within the Democratic National Committee, the 13-million-member organization has been actively supporting Obama's agenda.

Its big issue now is health care, and the president will be speaking to volunteers on Thursday to try to ramp up support.

“The work we’re doing at Organizing for America is unprecedented. I'm thankful to be a part of this effort to maintain and build upon the historic grassroots network of support that brought us victory in November,” Spears said in a statement. “Since OFA was formed earlier this year, the President’s supporters in Massachusetts have been active in their community, working in support of the President’s legislative agenda. Right now OFA's supporters are working tirelessly to make their voices heard in their community to ensure that meaningful health insurance reform is passed this year.”

His mini-biography, as provided by Organizing for America, is below:

As the health care overhaul seems increasingly stuck in partisan gridlock, a new poll shows that the public is down on Washington.

And the survey released today from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press says that more Americans are starting to blame Democrats and President Obama, who promised over and over to change Washington.

In the poll, 63 percent of respondents said that Obama and GOP leaders are not working together on important issues facing the country, up from 45 percent in February soon after he took office. And while a plurality -- 29 percent -- blame Republicans, 17 percent now fault Obama, up from 7 percent in February.

Obama's own job approval rating is down to 51 percent, down from 54 percent last month and 64 percent in February.

The survey also found that Americans have a dimmer view of the Democratic Party, which had a 62 percent favorability rating just before Obama was inaugurated, but now has a 49 percent favorability rating. The GOP, meanwhile, remains stuck at a 40 percent favorability.

The poll was conducted Aug. 11-17.

A town hall held by Representative Barney Frank has joined the pantheon of at-times rowdy face-offs on health care this month.

But instead of a shouting critic getting the best of the congressman, this time it was a zinger from the Newton Democrat that drew the most notice and was featured on CNN.

His town hall Tuesday night in Dartmouth drew more than 500 people, who asked how the nation could afford a health care overhaul and who protested a bigger government role. He admonished the protestors, saying that shouting prevented a serious debate on the issue.

He reserved his most biting response, however, for one questioner, a woman who went to the microphone carrying a poster of President Obama with a Hitler-style mustache. The exchange has been replayed repeatedly on cable TV today.

"Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy?" she asked Frank.

"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" he shot back, as the crowd applauded.

Blasting the woman -- apparently a supporter of fringe presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche -- for comparing a bid to improve health care to the Nazis, Frank went on to say that it was "a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated."

And for good measure, he added, "Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it."

With the health care fight focusing on the so-called public option, a new poll shows that Americans are divided on the issue.

According to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey released today, 47 percent of Americans oppose a government plan to compete with private insurers, while 43 percent support it. That's the reverse of last month, before it became such a big issue, when 46 percent backed the idea and 44 percent were against it.

The poll also found that 48 percent agreed with opponents' argument that a public plan would reduce choice of doctors and limit treatment options, while 45 percent agree with supporters' description that the public plan would help lower costs and extend coverage to the uninsured.

UPDATE: The poll also found that Obama's marks on the handling of health care are dropping to 47 percent disapproval and 41 percent approval. But that's still better than Republicans, who earned 61 percent disapproval on the issue.

But 54 percent of respondents said they were worried about the health care overhaul "going too far." And majorities said that the overhaul would cover illegal immigrants, mean a government takeover, and lead to tax-funded abortions -- though the bill sponsors dispute that. A minority, 45 percent, said the changes would mean "death panels" -- the widely debunked notion that a provision would create committees of bureaucrats who would decide when to stop medical care to the elderly.

The poll, conducted Saturday through Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

President Obama's grassroots organization will hold a forum on Thursday with the president on the health care fight and how it can help.

"The President will update us on the fight to pass real health insurance reform -- what's happening in D.C. and what's happening around the country. He'll lay out our strategy and message going forward and answer questions from supporters like you. And we'll unveil the next actions we'll organize together," Obama's former campaign manager, David Plouffe, wrote the 13 million members of Organizing for America this afternoon.

"This is a critical time in this President's administration, and in the history of our country. I hope you can join us," he said in the invitation to take part by phone or via the web.

In the email, Plouffe says that Organizing for America has organized nearly 12,000 events since it began its health care push in June and that about 60,000 members visited members of Congress during their recess. But the New York Times reported over the weekend that many members aren't as excited and involved in health care as they were during the campaign.

It's a tale of two letters as the health care debate continues apace today.

Sixty House Democrats have written a letter of protest to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who prompted a rebellion by liberals, by saying Sunday that the "public option" -- a government health plan to compete with private insurers -- was not an "essential element" of a health care overhaul as far as the Obama administration was concerned.

Their letter (first reported by the firedoglake.com and Plum Line blogs) is signed by the co-chairpersons of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. (Read it here.)

"The opportunity to improve access to health care is a onetime opportunity," they wrote. "Americans deserve reform that is real-not smoke and mirrors. We cannot rely solely on the insurance companies’ good faith efforts to provide for our constituents. A robust public option is essential, if we are to ensure that all Americans can receive health care that is accessible, guaranteed and of high-quality."

UPDATE: Sebelius, herself, tried to get back on message today, repeating the White House line that Obama hasn't changed his position and still prefers a public option, though the administration is open to other ways to offer competition to private insurers.

"All I can tell you is that Sunday must have been a very slow news day because here's the bottom line: Absolutely nothing has changed. We continue to support the public option. That will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice and keep private insurers honest," she said during a speech on Medicare to the US Commission on Aging.

"If people have other ideas about how to accomplish these goals, we'll look at those, too. But the public option is a very good way to do this. I've seen it work for state employees in states like Kansas where a public option is side-by-side with private insurers, offering competition and choice for state employees. It's what it does when it provides choice in markets that are often dominated by one insurance company, a monopoly that can charge what it wants because it has no competition."

On the other side, House GOP leader John Boehner has written to Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) President and CEO Billy Tauzin, urging him to reconsider the powerful drug industry's support of Obama's overall thrust, or as Boehner puts it "Washington Democrats’ government takeover of health care." (Read it here.)

The drug industry agreed to kick in $80 billion in savings over 10 years to help pay for the overhaul and help fund a pro-reform ad campaign. In return, the White House agreed not to push for additional concessions.

"Appeasement rarely works as a conflict resolution strategy," Boehner writes. "This is as true in the arena of policymaking as it is in schoolyards across America. When a bully asks for your lunch money, you may have no choice but to fork it over. But cutting a deal with the bully is a different story, particularly if the “deal” means helping him steal others’ money as the price of protecting your own."

"The simple truth is, two wrongs don’t make a right. And the short-sighted health care deal PhRMA struck with the Obama Administration at your urging provides confirmation of this time-tested maxim on an epic and tragic scale."

"PhRMA would do well to halt this short-sighted, misguided campaign and listen to the American people, rather than continue to collaborate on an effort to spin them," Boehner adds.

President Obama met today with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who made some news by hinting that he will seek another term in office though he's 81 years old.

After their huddle, Obama told reporters that the two discussed the Middle East peace process, Iran's apparent nuclear program, and Iraq, among other pressing issues.

"We obviously have a lot of great challenges that have to be dealt with, and we are continuing to work together to find those areas where we can find common ground and to work in concert to bring peace and security to the region," Obama said.

"I want to thank the government of Egypt for being an Arab country that has moved forward to try to strengthen Iraq as it emerges from a wartime footing and a transition to a more stable democracy," the president added.

Obama said he was encouraged by what he called "movement in the right direction" on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a thorny issue that is a major source of friction between the US and Israel.

"I'm encouraged by some of the things that I'm seeing on the ground. We've been seeing reports in the West Bank, in particular, that check points have been removed in some situations. The security forces of the Palestinian Authority have greatly improved, and have been able to deal with the security situation on the West Bank in a way that has inspired, not just confidence among the Israeli people, but also among the Palestinian people," he said.

"There's been some increased economic activity on the West Bank. All of this is creating a climate in which it is possible for us to see some positive steps and, hopefully, negotiate towards a final resolution of these long-standing issues."

Obama chose Cairo, Egypt's capital, as the setting for his major speech to the Muslim world in May.

"The importance of the Cairo visit was very appreciated by the Muslim and Islamic world because the Islamic world had thoughts that the U.S. was against Islam, but his great, fantastic address there has removed all those doubts," Mubarak said.

Their full remarks are below:

President Obama offered his condolences today after the death of Kim Dae-jung, the democracy activist imprisoned by South Korea's military dictators who later became the country's president and Nobel laureate.

He died in Seoul today of pneumonia at age 85.

"I was saddened at the passing of former President Kim Dae-jung of the Republic of Korea, a courageous champion of democracy and human rights. President Kim risked his life to build and lead a political movement that played a crucial role in establishing a dynamic democratic system in the Republic of Korea," Obama said in a statement. "His service to his country, his tireless efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, and his personal sacrifices on behalf of freedom are inspirational and should never be forgotten. On behalf of the American people, I extend my condolences to his family and to the Korean people."

The liberal backlash is already starting.

Seeking Republican support for its healthcare overhaul, the White House suggested over the weekend that it would be open to dropping the so-called public option -- a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers and keep them honest on price and quality.

The Obama team hinted that it would consider a nonprofit health cooperative -- being proposed by key senators -- as an alternative to a government plan.

Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and Democratic Party chief during last year's campaign, urged the president today to stay firm with a public option.

"You can't really do health reform without it," Dean, a leader of the party's liberal wing, said on morning news shows. He called a direct government role "the entirety of health care reform."

On MSNBC, Dean said this afternoon that a while a few small coops have worked in places like Washington state, "it doesn't work" nationally.

The problem, he said, is it was tried in the form of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which started as a nonprofit and which now acts like a private insurer.

Without a public option, the overhaul bill would just funnel more money to an industry that has acted "abominably," Dean said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi renewed her support for a public option, quoting Obama's own words.

“As the President stated in March, ‘The thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and it helps keep the private sector honest, because there's some competition out there.'

“We agree with the President that a public option will keep insurance companies honest and increase competition," Pelosi said in a statement. "There is strong support in the House for a public option.  In the House, all three of our bills contain a public option, as does the bill from the Senate HELP Committee. A public option is the best option to lower costs, improve the quality of health care, ensure choice and expand coverage. The public option brings real reform to lower costs over the 10-year period of the bill.”

Representative Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat who has compared leaving private insurers in charge to "making a pyromaniac the fire chief," predicted that the bill won't win a majority in the House without the public plan.

"I would love to be one of the big supporters of the Obama plan, but I've got to know that it includes a public option." he said this afternoon on CNN.

"Look, the president has to lead on this and he has to say very clearly a public option is important that we could -- that we hold these insurance companies accountable and provide some competition," Weiner added. "I would love to be the one carrying the ball for him, but unless he says a public option is the way to go, I'm going to be a no and so will a lot of people."

Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, weighed in with his own statement:

"A public option is a fundamental part of ensuring health care reform brings about real change. Opposing the public plan is an endorsement of the status quo in this country that has left tens of millions of Americans uninsured or underinsured and put massive burdens on employers.  I have heard too many horror stories from my constituents about how the so-called competitive marketplace has denied them coverage from the outset, offered a benefit plan that covers everything but what they need or failed them some other way.  A strong public option would ensure competition in the industry to provide the best, most affordable insurance for Americans and bring down the skyrocketing health care costs that are the biggest contributor to our long-term budget deficits. I am not interested in passing health care reform in name only.  Without a public option, I don't see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it.”

The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor federation that has been a loyal Obama ally, also said it would "forcefully" urge the White House and Senate to keep the public option in the bill.

"A quality public health insurance option is a crucial part of health care reform to keep private insurance companies honest, hold down costs and ensure that everybody has a health care choice available. Key to holding down costs for families, for businesses, and for the federal budget is forcing insurance companies to compete. And the only way to force real competition on the insurance companies is a strong public plan option," president John Sweeney said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, the usual suspects opposed to reform are trying to hijack the reform process and attacking the public health insurance plan option because they are afraid of competition and they want to keep gouging working families. But unless we take decisive steps to stop the crippling rise of health costs, we will have squandered this moment of opportunity."

UPDATE: Though many observers heard a change in the language that Obama used at a town hall on Saturday and that Sebelius used, the White House insisted today that Obama's position had not shifted significantly.

"His preference is a public option," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One returning from the president's four-day Western trip. "If there are other ideas, he's happy to look at them....I think this is true not only for the issue of health care, but for virtually every other issue that he'll ever deal with in public life is he has goals about what he wants to accomplish and he's not necessarily wedded to only one way of getting there. I think he's said that a hundred times."

Gibbs added, "I challenge you guys all to go back and see what we've said about this over the course of many, many, many, many months, and you'll find a boring consistency to our rhetoric."

Republicans, meanwhile, are not welcoming the possible concession.

Instead, the Republican National Committee sent out a list of comments from Democrats to back up its case that co-ops could be a disguise for another form of the public option.

" 'Public option' by any other name is still government-run health care," the RNC said, adding that the reports of the demise of the public option are "greatly exaggerated."

Still, the issue could divide the Democratic coalition that has been united behind Obama on health care.

Even as Kathleen Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, was saying on CNN Sunday that the public option was not an "essential element" for reform, the Democratic National Committee was all over Dick Armey, a former House Republican leader and now head of the conservative group FreedomWorks, for saying on NBC that a government insurance option would amount to tyranny.

"If you give a government program and let me choose to be in or choose to be out, that's generosity. If you force me in, irrespective of my desires, that's tyranny," Armey said.

DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse responded, “If Dick Armey thinks government involvement in health care is tyranny, he must be forgetting or ignoring the fact that Medicare is a government plan that has been praised as one of the most successful programs ever -- a plan which is popular among seniors and runs better and with lower administrative costs than virtually any private insurance plan. If Republicans like Dick Armey are going to continue to rail against government involvement in health care, they should come forward to call for the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid and if not, just admit that their rhetoric is just part of their political strategy to 'break' the President and derail reform.”

Staying on foreign policy, President Obama issued statements this afternoon praising the release of an American who got caught up in the internal politics of Burma and expressing concern about an apparent bombing in a restive Russian republic.

On the bombing, he said, "I am deeply troubled about reports of a suicide bombing today in Nazran, Ingushetiya that has resulted in the tragic loss of at least 20 lives and 138 injured. There can be no justification for such an act of terrorism. This latest attack highlights the concerning increase in violence in the region affecting officials and civilians alike. Our condolences go out to the Government of Russia and the families of victims."

And on the release of John Yettaw, whose swim to visit democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi gave Burma's military junta the pretext to extend her house arrest for 18 months, White House spokesman said on Obama's behalf, "The President is pleased that Senator Webb has facilitated the release of American citizen John Yettaw from detention in Burma. He appreciates this decision by the Burmese government. The President also notes that in addition to meeting with head of state Than Shwe, Senator Webb was able to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, the first meeting by a U.S. official with her for many years. We urge the Burmese leadership in this spirit to release all the political prisoners it is holding in detention or in house arrest, including Aung San Suu Kyi."

President Obama, all about health care all the time recently, returned his attention today again to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For the first time, an African-American commander-in-chief addressed the nation's largest group of combat veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Phoenix.

While Obama has been stumping for his health care plan, renewed violence is threatening the handover of security to the government in Iraq, where 130,000 US troops remain. Obama has pledged to withdraw all combat troops by next August.

"The transition to full Iraqi responsibility for their own security is now underway. This progress is a testament to all those who have served in Iraq, both uniformed and civilian. And our nation owes these Americans -- and all who have given their lives -- a profound debt of gratitude," Obama told 13,000 VFW members.

"As Iraqis take control of their destiny, they will be tested and targeted. Those who seek to sow sectarian division will attempt more senseless bombings, more killing of innocents. This we know," he added. "But as we move forward, the Iraqi people must know that the United States will keep its commitments."

In Afghanistan, US and coalition forces dealt with the bloodiest month yet in July and casualties are piling up this month as well in advance of a key national election. About 62,000 US troops are fighting there, including most of the 21,000 additional forces that Obama dispatched to lead a new strategy to root out al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in the remote border region with Pakistan.

"They've gone into new areas -- taking the fight to the Taliban in villages and towns where residents have been terrorized for years. They're adapting new tactics, knowing that it's not enough to kill extremists and terrorists; we also need to protect the Afghan people and improve their daily lives. And today, our troops are helping to secure polling places for this week's election so Afghans can choose the future that they want," Obama said.

"These new efforts have not been without a price. The fighting has been fierce. More Americans have given their lives. And as always, the thoughts and prayers of every American are with those who make the ultimate sacrifice in our defense. As I said when I announced this strategy, there will be more difficult days ahead. The insurgency in Afghanistan didn’t just happen overnight. And we won’t defeat it overnight. This will not be quick nor easy," the president added.

"But we must never forget. This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. This is not only a war worth fighting. This is fundamental to the defense of our people."

In his speech, the president also reprised "a vision American leadership" that amounts to the "Obama doctrine" on the use of military force: "I have made it a priority to enlist all elements of our national power in defense of our national security -- our diplomacy and development, our economic might, and our moral example. Because one of the best ways to lead our troops wisely is prevent the conflicts that cost American blood and treasure tomorrow."

"I will only send you into harm's way when it is absolutely necessary," he added. "When I do, it will be based on good intelligence and guided by a sound strategy. I will give you a clear mission, defined goals, and the equipment and support you need to get the job done."

The Obama doctrine also includes a top-to-bottom review of Pentagon spending and weapons procurement to root out waste and fraud. "We cannot build the 21st century military we need -- and maintain the fiscal responsibility that Americans demand -- unless we fundamentally reform the way our defense establishment does business," he said. "It's a simple fact. Every dollar wasted in our defense budget is a dollar we can't spend to care for our troops, or protect America, or prepare for the future."

He threw in a joke about an expensive new presidential helicopter he doesn't want: "Maybe you heard about this. Among its other capabilities, it would let me cook a meal while under nuclear attack. I’ll tell you something. If the United States of America is under nuclear attack, the last thing on my mind will be whipping up a snack."

Obama also stressed his efforts to help returning veterans, including the new GI Bill that includes enhanced educational benefits.

"We will fulfill our responsibility to our forces and our families," he said. "That is why we're increasing military pay, that's building better family housing and funding more childcare and counseling to help families cope with the stresses of war. And we've changed the rules so military spouses can better compete for federal jobs and pursue their careers.

"We will fulfill our responsibility to our wounded warriors. For those still in uniform, we're investing billions of dollars for more treatment centers, more case managers, and better medical care so our troops can recover and return to where they want to be -- with their units."

Many veterans are also wary about what a health care overhaul would mean to them, especially after the Obama administration initially floated the idea of charging vets' private insurance for treatment related to service injuries.

The proposal was designed to generate more than $540 million a year for the Department of Veterans Affairs, but after veterans' groups leaders complained in March, the White House said that the president, after hearing concerns that the proposal "might, under certain circumstances, affect veterans and their families' ability to access health care," has "instructed that its consideration be dropped."

To ease those concerns, Obama made a blanket promise today: "One thing that reform won't change is veterans health care. No one is going to take away your benefits. That is the plain and simple truth."

Obama's full remarks are below:

The economy appears to be finally on the road to recovery, and on the hustings President Obama has been celebrating that turnaround and crediting the $787 billion economic stimulus plan he championed.

But a new poll out today suggests that most Americans disagree.

Six months after Obama signed the package of tax cuts and spending, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found that 57 percent of respondents say the stimulus package is having no impact on the economy or making it worse --33 percent said no effect and 24 percent worse. Just 41 percent said the stimulus is making the economy better.

Over the long term, 38 percent of respondents said the stimulus will make things better and 38 percent said it would make it worse.

For respondents personally, only 18 percent said the stimulus has improved their situation while 13 percent said worse and 68 percent said no impact. And more respondents -- 34 percent -- said they expect the stimulus will make things worse for them personally over the long term than better -- 29 percent.

House Republicans -- not a single one of whom voted for the stimulus package -- jumped on the poll results to continue their attack.

“By any objective standard, the Democrats’ trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ isn’t working," House GOP leader John Boehner said in a statement today. "The administration promised the ‘stimulus’ would provide a ‘jolt’ to our economy and create jobs immediately, but 2.8 million more Americans have lost their jobs since the ‘stimulus’ became law.  The American people are asking, ‘where are the jobs?’ 

"The administration’s insistence on spending, taxing, and borrowing more than ever is not the answer they’re seeking.  Instead, it is burying our children and grandchildren under an unmanageable mountain of debt.  Families and small businesses expect and deserve far better.  Rather than pursuing more job-killing policies like a government takeover of health care and a national energy tax, Democrats should work with Republicans on better solutions that create jobs, curb spending, and control the debt.”

The war of words over health care continues today in dueling radio/Internet addresses.

In one corner, President Obama, who in his weekly remarks, said that with health care overhaul close, the special interests are doing their best to scare and mislead Americans.

In the other corner, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, who delivering the Republican address, says that Democrats are rushing through a health care bill and that their solution is mostly throwing taxpayers' money at the problem.

They're both trying to win the public as members of Congress spend the month of August at home listening to their constituents before returning next month to resume work on legislation that Obama wants on his desk this year.

Obama directly addresses one Republican claim that a provision to offer counseling on hospice care and other end-of-life issues amounts to government "death panels" that would decide who deserves medical treatment -- and who doesn't . Though the claim has been widely debunked, a bipartisan group of senators have agreed to drop the provision, which is in House Democrats' bill, from the Senate draft.

"That rumor began with the distortion of one idea in a Congressional bill that would allow Medicare to cover voluntary visits with your doctor to discuss your end-of-life care -- if and only if you decide to have those visits. It had nothing to do with putting government in control of your decisions; in fact, it would give you all the information you need – if you want it – to put you in control of your decisions," says Obama, who said "it's disappointing, but it’s not surprising" that reform opponents are resorting to such tactics.

"Those who would stand in the way of reform will say almost anything to scare you about the cost of action," Obama adds. "But they won’t say much about the cost of inaction. If you’re worried about rationed care, higher costs, denied coverage, or bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor, then you should know that’s what’s happening right now. In the past three years, over 12 million Americans were discriminated against by insurance companies due to a preexisting condition, or saw their coverage denied or dropped just when they got sick and needed it most. Americans whose jobs and health care are secure today just don’t know if they’ll be next to join the 14,000 who lose their health insurance every single day. And if we don’t act, average family premiums will keep rising to more than $22,000 within a decade."

But for his part, Hatch pushes back at Democrats who have called the much-publicized protests at some town halls "un-American."

"Although I strongly encourage the use of respectful debate in these town halls, we should not be stifling these discussions," he says. "There is nothing ‘un-American’ about disagreements. In fact, our great nation was founded on speaking our minds."

The reason people are protesting is that they have legitimate worries about the proposals being offered by Obama and congressional Democrats.

"A big reason for this concern is that nearly 85 percent of Americans have coverage and they are really worried about what reform means for them. Especially our seniors," Hatch says.

“Republicans in Congress agree with the majority of Americans who believe that just throwing more taxpayer dollars at a problem will not deliver meaningful reform. Telling the American public that the solution for solving a $2.5 trillion health care system is to simply spend another trillion dollars in our current economy, just does not make sense," Hatch adds.

Instead, any overhaul should focus on making coverage more affordable, banning insurers from denying coverage due to a pre-existing condition, and giving states more flexibility to cover the uninsured, he says.

Obama's speech can be viewed here, and his full address is below. Hatch's speech can be viewed here, and his full remarks are below.

President Obama, trying to regain momentum on his health care plan, took to Montana this afternoon to continue his critique of insurers.

In the second of three town halls this week designed to convince Americans who have insurance that an overhaul would benefit them, Obama blasted insurance companies that revoke or water down coverage when patients get seriously ill.

"They get sick, and suddenly that's when they get dropped," he said, saying that responsible Americans are being held hostage by rogue insurance firms.

"It's wrong....We're going to fix it when we pass health insurance reform this year," he told a crowd of about 1,300 in an airplane hangar in Belgrade, just outside Bozeman.

When Americans hear such horror stories, he said, they should think, "There but the grace of God go I."

Obama addressed what he called the emotional debate and the tempers flaring at some congressional town halls.

"TV loves a ruckus," he said. But what people aren't seeing on television and what "makes me proud" are many constructive meetings across the country where people are having difficult conversations about health care issues.

"That's how democracy is supposed to work," the president said.

"For all the scare tactics out there, what is truly scary ... is if we do nothing," Obama said, imploring, "Fight the fear."

Obama made a point of saying none of the questions had been pre-screened for the town hall.

But the initial questions were as friendly as they were in New Hampshire earlier this week.

A young single mother of two, including a disabled son with diabetes and epilepsy, asked whether he would lose Medicaid under Obama's plans.

The president said savings in the Medicaid program would not lower benefits. "You are a heroic mom," Obama added. "Your son's lucky."

The first semi-combative question came from a man who identified himself as a National Rifle Association member and who asked how Democrats plan to pay for health care without a tax increase.

Obama said if the bill costs $800 billion to $900 billion over 10 years, two thirds can come from savings and eliminating subsidies to insurance companies. The other third will have to come from some form of tax increase.

The president said he still prefers his proposal to limit income tax deductions for higher-income Americans. The congressional bills have different ideas, but he said he will keep his campaign commitment not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year.

For his last questions, Obama asked for a skeptic.

He got an insurance salesman who asserted that insurers have good ideas for health reform, and asked why Obama is "vilifying" insurance companies.

Obama acknowledged that insurers are offering some good proposals, but some insurers are funding campaigns against any kind of reform. He said he wants to keep private insurers, but he also wants to ban certain practices that are unfair to Americans.

Obama, sans tie to be Western casual and since his trip is also partly family vacation to national parks, joked that it was nice to be in a state with moose, elk, and bull: "In Washington, you mostly have just bull. So this is a nice change of pace."

(His full opening remarks and answers to questions are below.)

To emphasize the message of the day, Obama was also introduced by Katie Gibson, a cancer survivor who was told in 1995 that she had less than a year to live and lost her coverage when she and her husband moved to Montana.

Setting up the town hall, Obama's grassroots group from his campaign, Organizing for America, released a web video this morning that details the story of one woman whose coverage was dropped after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The web video shows Robin Beaton of Waxahachie, Tex., testifying last month before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about how her insurer retroactively dropped her coverage three days before she was scheduled to have surgery to remove tumors.

Saturday in Colorado, Obama's message of the day is expected to be insurers that charge exorbitant out-of-pocket costs.

In the first town hall this week, Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H., Obama highlighted insurers who don't cover preexisting conditions. He was introduced by Lori Hitchcock, a 52-year-old, single, self-employed Portsmouth resident who could not get insurance after being diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2003.

Obama's healthcare plan, and bills drafted by congressional Democrats, would ban all three insurer practices.

Montana is the home state to a key player in the congressional debate, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat. He spoke breifly before Obama, saying that he's going around the Big Sky state busting myths and telling the truth.

But unlike New Hampshire, which Obama won last November, Montana is a Republican state that went for GOP nominee John McCain.

And Obama will be greeted with a TV ad running in the state and financed by Conservatives for Patients' Rights, an advocacy group led by a former healthcare executive that has been helping organize protests at congressional town halls.

The spot shows a patient talking with her doctor, then a bespectacled, bow tie-wearing government bureaucrat appears with a clipboard labeled, "FEDERAL HEALTH POLICE."

The announcer urges viewers to oppose the public insurance option that Obama and many Democrats in Congress want as part of the overhaul. "It's not too late to put patients first," he says.

Samantha Power -- the Harvard professor, human rights activist, and award-winning author -- has a new gig inside the Obama administration: Coordinator of US government efforts to help refugees and other displaced people from the Iraq war.

An intriguing side note: In her new role, Power will work even more closely with the State Department, which is led by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

During the campaign, Power stepped down as an unpaid adviser to Obama after she caused a huge uproar by calling Clinton a "monster" who was "stooping to anything" to win the Democratic nomination.

But after the election, Power reached out to Clinton, she was included in the transition team for the State Department, and she and Clinton have crossed paths.

Here's the statement this afternoon from White House spokesman Robert Gibbs:

"President Obama has long made clear that the United States is committed to working closely with the Iraqi government to aid Iraqis who have been displaced or are otherwise vulnerable as a result of the violence in Iraq. Since April, the United States has made available approximately $196 million in additional support for these populations for a total of $346 million to date in FY 2009.

"Further to discussions that took place during Prime Minister Maliki’s recent meetings in Washington, President Obama is pleased to announce that Samantha Power, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the National Security Council in the White House, will coordinate the efforts of the many parts of the U.S. government on Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), including the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense.

"We are also pleased to announce that Mark Storella, a Senior Foreign Service officer who recently served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Geneva, has arrived in Baghdad to take up the post of Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugees and Displaced Persons. Storella will coordinate our government’s work in Iraq on refugees and IDPs, and will represent the United States in its dealings with the Iraqi Government, the international community, and non-governmental organizations on these issues."

The boy reporter finally snagged his big interview with President Obama.

Damon Weaver, a Florida 11-year-old, became something of a sensation during last year's presidential campaign when he interviewed Vice President Joe Biden and others.

But he really wanted to talk to Obama, showing up to the January inauguration but not getting access to the president.

That finally happened this week, and the in-house TV station at Damon's elementary station posted it on YouTube on Thursday night.

"I was a little nervous waiting for the president, but finally he arrived," Damon says on camera, sitting in a chair in the Diplomatic Room of the White House.

"How are you sir? Nice to meet you," Obama said, walking in. "You look good, man, in your suit."

Damon then asked Obama about bullying, parents, and school lunches, among other topics.

"I remember when I used to get school lunches, sometimes they didn't taste so good, I've got to admit," Obama said. "We are actually seeing if we can work to at least make school lunches healthier. Because a lot of school lunches, there's a lot of French fries, pizzas, tater tots. All kinds of stuff that isn't a well-balanced meal."

Damon had his own proposal: "I suggest that we have French fries and mangos everyday for lunch," he said.

Damon told the president that he notices that he gets bullied and criticized a lot.

"I think that when you're president, you're responsible for a lot of things," Obama replied. "A lot of people are having a tough time and they're hurting out there. And the main thing I just try to do is stay focused on trying to do a good job, and try to be understanding that sometimes people are going to be mad about things."

At the end of the interview, Damon invited Obama to come to his school and play basketball with him and his friends.

The president said he'd try because Damon did so well in the interview.

Then, Damon went further out on a limb. He said that when he interviewed Biden, the V.P. became his "homeboy." Will you be my homeboy? Damon asked the president

"Absolutely," Obama replied.

"President Obama is now my homeboy, too, " Damon said outside the White House.

UPDATE: Damon, interviewed this afternoon on CNN, said that one of highlights of his White House visit was meeting first dog Bo, and getting his photo taken with him.

Though the idea that the health care overhaul bills call for "death panels" that would decide end-of-life care has been widely debunked, the Senate Finance Committee is dropping the controversial provision from its version.

Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the panel's top Republican and one of six committee members trying to negotiate a bipartisan bill, said in a statement today that the provision "could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly."

The provision in the House bill would allow Medicare to pay doctors for voluntary counseling sessions on end-of-life issues, including living wills and hospice as an option for the terminally ill. It is supported by the American Medical Association and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

But the provision has generated a huge uproar, particularly after Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, called it "downright evil."

In a Facebook posting late Wednesday night, Palin argued that the elderly and ailing could be coerced into accepting minimal end-of-life care to reduce health care costs. "With all due respect, it's misleading for the president to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients," she wrote. "It's all just more evidence that the Democratic legislative proposals will lead to health care rationing."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that "death panels" are the biggest misconception the administration is trying to rebut.

In an email to Obama supporters and a letter posted on the White House website, senior adviser David Axelrod included the claim that the health care proposals would encourage "euthanasia" among eight "common myths."

"It does not. It’s a malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors. For seniors who want to consult with their family and physicians about end-of life decisions, reform will help to cover these voluntary, private consultations for those who want help with these personal and difficult family decisions," Axelrod wrote.

In his town hall on health care on Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H., President Obama took on the issue head-on.

"The rumor that's been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for 'death panels' that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we've decided it's too expensive to let her live anymore," he told the crowd.

"It turns out that I guess this arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations about end-of-life care, setting up living wills, the availability of hospice, et cetera. So the intention of the members of Congress was to give people more information so that they could handle issues of end-of-life care when they're ready, on their own terms. It wasn't forcing anybody to do anything. This is I guess where the rumor came from.

"And somehow it's gotten spun into this idea of 'death panels.' I am not in favor of that....I want to clear the air here."

In his statement, Grassley said, "On the end-of-life issue, there's a big difference between a simple educational campaign, as some advocates want, and the way the House committee-passed bill pays physicians to advise patients about end of life care and rates physician quality of care based on the creation of and adherence to orders for end-of-life care, while at the same time creating a government-run program that is likely to lead to the rationing of care for everyone.

"On the Finance Committee, we are working very hard to avoid unintended consequences by methodically working through the complexities of all of these issues and policy options. That methodical approach continues.  We dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly. Maybe others can defend a bill like the Pelosi bill that leaves major issues open to interpretation, but I can't."

The White House asserted again today that the screaming at health care town halls all over cable TV is not representative of what's happening across the country.

To buttress that point, the Democratic National Committee sent out a list of reports in local newspapers about less heated events.

"Outside the echo chamber of 24-hour cable news, Americans all across the country are attending town halls, holding coffee shop conversations and engaging in respectful, honest debates about the best way to achieve health insurance reform. As the president continues to forge ahead, making historic progress in his effort to reform America’s broken health insurance system, please see below for coverage of the conversations you haven’t been hearing," the DNC said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today there are more reasoned discussions on health care going on in the town halls.

"I think people are getting the feedback that they're having very good conversations about what's in the legislation -- what people would like to see, what options they want to have, why they think it's important," he said.

"I said this yesterday, I'll say this again: while I appreciate that you all have decided that every town hall meeting ends in pushing, shoving and yelling...they're not completely indicative of what's going on in America."

Still, the administration will continue trying to rebut attacks on Obama's proposals, he said.

"I think he believes very strongly, as we talked about yesterday, that it is important to address misconceptions or misimpressions that have been left out there about the bills. I do believe that the president feels strongly that when he makes his case, it helps the case for overall health care reform," Gibbs told reporters during his daily briefing.

"So he felt very satisfied with what happened in New Hampshire. He was able to address concerns that people had."

Meanwhile, White House senior adviser David Axelrod sent an e-mail to Obama supporters listing eight reasons why an overhaul of the health care system is essential and listing what he called eight “common myths” about the overhaul effort. The e-mail asks supporters to forward the message to someone who “has a question about reform.”

“Let’s start a chain e-mail of our own” to counter “the viral e-mails that fly unchecked and under the radar,” Axelrod wrote.

The Obama administration's first 200 days has passed with far less fanfare than the much-hyped 100-day milestone.

But PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning online truth-squadding service of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, continues to track the president's campaign promises.

Of the 500-odd pledges he made to voters, Obama has kept 34, including most recently No. 88 -- getting signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

He has broken seven, including most recently No. 24 -- ending the income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 a year.

Obama has compromised on 11 promises, a dozen others are stalled, and 77 are in the works, according to PolitiFact's tally. But the vast majority, 374, have not had any action.

Obama's approval ratings, meanwhile, have softened as the recession shows signs of finally ending and as he gets increasingly embroiled in what looks like a death match with Republicans on health care.

President Obama is on the campaign trail for his health care plan, trying to fend off what he calls "wild" accusations and rumors.

But Republicans are trying to turn the tables.

The Republican Naitonal Committee has launched a new website that includes material accusing Obama and Democrats of making inflated claims that under the overhaul anyone can keep their doctor or coverage if they want, and that middle-class Americans won't see higher taxes under the proposals.

"There is no place for outlandish rumor or outrageous rhetoric in the debate for the affordable and accessible health care reform we all want," RNC Chairman Michael Steele wrote supporters today in a fund-raising email.

"The Republicans want an honest and open debate about how to reform health care, but it is the Democrats who do not want to have a legitimate discussion on the issues. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their liberal special interest cronies are resorting to calling concerned citizens who have questions about their health care schemes 'astroturf,' 'un-American,' and even 'political terrorists.' "

The RNC also has a web video that asserts that health care is Obama's latest experiment, after the economic stimulus package, and America can't take the risk. "Now we face his most dangerous experiment of all -- government takeover of health care," the announcer says.

Meanwhile, 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is fighting back against Democrats (and independent fact-checkers) who have assailed her claims that the healthcare bills call for "death panels" that would decide end-of-life care. The bills do offer end-of-life counseling that is voluntary.

"Yesterday President Obama responded to my statement that Democratic health care proposals would lead to rationed care; that the sick, the elderly, and the disabled would suffer the most under such rationing; and that under such a system these ‘unproductive’ members of society could face the prospect of government bureaucrats determining whether they deserve health care,” she wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday night.

"With all due respect, it’s misleading for the president to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients.”

A powerful, deep-pocketed new coalition is launching a $12 million TV ad campaign today in support of a health care overhaul.

Calling themselves Americans for Stable Quality Care, the group includes three vested interests in the debate: PhRMA, the drug companies' lobby; the American Medical Association, the big doctors' group; and the Federation of American Hospitals. It also includes two groups supportive of President Obama, FamiliesUSA and the Service Employees International Union.

Notably, the coalition does not include the insurance industry, which has been increasingly cast by Obama and Democrats as the bad guy in the debate.

"What does health insurance reform mean for you?” asks the ad’s narrator. “It means you can’t be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, or dropped if you get sick. It means putting health-care decisions in the hands of you and your doctor. It means lower costs, a cap on out-of-pocket expenses, tough new rules to cut waste and red tape, and a focus on preventing illness before it strikes. So what does health insurance reform really mean? Quality, affordable care you can count on."

The battle for public opinion on a healthcare overhaul appears to be at a stalemate.

A new Gallup Poll released today found that support for President Obama's handling of the issue has stayed status quo over the past three weeks -- as conservative activists have swarmed congressional town halls to register their opposition and as the White House has stepped up its sales pitch.

In a poll conducted Aug. 6-9, 49 percent of Americans said they disapproved of the president's handling of healthcare and 43 percent approved -- compared to 50 percent disapproval and 44 percent approval in a survey done July 17-19.

Obama's marks on healthcare are the lowest of four issues, with the others being education, foreign affairs, and the economy. And his approval ratings on issues are lower than his overall job approval rating of 54 percent.

The president held a town hall in Portsmouth, N.H., on Tuesday to hit back at his critics and try to clarify what his healthcare proposals don't include. He has two more scheduled this week, in Bozeman, Mont., and Grand Junction, Colo.

The new survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

UPDATE: A USA Today/Gallup Poll released later today about the protests found that 57 percent of Americans believe genuine concerns were behind them, while 48 percent said organizing by activists was also a factor.

While 51 percent said angry attacks represented "democracy in action," 59 percent said shouting down others attending the town halls was an "abuse of democracy."

All the shouting is having limited impact. Thirty-six percent of respondents said the protests haven't made any difference in how they view the healthcare debate, while 34 percent said they were more sympathetic toward the protesters' views and 21 percent were less sympathetic.

The poll, conducted Tuesday, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Why wasn't President Obama's town hall on healthcare in New Hampshire Tuesday as much of a shouting match as some held by members of Congress?

At one point, Obama, himself, sought out a question from someone skeptical or suspicious of his plans, with limited success. Critics have suggested that the audience was, if not hand-picked, heavily stacked in the president's favor, even though anyone could sign up for the free tickets through the White House website and it says the winners were picked randomly by computer.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs gave his own explanation today -- a combination of a skewed picture of how raucous the congressional town halls have actually been, plus respect for the presidency.

"I doubt we're seeing a representative sample of any series of town hall meetings despite the food fight on cable every day," Gibbs said at his daily briefing .

"People want to take the opportunity to find out from the president -- to have him answer their questions about why he's doing what he's doing and the concerns they may have on the legislation," he added. "I think most people took that opportunity as something that was positive.

"I think some of you were disappointed yesterday that the president didn't get yelled at," Gibbs told reporters, chiding them for paying too much attention to the back-and-forth between protestors outside.

"The president wanted to have -- what I think what happened -- which was a rational discussion about health care reform legislation. I think that's what ensued. Did everybody agree? I think the answer to that is obviously no."

UPDATE: Meanwhile, conservative activists are questioning how an 11-year-old girl from Malden was called on by Obama to ask a question -- and noting the political activities of the girl's mother. Read about it on our sister blog.

Asked what the biggest obstacle was to passing a healthcare overhaul bill, Gibbs replied, "The people that want to keep the status quo. The people that believe that somehow what we have is working for the millions of Americans who are watching their healthcare premiums skyrocket every day, who are watching small businesses drop their coverage, who are part of the 12.5 million people over the past three years that have been told by an insurance company in seeking to buy insurance on a private market that they're not eligible because of what somebody has decided there's a pre-existing condition.

"I think that would be what the president would believe is the greatest obstacle and has been for 40 years, are people that -- that have a vested, in some senses monetary interest, in keeping things as they are."

Speaking of which, a new TV ad funded by the US Chamber of Commerce launched today. The business lobby opposes a proposal favored by some congressional Democrats to generate money to cover the uninsured by taxing the most generous employer-provided health benefits.

The spot shows an expanding red balloon as the announcer says, "Inflated taxes, swelling deficits, and expanded government control over your health."

The balloon bursts. "Tell Congress: 'Let’s slow down and reform healthcare the right way,' " the announcer says.

By Nandini Jayakrishna, Globe correspondent

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- President Obama's town hall on healthcare today -- his first since shouting matches and heckling met lawmakers trying to talk to their constituents -- was civil and sedate in comparison.

But activists on both sides sparred outside Portsmouth High School, some using bullhorns to get heard.

Related content

gallery

Town Hall photos

• Protesters, supporters arrive before town hall  |  Discuss
• transcript President's full remarks
• Video Obama holds town hall meeting in N.H.
• Malden girl's question: What about those 'mean things'?

But Greg Meyer, 39, of Hampton Falls, N.H., did not want to choose a side. He said if he could, he would stand in the middle of the street between the two sparring groups.

"If we did not believe in that separation, maybe we'd find a way to work together," Meyer said. "I'm on the side of the dialogue."

Supporting the proposals from Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress were AFL-CIO members, Planned Parenthood representatives, and others, dancing to the beat of African drummers.

“I am here because fairness and equality dictate it, we need the public option for health insurance, there should be no restrictions for pre-existing conditions," said Stuart Russell, 66, of Concord, N.H., wearing a sticker that said “I am a healthcare voter.”

Terry Lochhead, 62, of Canterbury, N.H., representing the New Hampshire Alliance for Retired Americans, also said that she supports a public insurance option that Obama is pushing and said that prescription drug prices are too high for the elderly. “It’s ridiculous, people can’t get discounts,” she said.

Mark Mackenzie, president of the AFL-CIO's New Hampshire branch, said the price of healthcare is going through the roof. "We need to begin the process of reining in costs that are out of control.”

He said there is a lot of hype and misinformation in the public and the myths about the Democratic proposals need to be debunked. "If it were a program that would destroy healthcare for people in this country, we wouldn’t stand here," he said.

On the other side of the street from the school, Republicans and other opponents played music including "Proud to be an American."

One opponent, William Kostric, who said he was in his 30s and from Manchester, had a handgun strapped to his leg. Kostric -- who was holding up a sign declaring, "It is time to water the tree of liberty," a slogan popular with anti-government activists -- said he was licensed to carry a gun.

"It’s a political statement,” Kostric said, adding "If you don’t use your rights, then you lose your rights.”

Police asked him to move away from school property, where guns are not allowed, but he was not arrested. He moved to church property a short distance from the school.

Portsmouth police spokesman Lt. Frank Warchol said that as long as a weapon is not concealed and is not carried on the school property, a person is not breaking state law.

"We can't do anything about it," he said. "Obviously he's on our radar screen at this time."

UPDATE: Kostric was interviewed later this afternoon on MSNBC, where under questioning from "Hardball" host Chris Matthews he defended his right to bring a weapon to the event.

Asked about the history of presidential assassinations, Kostric said he was not threatening violence by bringing a gun to a presidential event.

David Call, 60, of Scandish, Maine, said that the healthcare system does not need to be overhauled and that Obama is pushing his proposals too fast.

“If it took the president six months to pick a dog, shouldn’t he spend six months on healthcare?" Call asked. "Slow down, what’s the rush?”

Call also reacted against the top two House Democrats asserting in an opinion piece published Monday that it was "un-American" to disrupt the town hall meetings. “We’re not un-American because we speak up against our government," he said.

Laurie A. Turner, 44, of Manchester, N.H., a history teacher, also said she opposes the reform plans. “It’s gonna take a lot of power out of the hands of the people,” she said.

Hal Posselt, 62, of Concord, N.H., for one, is hoping for real dialogue instead of shouting between the two sides.

"I’m so tired of hearing all the noise out there -- too much noise, not enough thinking and reasoning,” he said. The various plans need to be explained to the public better, he said.

UPDATE: After the event, Lisa Gravel, 39, of Manchester, N.H., a foe of Obama's healthcare overhaul plans, said she was disappointed she could not get into the meeting.

“Everyone coming out of there was clearly an Obama supporter,” she said, holding a sign that read ‘Stop Trashing Our Constitution.’ “He’s not having a healthy debate. He really doesn’t want to hear what I have to say or what any of the people on this side of the street have to say. I find that dishonest.”

As he came out of the gym, Bruce Gottlieb , 56, said he favored the overhaul and and thought the president made a strong case for it, but added that he would have liked Obama to delve into specifics about the program he envisions.

"It was too general,” said the West Hartford, Conn. native. “I’m leaving a little disappointed.”
 

President Obama today protested the conviction and sentencing of Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today on charges related to an uninvited intrusion into her home violate universal principles of human rights, run counter to Burma’s commitments under the ASEAN charter, and demonstrate continued disregard for UN Security Council statements. I join the international community in calling for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate unconditional release," Obama said in a statement issued through the White House.

"Today’s unjust decision reminds us of the thousands of other political prisoners in Burma who, like Aung San Suu Kyi, have been denied their liberty because of their pursuit of a government that respects the will, rights, and aspirations of all Burmese citizens. They, too, should be freed. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. I call on the Burmese regime to heed the views of its own people and the international community and to work towards genuine national reconciliation.

"I am also concerned by the sentencing of American citizen John Yettaw to seven years in prison, a punishment out of proportion with his actions."

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, added his concern.

“The Burmese dictatorship is making a serious mistake by sentencing Aung San Suu Kyi to additional imprisonment. She never should have been arrested, much less convicted on meritless charges. Aung San Suu Kyi, American John Yettaw, and the other political prisoners held by the junta must be freed immediately. The junta’s actions cast serious doubt on the potential for legitimate elections next year and only reinforce longstanding international concerns about the military junta’s treatment of its own people," Kerry said in a statement.

“The Burmese dictatorship should understand that only a good-faith effort to start a dialogue with the political opposition and improvement of its deplorable human rights record can lead to better relations with the United States and the rest of the world. The junta’s latest unjust and short-sighted actions only serves to move the government further down the path of continued international isolation.”

President Obama told a civil, restrained town hall meeting this afternoon in Portsmouth, N.H., that his healthcare overhaul will be good for Americans who already have insurance as well as those who don't.

Related content

gallery

Town Hall photos

• Protesters, supporters arrive before town hall  |  Discuss
• transcript President's full remarks
• Video Obama holds town hall meeting in N.H.
• Malden girl's question: What about those 'mean things'?

Americans are being "held hostage" by insurers, he told about 1,800 people at Portsmouth High's gym, framed by a huge American flag behind the stage.

"I believe it is wrong," he added, and it is bankrupting families and businesses.

"Your health insurance should be there for you when it counts -- not just when you're paying premiums," he declared, adding that it will be once the health overhaul passes. "Nobody in America should go broke because they get sick."

"This is what reform is about" -- not all the chatter and shouting, the president added.

The long vigorous debate is part of democracy, he said. But, he said, "I hope we talk with each other and not over each other," adding "where we disagree, let's disagree over what's real," not falsehoods and rumors.

Greeted by a cheering crowd, he said it was great to be back in New Hampshire -- though he joked that most of his memories of the state "were cold."

He was introduced by a "real person" embodying the preexisting condition message of the day -- Lori Hitchcock, a 52-year-old, single, self-employed Portsmouth resident who was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2003. Because no insurance company will sell health coverage to her because of her pre-existing condition, she has been uninsured for two years, the White House said.

Obama said her story is the same one he reads in letters every day.

Obama reprised his argument that the stimulus package and other steps are lifting the country out of recession and "the jobs picture is beginning to turn," but that healthcare reform is one of the pillars needed to "lay a new foundation for economic growth."

He also repeated his debunking of "myths," saying that Americans won't have to give up their insurance if they like it and that he isn't for a government takeover of the healthcare system.

"I don't think government bureaucrats should be meddling, but I also believe that health insurance bureaucrats shouldn't be meddling," he said to applause.

No one, he asserted, is holding insurers accountable for unfair practices. So while an estimated 46 million uninsured Americans need help, it's just as important to achieve reform for those with insurance, he said.

He said that health reform is closer than ever, but the special interests are gathering force to try to stop it.

"Now is the hard part," he said.

Asking for help knocking on doors and convincing neighbors, Obama said, "I never said change would be easy....Change is hard. And it doesn't start in Washington. It starts in places like Portsmouth."

"Yes we can," the crowd chanted, a reprise of Obama's campaign rallies.

"I remember that," Obama replied.

Asked by a state legislator whether he would pass a healthcare bill over Republican objections if necessary, Obama said some Republican friends on Capitol Hill are sincerely trying to find a bill that they can support, naming Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, among others.

But given Americans' plight and the healthcare's impact on the federal budget deficit, he said, "We have to get it done."

While he hopes for a bipartisan bill, "the most important thing is getting it done for the American people," the president said.

He used humor to dispute claims by 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and others that "death panels" will decide end-of-life care that will basically "pull the plug on Grandma." The truth, he said, is that there is a provision in the House bill to offer end-of-life counseling, but only for those who want it.

The first sort-of unfriendly question came from a Maine man who identified himself as a Republican and who said he was worried about a public insurance plan putting private insurers out of business.

"I think it's an excellent question, so I appreciate the opportunity to respond," the president replied, before explaining his opposition to a single-payer system like in Canada and to his support for improving the current system of employer-based coverage.

He asked for a question from someone who is "skeptical or suspicious" of his plans, saying he didn't want people to think that the crowd was full of plants.

It took until the very last query before the town hall ended after nearly an hour of questions.

A Derry, N.H., man said he had turned himself in on the portion of the White House website where people could report false emails and rumors.

Obama jumped to say that was another example of the media distorting what was happening. The reporting feature is not a way to compile an enemies list, the president said.

"Come on guys," he said. "All we're trying to do is answer questions.

The man's question was why Obama hadn't chastised Congress because there are two forms of healthcare -- one for members of Congress and one for the public.

Obama replied that without healthcare reform, the gap between the plan members of Congress get and what most Americans get will continue to be wide. But the health overhaul would give Americans an option of a plan very similar to the one that members of Congress get, he said.

"The status quo is not working for you," Obama said. (His full remarks, and the question-and-answer session is below.)

The town hall was Obama's first since the raucous spectacles during events that members of Congress have been having -- including one that Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is hosting this morning, where one man has already been escorted out and there has been shouting and heckling.

The Democratic National Committee is backing up Obama's slightly retooled message with a new national cable TV ad. Showing images of happy families, the announcer says, "Your family's care comes first....There's something in it for all of us."

Organizing for America, Obama's grassroots group from the campaign, also echoed his message, releasing a web video this afternoon entitled "Coverage Denied."

In the video, Kristen Palmer of Minneapolis, who was featured in a previous video by the group, tells of how she has been denied health insurance coverage due to a pre-existing medical condition -- polycystic kidneys, a genetic disease she shares with her father -- despite the fact that she is healthy and currently suffers no consequences as a result of her medical history.

The White House release on the town hall is below:

President Obama's town hall meeting on healthcare on Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H., will almost certainly be far less of a free-for-all than the raucous ones that members of Congress have been having, filled with shouting matches, pushing and shoving, and even some arrests.

It is the president's first public healthcare event since the protests at town halls became big news -- and it is happening in the birthplace of the American ideal of town meetings and small-d democracy. (The White House this evening confirmed the start time as 1 p.m. EDT)

As usual for such events, the White House controlled the distribution of the free tickets to get into the gym at Portsmouth High School. And, per usual, the Secret Service will take care of any unruliness.

But that won't stop protestors outside the event.

According to an invitation obtained by NBC News, a group called the New Hampshire Republican Volunteer Coalition is urging members to make sure the other side gets heard and noticed by the media.

"Barack Hussein Obama will be arriving in Portsmouth on Tuesday to hold a STAGED "Town Hall Meeting", where he will essentially hand pick who the guests will be and what types of questions will be asked of him," the call to arms reads. "A MASSIVE protest rally is being organized just outside of the facility where Obama will be holding his 'Town Hall Meeting' to promote his plan for a government takeover of your healthcare decisions."

"There will be news media from all over the world at this event and it will be the ideal opportunity for us to tell the rest of the country exactly how NH voters feel about Obamacare (taxed/rationed healthcare). It will be the most important pro-liberty event of the year in NH and it is critically important that every one of us attend," the invitation continues. "If you can, bring a sign that says something like, 'OBAMACARE=TAXED/RATIONED HEALTHCARE', etc."

Supporters of the Democratic healthcare bills also plan to show their strength outside the town hall.

The AFL-CIO said today that New Hampshire workers "will respectfully make the case for major health care reform and speak out against the ‘mob rule’ tactics of the opposition."

“New Hampshire workers desperately need major health care reform and we will not let our voices be silenced by the corporate funded mobs on the other side,” state AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie said in a statement.

Asked about the current discourse at a joint news conference this afternoon at the summit with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, Obama said, "We are having a vigorous debate in the United States, and I think that's a healthy thing."

He repeated that healthcare overhaul is closer than at any time in 40 years and addressing whether there were parts of the more government-heavy Canadian health plan to emulate, said the US must come up with an uniquely American solution.

Opponents, the president said, seem to want to talk about Canadian healthcare.

"I suspect that you Canadians will continue to get dragged in by those who oppose reform, even though I've said nothing about Canadian healthcare reform. I don't find Canadians particularly scary, but I guess some of the opponents of reform think that they make a good bogeyman.

"I think that's a mistake. And I suspect that once we get into the fall and people look at the actual legislation that's being proposed, that more sensible and reasoned arguments will emerge. And we're going to get -- we're going to get this passed."

Speaking of the contentious town halls, Democrats have been complaining that the conservative activists and their Republican allies have been hijacking them.

In an opinion piece in today's USA Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her wingman Representative Steny Hoyer went further, calling the disruptions downright un-American.

"It is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue," they wrote. "These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American."

Republicans strongly dispute that, arguing that opponents are only venting their frustrations and objections to the Democratic bills.

UPDATE: Asked about the town hall, White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said today that there will be about 1,800 people in the audience, including members of the general public and those who received tickets through members of Congress.

"New Hampshire is a place where people are really feeling the pinch of healthcare reform, and it's a place where he can talk specifically about getting real consumer protections in place, like making sure people can get covered if they have a preexisting condition," Burton said.

"We expect that there will be a vigorous debate, as there have been at plenty of town halls that President Obama has had as president and as candidate, and we look forward to it," Burton told reporters on Air Force One this afternoon.

Asked about Pelosi and Hoyer calling some of the protests "un-American," Burton said, "Well, I think there's actually a pretty long tradition of people shouting at politicians in America. The president thinks that if people want to come and have a spirited debate about health care, a real vigorous conversation about it, that's a part of the American tradition and he encourages that, because people do have questions and concerns."

"Now, if you just want to come to a town hall so that you can disrupt and so that you can scream over another person, he doesn’t think that that's productive," Burton added. "And as a country, we've been able to make progress when people actually talk out what our problems are, not try to shout each other down. So he thinks that we're going to be able to have a constructive conversation tomorrow and he'll continue to do that at the town hall later in the week and throughout this effort."

"There's obviously a lot of passion on one side of this, and that's why people are showing up and screaming. And again he doesn't think that that's constructive. But, you know, there's passion on the other side, too -- the people who want health care reform and who think that it's wrong that health insurance companies can stop you from getting coverage just because you have a preexisting condition, or drop you from coverage just because you get sick," Burton said.

"There's obviously been some orchestration of some of the folks who go out there, but I don't think that that is as important as the fact that, A, there are people who do have legitimate concerns and questions about health care reform and the President wants to have an opportunity to answer those folks and wants members of Congress to have the opportunity to answer those questions, as well. And that's why it's important that when people go to town hall meetings, if you want to have a tussle over an issue, that's fine; but screaming so that you can't hear the answer to whatever the complaint isn't moving the ball forward for anybody."

The White House this afternoon put out the joint communique from President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

The statement says that the response to the swine flu was a good example of teamwork, promises greater cooperation on trade and crime, and vows to address climate change.

Obama said at a joint news conference that in the 21st century, North American is not as much about borders between the three countries, as the bonds among them.

The transcript of the news conference is below, followed by their full joint statement and their declarations on climate change and the swine flu:

Sarah Palin, getting in her two cents on the healthcare overhaul debate, has been of two minds lately.

The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee turned up the volume late last Friday with a posting on her Facebook page that suggested that President Obama's plan would lead to a "death panel" that would ration care.

"And who will suffer the most when they ration care?" she wrote. "The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

That claim was immediately and loudly disputed by Democrats. (A fact-checking website, Politifact.com, also disputes Palin's characterization.)

"She just made that up,” Howard Dean, the former Democratic National Committee chairman and Vermont governor who is a doctor, said Sunday on CNN. “Just like the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ that she supposedly didn't support.

“There's nothing like euthanasia in the bill," he added. "I practiced medicine for a long time, and of course you have to have end of life discussions — the patients want that.”

Later Sunday, Palin posted another comment on her Facebook page, urging opponents of Obama's healthcare proposals to be civil at the town hall meetings that members of Congress are having, lest their message be lost in the controversy.
"There are many disturbing details in the current bill that Washington is trying to rush through Congress, but we must stick to a discussion of the issues and not get sidetracked by tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment," Palin wrote. "Such tactics diminish our nation’s civil discourse which we need now more than ever because the fine print in this outrageous health care proposal must be understood clearly and not get lost in conscientious voters’ passion to want to make elected officials hear what we are saying. Let’s not give the proponents of nationalized health care any reason to criticize us."

President Obama's allies are ramping up their efforts for healthcare overhaul as the battle moves full bore back into local congressional districts and out of Washington.

Opponents of the healthcare bills being pushed by congressional Democrats have been raging at town hall meetings held by members of Congress, protests organized in part by conservative and business groups and cheered on by Republicans.

So Obama's grassroots group from the campaign, Organizing for America, sent an email out to the millions on its list, urging supporters to visit their members of Congress in their offices. The email names each supporter's representative and offers help on the message.

"All throughout August, our members of Congress are back in town. Insurance companies and partisan attack groups are stirring up fear with false rumors about the President's plan, and it's extremely important that folks like you speak up now," writes Mitch Stewart, director of the group.

"So we've cooked up an easy, powerful way for you to make a big impression: Office Visits for Health Reform. All this week, OFA members like you will be stopping by local congressional offices to show our support for insurance reform. You can have a quick conversation with the local staff, tell your personal story, or even just drop off a customized flyer and say that reform matters to you."

Community activists, organized by Massachusetts Communities Action Network, also plan to go Tuesday to home offices of six members of Congress: Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, and Representatives Michael Capuano, Barney Frank, Stephen Lynch and Jim McGovern.

Even though Massachusetts has its own landmark healthcare law that has extended coverage to 97 percent of residents, the network says a national healthcare overhaul could still help the Bay State by providing federal assistance to allow the state to cover more moderate-income families, by improving Medicare for seniors, and by helping subsidize coverage for 30,000 legal immigrants.

Meanwhile, faith groups backing a health overhaul that provides universal care are launching a 40-day lobbying campaign.

The effort by People of Faith for Health Reform includes a new national cable TV ad in which several clergy talk about special interests fighting reform. "But God has given us a spirit not of fear, but of love and action," says the Rev. Stevie Wakes of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kan.

"Millions of people of faith are supporting health insurance reform," adds the Rev. John Hay of Indianapolis. "Members of Congress: Will you?"

The campaign also includes prayer events in local districts, sermons on healthcare Aug. 28-30, and events in Washington in September as Congress resumes work after its August recess.

UPDATE: The White House, itself, officially launched a "reality check" website that features videos of top administration officials debunking "myths" about Obama's proposals. They include the claims from opponents about healthcare overhaul forcing the rationing of care, euthanasia of the critically ill, cuts in care for veterans, burdens on small businesses, and cuts in Medicare benefits.

In his weekly Internet and radio address, President Obama uses the hopeful jobs numbers to make his case again for a healthcare overhaul.

He says the July unemployment rate of 9.4 percent, the first decline in 15 months, shows "that we’ve begun to put the brakes on this recession and that the worst may be behind us."

"But we must do more than rescue our economy from this immediate crisis; we must rebuild it stronger than before. We must lay a new foundation for future growth and prosperity, and a key pillar of a new foundation is health insurance reform – reform that we are now closer to achieving than ever before," Obama declares.

While Congress did not meet his original timetable of both the House and Senate passing bills before leaving for the August recess, Obama puts the best face on the progress so far. "Four committees in Congress have produced legislation – an unprecedented level of agreement on a difficult and complex challenge," he says.

And with opponents of the healthcare overhaul taking over town hall events that members of Congress are holding in their districts, Obama takes on his critics, saying that they are misleading Americans.

"That is why it is important, especially now, as senators and representatives head home and meet with their constituents, for you, the American people, to have all the facts," Obama says.

"So, let me explain what reform will mean for you. And let me start by dispelling the outlandish claims that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid, or bring about a government takeover of health care. That’s simply not true. This isn’t about putting government in charge of your health insurance; it’s about putting you in charge of your health insurance. Under the reforms we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan. And while reform is obviously essential for the 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, it will also provide more stability and security to the hundreds of millions who do."

Obama's address can be viewed here, and the prepared remarks are below:

President Obama and family are headed west late next week, in part to encourage Americans to take advantage of a no-fee weekend at national parks.

On Friday, the Obamas will be in the Bozeman area of Montana; on Saturday, they will go to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, and Grand Junction, Colo.; and on Sunday, they will be at the Grand Canyon and Phoenix, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today.

He said, the first family's visit to the national parks is "to highlight the weekend where we hope millions of Americans will enjoy the national park system."

President Obama, armed with welcome -- and somewhat surprising -- evidence of an economic recovery to brandish against his critics, declared this afternoon that "the worst may be behind us."

"Today we're pointed in the right direction," he said in the White House's Rose Garden, asserting that job losses are at half the rate when he took office in the worst recession since the Great Depression.

He also noted that a week ago, the gross domestic product dropped just 1 percent in the second quarter.

The president repeated his defense/explanation of the $787 billion economic stimulus package, saying that it has helped rescue our economy from "catastrophe" and started to lay the groundwork for sustained growth.

But Obama said he won't be satisfied until many more Americans can find good jobs.

"It won't be easy," he said, since change comes with difficulty in Washington. "We have a steep mountain to climb and we started in a very deep valley," he added. (His full remarks are below.)

Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Cabinet secretaries had been talking up the economic stimulus package this week -- in part to inoculate the White House from unemployment numbers out this morning that many economists predicted would top 10 percent nationally.

Instead, the jobless rate declined slightly to 9.4 percent in July from the 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June -- the first decrease since April 2008. The Labor Department reported that employers cut 247,000 jobs, the fewest in a year.

Still, there were 14.5 million Americans out of work in July, and if those who have given up looking for a job or who have been forced to take part-time work are counted, the rate was 16.3 percent in July.

As the unemployment rate steadily and stubbornly rose month after month, Obama's job approval ratings and Americans' confidence in his handling of the economy dropped. The opposite can be expected to happen if the jobless numbers keep dropping.

Representative George Miller of California and Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the Democrats who lead the House and Senate Labor Committees, respectively, issued a joint statement:

“When President Obama inherited this economic crisis seven months ago, our nation was shedding 700,000 jobs a month. Today's decline in unemployment – the lowest number of jobs we’ve lost in the last year – is very good news for working families. It shows that President Obama's economic recovery program is working – saving jobs in classrooms, police stations, and firehouses and creating new jobs for Americans in construction and renewable energy fields. While our nation’s road to recovery will take time and patience, there is no doubt that we are moving in the right direction.

“Even in the midst of this promising news, it’s clear we still have a long way to go. More than 5 million Americans have been looking for work for more than six months, without success. We must do more to help these working families keep food on their tables and hope in their hearts. An extension of unemployment benefits should be at the top of Congress’s agenda when we return in the fall.”

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney also attributed some of the unemploymen turnaround to the stimulus package.

"The dip in the unemployment rate in July is a welcome sign that President Obama’s economic recovery package is starting to blunt the impact of the most severe recession in a generation. By refusing to listen to the naysayers, the President and Congress have helped to avert a total financial meltdown -- despite much continuing pain. We still have a long way to go until our economy is growing and creating good jobs at a healthy rate -- and we will need decisive and timely action from our government in the meantime," Sweeney said in a statement.

"It is not good news that we lost 247,000 jobs in July, bringing total job loss since the recession began to 6.7 million. The growth of long-term unemployment by another 584,000 is especially disturbing and cries out for immediate, additional attention. There are now more than 5.7 job seekers for every available job -- up from 1.7 at the start of the recession. The July job figures would have been much worse without the stimulus, which has helped to slow the pace of job loss to less than half of what it was just six months ago. From May to July, job losses averaged 331,000 per month, compared with losses averaging 645,000 per month from November to April."

UPDATE: But Republicans didn't see much encouragement in the jobs report, and continued their criticism of Obama and Democrats for their economic policies.

"While President Obama was taking a victory lap to celebrate the economy's performance, more Americans lost their jobs and the budget deficit soared to a record $1.3 trillion in July," Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said in a statement. "In the month of July alone 247,000 Americans lost their jobs, which means more than 2.8 million Americans have lost their jobs since the president took office. The president said his stimulus bill would keep unemployment from rising higher than 8 percent. It hasn't. Now he expects Americans to believe his trillion-dollar health care experiment will improve their health care? It won't. America simply can't afford more of the president's costly experiments."

Representative John Boehner, the top-ranking House Republican, chimed in: "Today's unemployment report is yet another reminder that more spending, taxing, and borrowing does not mean more jobs for the American people. Instead of rewriting history on their 'stimulus' promises, Washington Democrats should abandon their job-killing agenda," said Boehner in a release. "Rather than pushing an increasingly unpopular government takeover of health care that will increase costs, drive up the deficit, raise taxes, and destroy jobs, Democratic leaders would be well-served to work with Republicans on real reforms that expand Americans' access to affordable health care and help small businesses create more jobs."

President Obama this morning signed into law a bill replenishing the "cash for clunkers" program with another $2 billion.

The Senate passed the bill Thursday night to keep the program going, after an unexpected flood of car buyers used up the first $1 billion in rebates, as much as $4,500 for trading in gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

"Now, more American consumers will have the chance to purchase newer, more fuel efficient cars and the American economy will continue to get a much-needed boost," Obama said in a statement after the Senate vote. " ‘Cash for Clunkers’ has been a proven success: the initial transactions are generating a more than 50% increase in fuel economy; they are generating $700 to $1000 in annual savings for consumers in reduced gas costs alone; and they are getting the oldest, dirtiest and most air polluting trucks and SUVs off the road for good. Businesses across the country – from small auto dealerships and suppliers to large auto manufacturers – are putting people back to work as a result of this program. I want to thank Leader Reid and the members of the Senate who moved quickly to extend a program that benefits our recovery and our auto industry while reducing our economy’s dependence on oil.”

One of President Obama's biggest allies -- Big Labor -- is coming to his aid on healthcare.

The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union federation, announced today that it will mount an intensive 30-day grassroots effort to back a sweeping healthcare overhaul, timed during the recess when members of Congress will be home listening to their constituents.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, in a call-to-arms memo to union leaders, put the choice starkly: "The question for us is: will we let them make health care 'Obama's Waterloo' or will we make it the next big step in our march to Turn Around America?"

Sweeney said unions must fight for healthcare legislation that helps working people, not insurance companies. (His full memo is below.)

The AFL-CIO also put out a statement assailing the tactics of conservative groups, which are sending activists to congressional town hall meetings to criticize members of Congress.

"Every American has the inalienable right to participate in our democratic process. Our politics is passionate, heartfelt and often loud -- as was the founding of our nation. But that is not what the corporate-funded mobs are engaging in when they show up to disrupt town halls held by members of Congress," said the federation's secretary-treasurer, Richard Trumka.

"Major health care reform is closer than ever to passage and it is no secret that special interests want to weaken or block it. These mobs are not there to participate. As their own strategy memo states, they have been sent by their corporate and lobbyist bankrollers to disrupt, heckle and block meaningful debate. This is a desperation move, meant to slow the momentum for change," the statement continues.

"Mob rule is not democracy. People have a democratic right to express themselves and our elected leaders have a right to hear from their constituents -- not organized thugs whose sole purpose is to shut down the conversation and attempt to scare our leaders into inaction. We call on the insurance companies, the lobbyists and the Republican leaders who are cheering them on to halt these ‘Brooks Brothers Riot’ tactics. Health care is a crucial issue and everyone - on all sides of the issue - deserves to be heard."

UPDATE: The Service Employees International Union is urging attendees at townhall meetings to sign a pledge not be disruptive and to listen to those with whom they disagree.

“At the same time that America’s families are seeking relief from fast-rising and unaffordable health care costs, extreme radicals and corporate front groups are trying to derail health insurance reform by disrupting public meetings. While SEIU and allies across the country are staging more than 400 events to promote a real discussion on the country’s need for healthcare reform, these ‘Astroturf’ organizations, are spreading ludicrous, discredited myths designed to scare people away from much-needed reform," SEIU Healthcare Chairman Dennis Rivera said in a statement this afternoon.

“America’s families want a serious and civil discourse about health insurance reform. They want to know how health insurance reform will protect them and their loved ones.

“We, therefore, challenge everyone attending public meetings about health insurance reform to sign a pledge that they are prepared to engage in a civil dialogue so that the American people can better understand how reform, and the absence of such reform, will affect their lives.

“We are convinced that such a serious and civil discourse – tied to facts, not myths – will substantially increase the public’s support for reform."

With time running out before the Senate starts its August recess, President Obama turns his focus back to healthcare today.

He huddled with the so-called Gang of Six -- the bipartisan group of Senate Finance Committee members trying to make a deal on a healthcare overhaul bill.

UPDATE: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama urged the senators to keep seeking a compromise.

"The president invited the group to come to the White House today to provide an update and a status report of sorts on their negotiations amongst themselves and the committee. The president's message to them is to continue to work and find consensus on an issue that we know they've been working hard on, and is very important to the American people," Gibbs told reporters at his daily briefing.

"The president wants them to continue to work and make progress, and wanted to hear directly from them on where they were. It wasn't a negotiating session."

Finance Chairman Max Baucus has set a Sept. 15 deadline for the negotiators to strike a bargain. The Washington Post reports this morning that an emerging bill would come in at about $900 billion over the next decade and eventually cover 94 percent of Americans.

But it would not include the government insurance option that Obama and House Democrats support and, for the first time, tax healthcare benefits provided by employers under the most generous plans -- an idea Obama so far has shunned.

Obama is also hoping for a bipartisan deal, but if one isn't reached Democrats could use a parliamentary maneuver to move ahead without GOP support in the Senate.

"I am glad that in the Senate Finance Committee there have been a couple of Republicans … who've been willing to negotiate with Democrats to try to produce a bill," Obama told NBC News on Wednesday. "But they haven't yet. And I think at some point, some time in September, we're just going to have to make an assessment."

"I would prefer Republicans working with us on that, because I think it's in the interest of everybody. It shouldn't be a partisan issue," he added in the interview. "The bottom line is the American people, the American economy, and the federal budget, have to have some sort of reforms in the health-care system. And failure is not an option this year."

Three House committees led by Democrats passed healthcare bills before starting their recess last Friday, but Democrats are being hammered in town hall meetings in their districts, shouted down by conservative activists and others.

Democrats have hit back, saying Republicans are inciting "mob rule."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is trying to reelect next year those representatives who are being hassled, formally announced today the launch of a new truth-squadding website dedicated, it said, "to exposing the truth-twisting attack by Republicans and their fringe right-wing groups on health insurance reform."

“Republicans are trying to poison the debate on health insurance reform with lies, misleading ads, and scare tactics so we’re launching healthcarefactcheck.com to set the record straight and empower our supporters to fight back with the truth,” Jon Vogel, the committee's executive director, said in a statement. “This website is just another way that we are holding Republicans and their fringe groups accountable for trying anything and everything to protect the profitable status quo for big health insurance companies at the expense of affordable health care for families.”

But the GOP shows no signs of backing down.

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele sent a "Dear Friend" fund-raising solicitation overnight, telling supporters that "Obama Democrats" are trying to demonize them as "right-wing extremists.

"We saw this sort of vitriolic rhetoric this past April when Democrats smugly dismissed grassroots protests against their out-of-control spending. These Tea Parties were ruthlessly mocked by the liberal elites and the mainstream media," Steele wrote.

"Now as public support for the Obama Democrats' government-run health care plan unravels, they're using this fear-and-smear tactic to silence ANY American who disagrees with their risky scheme to nationalize one-fifth of our economy and limit your health care choices. It's a page out of their standard playbook of name calling and outright lies to stifle all debate."

As President Obama hits the 200-day mark, new polls show a further slide in his ratings.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey results released this morning gives him an overall job approval rating of 56 percent, with 40 percent disapproving. That's down from 61 percent approval in late June, and 76 percent in early February.

Still, a majority, 51 percent, said that Obama's first six months have been a success, and only 37 percent said a failure, with 11 percent saying it's too soon to tell.

But two-thirds of respondents say Obama has tried to handle too many issues, though he repeatedly says it wasn't his choice, but forced upon him by inheriting two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

On the economy, while 44 percent said they believed Obama's policies had made things better, 51 percent said they had not, and 79 percent said economic conditions were somewhat poor or very poor.

Asked how they personally felt about Obama as president, 15 percent of respondents replied "thrilled" -- down from 28 percent just before his inauguration; 41 percent said "happy," about the same.

But 31 percent said "unhappy" or "depressed" -- nearly double the 16 percent giving those descriptions before he took office.

The poll, conducted last Friday through Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

A Quinnipiac University poll of registered voters released today gives Obama even lower marks.

In that survey, Obama has a 50 percent to 42 percent job approval rating from voters, down from 57 percent to 33 percent a month ago, and the lowest since Inauguration Day.

The poll also found that voters disapprove 49 percent to 45 percent of the way the president is handling the economy, and disapprove 52 percent to 39 percent of how he is handling healthcare, but approve 52 percent to 38 percent of the way he is handling foreign policy.

The Quinnipiac poll, conducted July 27-Aug. 3 among registered voters, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

President Obama does not plan any public events while vacationing with his family on Martha's Vineyard, the White House said this afternoon.

The Obamas plan to arrive on Sunday, Aug. 23, and depart on Sunday, Aug. 30. Those events will be open to the press.

President Obama will bring his healthcare-stimulus road tour to New Hampshire next week, the White House just announced.

The town hall will be in the Portsmouth area on Tuesday. More details to come.

It will be Obama's first foray into the Granite State while president. He stumped there in October, just before the November election. In his electoral landslide, he won the state, despite Republican John McCain's popularity there.

But perhaps the highest-profile event he held there was with Hillary Rodham Clinton in the aptly named Unity, N.H., in June 2008 when they held their first joint rally after a sometimes bitter primary campaign that was extended when Clinton pulled a "comeback kid" and won the New Hampshire primary that January.

The Democratic National Committee today launched a web ad slamming the GOP and allied conservative groups for sending activists to healthcare town halls where they are shouting questions and criticisms.

"The right wing extremist Republican base is back," the announcer intones, over scenes of disruptions at gatherings starting over the weekend as the battle over healthcare moves out of Congress and into home districts.

After losing congressional battles on the budget and after eight years of failed economic policies during the Bush administration, the narrator says, desperate Republicans are organizing "angry mobs."

"Their goal: Destroy President Obama and stop the change that Americans voted for overwhelmingly in November," the announcer says. "They have no plans for moving the country forward so they've called out the mob."

Michael Steele, a spokesman for House GOP leader John Boehner, responded to the ad:

"Out-of-touch Washington Democrats would love to blame their problems on Republicans, but they can't. Their problem in Washington is Democrats fighting against Democrats. Their problem across the country is Democrats fighting against the American people, by backing job-killing tax hikes and regulations in the middle of the deepest recession in decades."

UPDATE: The Republican National Committee also responded, sending out a list of polling results showing doubts about the Democrats' healthcare plans, and asserting that what Democrats call "mob rule" is merely small-d democracy.

"Today the White House and Democrats continue their callous and arrogant campaign to reduce the concerns and opinions of millions of Americans as 'manufactured' -- and have labeled them as 'angry mobs' and 'rabid extremists,' for voicing their opposition to President Obama’s government-run health care experiment," the RNC said.

"This 'mob' the Democrats are referring to include millions of American families, small business owners, doctors, veterans, seniors – and even House and Senate Democrats – who have real concerns over the president’s risky and costly government-run health care experiment. And they should be concerned – as this costly experiment will raise taxes without decreasing costs, increase the deficit, will lead to less choice and lower-quality health coverage.

"Before heading into recess, the Democrats should have read the dozens of public opinion polls showing that a majority of Americans believe President Obama’s government-run health care experiment is a bad idea. It’s no secret that Democrats aren’t even on board. Chaos in Washington has reigned over health care in the last several weeks. Are Democrats so out of touch that they are shocked to find concern among their constituents over their $1.6 trillion government-run health care experiment? Or are the Democrats once again waging a campaign of distraction to shift the focus away from their widely unpopular, big government policy?

"The bottom line? Americans, including Independents and some Democrats, do not like President Obama’s government-run health care experiment – and they are going to show up to say so. It’s called democracy."

Recent polls show that Americans are divided about the healthcare plans proposed by Obama and congressional Democrats. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released this morning found 50 percent backing Obama's plan, but 45 percent opposed.

While 30 percent said Obama's proposals would help them and 40 percent said it would help other families, 20 percent said the proposals would not help anyone.

In the survey, 71 percent said they were very likely or somewhat likely to attend a town hall even on healthcare hosted by their member of Congress.

As part of the counter-offensive, Obama's grassroots groups is organizing its own healthcare events and getting its members to the town halls.

"This is the moment our movement was built for," the president, himself, told Organizing for America supporters in an email this afternoon.

"For one month, the fight for health insurance reform leaves the backrooms of Washington, D.C., and returns to communities across America. Throughout August, members of Congress are back home, where the hands they shake and the voices they hear will not belong to lobbyists, but to people like you.

"Home is where we're strongest. We didn't win last year's election together at a committee hearing in D.C. We won it on the doorsteps and the phone lines, at the softball games and the town meetings, and in every part of this great country where people gather to talk about what matters most. And if you're willing to step up once again, that's exactly where we're going to win this historic campaign for the guaranteed, affordable health insurance that every American deserves.

"There are those who profit from the status quo, or see this debate as a political game, and they will stop at nothing to block reform. They are filling the airwaves and the internet with outrageous falsehoods to scare people into opposing change. And some people, not surprisingly, are getting pretty nervous. So we've got to get out there, fight lies with truth, and set the record straight."

It's usually White House spokesman Robert Gibbs who has to clarify remarks by administration officials when they veer off message -- like when two top economic advisers suggested over the weekend that President Obama might raise taxes on the middle class to pay for healthcare or cut the deficit.

But today, Gibbs had to clarify some of his own words.

In his daily briefing on Tuesday, he called Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the "elected leader" of that country that is one of the diciest foreign policy challenges for Obama. That description raised eyebrows because opposition leaders in Iran have questioned the fairness of the election, and so have US and other Western observers.

Today, Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One that want to "correct a little bit of what I said yesterday. I denoted that Mr. Ahmadinejad was the elected leader of Iran. I would say it's not for me to pass judgment on. He's been inaugurated, that's a fact. Whether any election was fair, obviously the Iranian people still have questions about that and we'll let them decide that. But I would simply say he's been inaugurated and we know that is simply a fact.

Asked whether he recognized him as Iran's leader, elected fairly or not, Gibbs replied, "It's not for -- it's not for me or for us to denote his legitimacy, except to acknowledge the fact."

Does the White House believe the election was fair, Gibbs was asked.

"That's not for us to pass judgment on," Gibbs replied. "I think that's for the Iranian people to decide, and obviously there are many that still have a lot of questions."

The Obama team is fanning out across the country today with a shared message -- the economic stimulus plan is working.

Really.

President Obama returned to Elkhart County, Ind., where he spoke at a former recreational vehicle plant. The RV industry has been crushed during the recession, so Obama will be bringing some money with him.

He announced that 48 projects in 20 states for advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles will receive $2.4 billion in grants from the recovery bill, creating tens of thousands of jobs. The money includes a $39 million grant for Navistar International Corp. in Elkhart to manufacture electric trucks. The White House release on the grants, which it bills as the single largest investment in advanced battery technology, is below.

Obama said the area has been hit with a "perfect storm" of economic troubles -- the decline of manufacturing, the problems of the domestic auto industry, and the recession -- that caused a 10-percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate, the second highest rise in the nation.

Such woes test a community and families -- and the future of the nation depends on reviving places such as Elkhart County, the president said.

But before rebuilding the economy and moving forward, the nation has to recover from the recession -- and the stimulus package is playing a key role in doing that, he said.

He cited specific projects in the area that have been financed by the stimulus bill, then he promoted the spending for innovations to create new jobs. Indiana will be the second-biggest recipient of the clean-energy vehicle grants, he said.

"Made in America," Obama repeated, to applause. (His full remarks are below.)

The recipients include A123Systems Inc., a Watertown-based lithium-ion battery maker getting $249 million for two plants in Michigan. Also, H&T Waterbury Inc. in Waterbury, Conn.; SBE Inc. in Barre, Vt.; and the National Fire Protection Association in Quincy, Mass. To read the full list, click here.

At the same time, Vice President Joe Biden is in Detroit, speaking at an alternative energy company. Four Cabinet secretaries are also talking up the grants coming from the $787 billion stimulus package.

Biden previewed the message after meeting with the administration's economic team Tuesday. "I can tell you today, without reservation, the Recovery Act is working," he told reporters.

He ticked off a series of statistics: the economy shrank by a smaller-than-expected 1 percent in the second quarter, spending by state and local governments increased 2.4 percent from April to June, household income grew at a annual rate of almost 5 percent in the same period, and home and car sales are up.

But the big number that the administration has to get over is the jobless rate, which typically lags a recovery.

The national unemployment rate has risen every month since Obama signed the stimulus bill in February. It hit a 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June, and the July number, which will be announced Friday, is expected to breach the 10 percent barrier.

Some of those closest to former President Bill Clinton have not forgiven Bill Richardson for turning his back on his wife and endorsing Barack Obama instead last year.

But he tried -- and succeeded -- in mimicking his erstwhile buddy on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to North Korea.

Clinton arrived Monday in Pyongyang to try to bring back two American journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering the country while on a reporting trip in March.

Late today, the North Korean official news agency announced that the two journalists had received a "special pardon" and would be released.

As president, Clinton appointed Richardson as UN ambassador and energy secretary and dispatched him on several high-level diplomatic missions while he was in Congress, including direct talks with then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Richardson also went on similar private missions to North Korea, negotiating the release of two Americans.

Despite personal arm-twisting, including watching the Super Bowl together, Richardson backed Obama instead of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is now Obama's secretary of state. Former Clinton adviser James Carville, in accusing Richardson of betraying the Clintons, compared the New Mexico governor to the Biblical Judas.

After news of the expected release, Richardson said Clinton achieved the immediate objective, but the mission also "improves the atmospherics between the two countries."

"The relationship is really in bad shape right now," Richardson said on CNN. "There's enormous tension. There's literally no dialogue. So, maybe what the bonus would be is President Clinton's visit could get both sides just to start talking. But I bet you there are no negotiations on nuclear issues going on."

Asked what the North Koreans won from the trip, Richardson replied, "One, they get international press over the visit of a former president. North Koreans have always wanted President Clinton to come, other American presidents....Also, Kim Jong-il shores up his domestic base. He shows his people that he can deliver a former president to come to North Korea. He helps them also with a succession issue. It's obvious he is not well. He's thinking about leaving power to one of his three sons. So, domestically it gives him that strength."

"Now, what else does North Korea get? They get the fact that the United States sent a very high-level emissary to talk to them. The North Koreans have always wanted to talk to us directly. They don't like the six-party talks of South Korea, Japan, China, Russia. They want to go directly."

The full interview is below:

It's President Obama's 48th birthday, but he made a surprise appearance at the White House press room this afternoon to celebrate someone else's.

He brought a plate of cupcakes to long-time scribe Helen Thomas, who turned 89 today.

"You've got to blow it out," Obama told her, holding out the cupcake with a single candle.

She wished for world peace, but Obama added one to her list. "We had a common birthday wish," he joked to reporters -- a healthcare bill getting passed by Congress.

Obama also received birthday wishes today from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"During the call, the presidents discussed the situation in Georgia and the need to decrease tensions in the region. President Obama reiterated the importance of working through established crisis management mechanisms such as the Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism and underscored the need for international monitors. The presidents also discussed the need to move forward quickly on agreements reached at the July summit in Moscow. In particular, the presidents reaffirmed their commitment to complete negotiations on a follow-on agreement to START by December of this year," the White House said in a statement.

Democrats are striking back at conservative groups that are taking the credit for helping opponents show up at healthcare meetings around the country.

Town halls with constituents hosted over the weekend by Representative Lloyd Doggett in Texas and by Senator Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania were disrupted by opponents of the healthcare overhaul plans promoted by President Obama and congressional Democrats.

The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out missives today arguing that groups such as Conservatives for Patients' Rights and FreedomWorks and are creating fake grassroots enthusiasm -- "astroturf" in political circles -- by stacking meetings with outside activists.

"The Republicans and their allied groups - desperate after losing two consecutive elections and every major policy fight on Capitol Hill - are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing extremists funded by K Street lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions about the future of health care in America taking place in congressional districts across the country," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said in a statement this afternoon.

"However, much like we saw at the McCain-Palin rallies last year where crowds were baited with cries of 'socialist,' 'communist,' and where the birthers movement was born – these mobs of extremists are not interested in having a thoughtful discussion about the issues – but like some Republican leaders have said - they are interested in ‘breaking’ the president and destroying his presidency," Woodhouse added.

"These mobs are bussed in by well funded, highly organized groups run by Republican operatives and funded by the special interests who are desperately trying to stop the agenda for change the President was elected to bring to Washington. Despite the headline grabbing nature of these angry mobs and their disruptions of events, they are not reflective of where the American people are on the issues – or the hundreds of thousands of thoughtful discussions taking place around kitchen tables, water coolers and in homes. The right wing extremists’ use of things like devil horns on pictures of our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy, breathlessly questioning the President's citizenship and the use of Nazi SS symbols and the like just shows how outside of the mainstream the Republican Party and their allies are. This type of anger and discord did not serve Republicans well in 2008 – and it is bound to backfire again."

The town hall episodes were discussed at a White House lunch today among Obama and Senate Democrats, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

He said Obama won several standing ovations and gave a coach-like pep talk that revved up the rank-and-file.

"We're ready to take on the world," Reid told reporters.

Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who is shepherding healthcare legislation in the absence of Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, said that while senators want a bipartisan deal, time is of the essence.

During the monthlong recess that starts Friday, 500,000 more Americans will lose their health insurance, Dodd said.

"We need to come back with a renewed sense of purpose," he said.

Vice President Joe Biden, put in charge of keeping waste and fraud out of the $787 billion economic stimulus package, declared today "without reservation" that the recovery plan is working.

He said in its first six months, the controversial plan has rescued "tens of thousands of people who have fallen into a black hole" of unemployment.

Pointing to a series of better-than-expected measures, Biden told reporters, "Six months ago we gathered here in the White House, worrying about the U.S. economy and whether or not it was falling off a cliff. And today, analysts are trying to determine if -- if an official recovery is already underway."

"Now, don't get me wrong -- we still have a long way to go," Biden said after he and President Obama huddled with the economic team. " 'Less bad' is not the same as 'good.' We know that growth in GDP is necessary but not sufficient. It's not a sufficient marker of recovery. For one thing, it's not going to occur until there are jobs. My grandpop used to have the expression, he said, when the guy up the line is out of work, it's an economic slowdown; when you're brother-in-law is out of work, it's a recession; when you're out of work, it's a depression. Well, it's still a serious problem for millions of unemployed Americans. Too many people are out of work. Too many families are in pain." His full remarks are below.

UPDATE: House Republicans, who unanimously opposed the stimulus package, were not impressed by Biden's declaration.

In an email, Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for House GOP leader John Boehner, pointed out that Biden admitted a month ago that the administration had "misread" the depth of the recession.

She also noted that many economists aren't as optimistic about the latest numbers and that national unemployment is expected to top 10 percent when the July figures come out later this week.

"Now, if you think this is an astonishing statement, well, so do we – after all, we have nationwide unemployment rate of 9.5 percent - and rising - with numerous states already well over 10 percent," Ferrier said.

"But the fact remains that the Administration promised the stimulus would provide IMMEDIATE relief, that it would provide the economy with a JOLT, and that unemployment would NOT climb above 8 PERCENT. None have proven to be true, prompting the Vice President to say just over a month ago that they “misread the economy,” which then morphed into the stimulus was supposed to take a while to work, and NOW it’s working. But the standard to measure its success is the initial benchmarks the Administration used to sell their plan."

With House members back in their districts, President Obama's grassroots group is airing radio ads pushing key representatives on healthcare and thanking others on the economic recovery package.

Organizing for America announced that the health ad, entitled "Standing Up," will run in 19 districts. Listen to it here.

The economic ad, entitled "To the Rescue," will run in four districts, the group said. Hear it here.

"These members have been part of one of the most ambitious, historic and successful opening months of a Congressional session in our nation's history," said OFA Director Mitch Stewart. "From expanding health insurance to millions of vulnerable children, to passing a recovery act that rescued our economy from certain disaster, to passing a budget that halves our deficit over the next decade while making critical investments in health care, energy and education, these members have all helped bring about the change President Obama promised to bring to Washington. They are now standing up to the special interests, the lobbyists and the naysayers and working for big solutions to our nation's toughest problems - including fixing a broken health insurance system that costs too much, leaves too many people lacking coverage and puts insurance industry profits ahead of patient care. Thanks to the support of these members and others like them - we will reform the health insurance system in this country and make other critical policy changes to get our economy back on track."

The group is up against conservative organizations that have been finding activists to attend town halls on healthcare that members of Congress have been having with their constituents.