Obama aide says president still favors public health plan

The White House sought to reassure jittery supporters Monday that President Obama is not abandoning the fight for a public health insurance option. The assurance came amid a media firestorm ignited over the weekend by administration officials seeming to indicate a willingness to drop such an option in order to secure congressional approval of a health care reform bill.

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No ‘silver bullet’ to health care overhaul, Obama says

There is no "silver bullet" solution to health care overhaul, President Obama said on Saturday, but the system needs to change to avoid "a world of hurt" down the road. “There is no perfect, painless silver bullet out there that solves everyone’s problem, that gives everyone perfect health care for free.

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Failing to reform health care ‘truly scary,’ Obama says

President Obama complained Tuesday about opposition scare tactics against a proposed health care overhaul but said that failing to fix problems in the current system would be the scariest outcome of all. Obama addressed a supportive town hall meeting that contrasted with combative events held by Democratic Congress members, which have generated heated and sometimes disruptive responses. Also Tuesday, hostile crowds shouted questions and made angry statements against proposed health-care legislation at meetings in Pennsylvania and Missouri led by Democratic senators Arlen Specter and Claire McCaskill.

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Poll: Democrats lose support, but GOP sees no benefit

A national poll released Monday indicates the Democratic Party is becoming less popular with voters but suggests that Republicans haven’t been able to capitalize on the Democrats’ downturn. Fifty-two percent of people questioned in the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey said they have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, down 6 percentage points from February.

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Health care protests ‘clearly being orchestrated,’ senator says

The Senate’s second-ranking Democrat slammed recent town-hall protests over health care on Sunday, insisting they violate "the democratic process," while the Senate’s top Republican accused Democrats of "attacking citizens" with such complaints. Speaking to CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said: “We have these screaming groups on either side.

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Reforming Crack-Cocaine Laws, but Leaving Injustice Intact?

In early 2006, a young man named DeJarion Echols stood in a federal courtroom in Waco, Texas, and pleaded for leniency. After police found about 40 grams of crack cocaine, cash and an assault rifle in his bedroom, the promising athlete and father pleaded guilty to crack distribution and gun charges.

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Town hall meeting on health care turns ugly

A health care town hall meeting in Florida on Thursday dissolved into bouts of heckling and violent pushing and shoving among attendees. The meeting in Tampa, which featured Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor and Florida State Representative Betty Reed, was another example of the tense battle lines that have been created in the passionate health care debate

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