Healthcare frustration from Obama and Gibbs
With Congress almost certain to miss President Obama鈥檚 deadline to pass healthcare reform legislation before the August recess, there were words of frustration from the President and his team Tuesday.
In the afternoon, Mr. Obama made the 10 minute trip from the White Hosue to the massive 6th and E Street headquarters of AARP, the powerful advocacy group for older Americans. There, the President answered questions from 60 people in the studio audience and from callers around the country.
According to a report from the press pool that followed him to the event, Obama got a laugh from the audience in Studio A when he told them about getting a letter from a woman who said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want government-run healthcare.聽 I don鈥檛 want socialized medicine, and don鈥檛 touch my Medicare.鈥�
A frustrated president
At one point, Obama acknowledged, 鈥淪ometimes I get a little frustrated, because this is one of those situations where it is so obvious that the system we have isn鈥檛 working well for too many people, and that we could just be doing better." The president added: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to have the courage to be able to change things.鈥�
Meanwhile, at Tuesday鈥檚 White House briefing, spokesman Robert Gibbs accused healthcare reform opponents of knowingly spreading inaccurate information 鈥渢o hold up progress on health reform. I think that's about as obvious as the sun having come up this morning in the east.鈥�
