Obama pledges $15B for Medicaid, answers critics

[WI_DEM]

(also note that Judd Gregg takes a slap at Obama):

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama promised quick help for strapped Medicaid programs Monday as he brought in advisers and adversaries to discuss keeping entitlement programs from exploding the federal deficit.

Obama's summit at the White House, which was coming at close of a three-day meeting of the nation's governors, was the first such forum of his young presidency designed specifically to get at problems threatening the long-term fiscal health of the nation. It came as Obama gets ready to disclose ambitious plans to slash the federal deficit in half within four years.

Even before it began, some of its 130 invited White House conference participants cautioned against overinflated expectations.

"It can either be a nice press event. Or it can be a substantive event," said Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, whom Obama appointed as commerce secretary before the New Hampshire lawmaker balked. "History tells us it will be the first. We've had these meetings before. There's always a lot of people willing to point out the problem."

Yet, he said, there is seldom anyone willing to make the difficult decisions to solve those problems.

As the nation's economy continues its downward spiral, Obama's advisers are keeping their focus on the broader fiscal troubles that have sent millions to unemployment rolls. Taken in context, the summit is but one part of the White House's larger approach to the coming weeks focused on Obama's priorities for a first term, including a State of the Union-style address on Tuesday.

That speech is not likely to include plans to deal with long-crumbling entitlement programs.

Obama's first order of business on the domestic front Monday was his East Room talk to the governors about the stimulus program - and an unmistakable warning to critics of the $787 billion plan.

Obama revealed that his administration will release $15 billion Wednesday to help governors meet Medicaid payments to poor Americans. And he took the opportunity, as well, to address concerns about the stimulus plan raised by a handful of Republican governors who have called the plan overly large and wasteful .

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20090223/49a23b60_3ca6_1552620090223-260060749

[Thrill]

1. Judd Gregg is a coward. I don't care what he thinks