As The Washington Post observed in a July 20 article: "Cable news programs repeatedly declare the president's health care program is teetering or embattled despite a week in which
Obama's proposals were endorsed by the doctor and nurses associations and committees in both legislative chambers passed major bills." Indeed, despite passage of health care reform bills by the House Ways and Means Committee, House Education and Labor Committee, and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and endorsements of congressional Democrats' reform efforts by the American Medical Association and American Nurses Association, numerous television pundits have suggested in recent days that Obama's health care plan is in serious jeopardy.
For instance:
On the July 19 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, host David Gregory stated: "Sunday: it's do or die for the president's massive health care reform." Later, Gregory asked Newsweek senior White House correspondent Richard Wolffe, "ake this on. I mean, the conventional wisdom here is that he's on the ropes here on health care. Is that overstated?" Wolffe replied, "No, I think it's a challenge. And the longer it goes on ... delay has always killed health care. So the longer this delays, the worse authority gets."
On the July 19 edition of CNN Newsroom, host Don Lemon asked: "s President Barack Obama's health care plan dead in the water?"
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http://mediamatters.org/research/200907200046