Here's more from Sam Stein:

In a roughly 25-minute session with a handful of prominent progressive bloggers, the president also asked for help combating disinformation about his health care plan.

"I know the blogs are best at debunking myths that can slip through a lot of the traditional media outlets," he said. "And that is why you are going to play such an important role in our success in the weeks to come."

The call demonstrates just how heated the health care debate has become in recent weeks and how much ammunition the administration is willing to bring to the table. At various points in the call, the president offered a strikingly detailed synopsis of his political strategy and health care policy as a whole.

While he refused to insist that lawmakers stay in Washington during the August recess, he declared definitively that, "the time for talk is through."

"Now is the time for us to go ahead and act," Obama declared. "We are working as hard as we can and I have told Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that it is critical that we have seen serious forward motion before people leave [in August]."

Moreover, for the first time in recent memory, Obama floated the possibility that if it appears that health care reform lacks the 60 votes needed for passage, he might be open to reconciliation, which would allow for an up-or-down vote on budgetary and tax aspects of the bill.

"Rather than an article discussing the dithering and politics around the bill Salon needs to be analyzing the Senate and House plans/bills and discussing different amendments that are up (like the Kunich one that just got added).

An informed citzenery is one that can go back and lobby and call their politicians.

This is not the time for an hypothetical discussion of the issues." - Hipployta

The overwhelming tone of Joan's article is skepticism. Salon can do better than that.

Amen.

No soup for you.

Pass the damn bill.

When you see her comments highlighted in cartoon bubbles, they're just so beautifully asinine. "Say it ain't so, Joe." (Wink.) Like that was going to become a runaway national catchphrase.

You've come a long way baby.

As if.

(Wink.)

Everybody else in Washington - the Congresspeople, right and left, who've dodged the issue of healthcare for decades; the idiotic pundits who want to work the horse-race aspect of it instead of analyzing the plan itself; and the little people who just want to take random, unhinged pot shots at Obama - all those people have been the ones pushing and pushing for healthcare reform. And Obama's the one who's been resisting them and holding us back. Obama's our enemy!! He's the new Bush!! Hell, he's the new Lynn Cheney!!

You go girl.

How you can watch that conference, about THE most important piece of legislation in years, and come away with, "he sorta didn't answer the question about how White House visitors are revealed", even though ANY OF THOSE VISITS ARE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AND/OR PHOTOGRAPHED, THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF DICK CHENEY'S CABAL.......

I am gobsmacked by your lack of insight and by your inability to rise to the occasion.

I suggest you get yourself to Washington ASAP and get in on the action. Then at least your constant, never-ending, shrill, mean-spirited, counter-productive, and mega-bitter criticism of everything that is not Hillary will have one foot in reality. Otherwise, not.

Mike:

This is a letter I posted in response to your first article on Obama after he won the election, way back on November 23. 2008. You seemed to have pre-judged Obama then, and I don't see any difference now. You're not writing about healthcare, or racism or anything of substance - you're writing policy snark.

"Au contraire

[Read the article: Barack Obama, honeymoon killer?]

[Read more letters about this article: Here]

I have another spin to this subject: is this the kind of knee-jerk, second-guessing, praising-with-faint-damnation article we're going to be getting from Salon for the next 6 months? Coz if it is, I may be starting to panic about how often I need to come to this site.

Give the man a goddamned chance.

Permalink Sunday, November 23, 2008 07:47 PM"

The media doesn't want us to have good health care. You're either part of the solution or part of the problem. Mike - tonight you are big-time part of the problem.

"With BO - the future is not bright"

And who, sir, are the active agents making it dimmer? 14,000 are losing their health insurance every day. And you want to make it about Obama? You are unconscionable.