McClatchey: Lawmakers not swayed by Obama's speech

According to McClatchey, if President Obama hit a home run with his health care speech Wednesday night, it might be forgotten in a few weeks--perhaps like a late inning homer in a 10-1 losing effort.

If President Barack Obama was looking for a big bounce in support from lawmakers Thursday from his health care address to Congress on Wednesday night, he didn't get it.

Predictably, Democratic leaders of Congress praised Obama's speech effusively, and Republicans in both chambers remained unmoved. However, several rank-and-file Democrats said that the president made only incremental progress, at best, toward moving health care legislation forward, and that lawmakers could backslide at any time.

"Of course you'll get a bounce now, but two weeks from now, we are likely to be just where we are, negotiating among ourselves," said Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., who's a liberal.

Blue Dog Democrats, 52 moderate to conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives, remained concerned about the cost of Obama's proposals and their impact on small businesses. Obama put the price tag at $900 billion over 10 years and said it would be paid for largely by trimming waste from Medicare and Medicaid.

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