Decision time for Obama

Looking to rescue his signature domestic policy initiative with a prime-time address to Congress on Wednesday, President Obama for the first time is poised to "draw some lines in the sand" over the size and shape of legislation to remake the nation's health care system, top advisers said yesterday.

Until now, Obama has resisted taking firm positions on specific elements of a broad health care bill, instead expressing openness to many ideas. But the approach has left lawmakers divided over contentious elements, such as how to rein in costs. And with a growing chorus in favor of a slower, less ambitious approach, Obama is inching toward a proposal that would bear his name and carry the political risks of sponsorship.

The president returned from Camp David yesterday and spent part of the day working on his address, some of which may be tested today in a Labor Day appearance in Cincinnati, aides said.

"People will leave (Wednesday's) speech knowing where he stands," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday on ABC's This Week. "And if it takes doing whatever to get health care done, the president is ready, willing and able to go do that."

Obama is not inclined to make veto threats, as President Clinton did on the issue of universal health care, Gibbs added, "but I'm sure he will draw some lines in the sand."

Even as preliminary drafts of Obama's address circulated yesterday, administration officials continued to hold out hope that bipartisan talks in the Senate may provide a road map - and political cover - for the direction the president will take Wednesday.

"Let's see what the Finance Committee does," said one administration aide who is involved in health policy but is not permitted to speak to the news media. "Then we'd have five bills to pull from."

Finance Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, after learning of Obama's plans to speak, suggested that he may be ready to introduce a bill this week. The announcement was evidence that the mere mention of an Obama "speech is already having an effect," said a senior White House official who declined to discuss internal deliberations publicly.

Sen. Ben Nelson, a Democrat from Nebraska, and other Democrats hinted at a possible compromise on one of the thorniest unresolved questions: whether to create a government-run insurance plan - or "public option" - for individuals and small businesses that have trouble buying coverage in the private market.