Obama’s aides meanwhile insisted his historic health reform drive was not dead, after Massachusetts voters handed the late Edward Kennedy’s former Senate seat to Republicans, casting deep doubt over the president’s sweeping agenda.

“I think the president has to come down off the mountain a bit and help us sell to the American people these changes we’re trying to make.

In his interview, Obama cautioned that Democrats should not try to “jam” the legislation through in the short period before Republican senator-elect Scott Brown can get to Washington.

Republicans, however, styled their triumph as a clear sign that Americans wanted Obama to put the brakes on his reform drive, and to ditch the effort to remake US health care and begin again.

As he absorbed the stinging blow from voters, which sent shock waves through the Democratic Party in a key election year, Obama admitted that his need to tackle a flurry of crises had weakened his bond with US voters.

“This was in many ways a national referendum principally on the major issue we’re wrestling with here in the Congress,” said Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell.

Obama’s admission was a far cry from the euphoria of his inauguration exactly one year ago, which drew a crowd of several million people, and the nationwide feeling of hope and change sparked by his 2008 election victory.

It followed two stinging Democratic defeats in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia where Obama won big in 2008, and comes as his personal approval ratings dip below 50 percent.

Several leading Democrats, including Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey said it was time for a “breath” to consider options on health care.

“They?re tired of bailouts. They?re tired of the government spending more than ever at a time when most people are spending less. And they don?t want the government taking over health care.”

The shifting congressional mathematics, cast doubt over whether Obama will be able to enact big ticket items like global warming legislation, financial regulatory reform and immigration reform this year.

“It’s not an option simply to walk away from a problem that’s only going to get worse,” he told MSNBC.

Obama admits 'mistake' after shock election loss

The official said Obama will make the announcement in his crucial State of the Union address, one that is being seen as a chance to reorient his presidency amid a fierce political storm.

Obama seeks freeze on discretionary spending

“We are proposing a hard freeze in non-security discretionary spending in 2011,Cheap North Face Coat, and then continuing that freeze in 2012 and 2013,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

A Wall Street Journal poll on Wednesday found that 51 per cent of Americans believe Obama has devoted too little attention to the economy, and 44 per cent think he has spent too much time on health care.

Obama turned towards foreign policy only towards the end of an address dominated by economic challenges, warning Iran would face “growing consequences” if it did not halt its nuclear program.

The president also promised to redirect $US30 billion ($A33.56 billion) from a Wall Street bailout fund to help small businesses still reeling from the crisis.

He said that North Korea was growing ever more isolated as a result of its pursuit of nuclear arms.

“They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.”

Obama’s ambitious reform agenda took a huge hit when Republicans seized a Senate seat in liberal Massachusetts last week, and the president is under intense pressure to show leadership and to restore his authority.

Given the poisoned political climate in the run-up to mid-term congressional polls in November, and some panic in Obama’s Democratic Party, prospects for Obama’s laundry list of initiatives look uncertain.

“And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed, but the devastation remains,” he said.

Obama vowed that he would not “walk away” from his stalled effort to pass comprehensive health care reform and said his administration’s early actions last year had staved off a repeat of the 1930s Great Depression.

One year into his presidency, Obama’s political brand seems to have lost its lustre, as has the notion that a fresh face with new ideas could steer the US ship of state in a new direction.

Obama also hit out at the corrosive influence of lobbyists on Washington’s poisoned politics, and condemned a Supreme Court decision lifting curbs on corporations openly backing candidates in elections.

“I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse,ugg store uk, by foreign entities.

US President Barack Obama has vowed to make job creation his top priority in 2010, in a bid to restore America’s faith in his change crusade after a first year in office soured by economic misery.

He said he would encourage small businesses to invest in the work force, announcing more stimulus money for job-rich infrastructure projects and tout his clean energy and green economy initiatives.

Obama demanded Congress pass a jobs bill and send it to his desk “without delay,” and warned that if lawmakers did not maintain the strength of his bid to crack down on Wall Street he would veto their bill.

With unemployment at 10 per cent, a government deficit at $US1.4 trillion ($A1.57 trillion), and his aspirations for a transformative administration threatened by Washington partisanship, Obama focused mostly on the middle class.

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VistA was developed by the U.S. Veterans Administration and the medical professionals involved in its extensive hospital network. Read: doctors developing software for other doctors.

Open source might prove to be the wrong answer to the health care mess. But given the VA’s success with VistA, President Obama should be spending pennies on the stimulus dollar with VistA before he looks elsewhere for solutions. It’s already written. By all accounts, it works well.

It’s already paid for.

Open source, not $19 billion, may be best health care stimulus

The federal economic stimulus package provides $19 billion to upgrade the U.S. health care system to digital records. It’s a nice gesture, but the U.S. federal government has already developed a robust medical ERP system that could significantly improve U.S. health care. It’s called VistA. It’s open source.

There are other open-source answers to the U.S. health care problem, including the federal Connect project and Axial Exchange,ugg store usa, which was set up by former Red Hat executives to commercialize these federal efforts. But none is more proven than VistA, which has successfully served U.S. veterans for many years.

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