"President Seeks Path Forward Beyond Troubles"

[applegrove]

President Seeks Path Forward Beyond Troubles

By MARK LANDLER and MICHAEL D. SHEAR at the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/us/politics/obama-vows-to-focus-on-governing.html?hp&_r=0

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In a meeting with Democratic strategists on Thursday morning, Mr. McDonough outlined a plan to intensify focus on revamping immigration laws, reaching a budget deal, and carrying out the health care law. The White House is also preparing a new push to keep student loan rates low when the current ones expire this summer, on the theory that the best way to get past the controversies is to emphasize policy proposals and contrast them with what the administration will portray as political gamesmanship by the Republicans.

“We’ve got to stay focused,” Mr. McDonough told the group of strategists, according to Mike McCurry, a former spokesman for President Bill Clinton, who was at the meeting. “Even if it’s not going to break through in the short run, we’ve got to keep hammering on,” Mr. McDonough added, according to the account.

Aware that few substantive bills can receive the bipartisan support needed to pass Congress in the current political climate, White House officials are also turning their attention to narrower policies Mr. Obama can carry out on his own. On Friday, he flew by helicopter to Baltimore, where he announced an accelerated process for federal approval of infrastructure projects.

“Others may get distracted by chasing every fleeting issue that passes by,” Mr. Obama said to a crowd of 500 at a factory here. “But the middle class will always be my No. 1 focus, period.”

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