Obama adviser: No White House ultimatums to Congress on what health care overhaul should cover

Obama adviser: No ultimatums on health care

WASHINGTON — Presidential adviser David Axelrod on Sunday said the White House hasn’t issued ultimatums over its proposed health care overhaul because that approach kills grand ideas.

Axelrod said the White House has made progress on a health care plan and is working with Congress. He also said President Barack Obama isn’t going to issue demands on what a final plan should look like.

“One of the problems we’ve had in this town is that people draw lines in the sand and they stop talking to each other,” Axelrod said. “And you don’t get anything done. That’s not the way the president approaches us.”

Obama has proposed broad guidelines and told Congress he wants to see final legislation before lawmakers go on vacation in August. But he has left much to detail work to lawmakers — some of whom have proposed ideas that run counter to Obama’s campaign promises not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000.

If Obama’s Democratic allies get their way, they could impose a tax on health care benefits to pay for the overhaul. Obama opposed such a proposal during the campaign and mocked his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, for suggesting it.

Now that Obama is in power, Axelrod has refused to rule out the tax.