From Labor Day Parade, Support For Health Reform

GAITHERSBURG, Md (WUSA) -- Health reform is near the top of the agenda for the American labor movement. And families at the Gaithersburg Labor Day parade seem to feel the same way.

Loud and boisterous, but other than that, the parade is about as far as you can get from the hostility that's greeted health reform at Congressional town halls. "The universal health care, we're all for it," says homemaker Sienna Williams, with her fiance and their four children.

"I think he should have a public option. I'm all for that," says retired air traffic controller Jim Loebach.

This is an area that voted overwhelmingly for President Obama -- and its tough to find critics here. "Health care costs are pretty much ridiculous now," say a software engineer who would only gives his name as Dimitry.

In his Labor Day speech, and again in a speech to Congress later in the week, the President is hoping to regain momentum. "Start talking about what this will do, instead of what it won't do," says Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md), who was marching in the parade.

Van Hollen is convinced this week will mark a turning point. "We're going to get a bill on the President's desk before the end of the year."

One question the President may answer in his speech Wednesday night is whether he'll abandon his effort to reach out for a bipartisan solution, or rely simply on his Democratic base.

Whichever path he chooses, the President is likely to make some people mad. "I'm not sure what's being reformed at this point," says Art Kudner, a printing salesman. "We elected Obama to bring change to this country. and what is going on is completely off why I voted for him," says Ian Thursby, a county worker and union member.

The bottom line: Can he convince enough people to avoid a huge defeat on a make or break issue?

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus today was pushing a plan that imposes a fee on insurance companies to help cover the uninsured -- and does NOT include a public option.
Baucus is a key member of a group trying to work out a bipartisan deal.