OBAMA INVOKES FDR IN SPEECH ON HEALTH CARE

In his remarks at Organizing for America's National Health Care Forum on Thursday, President Obama invoked FDR's battle to pass Social Security, clearly comparing himself to his predecessor in terms of the challenges they faced and the vehemence of the opposition they encountered.

After asserting that the public option was "important," Obama sought to clear up some of the existing misinformation about "death panels" and the cost of reform. That prompted his discussion of his predecessor's legacy, along with JFK and Lyndon Johnson's push for Medicare:

I am absolutely confident that we can get this done, but I want everybody to remember, this has never been easy -- never been easy. When FDR proposed Social Security, all across what was I guess the equivalent of today's Internet, right -- (laughter) -- all the newspapers and the radio shows and all that -- he was accused of being a socialist. He was going to bring socialism to America. How dare he-HUFFINGTON POST