New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking member of the Democrats’ Senate leadership team, made waves with his claim last month that the party would have been better off focusing on the economy in the early months of the Obama presidency, rather than pressing for passage of health care reform.
“Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them. We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem – health care reform,” Schumer told the National Press Club on November 25. Had Democrats focused exclusively on stimulating the economy, Schumer went on to argue, they’d have accelerated the recovery from the Great Recession and converted Americans toward a “more pro-government view.”
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