Obama lists accomplishments to rally Dems

President Obama yesterday pushed back on recent claims that his administration lacks accomplishments, framing health care reform as the latest in a series of legislative challenges Democrats have tackled. He also denied that Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who also attended the event, are discouraged by the opposition they've faced from both sides of the aisle.
 
Of his legislative achievements thus far, Obama said, "We ended up making sure that stem cell research was possible so that it could save lives and cure debilitating diseases. Then we said, you know, it makes sense for us to make sure that women are paid the same for the same work, and we signed the Lilly Ledbetter act," legislation passed on the first day of his administration.
 
"And we gave insurance to 11 million children who had been left out of the Children's Health Insurance Program," Obama said, adding that he and congressional Democrats had also "moved forward" on ending the war in Iraq, closing the Guantanamo Bay prison and banning torture.
 
"If we stopped today, this legislative session would have been one of the most productive in a generation -- if we just stopped. But we didn't want to stop," he added.
 
"So I hope that all of you guys understand, we're just getting started. See, some of our opponents, they seem to think that they could wear us down. And I just want everybody to be clear, I'm not tired, I'm refreshed," Obama said.
 
Obama defended Pelosi while referring to the resistence his agenda has been met with on both sides of the aisle, saying, "there's been a sense...that we are going to slash and burn and go after folks just because we want to win, as opposed to because we're trying to get something done. And as a consequence, being Speaker of the House is challenging job. You are constantly the target of attacks. And then there's the other party."