Today In History: Reagan Cuts 37,000 Federal Jobs; Obama Leads Health Care Summit

March 6, 2017, is the 64th day of the year, with 300 days remaining. The moon is in a waxing gibbous phase, with illumination at 61 percent and increasing each day until the full moon on March 12.

Obama Hosts Health Care Summit

Former U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy accompanied President Obama to a White House conference on health care, noting his enthusiasm for being a "foot soldier" in the push for health care reform.

"This time," Kennedy said, "we will not fail."

Obama vowed to end the stalemate on improvements in the health care system, blocked by "special interests" and "industry lobbying," according to the president, through cutting costs and expanding coverage. The conference drew more than 150 participants, including members of Congress, leaders of labor unions, doctors, business groups, hospitals, insurance agencies and consumer organizations.

"The time for reform is now," said Obama, "and these regional forums are some of the key first steps toward breaking the stalemate we have been stuck in for far too long."

The president explained the singular purpose of the forums: to bring together diverse groups of American people who have a stake in reforming the health care system and to ask these persons to "put forward their best ideas about how [the government] can bring down costs and expand coverage for American families."

Reagan Announces Plan to Cut Federal Jobs

The year is 1981, and President Reagan aims to cut 37,000 federal jobs in an effort to save $1.3 billion over the course of two years.

Reagan's second news conference since taking office comprised a word of caution from the 40th president of the United States that it could be "several months and perhaps over a year" before the nation saw "more than beginning signs" of improvement from his economic recovery program. The president asserted that such reductions demonstrated his determination to "put Washington on a diet."

"I hope that the public would understand this," said Reagan, "that one of the things that must be realized is we're not promising any instant cure."

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Photo credit: Pete Souza, Executive Office of the President of the United States (2009)