After a weekend when lawmakers from both parties expressed doubts about the health care reform effort, President Obama returned to a tried and true slogan to cast away doubts.

"To those in Washington who have grown accustomed to sky is falling prognoses and the certainties that we cannot get this done, I have to revive an old saying we had from the campaign: Yes we can," Obama proclaimed this morning. "We are going to get this done."

The White House is eager this week to recapture momentum on the health care front at a time when the American people, not just lawmakers, are expressing skepticism. Returning to another successful tactic, Obama will also hold an extended press conference in the Rose Garden tomorrow afternoon, the first such session since a prime time event on his 100th day in office.

Obama's statement of confidence came during an announcement of a deal with pharmaceutical companies to cut costs of prescription drugs in the Medicare program, closing the so-called "donut hole." The president said the deal, endorsed by AARP, was a "significant breakthrough on the road to health care reform."

He also praised members of the House who introduced a preliminary health care bill last week, and said he would continue to work closely with the relevant committee chairman, as well as (notably) Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Ct.), "and members of both parties who are willing to commit themselves to this critical task."