Obama Lays Out Health Care Reform in a Radio Interview

The president was interviewed by conservative Philadelphia radio talk show host Michael Smerconish this morning and laid out his "musts" for health care reform. Please note that the Palin Death Panels are no longer a "must":

"No. 1, it's got to be deficit neutral," Obama said. "This has to be paid for. .
. ."

Point No. 2, it has to bend the cost curve," he said. "We've got to
reduce a plan that experts credibly say will reduce healthcare cost inflation. .
. ."

No. 3, we've got to have the insurance reforms I've talked about
for people who already have health insurance," he said, including a ban against
dropping coverage for people who are ill or blocking coverage for people with
pre-existing conditions."

No. 4, I want to make sure that we have a
health exchange . . . where you will have a set of options," he said. "You can
go and look at a bunch of options, and we have to make it affordable. .

. ."Choice, competition, reducing costs, those are the things that I
want to see accomplished," the president said.

I would like to see the public option of coverage included as a must because insurance companies will always find a way to reject claims or not insure some people. I like what I see overall but the president has to step up and really fight for health care reform. Right now I don't see a more important issue so if the republicans don't want to help I say swing wide left and steam roll them. No one has ever been as accomodating to the opposition party as President Obama. It's time for him to start twisting some arms and accomplish what we sent him to Washington to do.

You can read more about the interview here in the LA Times.