President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies made their case today that comprehensive health care changes would stimulate a faltering national economy during a televised summit with Republicans who immediately clashed with the president.
Fresh off orchestrating the 406-19 passage of a jobs bill in Congress Wednesday, Mr. Obama identified another reason to tackle health care, which he called “one of the biggest drags on our economy.”
The health-care summit, which runs until 4 p.m., is focused on four themes: cost containment, deficit reduction, health insurance reform and coverage expansion.
“We all know this is urgent,” he said at the summit.
But U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called for Mr. Obama to scratch his plan for a health care overhaul and head back to the drawing board.