Obama: 'We Will Do It This Year'

Action on curbs didn't make final cut, leaving 'very big loophole'

(NEWSER) - Turns out the big health care reform bill doesn't actually rein in those out-of-control premium rate hikes. The Democrats used outrage over whopping increases to corral support for the overhaul, but the bill doesn't deliver, finds the Los Angeles Times , because it doesn't give the government the regulatory authority. "It is a very big loophole in health reform," says Sen. Dianne Feinstein. More»

Says insurance companies will raise rates 'as long as they can'

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama got downright fiery today, in a speech on health care at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania, lambasting insurance companies for their ever-higher premiums. “They will keep doing this for as long as they can get away with it,” he said. “How many more Americans have to lose their health insurance? …. When is the right time for health insurance reform?” More»

Anthem Blue Cross jacks some premiums in California

(NEWSER) - As Congress opened a probe into a health insurer's impending premium hikes of up to 39%, President Obama yesterday cited Anthem Blue Cross's rate increases as evidence of the need for health care reform. "If we don't act, this is just a preview of coming attractions," Obama said. "Premiums will continue to rise for folks with insurance; millions more will lose their coverage altogether; our deficits will continue to grow larger." More»

(AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter says Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech last week was an act "based on racism." Carter says Wilson's comment was part of an "inherent feeling" of some that a black man should not be president. In responding to a question at a town-hall meeting at his presidential center in Atlanta, Carter also called Wilson's comment "dastardly" and said the president should be treated with respect. More»

The brouhaha followed by speech is getting old

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s strategy for dealing with fallout from political controversy is growing tired, writes Frank Rich in the New York TImes. First, Obama stays cool as the crazies and 24-hour news networks explode; then, at a “superdramatic moment,” he delivers a speech the media “reliably hypes as The Do-or-Die Speech of His Career.” While this worked on the campaign trail, Rich writes, it won’t fly in the White House. More»