Obama Slams Health Insurers, Republicans

President Obama kept pounding the drums on health reform today, using his weekly address to push Congress for a "final vote" while jabbing away at insurance companies he said "couldn't give me a straight answer as to why they keep arbitrarily and massively raising premiums" at a meeting Thursday. Giving the GOP response was former Democrat Rep. Parker Griffith, who said the bill "must be stopped."

But after a year, Obama says enough is enough, reports Politico. "Since then, I’ve said that I’m willing to incorporate some ideas offered by Republicans, and we’re eliminating special provisions that had no place in health care reform," Obama said. "Now, despite all the progress and improvements we’ve made, Republicans in Congress insist that the only acceptable course on health care is to start over. But you know what? The insurance companies aren’t starting over." (More President Obama stories.)