President Obama Defends Deadline but Offers Little in the Way of Specifics

President Obama takes questions from the press in a formal White House news conference. July 22, 2009/AP Photo

Health care was the topic du jour of tonight's prime-time presidential News Conference. President Obama yet again defended his push to get sweeping health care reform legislation to his desk by his self-imposed August deadline saying, "if you don't set deadlines in this town, things don't happen. The default position is inertia, because doing something always creates some people who are unhappy."

Despite the tight deadline for completing work on health care reform legislation that some key members of congress believe will be difficult to meet, President Obama offered little in the way of specifics to guide the congressional negotiations.
Mr. Obama did voice support for the millionaire's tax that would help pay for the measure, but did little to calm the fears of the fiscally conservative democrats that have proved to be the stumbling block in both houses by offering concrete cost-saving measures that would reduce the estimated trillion dollar price tag.