President Barack Obama asked Americans to put no stock in "outlandish rumors" that health care reform will "promote euthanasia, or cut Medicaid, or bring about a government takeover of health care," in his weekly radio and Internet address today. "That's simply not true." Politico noted that Obama was vague about who was behind the "misleading information" but maintained that "it is important for you, the American people, to have all the facts.”
Using better-than-expected jobs numbers to press his top domestic priority, Obama argued that a health care overhaul is essential to the country's economic well-being. "The worst may be behind us," Obama proclaimed, citing yesterday's reported dip in unemployment. "But we must do more than rescue our economy from this immediate crisis; we must rebuild it stronger than before." He added: "We must lay a new foundation for future growth and prosperity, and a key pillar of a new foundation is health insurance reform." (More President Obama stories.)