Politics | Barack Obama Obama Rejects Critics on Health Care Bill President rejects notion that legislation has been neutered By Nick McMaster Posted Dec 22, 2009 3:48 PM CST Copied President Obama makes a statement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009, after meeting with chief executive officers of small and community banks. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) President Obama hit back today at critics who say he's compromised too much on health care legislation, charging that "every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill." In an interview with the Washington Post, he bemoaned how much the public option in particular had become such a "source of ideological contention," but added, "I didn't campaign on the public option." Obama cited the coverage of 30 million additional Americans, projected savings of $1 trillion over two decades, and a patients' bill of rights among the reforms that will be in place. The Senate bill, he says, hits 95% of the goals he set forth in his campaign. "(I'm) not just grudgingly supporting the bill," he said. "I am very enthusiastic about what we have achieved." Read These Next Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Rubio says the fate of Iran's conversion facility is what matters. New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Report an error