Obama Needs to Toughen Up on Health Care: Krugman

Barack Obama loves to talk about his post-partisan approach to politics, finding common ground on domestic policy and bringing Republicans into his fold. But on many issues Obama "searches for common ground where none exists," New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes, and the resulting bills are far too weak. That's what happened with the stimulus package, and on universal health care the president sounds "all too eager to make concessions."

Successful health care reform hinges on bringing costs down, which only a public insurance option can guarantee: Look at Medicare, which has far lower costs than private companies. But Obama and Congressional Democrats are making "gratuitous giveaways in the attempt to sound reasonable," which will result in a basket of half-measures that will make no difference at all. The president needs to toughen up, Krugman writes, or else "health care is about to go the way of the stimulus bill." (More health care reform stories.)