Obama: Government 'will go bankrupt' without health reform

ABC News: "President Obama told ABC News' Charles Gibson in an interview that if Congress does not pass health care legislation that will bring down costs, the federal government 'will go bankrupt.'"

 "'This actually provides us the best chance of starting to bend the cost curve on the government expenditures in Medicare and Medicaid,' Obama said. Obama told Gibson that anybody who says they are concerned about the rising deficit or worried about tax increases in the future has to support this health care bill. 'Because if we don't do this, nobody argues with the fact that health care costs are going to consume the entire federal budget,' the president said."

He also said individuals will continue to feel the effects of rising health costs. "'If we don't pass it, here's the guarantee ... your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you,' he said. 'Potentially they're going to drop your coverage,'" because they can't afford the increases (Travers, 12/16).