Obama denies that he compromised too much on health care bill

In an interview with The Washington Post, President Barack Obama rejected "criticism that he has compromised too much in order to secure health-care reform legislation, challenging his critics to identify any 'gap' between what he campaigned on last year and what Congress is on the verge of passing.

"Nowhere has there been a bigger gap between the perceptions of compromise and the realities of compromise than in the health-care bill," Obama told the Post, adding, "Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill."

Despite criticism from some members of his Democratic Party, Obama said that he "not just grudgingly supporting the bill. I am very enthusiastic about what we have achieved" (Wilson, 12/22).