Obama Asks Bloggers to Pressure Hill on Health Care

Barack Obama unleashed the hounds last night, asking progressive bloggers to pressure Congress on health care reform. “There is a default position of inertia here in Washington,” he said on an invitation-only conference call. Lawmakers need to feel the same urgency and desperation ordinary Americans feel, he said, “and you guys can help deliver that better than just about anybody.”

He stopped short of asking Congress to work through its August recess, but said “the time for talk is over,” and said he was open to using reconciliation to pass the bill. But he also warned the bloggers not to make “the best the enemy of the good.” He said he’d be happy to get even imperfect bills from each house, since much will change in the closed-door negotiations to combine the bills. (More Barack Obama stories.)