Sen. Bayh and Moderates Meet with President

Senator Evan Bayh was among 17 moderate senators who met the President Obama on the morning after his spectacular speech to a joint session of Congress. The subject (what else?) was health care. Here's what our senator had to say about the meeting in a press release:

“We had a very constructive meeting with the President. Our challenge is to produce a bill as good as his speech last night.

The President began his comments to us today by saying he intended to live up to the promises he made in the speech before the joint session of Congress, and by doing so, we’ll have a product that helps the American people and will be popular as well.

I told the President that the primary focus for moderates is getting costs under control for middle-class families and small businesses, and passing fiscally responsible reform that reduces the federal deficit over time.

There is strong agreement on the insurance reform provisions and 80 percent of what needs to be done, but the debate has gotten bogged down on the other 20 percent. We shouldn’t confuse means with ends. The end that we seek is to expand coverage, to make health care more affordable for middle-class families and small businesses, and to bring down the deficit. There are a variety of ways to accomplish that end, and we have to be flexible. Lately there has been a lot of obsessing about means, and lack of focus on ends.”

You can read the press release here.