Obama refuses to rule out surtax for health care

[July 21, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is declining to take a surtax off the table in the escalating debate over how to pay for a new health care system that would cover millions of uninsured people.

Obama noted in a nationally broadcast interview Tuesday that "the House has put forward a surtax," but was noncommittal about whether it should actually be part of the reconstituted health care system he is pushing.

The president also said on NBC's "Today" show that he is pushing hard for legislation before Congress' August recess because "if you don't set a deadline in this town, nothing happens. The default in Washington is inaction and inertia."

He said people who are better off, "like myself," should step up and help contribute to bankrolling the new system.

[Associated Press; By ERICA WERNER]

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