Required insurance is not a tax increase, Obama says

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says requiring people to get health insurance and fining them if they don’t would not amount to a backhanded tax increase. “I absolutely reject that notion,” the president said.

Blanketing most of the Sunday TV news shows in interviews taped Friday, Obama defended his proposed health care overhaul, including a key point of the various health care bills on Capitol Hill: mandating that people get health insurance to share the cost burden fairly among all. Those who failed to get coverage would face financial penalties.

Obama said other elements of the plan would make insurance affordable for people, from a new comparison-shopping “exchange” to tax credits.

He denied repeated assertions from George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” that the mandate represents a tax on average Americans.

“You can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase,” a clearly frustrated Obama said. “My critics say everything is a tax increase. My critics say that I’m taking over every sector of the economy. You know that … I absolutely reject that notion.”

He told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he will keep his pledge not to raise taxes on families earning up to $250,000, and that much of the final bill — hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years — can be achieved from savings within the current system. Coming up with the rest remains a key legislative obstacle.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said there is no way Obama can achieve his goals without raising taxes.

“He has to. How else do you pay for it?” he told CBS.

Republicans shot back quickly, sending out an email to reporters titled “IF IT’S SUNDAY, IT’S MISLEADING THE PRESS.” In it, the RNC offered their theory for the president’s five-show Sunday blitz: “Desperate To Get Americans On His Side, Obama Continues To Push Falsehoods About His Government-Run Health Care Experiment,” the release read.

After Obama’s appearance on NBC, Republican Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) said the issue is not one of rhetoric or style.

“The president is selling something people aren’t buying,” Graham said. “He’s been on everything but the Food Channel.”

Highlights from Obama’s news-show tour

Highlights of Obama’s interviews broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” NBC’s “Meet the Press,” ABC’s “This Week,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and Univision’s “Al Punto.” The interviews were taped Friday at the White House:

Economy: He isn’t ready to close the book on the recession. Last week Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the worst recession since the 1930s probably was over. Obama said while there are signs the economy is going to start growing again, he’ll leave it to Bernanke to say whether it’s officially over or not.

Afghanistan: He has no deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces and pledged there will not be an indefinite American occupation.

Osama bin Laden: He said a tightly focused war strategy in Afghanistan will help with the hunt for the elusive al-Qaida leader. He said he knew getting bin Laden would be hard.

Russia: He dismissed criticism that Russian opposition influenced his decision to scrap a European missile defense system. He said it will be a bonus if Russia’s leaders end up “a little less paranoid” about the U.S.

North Korea: He said the leader of reclusive North Korea is “pretty healthy and in control,” based on the assessment the president got from Bill Clinton after Clinton returned to the U.S. in August with two American journalists who had been detained. Kim Jong Il, 67, is believed to have suffered a stroke last year.

CIA interrogations: He does not plan to ask the Justice Department to end its criminal investigation into the harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists during the Bush administration. Seven former CIA directors have asked him to do just that.

ACORN: He said there deserves to be an investigation into the hidden-camera video involving two employees at the activist group ACORN and a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp. He did not say who should investigate.