'The Time for Games Has Passed'

President Obama told Congress Wednesday night that he was not the first president to try to reform health care, but he is determined to be the last. Obama called for partisan fighting to end—"Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."—and for members of Congress to remember that, "[E]veryone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it’s time to give every American the same opportunity that we’ve given ourselves." The president also gave a nod to his former campaign rival, John McCain, citing one of his proposals on health-care reform, to which the Arizona senator responded with a thumbs up. He urged members not to drop a public insurance option, saying, "I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can’t find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice."