Although the President’s Midwest bus tour was launched with the goal of highlighting economic recovery, Obama spent a significant amount of time Monday defending health care reform.
Speaking during a town hall event in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, Obama stated that he has no problem with the term Obamacare, a title his political opponents placed on the legislation signed into law early last year.
“I do care,” Obama said. “If the other side wants to be the folks that don’t care, that’s fine with me.”
The President also addressed the ongoing legal battle over the law’s constitutionality, noting that he was confident the Supreme Court would uphold the law “without a problem” if it followed existing precedent.
Despite being billed as an official White House event unaffiliated with Obama’s 2012 campaign, the President took aim at GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney in defense of the law.
“You’ve got a governor who’s running for President right now who instituted the exact same thing in Massachusetts,” Obama said. “This used to be a Republican idea … it’s like they’ve got amnesia.”
Earlier in his remarks, the President blasted the GOP field as a whole for their unwillingness to consider raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.