Obama returns fire on healthcare

Cincinatti: In a combative Labour Day speech, US President Barack Obama said that the healthcare debate had gone on too long and accused opponents of spreading "lies" meant to convince Americans that his proposed overhaul would cruelly deny care to the elderly.

Speaking before union workers, Obama said that "special interests" were determined to "scare the heck out of people".

"I've got a question for all these folks who say, you know, we're going to pull the plug on Grandma and this is all about illegal immigrants - you've heard all the lies," Obama said.

"I've got a question for all those folks: What are you going to do? What's your answer? What's your solution? And you know what? They don't have one."

The president seemed eager to recapture some of the enthusiasm that propelled him during his campaign. A prolonged recession has sapped morale, he said, as have pundits who warn that "this isn't working and that's not working".

In the face of a collective "funk," Obama reprised a story from the 2008 campaign about a South Carolina official who electrified one of his appearances through a chant: "Fired up; ready to go!" The story was not part of his prepared speech, and the White House later said Obama launched into it spontaneously. If nothing else, the chant buoyed his aides, who whooped and shouted as the president trotted out the anecdote. Dressed in shirt-sleeves, the president also gave a preview of what he plans to tell the nation today in a pivotal address before a joint session of Congress. He wants to curb rising insurance premiums, bar insurance companies from denying coverage to sick people and create a new marketplace that would offer reasonably priced coverage. With about 20,000 people listening in and outside the pavilion, Obama said, "Every debate at some point comes to an end. At some point, it's time to decide. At some point, it's time to act. Ohio, it's time to act and get this thing done."