Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa

There’s support across the political spectrum for initiatives to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, and we know that legislation has to slow the rate of growth in health care costs, or the situation will get worse instead of better. The speech could have been pivotal for bipartisanship if it had been clear-cut in ruling out the prospect of a new government-run plan. By leaving it up to Congress, where key leaders in both the House and Senate support a government-run plan and control the ultimate outcome, the President passed up a big opportunity.