Obama slams DeMint on 'Waterloo'

President Obama accused Republicans of playing political games with health care reform Monday, taking aim at South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint for suggesting a defeat on health care could be a "Waterloo" moment for Obama. 

“If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him,” Obama quoted DeMint as saying. “Think about that. This isn’t about me. This isn’t about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking American families, breaking America’s businesses and breaking America’s economy. We can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat." 

DeMint made the remarks on a call organized by the group Conservatives for Patients Rights.
In his statement, Obama also said the need for health care reform is “urgent and it is indisputable,” but he did not repeat his August deadline, instead saying it needed to be done by the end of the year. 

With Republicans ratcheting up their attacks and a growing number of Democrats urging caution on moving too fast, Obama struck an impatient tone, saying the status quo would mean more sick children, job losses and business closures.

“We always knew passing health care reform wouldn’t be easy,” Obama said. “We always knew doing what was right would be hard. There is a tendency towards inertia in his town. ... But we are a country that chooses the harder right over the easier wrong. So let’s fight our way through the politics of the moment.”

The comments kicked off what is expected to be an intensive push for health care by Obama.

Lawmakers continue their work later Monday, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee marking up its bill and the Senate Finance Committee returning to the private talks.

He will hold a prime-time press conference Wednesday, and heads to Cleveland Thursday for a town hall and a tour of the Cleveland Clinic, which has been cited as a model for the kind of reform the president hopes to enact.

Carrie Budoff Brown contributed to this story.

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