Last night, President Obama told Congress that America cannot afford to wait in fixing its health care system. He also reminded us that while fixing our system will not come cheaply, the cost of doing nothing is far greater:

"None of this will come without cost, nor will it be easy, but this is America. We don't do what's easy. We do what's necessary to move this country forward, and for that same reason, we must also address the crushing costs of health care. This is a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds. By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes. In the last eight years, premiums have grown four times faster than wages, and in each of these years, 1 million more Americans have lost their health insurance. It is one of the main reasons why small businesses close their doors and corporations ship jobs overseas, and it is one of the largest and fastest-growing parts of our budget. Given these facts, we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold. We can't afford to do it. It's time."

Today, news reports suggest that the president intends to make a serious investment in fixing, once and for all, our broken health care system. According to the Associated Press, the White House budget includes $634 billion for health care over the course of 10 years. The report continues:

"A senior administration official says Obama's budget calls for financing the overhaul by trimming Medicare spending and limiting tax deductions for upper-income earners. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the budget won't be released until Thursday."

So far, it's been a great week for the movement to fix health care. But we've got to keep building our movement if we want to make real reform happen this year. If you haven't already, get involved by adding your name to "keep health care on the map" as Obama brings his budget to Congress.