"I guarantee ya, Joe, we are going to get health reform done."

Jillian Bandes | August 20, 2009 1:36 PM

In an unprecedented radio talk show event broadcast live out of the White House, Philadelphia host Michael Smerconish spoke with President Obama about a number of issues, focusing on health care reform.

In the short appearance, the Prez reassured a called named Joe that “we are going to get health reform done.” He also took a pot shot at the press, saying that cries of socialism were unfounded:

Folks in the press are following every little twist and turn in the legislative process. FDR was called a socialist when he passed social security. JFK and Lyndon Johnson were accused of the same thing when they passed Medicare.

He also did a good job of parroting, once again, the talking point that government-run health care would not be the death knell of private insurance. “We’re not talking about the government administering all of health care,” he said.