Obama talks tough -- about consensus building ( President tries to get foes in line ..., sort of

And he promised to listen to "serious" proposals from the right and tried to appeal to their better nature. In the same breath, though, he tried to talk tough when it came to misinformation from those who talked of death panels and government takeover of health care. Read coverage of the president's health-care address to a joint session of Congress.

The inflection point for Obama came late in the speech when he called upon his ideological counterparts to avoid misconstruing the facts.

"If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution," Obama said. "Not this time. Not now."

Is he going to roam the halls of Congress, point fingers and exclaim, "Liar, liar, pants on fire"? Is he going to give the names of those who supposedly misrepresent his proposal to the press and pray they run the names? Or is he going to have the Secret Service knock a few heads?

AP note:

Obama heckled by GOP during speech to Congress

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WASHINGTON — The nastiness of August reached from the nation's town halls into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as President Barack Obama tried to move his health care plan forward.

South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" after Obama had talked about illegal immigrants.

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(CNSNews.com) - In his speech to a joint session of Congress last night, President Obama said that his health care reform plan will not insure “illegal immigrants.” The statement instantly became a matter of controversy when Rep. Joe Wilson (R.-S.C.) yelled out in the House chamber, “You lie.”

Wilson has since apologized for his outburst.

But President Obama’s statement about illegal aliens and health care reform deserves further scrutiny.

“There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants,” said Obama. “This, too, is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

It is true that both the House and Senate health care bills as they are now drafted would make illegal aliens ineligible for federally funded health care. But President Obama has stated as recently as last month at a press conference in Mexico that he will seek “comprehensive immigration reform” legislation that will put illegal aliens on a “pathway to citizenship.”

Viewed in combination, the president’s health care and immigration reform plans would in fact let people who are illegal immigrants in the United States today receive federally funded health care benefits when the plan comes on line. In his speech last night, the president said that the health insurance exchanges where people would buy federally subsidized insurance would not begin operating until four years from now. If Obama follows through on his agenda as planned, immigration reform will be enacted in the intervening time.

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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- President Obama tried to talk tough on health care Wednesday night but his threats, like his recent communications on his plan, remain vague. The Republicans know it and they aren't exactly trembling.