Katie Couric's Notebook: Obama's Budget

It landed on Capitol Hill with a thud. President Obama's first budget proposal totals more than $3.5 trillion. That includes $634 billion over the next 10 years as a down payment on a campaign promise: universal health care.

Millions of Americans who need to see a doctor don't because they simply can't afford it. Mr. Obama believes he has the prescription for better health, but this proposal doesn't really give specifics – that's for Congress to debate. And the members will.

Mr. Obama would pay for the reforms through higher taxes on the rich and by squeezing Medicare and Medicaid.

Now that would be bitter medicine for some, but with hundreds of millions being spent to keep failing companies on life support, hopefully some compromise can be reached to ensure the health of the estimated 48 million Americans with no insurance – and talk of a bailout for them.