Just watched President Obama's press conference, most of which was devoted to discussion of health insurance reform. I was astonished to hear Chuck Todd of NBC news come on in the aftermath and say that one item of "news" from the event was that the President had said only people with incomes of $1 million and more would be taxed to pay for reform. I could have sworn I heard Mr. Obama say that taxing people with inomes over $1 million is one proposal that has been offered in one of the Congressional committees, and that that proposal satisfies a fundamental principle of his--that reform not further burden the middle class. But I don't believe the President said that this proposal was signed, sealed and delivered.This is a small example of what has become a big problem in this health insurance reform debate. It's a big, tough, complex thing--sort of like the bills one gets after a hospital visit. If the American people are having trouble making heads-or-tails of the various proposals and the bargaining, it is at least in part the result of reporting like Todd's. We in the media should be clarifying things, not confusing them. Ours is supposed to be a discipline of verification.