Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Obama: Single Payer Plan

That was then...


OBAMA: I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program. I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that’s what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.


This is now.


OBAMA: I have not said that I was a single payer supporter....


Lies.

8 comments:

Jill said...

It sucks when you are on video contradicting yourself :) Of course, as far as I can tell, I'm thinking that he believes that history and reality actually change to whatever he says at any given time!

Mary said...

Yes, video bites.

Obama and his comrades need uneducated, ill-informed masses to succeed.

I think they underestimate the American people at their own peril.

Unknown said...

I'm quite sure if some journalist would actually take this up with him, you would find he lives in a world of semantic justification.

Anonymous said...

It's the "nuance" thing.

Anonymous said...

Obama and his comrades need uneducated, ill-informed masses to succeed.

I think they underestimate the American people at their own peril.


Funny, that is the same thing detractors of the previous regime were saying during the years 2000-2008.

Paul Schmidt said...

Why would anyone want a monopoly payer plan? Monopolies bring you poorer service, higher cost, and lower quality. And then to have the government run it?

David - Communcations Guy said...

Paul and others,


It seems to be easily forgotten that healthcare is a human need.

Furthermore, we seem to forget easily that no free market principles apply to the healthcare industry. Monopolies do exist, right now in many states. That's according to the American Medical Association.

I want the mother, with a child, who was told by her doctor she needs cancer drugs to have that treatment. No company, businessman or rule should say she cannot have a doctor ordered treatment.

Nonprofit healthcare is sustainable and more effective for an ever aging society. Even today, a man 60 years old couldn't afford individual health insurance when laid off, it may cost $600 - $1,000 per month. Would you like him to deplete his savings? Put it on a credit card? Home Equity Line of Credit?

We cannot keep mortgaging our future on the false premise that change is "too disruptive." America was founded on revolution. Let's not become so "American," with our foreign cards, furniture and clothes, that we forget the brand.

bjkeefe said...

Just look up the first sentence of your source's blockquote and you'll see that this statement was made in 2003.

You're wrong to portray your misleading juxtaposition as "lies." That Obama acknowledged being a proponent of single-payer is not the same thing as campaigning on it. There is a difference between expressing a wish in the abstract and making a pledge while running for office. I expect there is any number of things he would like if we lived in a country not dominated by corporate interests and featuring a large fraction of the population that is susceptible to jingoism. But we don't.

People not determined to keep their minds firmly closed may also be interested in Politifact's examination of this matter.