FixHealthCarePolicy

Obama’s Single-Payer Comments Questioned

President Obama’s comments at a townhall meeting yesterday about not supporting a single-payer system are drawing fire from all sides of the ideological spectrum. President Obama said, “I have not said that I was a single-payer supporter.”

The Foundry’s Conn Carroll notes:

“This is directly contradicted by candidate Barack Obama’s own websitewhich quotes Obama at a rally in Ames, Iowa form 2008: ‘If I were designing a system from scratch I would probably set up a single-payer system. … So what I believe is we should set up a series of choices….Over time it may be that we end up transitioning to such a system.’ So there you have in one paragraph the true purpose of Obama’s public option: a vehicle to slowly transition all Americans out of private coverage and into a government-run single payer health care system. This Trojan Horse view of the public option has been reaffirmed by Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein, and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.”

(See a side-by-side video comparison of Obama’s single-payer statements here).

Meanwhile, David Sirota with the liberal blog Open Left had this to say of Obama’s claim in Portsmouth, New Hampshire yesterday:

“Obama has never really offered up an explanation for his about face on single payer, other than implying that it’s not politically realistic now – even though, again, back in 2003, he said it would be politically realistic when Democrats obtained the presidency and Congress.

Let me repeat: I’m really supportive of Obama’s health care efforts right now. But I’ll never – ever – be supportive of any president lying and/or not at least explaining their broken promises.”

Tags: President Obama, single-payer system, townhall meeting