“I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program.” (applause) “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.”
Obama speaking to the Illinois AFL-CIO, June 30, 2003.
But here’s Obama now:
If Obama Were Starting From Scratch, He Would Support A Single Payer System. Obama said, “Here’s the bottom line. If I were designing a system from scratch I would probably set up a single-payer system…But we’re not designing a system from scratch…And when we had a healthcare forum before I set up my healthcare plan here in Iowa there was a lot of resistance to 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. For now, I just want to make sure every American is covered…I don’t want to wait for that perfect system…The one thing you should ask about the candidates though is who’s gonna have the capacity to actually deliver on the change?…I believe I’ve got a better capacity to break the gridlock and attract both Independents and Republicans to work together.” [http://iowa.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/Ames]
Something’s changed.
And they have the nerve to call that “consistency”, when the dates clearly show otherwise.
You’re not getting single payer health care, as I ha ve said ALL ALONG.
And the reason i am so sure of that is that this is the same trick the democragts ALWAYS PLAY. They ALWAYS promise you health care, and then they fail to deliver.
In some ways I wish they’d just shut the fuck up about it, because they get everyone’s hopes up and then pull the rug out from under you.
This guy is not interested in marginal reforms around the edges. And I am tired of broken promises: ending the war; transparency; ending state secrets abuses; credit card reform; ending the culture of lawlessness; and now health care.
“change”.