Since the White House is encouraging Obama supporters to help them identify people spreading “disinformation” about the Obama healthcare plan, I thought I'd let my little conservative voice be heard, as well. I think it's quite telling that the official White House blog is asking Americans: “If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.” Wow. Although it doesn't say anything about what's going to happen to us anti-healthcare people, it does leave plenty of room for conjecture, I must say. Where are the people who were so spooked that the Bush Administration was going to
On June 15th, President Obama told the American Medical Association : “What are not legitimate concerns are those being put forward claiming a public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system…So, when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this - they are not telling the truth.”
However, we are getting mixed messages from other important Democrats.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) at a Health Care for America Now rally: “And next to me was a guy from the insurance company who argued against the public health insurance option, saying it wouldn’t let private insurance compete. That a public option will put the private insurance industry out of business and lead to single-payer. My single-payer friends, he was right. The man was right.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) told Single Payer Action: “I think that if we get a good public option it could lead to single-payer and that is the best way to reach single-payer. Saying you’ll do nothing till you get single-payer is a sure way never to get it. … I think the best way we’re going to get single-payer, the only way, is to have a public option and demonstrate the strength of its power.”
Noble Prize winning New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: “[T]he only reason not to do [single-payer] is that politically it’s hard to do in one step…You’d have to convince people completely give up the insurance they have, whereas something that lets people keep the insurance they have but then offers the option of a public plan, that may evolve into single-payer.”
On June 15th, President Obama told the American Medical Association : “What are not legitimate concerns are those being put forward claiming a public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system…So, when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this - they are not telling the truth.”
However, we are getting mixed messages from other important Democrats.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) at a Health Care for America Now rally: “And next to me was a guy from the insurance company who argued against the public health insurance option, saying it wouldn’t let private insurance compete. That a public option will put the private insurance industry out of business and lead to single-payer. My single-payer friends, he was right. The man was right.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) told Single Payer Action: “I think that if we get a good public option it could lead to single-payer and that is the best way to reach single-payer. Saying you’ll do nothing till you get single-payer is a sure way never to get it. … I think the best way we’re going to get single-payer, the only way, is to have a public option and demonstrate the strength of its power.”
Noble Prize winning New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: “[T]he only reason not to do [single-payer] is that politically it’s hard to do in one step…You’d have to convince people completely give up the insurance they have, whereas something that lets people keep the insurance they have but then offers the option of a public plan, that may evolve into single-payer.”
Hmmm. So who is spewing out the 'disinformation?'