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McCain v. Obama, Part II - Health Care Plan Wasn't So Bad
President Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
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With Sen. John McCain back in the spotlight leading the Republican opposition to health care, the biggest fight he and Barack Obama had last year over the issue has evaporated.
In 2008, McCain proposed taxing employer- based health care benefits, an idea Obama derided as dangerous.
The proposal shaping up in the health care bill (follow our updates here) isn't exactly what McCain proposed, but it turns out Obama wasn't as opposed to it as it seemed in 2008.
There's a scene in the HBO documentary "By the People" where Obama says hitting McCain on the idea is "risky" in case he would need to implement such a proposal as president.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe confessed in his book "Audacity to Win" that Obama didn't like the line of attack to call it "the biggest middle-class tax increase in history."
"Obama was unhappy when he saw the ads and demanded less drama," Plouffe wrote.
Obama told the campaign: "I don't think people will find that charge credible, and while I can make the case that it's true, I think it puts too much spin on the ball."
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Steaming Pile
December 10, 2009 12:53 PM
Wait a doggone minute! You would have to see the plan as it actually comes out. While we could probably count on President Obama to do something McCain suggested in a responsible manner, one has plenty of reason to fear what the McCain administration's implementation would have been. So no, there isn't any hypocrisy or flip flopping here. If Candidate Obama had said in a debate "Sure, John. Sounds like a good idea, but..." he would have come off sounding like Al Gore in 2000 or worse, even though that's the way he and most reasonable people might have felt.
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Indie Pro
December 10, 2009 12:57 PM
Obama was once against mandates too.
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agio
December 10, 2009 1:19 PM in reply to Indie Pro
And in favor of a public option.
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ericf
December 10, 2009 1:24 PM in reply to agio
Would we have Obama kill the bill over this? If no, then this cadillac tax is one of the compromises that had to made. Same with the mandate. I agreed with Obama on both so I like neither in the bill, but I'll take them both in a heartbeat. I wish unhappy liberals could figure out that Anthony Weiner is right. The Medicare extension is huge. Medicare age was set at 65 because that's retirement age. Even extending it to 55 separates Medicare from the concept of retirement. It's going to make future extensions far more likely. Even if the 55-year-old has to be uninsured and won't be subsidized, we would be fools to throw away the bill at this point. This is much better than a weak public option.
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Indie Pro
December 10, 2009 1:27 PM in reply to ericf
$650 a month to buy in, only for those unemplyed, I don't agree.
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Indie Pro
December 10, 2009 1:35 PM in reply to Indie Pro
if you ask me, they are offering "pie in the sky"
hoping to get "single payer" liberals to go along with handing over the american public to an industry outside of anti-trust laws, and without any regulations with bite, and no way to keep them honest so they can claim a victory.
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artappraiser
December 10, 2009 4:59 PM
The AFL-CIO is opposing with a a $1.5 million television advertising buy that expanded on Monday (from D.C. on Sunday) to Delaware, Indiana and Virginia. Those states are home to Democratic senators — Thomas R. Carper in Delaware, Evan Bayh in Indiana, and Jim Webb and Mark Warner in Virginia — perceived to be potential allies with Republicans against the tax provision.
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