The following took place at an SEIU sponsored event on March 29, 2007.
Parts 2 and 3 should be available elsewhere on YouTube. This first segment itself passes through many formats and moods.
One thing that stands out is Obama's insistence then that everybody needs to be covered; that everybody needs to be in the pool. More recently, a flashpoint of contrast between the healthcare plans of Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama has been that only Sen. Clinton would mandate "truly universal" coverage. Sen. Obama would not mandate it, but would only make sure it is available to everyone (regardless of pre-existing condition), and affordable for everyone.
So there you have it. He flip-flopped.
One thing we know is that SEIU must be accepting of Obama's change in position. They went on to endorse him, and continue to do so enthusiastically.
Here is the top video on healthcare currently on Sen. Barack Obama's website, sight unseen. After that is a link to download a copy of the Obama healthcare plan. It is surprisingly readable.
THE OBAMA HEALTHCARE PLAN
One reason it is readable is because it has some fluff. Another reason is that it does not have many numbers. The Obama plan lays out principles and strategies. A lot seems to hinge on his National Health Insurance Exchange.
As the Comet understands it, the NHIE will enter into the marketplace en mass, subsidizing existing plans of all kinds so long as they meet certain thresholds and requirements. In addition, certain key policies such as prevention will be given special attention. State healthcare plans are encouraged to experiment and are welcome to partner. Meanwhile private insurers and drug companies are challenged through the power of the market.
One thing that can be said is that government bureaucrats would be doing the competing. and to an extent will be handicapped by the do-goodery. Another thing is that we don't learn in that document what "affordable" coverage means, nor what this will cost the taxpayers. So there is another issue.
It could be he is giving his legislators room to legislate. Tough to sell a plan to people who don't own it.
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What do you have against SEIU ?
ReplyDeleteUm, nothing. Service Employees International Union. Great union, growing union, progressive union. I'm saying that if SEIU (sometimes referred to as "the health care workers' union") stuck with Obama, his health care plan can't be all bad!
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