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Obama Poised to Flip-Flop on Health Insurance Mandate

By Philip Klein on 6.3.09 @ 4:30PM

Via Karen Tumulty, I see this letter that President Obama has sent Sens. Ted Kennedy and Max Baucus, following their meeting yesterday, in which he lays out his thinking on health care reform.

In the letter, Obama writes:

But I believe if we are going to make people responsible for owning health insurance, we must make health care affordable. If we do end up with a system where people are responsible for their own insurance, we need to provide a hardship waiver to exempt Americans who cannot afford it.

While over the past few months the White House has said Obama would be open to the idea of an individual mandate, this language suggests that he's more or less accepted the idea, and that he'll use this "hardship waiver" concept to provide wiggle room to explain his tremendous flip flop.

Remember, this was one of the few significant domestic policy differences Obama had with Hillary Clinton during last year's Democratic primaries, and he was quite vocally opposed to having the government require people to purchase health insurance:

SEN. OBAMA: Number one, understand that when Senator Clinton says a mandate, it's not a mandate on government to provide health insurance; it's a mandate on individuals to purchase it. And Senator Clinton is right; we have to find out what works.

Now, Massachusetts has a mandate right now. They have exempted 20 percent of the uninsured because they've concluded that that 20 percent can't afford it. In some cases, there are people who are paying fines and still can't afford it, so now they're worse off than they were. They don't have health insurance and they're paying a fine. (Applause.) And in order for you to force people to get health insurance, you've got to have a very harsh, stiff penalty. And Senator Clinton has said that we will go after their wages.

View all comments (11) | Leave a comment

Tom| 6.3.09 @ 6:28PM

Wow.

I can't believe he's selling us out.

Wow.

Cameron Page| 6.3.09 @ 6:30PM

This seems to be a pretty clear example of taking Obama out of context, both at the micro and macro level.

First, at the macro level, we should keep in mind that Obama was in the middle of a primary battle with Clinton. They were each trying to distinguish themselves, and so emphasized differences between their policies.

Second, the micro level, Obama was responding to a specific attack by Clinton. She criticized him for not supporting a mandate. Obama himself was never vociferous about opposing a mandate --- he just defended himself when attacked.

You attempt to call this a flip-flop (how 2004!) but the words "Senator Clinton is right" appear right there in the text you quoted.

2Anglico| 6.4.09 @ 8:35AM

Who cares if the author didn't quite get the nuance of the almighty BHO's tap dance with Saint Hillary, a health insurance mandate is NOT authorized by the constitution. But of course that does not matter to his highness and most donkey party members. The MA mandate is the #1 reason I did not like Romney.
Liberal is the LAST word to describe BHO and the donkey party, TYRANICAL is much more apt. I'm going to FORCE you to buy health insurance!! How "liberal".

ConservativeAnchor| 6.4.09 @ 9:41AM

What right does the guv'mint have to mandate that we buy health insurance?

What right does the guv'mint have to force me to pay for the fat slob that smokes three packs per day, eats 10 burgers, and sit on his arse playing INTERNET games?

ANSWER: They have no right.

work from home| 6.9.09 @ 3:45AM

well, whoever is correct we should support the president.

Smith| 9.3.09 @ 3:33AM

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