Obama: This irresponsible talk of “death panels” offends me

I can’t decide which part I like best. The ode to “vigorous debate” from a guy who wanted a bill rammed through Congress before the recess? The tut-tutting about divisive rhetoric from the leader of a party that’s spent the past month demagoguing its opponents as evil-mongering political terrorists? Or the demand from Captain Deficit that we stop putting off until tomorrow the big problems that need solving today?

Actually, this part’s my favorite. From the man who famously told the AFL-CIO in 2003 that he was a big proponent of single-payer:

We’ve all heard the charge that reform will somehow bring about a government takeover of health care. I know that sounds scary to many folks. It sounds scary to me, too. But here’s the thing: it’s not true. I no sooner want government to get between you and your doctor than I want insurance companies to make arbitrary decisions about what medical care is best for you, as they do today. As I’ve said from the beginning, under the reform we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep your plan. Period.

Totally true. And if that private plan you like so much ends up going under because it can’t compete with Uncle Sam’s bottomless pit of taxpayer funding, hey. Exit question: Does he really think running through the same stale talking points week after week is finally going to change the public’s attitude about this? As Fred Barnes notes, this day-in day-out garbage about keeping your plan, etc, has practically devolved into shtick at this point. It’s almost as if he can’t quite believe people might disagree with him, and that if only he keeps repeating himself, eventually his shining logic will seep into their brains. Hmmmm.

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