President Obama doesn't want government-run health care ... immediately.

But, eventually, say in the next 10 years or so? Yes, that would work:



Remember, the government can't even run Cash for Clunkers. How well do you think it's going to run your colonoscopy?

Update: The White House has now released a video concerning the above clips of President Obama expressing his desire for a single payer system and stating that this system will require a transition period of 10 - 15 years. The video is embedded below in its entirety. In it, the White House makes two claims: 1) bloggers, such as myself, are dweebs with too much time on their hands who are "cherry picking" the President's words and taking "sentences and phrases out-of-context;" and 2) the President has repeatedly made clear that if you like your health insurance coverage you'll be able to keep it.



Yes, I will admit that I may have too much time on my hands. Luckily for the Obama administration, this will change on approximately January 12 when Mrs. Bru gives birth to our first child. But on the out-of-context claim, I think it is important to note what the White House does not do. It does not show the clips that dweebs like me are cherry-picking and then offer the full clips to demonstrate how President Obama's cherry-picked statements were manipulated. Perhaps, the White House does not do this because President Obama's statements were not taken out-of-context. Here is one of the President's complete statements on his desire for a single payer system:



h/t http://www.breibart.tv/.

Second, after having read the first 40-some pages of H.R. 3200, the White House is lying at worst and being disingenuous at best about his claim that, yeah, you'll be able to keep your current coverage. Initially, yes, you could probably keep your current health insurance coverage because: (1) the requirements set forth in the current legislation do not become effective until 2013 (See H.R. 3200, § 100(c)(25)); and (2) employer-sponsored health insurance plans, which are how most of us obtain our medical coverage, have a 5-year "grace period" before they have to meet the definition of a "qualified health benefits plan" and provide an "essential benefits package." (See H.R. 3200, §§ 102(b)(1)(A), 122).

The problem, of course, is after this transition period your employer's group health insurance plan will probably be canceled because it does not meet the requirements of a "qualified health benefits plan"or provide an "essential benefits package." And at that point? Well, this is just an educated guess (because I am not so much of a dweeb that I have had time to read all 1017 pages of H.R. 3200), but you'll likely have to transition to the public option because your employer will find that it is too expensive to offer a health plan that meets the requirements of H.R. 3200 and there will not be any private insurers who offer individual coverage. Oddly, this would occur in about 9 years, which coincidentally mirrors the 10 to 15-year transition period candidate Obama advocated.

Oh, and by the way, the White House asks that you please snitch on me if you think I am lying about health care reform:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

(Emphasis added). I remember a time, years ago, when dissent was the highest form of patriotism. Now, not so much.

Update II: Jack Tapper of ABC reports that White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs believes my anger may be manufactured and I may be one of those who just wants to maintain the "status quo." Trust me, my anger is real, and as I explained in another post, I believe that there do exist sensible reforms that can reduce health care costs, but the current proposals will significantly increase federal control of the health care system with out lowering costs.