"I'm not going to back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage we're going to provide you a choice." -- Barack Obama, September 13, 2009
During his Oprah Winfrey interview, President Obama awarded himself a B+ for his first year in office. He quickly noted that if he got a "win" on health care, his grade would rise to an A.
Well, I agree. But in my grade book, the "B" stands for BANK BAIL-OUTS and the "A" stands for AFGHANISTAN SURGE.
Additionally, Obama's cautious compromising with conservatives earns him a C for CAPITULATING on every major issue. I would also give this presidential pretender a D for his DISGRACEFUL DUPLICITY on health care reform. Ted Kennedy is rolling in his grave.
Added together with the grades of "I" for INSINCERITY and "W" for WASTED OPPORTUNITY AFTER GEORGE W. -- I give Obama's first year an F for FUCKED UP FAILURE.
Yes, I still believe in a place called Hope. The significance of Obama's historic burst through America's racial social barrier will never be diminished. It cannot be, not even by Obama himself.
But class is over. With his flip-flop on the "basic principle" of a heath care public option, I've learned all I needed to learn. Barack Obama doesn't make the grade. He will not be asked back for another term.
"My commitment is to make sure that we’ve got universal health care for all Americans by the end of my first term as President. I would hope that we set up a system that allows those who can go to their employer to access a federal system or a state pool of some sort."
-- Obama, March 24, 2007
"An additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available."
-- Obama, September 9, 2009
"I think one of the options should be a public insurance option. Let me clear. It would only be an option, nobody would be forced to choose it. No one with insurance affected by it. But what it would do is provide more choice and more competition. It would keep pressure on private insurers to keep the policies affordable, to treat their customers better . . . Minnesota I have said I'm open to different ideas on how to set this up -- but I'm not going to back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage we're going to provide you a choice."
-- Obama, September 13, 2009, Minneapolis
"Whatever the bill you least like would set up an exchange so that people right now who are having to try to bargain for health insurance on their own are suddenly part of a pool of millions that forces insurance companies to compete for their business and give them better deals and lower rates."
-- Obama, October 20, 2009
