What… President Obama apparently used to understand, is that an individual mandate for health insurance is, in fact, a massive transfer of power and wealth from American families to government and to those companies and industries with the most lobbying dollars. In fact, the individual mandate is likely the basis for the outpouring of financial and rhetorical support for Democratic congressional plans from America’s Health Insurance Plans, the private insurer lobbying group, and PhRMA, the drug industry’s lobbying arm.

via The Battle for the Individual Mandate – HUMAN EVENTS.

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What President Obama says now:

“What I think is appropriate is that in the same way that everybody has to get auto insurance and if you don’t, you’re subject to some penalty, that in this situation, if you have the ability to buy insurance, it’s affordable and you choose not to do so, forcing you and me and everybody else to subsidize you, you know, there’s a thousand dollar hidden tax that families all across America are — are burdened by because of the fact that people don’t have health insurance, you know, there’s nothing wrong with a penalty.”

via Interview with the President: Jail Time for Those without Health Care Insurance? – Political Punch.

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“I believe the problem is not that folks are trying to avoid getting health care,” Obama said. “The problem is they can’t afford it.”

via Clinton-Obama barbs dominate debate – CNN.com.

That’s what Obama said then.  In fact he said it repeatedly throughout the 2008 presidential campaign.

What is he saying now?

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That single vote would be Mary Landrieu’s, the esteemed Democratic Senator from the great state of Louisiana.

On page 432 of the Reid [healthcare] bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.” I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill. In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world: Louisiana… Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu. How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.

via The $100 Million Health Care Vote? – The Note.

100 million dollars. Chump change to Harry Reid.

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