Obama on Health Care: Then & Now

Rationalize this.

Then: "Senator McCain wants to pay for his plan by taxing your health care benefits for the first time in history."

- Barack Obama, speech in Roanoke, Virginia, October 17, 2008

Now: "This reform will charge insurance plans a fee for their most expensive policies..."

- Barack Obama, address to a joint session of Congress, September 9, 2009

Then: "You will not have to change [health insurance] plans. For those who have insurance now, nothing will change under the Obama plan-except that you will pay less."

- Obama campaign handout, "Questions and Answers on Health Care Plan"

Now: "I mean-when I say if you have your plan and you like it and your doctor has a plan, or you have a doctor and you like your doctor that you don't have to change plans, what I'm saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform."

- Barack Obama, White House press conference, June 23, 2009

Then: "If they cannot afford [health insurance]...what are you going to do about it? Are you going to fine them? Are you going to garnish people's wages?"

- Barack Obama, Democratic primary debate, January 31, 2008

Now: "For us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase."

- Barack Obama, trying to explain tax penalties for refusing to purchase government-forced health insurance, interview with George Stephanopoulos, September 20, 2009

Then: "I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

- Barack Obama, Rally in Dover, New Hampshire, September 12, 2008

Now: "The one commitment that I've been clear about is I don't want that final one-third of the cost of health care to be completely shouldered on the backs of middle-class families who are already struggling in a difficult economy. And so if I see a proposal that is primarily funded through taxing middle-class families, I'm going to be opposed to that because I think there are better ideas to do it."

- Barack Obama, White House press conference, July 22, 2009

Then: "The Obama [health care] plan will cost between $50-65 billion a year when fully phased in."

- Obama campaign handout, "Questions and Answers on Health Care Plan"

Now: "Add it all up, and the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years..."

- Barack Obama, address to a joint session of Congress, September 9, 2009

h/t: HRC