Robert Reich’s Straight Talk on Health Care Reform. Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich gives us the lowdown on how he (and presumably his buddies in the Obama Administration?) really think about things, when they don’t have pesky political considerations to worry about. The beginning gives you the context. Be sure to hang in there, trust me you will want to hear what Reich has to say. Reich delivered these remarks at UC Berkeley on September 26, 2007.
It seems intellectually dishonest to not emphasis the full context of Reich’s lecture here. I think anyone who wants to draw conclusions about it should understand that he also said the following:
When asked is there a realistic possibility of getting affordable, universal health care while maintain innovation in health care, he answered:
[At 26:49] “It’s a good question; in my little spiel to you as an honest candidate, I said if we really are going to do much about health care costs, we have got to bit the bullet and say to ourselves a big portion of those costs come from research, innovation, investment in new technology. And we may have to make a trade off for ourselves. No politician likes to talk about trade offs…. *Now, personally, I think an economy as rich as ours should be able to both provide affordable health care for most of its people and also continue to support innovation that extends the life-span of the average person in this country.* But are we prepared to do both?”
He speculated that we may not be willing to do both *and* to fund the military, etc. at the present rate of spending.
Comment by John — October 27, 2009 @ 5:31 pm