Obama Ad: McCain A "Prescription For Disaster"

Barack Obama is out with a new ad Monday morning, eviscerating John McCain for an article he recently wrote calling for the health care industry to have as much regulatory freedom as its banking counterpart.

"We've seen what Bush-McCain policies have done to our economy," goes the script. "Now John McCain wants to do the same to our health care. McCain just published an article praising Wall Street deregulation... Said he'd reduce oversight of the health insurance industry too... Just 'as we have done over the last decade in banking'...Increasing costs and threatening coverage. A prescription for disaster."

The spot, titled "Article" was expected. Ever since McCain's article from the September/October edition of Contingencies Magazine was first re-posted by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on Friday, Democrats have been chomping at the bits to ram it down McCain's throat. After all, what better way to deflate the idea that the Republican nominee, after years of pursuing deregulatory policies, all the sudden was a champion of government oversight? Or, for that matter, what better way to drive home the notion that McCain would put one's health care - not to mention Social Security - at play in a clearly erratic market.

As such, Obama had been bringing up the Contingencies piece while on the stump. The ad, which will air on cable starting Monday, is the next effort to keep the article in the national conversation.

Comments

[jackstpaul]

07:43 AM on 09/25/2008

I had an artilce published here on HuffPost yesterday about the McCain plan, Obama's criticism, and Factcheck.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-schwarz/mccains-health-care-plan_b_128890.html

[SailFree]

10:22 AM on 09/23/2008

Actually, most all the harmful policies blamed on Bush and McCain were congressional policies, and most of these were Democrat-supported or initiated. But don't let reality get in the way of a good hate session.

[FuturePrez]

11:59 PM on 09/22/2008

FactCheck.org concluded that the ad misrepresents Senator McCain's supposition. Following was my response to FactCheck.

"Having worked in the insurance industry, I have found that opening up insurance to interstate competition is generally interpreted by the industry to mean deregulation.

Just as banking had been largely regulated by the states, so is insurance. By opening insurance to interstate competition, the authority states have to regulate the insurance industry is severely limited. This factor was paramount for banking deregulation. This also appears to be Senator McCain's intent from the context of the article.

'Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.' - Senator McCain.

If I may suggest, please, confer with industry experts on this matter. I can't imagine that there are many industry leaders that wouldn't interpret this as a significant form of deregulation.

On the rest of Senator Obama's ad, suggesting that Senator McCain was 'praising Wall Street deregulation,' it is inherent in suppositions proposing that A should be more like B that the person is in effect praising B. Though, as the assessment points out, B is 'banking' in McCain's article, not 'Wall Street.'"

[SailFree]

10:24 AM on 09/23/2008

As we've noted with the Obama support for comprehensive sex-ed k-12, we can't trust factcheck.org to be factual.

As the Romans used to say, "quis custodied ipsos custodes?"

Which can, in modern lingo, be translated as "who shall fact-check the fact-checkers?"

[Ged2012]

11:40 PM on 09/22/2008

Obama and his surrogates do read the Huffpost a lot!

[CaliBoy145]

11:08 PM on 09/22/2008

Good add i think its affective

[thinkworklivelove]

09:25 PM on 09/22/2008

Another day, Another "what McSame meant to say...." When McSame says that there is competition in banking, Where is it? I have seen the big guys buying up the little guys.

[Mildmannered]

09:05 PM on 09/22/2008

Take a look at this article:

At Stake This Year: Who Bears The Risk? --

http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/politicalconnections.php

[biggduude]

08:00 PM on 09/22/2008

According to FactCheck, the ad misquotes McCain:

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/out_of_context_on_health_care.html

[jackstpaul]

08:53 PM on 09/22/2008

Factcheck doesn't know what they're talking about. McCain is not misquoted. The problem being claimed is that the extrapolation Obama is making from McCain's proposal is inaccurate.

The problem in a nutshell is this:

McCain wants national health insurance, but presents no regulatory scheme e for it. Health insurance is regulated by states with minimal federal involvement. When you propose to change the entire system (as McCain wants to do) without presenting regulations, you've stripped current regulations away without introducing news ones.

That's the definition of deregulation.

His proposal is hollow and should be dismissed without as long as a regulatory scheme isn’t being presented.

[SailFree]

10:09 AM on 09/23/2008

And by golly we could certainly use more bureaucrats telling us what we can do, what medical care THEY will approve no matter what we want or our physician advises. Yes indeed! Long waiting times and rationing are regulations we can all support!

[jamesreid]

10:20 PM on 09/22/2008

1. I directly quote John McCain' BETTER CARE..., (Contingencies page 30) "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products, less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation"
2. McCain may know less about health care than he does about economics.
3. McCain probably did not even write this paper - it smells a great deal like heath insurer lobbyist propaganda. (inserting "My friends" several times to appear authentic!)
4. If you want to open your mind to part of the truth, forget what you think you know about Michael Moore and actually force yourself yourself to watch his film called SICKO.
5. I don't often disagree with Factcheck on the fine points, but McCain's plan would divorce workers from employer plans and sets them up as sitting single ducks to be exploited by insurance companies without any advocacy whatsoever. And what good is a tax credit if you have no income??
McCain is for lobbyists! Just look at his campaign. Obama is correct - McCain is a risk I can't afford to take!!!!

[hardlyhikin]

11:34 PM on 09/22/2008

with regard to points 3 & 5:

I read that article after Paul Krugman cited it; you may be right that J. McC. didn't "pen" the article but it had his name on the byline. You put you name on the byline, you own it.

Not only is what you've said true, but for those few who would continue to have healthcare provided by their employers, McCain would actually tax as ordinary income the cost benefit of that healthcare.

with regard to point 4: Amen! "Sicko" should be required viewing for all voters.

[fem56]

07:34 PM on 09/22/2008

Just found out from someones post that PBS is conducting a poll to see if people think that Sarah Palin is qualified to be VP. Looks like the mcCain supporters are launching their own campaign to get people to vote yes because yes votes are ahead. Please vote. I had trouble the first time and emailed the address given and was able to the second time I tried.
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html.

[SailFree]

10:10 AM on 09/23/2008

I do think the left-wing plan to flood the poll came first.

[rollingdivision]

06:58 PM on 09/22/2008

McCain has a long history of increasing regulation, campaign finance, tobacco, education to name just a few. This is one of the main reasons many Republicans weren't for McCain, he likes to regulate things.

[Heavenhelpusall]

07:21 PM on 09/22/2008

You must mean pre-21st century? Now he's fundamentally a deregulator. Post Maverick wrinkly white haired dude isn't the same fella that we saw circa 2000.

[filo]

08:15 PM on 09/22/2008

ROTFLMAO !!

Oh wait ! Were you serious ??

[lagumbo]

06:47 PM on 09/22/2008

The pundits wants to keep pushing this ''white women want vote for Obama .I will not let the pundits
speak for me. I am white 64 years old and will never vote for someone who insist on taking my rights from me.

[vetboy45]

06:59 PM on 09/22/2008

huh?

[jimmyg869]

08:26 PM on 09/22/2008

Yeah!!! Here's to free thinking!!!

[rollingdivision]

06:27 PM on 09/22/2008

Once all of our life or death health care decisions are controlled by politicians, I'll rest easy at night. Who are more trustworthy, kind and wise than politicians.

[vetboy45]

06:39 PM on 09/22/2008

So having these decisions controlled by insurance companies is better? I for one would rather have someone accountable to the people in charge over one accountable for making a profit.

[rollingdivision]

09:02 PM on 09/22/2008

There's nothing wrong with a profit. Do you work for free or possibly just subsistence wages or do you try to profit from your efforts? People who want to make a profit have an incentive to please their customers.

[SailFree]

10:17 AM on 09/23/2008

HMOs were a Richard Nixon idea, you might be interested in knowing. It was one of his many ideas which was wrong, though I suspect well-intentioned.

There are many ideas like this such as the quasi--governmental agency Fannie Mae, for example.

Just ask yourself "who has the most interest in your health?" If you think an insurance agent or governmental bureaucrat is the answer, you are truly a left-wing crazy.

Why wouldn't YOU want to make your own health decisions?

[morefromLA]

06:44 PM on 09/22/2008

Oh, so we should trust the healthcare insurers? They've done a hell of a job, just like Brownie. Is that why the life expectancy in this country is near the bottom of the industrailized nations. Is that why the infant mortality rate is near the bottom of industrailized nations. We put our economy in the hands of the deregulated mob (thanks in part to John McCain and his chief financial advisor Phil Gramm) and see where we are. Yes, I'd rather put my trust in our government who gave us social security and unemployment insurance rather than the rabble that has given us unaffordable healthcare and inpenetrable financial instruments of greed.

[rollingdivision]

09:00 PM on 09/22/2008

I have some chance of firing a hospital, health insurer, doctor or HMO. I can never fire the government. If you like the way the government has run things for the last few decades you'll love it when the politicians control your health care. I don't trust politicians and I know once they gain any additional power over us they will never give it back.

[SailFree]

10:14 AM on 09/23/2008

Actually, the well-traveled LIE concerning life expectancy and health in America is based on comparing apples and oranges, or more correctly comparing premature babies to those already a year old in some cases.

It is precisely the SUCCESS of American medicine in treating and saving many premature babies that skew the statistics. We could all babies born alive as live births, while many countries do not even try to save premature babies and choose to count them not at all as even having been born. Indeed, there are a few countries left in the world that don't count a baby as born until it has survived the infant years and reached age 1 year!

If one counted all live births precisely the same, the US life expectancy would be as good or better than any other country within a few tenths of a percent. Please don't spread lies based on deliberately ignoring reality. You have been tricked by people who know the truth and choose to distort it.

[socratiskiss]

06:08 PM on 09/22/2008

Keep it up, Senator O, keep it up!

08BAMA!

[yhgtup]

05:30 PM on 09/22/2008

Barack's ads should hit harder. I have been thinking for the last week or so ------ Dam, I haven't seen an Obama ad since I can remember. And, I live in FL!! I don't understand why Barack does not have more hard-hitting NATIONAL ads, not just cable or online ads. McShiggity has negative ads of Barack showing on the evening news. Reaching a lot of people, ----- forming opinions & images that are hard to overcome when Barack doesn't combat them. Anyway, I registered 28 people this past Saturday, folks!! Can't wait til next weekend to do it again!! How many voters did you register?

[Quotidien]

05:11 PM on 09/22/2008

EXCELLENT AD

DEREGULATION is the hottest buzzword in politics.

He should do more like this. There is so much footage of McCain and Phil Gramm talking deregulation. Make it viral !