Bill Clinton: Obama Should Honor His Health Promise

Let people keep plans if they want, says former president
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 12, 2013 3:36 PM CST
Bill Clinton: Obama Should Honor His Health Promise
Bill Clinton addresses attendees after receiving the Harvard School of Public Health's Centennial Medal in Boston last month.   (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

President Obama has apologized for his false promise that anyone who liked their health plan could keep it under ObamaCare, but Bill Clinton thinks he should go one better: Honor the promise. Here's the quote he gave to new website Ozy.com that's getting attention:

  • "I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got."

White House spokesman Jay Carney downplayed the suggestion of a rift by noting that Obama has previously said he's ordered aides to find a solution to the problem. But the New York Times explains that Obama favors some kind of administrative fix rather than a legislative one because he doesn't want to put ObamaCare back in the hands of critics who want to scale it back or repeal it. This isn't the first time, of course, that Clinton has gone against White House, and Politico observes that these splits often occur "at crucial times that leave the current president in a tough spot and exacerbate tensions that date back to the 2008 campaign." (More Bill Clinton stories.)

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