Bill O'Reilly Endorses Public Option in Health Care Reform
September 17, 2009 at 04:04 pm
Bill O'Reilly, who used to call public option "socialism", now seem to have turned around and supported a government health insurance plan for the poor.
In an interview with Nina Owcharenko of Heritage Foundation, O'Reilly said he thought if government could provide cheaper insurance, it would be a plus for the folks. He said Americans should put ideology aside if the government can do a good job.
Here is a short transcript of the interview:
O’REILLY: The public option now is done. We discussed this, it’s not going to happen. But you say that this little marketplace that they’re going to set up, whereby the federal government would subsidize insurance for some Americans, that is, in your opinion, a public option?
OWCHARENKO: Well, it has massive new federal regulation. So you don’t necessarily need a public option if the federal government is going to control and regulate the type of health insurance that Americans can buy.
O’REILLY: But you know, I want that, Ms. Owcharenko. I want that. I want, not for personally for me, but for working Americans, to have a option, that if they don’t like their health insurance, if it’s too expensive, they can’t afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.
