For Immediate Release Wednesday, August 12, 2009
President seeks to assure voters by promising health care will be run like the mail
WASHINGTON — America’s third largest party Wednesday took aim at comments made by President Barack Obama in a New Hampshire press event Tuesday, in which he took questions from a pre-selected audience. Obama compared his proposed government-run health care system to the nation’s postal system, which he admitted is ‘always having problems.’
‘My answer is that if the private insurance companies are providing a good bargain, and if the public option has to be self-sustaining…then I think private insurers should be able to compete. They do it all the time. I mean, if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems,” said Obama.
‘For once, President Obama is right. His proposal for government-run health care is exactly like the current government-run postal system,’ said William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee Chairman.
‘Like the postal system, which is cutting post offices, delivering less often and runs multi-billion dollar deficits, government-run health care always leads to fewer facilities, rationed care and crippling deficits,’ said Redpath. ‘Obama admitted the postal system he wants to model health care on is ‘always having problems.’ It’s one thing to have ‘problems’ when delivering a Christmas card on time. It’s a matter of life or death when the government-run health care system is ‘always having problems.”
Libertarians urge Democrats and the White House to make health care accessible and affordable by dropping massively unpopular plans for government-run care and to instead repeal laws restricting competition in the health insurance industry.
‘Like most Americans, Libertarians oppose government mandates that force you to pay for coverage you don’t need, driving up costs. Libertarians also believe you should be able to pool together freely to buy group plans and should be able to shop across state lines,’ said Redpath.
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 (BlackBerry) or 202-333-0008, x. 225 (office,) or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org .
The Libertarian Party is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org . The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.
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