COMMENTARY | A new portrait of Hillary Clinton, based on the recently released papers of a close friend, a political science professor named Diane Blair, reveals little that is new about the once and possibly future presidential candidate.
Most Hillary watchers are well aware that she is ruthless, often to the point of brutality, as well as being entitlement addled. The portrait does provide more examples that illuminate the character of an unpleasant and ambitious person, though.
The one big revelation, which may haunt any future presidential aspirations, is about Ms. Clinton’s real attitude toward health care reform. The former first lady was famously at the head of an effort to impose a system that was similar to Obamacare in the early 1990s, but which quickly fell apart and helped to lead to the Gingrich revolution of 1994. But that effort was apparently only the first step toward her real goal, a Canadian style single payer health care system run by the government.
“On Feb. 23, 1993, Blair joined the Clintons for a family dinner at the White House. The subject of health care reform came up.
“‘At dinner, [Hillary] to [Bill] at length on the complexities of health care-thinks managed competition a crock; single-payer necessary; maybe add to Medicare,’ Blair wrote.
“The account is at odds with public statements by the former First Lady that she never supported the single-payer option.
“In an interview with the New York Times as she ran for president in 2008, Hillary Clinton said she had never seriously considered adopting a single-payer system, in which the government, using funds appropriated from taxpayers, pays for all health care expenses.
“‘You know, I have thought about this, as you might guess, for 15 years and I never seriously considered a single payer system,’ said Clinton in the interview.”
The conversation, it should be noted, took place shortly after Ms. Clinton has been appointed to head President Clinton’s health care task force.
The revelation sets up a potent issue for the 2016 presidential campaign. Whatever Obamacare morphs into by that year, the big question around which the election will turn will likely be what to do about America’s health care system. The Republican candidate will likely push for free market reforms, in effect repealing and replacing Obamacare. Ms. Clinton seems to secretly favor doubling down and having the government, which couldn’t even create a proper signup website, take over the entire health care system and running it. Whether she will publicly support that and how she will spin the revelation of her true beliefs remains to be seen.
