Give Sam Stein credit for being an honest liberal. Confronted with the CBO's findings about the disastrous job-killing effects of Obamacare, Stein didn't try to spin the unspinnable.
On today's Morning Joe, Donnie Deutsch invited Stein to play a game of Mad Men. Deutsch first sketched out a 30-second ad making the case against Obamacare--that contrary to what President Obama had said, you can't choose your provider and the program costs the country two million jobs. Deutsch then invited Stein to give the 30-second ad in response. Said Stein, much to the amusement of the panel: "The 30-second response is something like: 'Please change the subject to something else.' What do you want me to say?" View the video after the jump.
To say that the the CBO report was so bad as to be unspinnable doesn't mean that some Obama diehards wouldn't try. So there was the White House yesterday claiming, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, "the report is positive because 'individuals will be empowered to make choices about their own lives and livelihoods' and 'have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.' There you have it: the new American dream of not working."
And on Morning Joe, Thomas Roberts pointed to Massachusetts as an example of how an Obamacare-like plan can work, and claimed that the problem with health care in the US has been that the insurance industry as been "unregulated." Right.
Note: so long as we're handing out candor kudos, let's give credit to Stein's fellow liberal, Donnie Deutsch, who after all composed the imaginary 30-second anti-Obamacare ad to which Stein was unable to respond.
DONNIE DEUTSCH: Sam, I want to pick up on Joe's point, because let's play "Madmen" for a second. I do the 30-second ad that says he promised you could choose your provider, he promised it would be good for the economy. You couldn't choose your provider. It cost this country two million jobs. OK, let's play "Mad Men": your turn, not nuanced, give me the 30-second response to that.
SAM STEIN: Thirty-second response is something like "Please change the subject to something else." What do you want me to say?
