One of the things that we’re putting a huge amount of emphasis on is the issue of consumer protection, you know, whether it’s subprime loans that were given out because nobody was paying attention to what was being peddled to consumers; whether it’s how credit cards are handled; how annuities are dealt with; what people can expect in terms of understanding their 401(k)s.
There’s a whole bunch of financial transactions out there where consumers are not protected the way they should. And that’s why we said we’re going to put forward a consumer financial protection agency whose only job it is to focus on those issues.
As one of those options, for us to be able to say, here’s a public option that’s not profit-driven, that can keep down administrative costs, and that provides you good, quality care for a reasonable price as one of the options for you to choose, I think that makes sense.
Q: Wouldn’t that drive private insurance out of business?
OBAMA: Why would it drive private insurance out of business? If — if private — if private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care, if they tell us that they’re offering a good deal, then why is it that the government, which they say can’t run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That’s not logical.
