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Momma said wonk you out

A VERY WEIRD FORM OF CONSISTENCY.

Not to fill the blog with Arlen Specter related content this morning, but this bit from Meet the Press deserves to be quoted.

MR. GREGORY: Do you support taxing the value of, the value of employer-provided health care for workers?

SEN. SPECTER: No, I'd be very reluctant to do that. Health care provided by employers, which is deductible for them and not added on as income to the recipient, has been the mainstay of health coverage for millions of Americans, and I'd be very reluctant to abandon that.

MR. GREGORY: So the health care reform you would like to see is what?

SEN. SPECTER: I would, I would like to see all Americans covered. I've joined with the Wyden-Bennett plan, has 14 co-sponsors.


The thing about the Wyden-Bennett plan -- the aspect that actually makes it different from virtually every other plan on offer -- is that it ends the tax deduction for employer-provided health care. Come to think of it, though, supporting the Wyden-Bennett plan while opposing its key features is not all that different from becoming a Democrat but opposing against all the party's major priorities.



COMMENTS

Come to think of it, though, supporting the Wyden-Bennett plan while opposing its key features is not all that different from becoming a Democrat but opposing against all the party's major priorities.

That's almost as good as Ben Nelson's opposition to a public plan option because it might be too popular and effective....

But wouldn't it have been nice if David Gregory knew enough about the subjects he's talking about to have pointed out the inconsistency on the air. So the people watching might've made the connection.

What a bonehead. "I support the employer based system....but, oh yeah, I don't support it"

He deserves a good primary challenge.

And Gregory needs to know the subject he is interviewing on.

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Ezra Klein is an associate editor at The American Prospect. An archive of his articles for The American Prospect can be found here.

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