Video Shows Obama Denouncing the 'Cadillac Tax'

Blogger and video producer Lee Stranahan has produced a video that includes footage of Barack Obama denouncing the so-called 'Cadillac tax' during last year's Presidential campaign. Stranahan, who is an uninsured husband and father, accompanies his video with a voice-over lament describing his disappointment in the President for supporting the tax. The President is seen saying these words on the video:

John McCain calls these plans “Cadillac plans.” ... What if you’re one of the steelworkers who are working right here in Newport News, and you’ve given up wage increases in exchange for a better health care? Well, Senator McCain believes you should pay higher taxes too. The bottom line: the better your health care plan – the harder you’ve fought for your good benefits – the higher the taxes you’ll pay.

You see, Senator McCain would pay for his plan, in part, by taxing your health care benefits for the first time in history.

It's certainly harsh for Lee to denounce the President's health plan as being "built upon lie after lie." And Lee's use of the word "flip flop" is pretty strong language, too. I can't say that I "don't trust" the President. I'd rather think he changed his position as the result of poor advice. But Democrats would be well-advised to consider reactions like Lee Stranahan's before finalizing their health plan: his voice is, to a certain extent, the voice of the party base.

Hopefully the President will be made aware of the many new studies and papers refuting the assumptions behind this policy, and will come to understand that the tax is unfair, ineffective, and naively designed.

Watch the video and judge for yourself:

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future