As First Lady, Hillary Clinton bashed the individual mandate, back when it was a Republican idea for healthcare reform, according to newly released archives from the Clinton administration.
In a speech before Senate and House Democratic leaders and committee chairs in September 1993, when Hillary Clinton and the White House were trying to push through a healthcare overhaul, Clinton said proposing the individual mandate would “[send] shock waves through the currently insured population.”
Clinton offered explanations of some of the facets of the proposed overhaul, asked for feedback, and talked about the politically difficult aspects. She then turned to the Republican alternatives, one of which, at the time, was the individual mandate, which is now a component of Obamacare that is much-reviled by Republicans.
“That is politically and substantively a much harder sell than the one we’ve got — a much harder sell,” she said, according to the transcript.
“I believe we’ve got the better argument,” she said.
