Former Obama Official: Americans Should 'Back Off' Obamacare Criticism

Former Obama administration official Melody Barnes says Americans opposed to Obamacare and big government should "back off" from their criticism -- because without effective government, people can die.

Barnes, who was Obama's assistant and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council until January 2012, was appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Friday. Speaking about Obamacare, Barnes said it's "to everyone's benefit that people back off of what was the Reagan administration legacy that government is bad, government workers are bad, and think about how we're going to make this work."

She added that disasters such as Hurricane Katrina prove that "if we don't have an effective federal government, people get hurt. In fact people can die."

Host Joe Scarborough pushed back.

"Why would I back off if I think health care policy is bad for the country in the the long run?" he asked. "The federal government is not competent enough to run it, and the launch has been terrible. (The Huffington Post's) Sam Stein asks the question, 'Are Republicans going to do their best to help this implementation?' No, I don't think they are. And I don't think it means they're unpatriotic if they don't.

Scarborough continued, "Obviously what happened over the past few weeks, Sam, absolutely idiotic and self-defeating, but why should the Republicans say, 'Hey listen, we want to help you implement a program that we think will end private insurance over the next decade'?That goes against everything I believe and millions and millions of Americans believe."

Here's the clip from MSNBC via NewsBusters:

(H/T: NewsBusters)

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