Because getting it for free will obviously be so much better (UPDATED)

“Having a public plan out there that also shows that maybe if you take some of the profit motive out, maybe if you are reducing some of the administrative costs, that you can get an even better deal, that’s going to incentivize the private sector to do even better.”

(italics, ours)

That's an amazingly telling statement from the President's health care chat last night. The elimination of the profit motive from any transaction will result in the eventual elimination of that transaction. This is pretty basic stuff and for the President to either not know that or (most likely) willfully ignore it, is stunning.

After you pick your jaw up off the floor, check out what Secular Apostate has to say here regarding profits, incentives, sticks, carrots and... tonsils.


(UPDATE #1): Nothing like a "stupid" comment to completely overshadow your press conference. Were tyrannical regimes to be on the receiving end of this bluntness.

And then we have this, courtesy NRO Media Blog:

Blinded by profit, doctors often try to remove tonsils from children. If your doctor wants to remove your child’s tonsils, take some step to make sure it’s necessary.

* Ask the doctor if he’s considered whether the problem could be just allergies or something.

* Ask how much profit will he make from this “necessary” procedure.

* Take your child’s medical files and send it to Barack Obama. He or another qualified bureaucrat will determine whether the operation is necessary.

* Wait eight to ten months for a response.

Remember: Only you can prevent doctors from making a profit off your kids’ tonsils.
In case you missed it, the above is in response to President Obama's quest to save billions by limiting the number of tonsillectomies in America:

So if they're looking — and you come in and you've got a bad sore throat, or your child has a bad sore throat or has repeated sore throats, the doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, you know what, I make a lot more money if I take this kid's tonsils out. Now that may be the right thing to do, but I'd rather have that doctor making those decisions just based on whether you really need your kid's tonsils out or whether it might make more sense just to change — maybe they have allergies, maybe they have something else that would make a difference.