McCain: Deregulate Health Care

We know that Senator John McCain has a long history of opposing regulation of the market.. Thinkprogress.org has noted these statements of support for deregulation:

— “I don’t think anyone who wants to increase the burden of government regulation…has any real understanding of economics and the economy and what is needed in order to ensure the future of this country.” [McCain Town Hall in Inez, KY, 4/23/08]
– “We need to return to the Reagan years. We need to have fiscal conservatism. We need less government. We need less regulation.” [PBS, 1/25/08]
– “I am a deregulator. I believe in deregulation.” [CNN, 7/13/03]
– “I have a long voting record in support of deregulation.” [St. Petersburg Times, 6/5/03]

Apparently, only in the past few days has the Repub presidential nominee has changed his tune. In an article, "Better Care At Lower Cost For Every American," in the September/October (that's September/October, 2008) issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries, the Arizona Senator writes

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

Yes, it worked so well for the financial services industry, we have to try it for health care. Or, as Senator Obama put it today at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida "So let me get this straight -- he wants to run health care like they've been running Wall Street."