Kurt Schrader on Obama promise: grossly misleading

by Shelby Sebens | Northwest Watchdog

It didn’t take long for opponents of U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Oregon, to cry foul after the congressman blasted President Barack Obamafor misleading the public with his keep-your-plan-under-Obamacare promise.

In an interview with KGW Straight Talk on Saturday, Scrhader responded to questions about the impact of Obama’s promise that Americans could keep their health insurance plans if they like them, which turned out to be largely untrue.

“I think the president was grossly misleading to the American public,” Schrader said in the interview.

Ben Pollock, a Republican who is challenging Schrader in the 2014 election, pointed out Schrader’s support for Obamacare and argues Schrader is misrepresenting his own views.

“This is par for the course for him,” Pollock told Northwest Watchdog. “He votes with the far left, then attempts to cover it up.”

Pollock argues that because District 5 is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, Schrader is attempting to distance himself from a law he has supported.

“Either he didn’t read the bill or he’s being dishonest now,” he said.

A question and answer page on Schrader’s website actually repeated that false statement by Obama stating, “If you are insured and are happy with your current coverage, nothing changes.”

In an interview with the Oregonian, Schrader’s spokesman says the Q&A has been removed and dated back to the law passing.

Pollock wasn’t the only one to jump on Schrader, who has represented Oregon’s District 5 since 2009. Others were skeptical of the bold statement against the president. Some say it’s just another sign Democrats up for election in 2014 are trying to distance themselves from the problem-plagued rollout of the new health care law.

Contact Shelby Sebens at [email protected]

Northwest Watchdog is a project of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity