Obama criticizes McCain’s “deregulator” status

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama slammed GOP nominee John McCain for calling himself a “deregulator” and for comparing his approach to the banking industry to his ideas for the future of health care.

Speaking in Charlotte on Sunday, the Illinois senator railed against deregulation, blaming it for the current troubles in the banking industry.

{mosads}Obama referenced an opinion piece McCain wrote in the current issue of an actuarial magazine, in which the Arizona senator says the health care industry should be deregulated in a similar manner to the banking industry.

“As anyone who has health care knows, the one thing we don’t need to do is give insurance companies an even freer hand over what they charge, who they cover, and what they’ll cover,” Obama said, according to prepared remarks.

“The radical idea that government has no role to play in protecting ordinary Americans has wreaked havoc on our economy. And we cannot let this dangerous philosophy spread to health care.”

In this month’s issue of the American Academy of Actuaries magazine, McCain writes about giving people more competing health care options by allowing them to purchase plans across state lines.

“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,” McCain wrote.

Obama said McCain “says he wants to do for health care what Washington has done for banking.”

McCain said in an interview aired Sunday night on CBS’s 60 Minutes that he doesn’t regret his work over the years to deregulate Wall Street.

“I think deregulation was probably helpful to the growth of our economy,” McCain said.

“We’re going to have the taxpayer help you out, but when the time comes and the economy recovers, then anything that’s gained back is going to go to the taxpayers first.”