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From the troves released by the Clinton Library (which I actually visited on my drive from Louisville to Houston), we find this memo noting that the President should tone down his promise that people can keep the doctor of their choice under Hillarycare. Imagine that. Specifically, they objected to the line “You’ll pick the health plan and the doctor of your choice.” They asked “Can we get away with it … I am very worried about getting skewered for over-promising something here we know full well we won’t deliver.”

The line in question didn’t make it into the final speech. Here is the closest line I could find.

Our goal is health insurance everybody can depend on – comprehensive benefits that cover preventive care and prescription drugs, health premiums that don’t just explode when you get sick or you get older, the power – no matter how small your business is – to choose dependable insurance at the same competitive rates that governments and big business get today, one simple form for people who are sick, and most of all, the freedom to choose a plan and the right to choose your own doctor.

In my book talk, I discuss how the Obamacare supporters learned the lesson of Hillarycare–if you wanted to sell health care reform, you had to promise that people could keep their doctors. You didn’t have to keep that promise. But you had to lie until the law was passed, and people found out what is in it. I’m glad the Clinton Administration had a stronger preference for truthiness.

When the New York Times questions the President’s authority, you know he’s in trouble.

The Obama administration said Friday that it would allow some people to receive federal subsidies for health insurancepurchased in the private market outside of health insurance exchanges. The sudden shift was the latest in a series of policy changes, extensions and clarifications by federal officials trying to help beneficiaries and minimize political damage to Democrats in this election year.

Federal officials said they had agreed to provide such assistance retroactively because technical problems had prevented consumers from using online exchanges to obtain insurance and financial aid in some states.

Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon, a Democrat, had specifically asked the federal government to allow financial assistance, in the form of tax credits, for people buying insurance outside the state’s troubled exchange. Other states running their own exchanges, including Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and Minnesota, have also experienced technical difficulties, creating political problems for their governors.

The Obama administration’s decision came as a surprise because the Affordable Care Act is clear: Federal subsidies are available only to people who enroll in a “qualified health plan” through an exchange.

The Administration can’t unilaterally decide to give money to people out of the blue. There is absolutely no statutory authority for this. I’ll spare you the rant, as I’ve done it many times before. This lawlessness is appalling. 

Update: Here is the legal “authority” for this change.