It's from a 2006 article by David Sirota.
Mr. Obama Goes to Washington | The Nation
The quotation in context
Obama has a remarkable ability to convince you that his positions are motivated purely by principles, not tactical considerations. This skill is so subtle and impressive, it resembles Luke Skywalker's mastery of the Force. It's a powerful tool for a Democratic Party that often emanates calculation rather than conviction. "I don't think in ideological terms. I never have," Obama said, continuing on the healthcare theme. "Everybody who supports single-payer healthcare says, 'Look at all this money we would be saving from insurance and paperwork.' That represents 1 million, 2 million, 3 million jobs of people who are working at Blue Cross Blue Shield or Kaiser or other places. What are we doing with them? Where are we employing them?"
I gotta wonder what happens, in another five or ten years, when all those mid-level claims denial jobs are just done by the big Insurance AI that spits out a thousand pages of legalese under the heading "No Coverage For You".
those are just efficiencies being found.
when jobs are lost to increase investor profit, that's the unfathomable mystery of sector efficiency improving itself and it is a sacrifice the working class must accept for a better world.
when jobs are lost due to restructuring institutions to improve everyone's lives, that is an unstoppable catastrophe that requires infinite circumspection so it can be avoided.
this is totally not ideological. you can tell because Obama says it isn't.