Barack Obama, Henry Gates and James Crowley were inside the White House gates tonight having a beer.

Outside the gates, Single Payer Action was milling with the crowd peering in.

Sam Husseini carried a sign that read:

“My beer: Woodpecker Cider. My healthcare reform: single payer.”

Russell Mokhiber carried a sign that read:

“My beer: Coors Light. My healthcare reform: single payer.”

Husseini says he likes Woodpecker Cider because “it taste great, and it’s good for you.”

“Kind of like single payer,” Husseini said.

Husseini says single payer will get rid of the insurance companies, save money, and insure everybody.

“But the health insurance companies don’t want it,” Husseini said. “They’re flooding Congress and Obama with money. They’re nixing that possibility.”

Mokhiber said that he wants a beer summit that brings together the insurance industry executives and their victims.

“We believe in the death penalty for the insurance companies,” Mokhiber said. “It would be like a last beer summit.”

“Obama actually advocated for single payer in 2003,” Mokhiber said. “Obama said we would get single payer once we took back the White House and Congress. Now that they’ve taken back the White House and Congress, they’re in the back yard drinking beer instead of pushing for single payer.”