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?”
Every single public outcry for social progress is treated like some childish, naive demand for an undeserved treat. I wonder if he bothered to consider that a one time event of a million or so people losing their jobs is a much smaller catastrophe than the cumulative immiseration and murder perpetuated by allowing the health insurance industry to continue existing.