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Obama Picks Fight with Left on Health Reform
Liberal Democrats have insisted a public insurance option is necessary to ensure competition for private insurers. Just this week, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean predicted there could be Democratic primary challenges if a healthcare bill without a public option is approved by Congress.
Dean also told liberal bloggers gathered last week at the "Netroots Nation" convention that the only piece of reform left in the House bill that is worth doing is the public option.
The left wing of the Democratic Party already has been irritated by concessions its leaders have made on healthcare to centrists in the House and Senate.
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) told CNN on Sunday it would be "very difficult" for her and other liberals to support legislation that does not include a public option.
"The only way we can be sure that very low-income people and persons who work for companies that don't offer insurance have access to it, is through an option that would give the private insurance companies a little competition," she said.
Johnson added that House liberals have already told Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that she should insist on White House support for a public option.
Some liberals are already disappointed with positions President Barack Obama has taken since his election.
For example, Obama hasn't moved to repeal the "Don't ask, don't tell" law on gays in the military, to the dismay of some liberals. Others were upset with his decision to not release photos detailing the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Over the weekend, Valerie Jarrett, a close adviser to Obama, was hissed at and booed by some attending the Netroots Nation gathering over the photo issue, according to a report in The Huffington Post.
Still, liberals might have a hard time dropping their support for landmark legislation reforming healthcare over the lack of a public plan, particularly if a final bill does set up co-ops. In addition, the dropping of a public option could make it easier for the bill to attract support from conservative Democrats and Republicans.
Rep. Mike Ross (Ark.), a Blue Dog Democrat who won several concessions for conservative Democrats in a House Energy and Commerce Committee healthcare bill approved by the panel just before the recess, said a final bill by Congress is likely to be written by the Senate Finance Committee.
"It's probably going to have to be bipartisan in the Senate, which I think it should be, and - so I know a lot of members in my party in the House don't want to hear this, but the reality is that what comes out of that conference report, which is what really matters, my guess is about 90 percent of it will be reflected from what's in the Senate Finance Committee," Ross said on CNN.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a key member of Finance involved in negotiations on the panel's bill, all but said a public option is dead in comments Sunday on Fox.
The administration signaled its shift on the public option in comments Sunday by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
Sebelius said that what the president sees as essential is to set up competition to private insurers in the healthcare system. But she said that doesn't have to come from a public health insurance option.
"Well, I think there will be a competitor to private insurers," she said on CNN. "That's really the essential part, is you don't turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices, we need some competition."
A short time later, Gibbs stopped far short of earlier calls insisting on a public plan.
"What the president has said is in order to inject choice and competition ... people ought to be able to have some competition in that market," Gibbs said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Asked if he was hedging on support for a public plan, Gibbs said, "The president has thus far sided with the notion that that can best be done with a public option."
Gibbs and Sebelius seemed to be making clear what Obama had hinted at on Sunday during a town hall event in Colorado broadcast across the country on cable television.
Obama, who has fielded questions at town halls from people worried about the public plan, described it as only a "sliver" or "aspect" of reform.
"The public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of healthcare reform," Obama said at the town hall event in Colorado. "This is just one sliver of it. One aspect of it. And by the way, it's both the right and the left that have become so fixated on this that they forget everything else."
Republicans, signaling a victory, pounced Sunday afternoon on the administration's shift. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) office circulated a list of quotations from Obama to illustrate how the president had previously insisted on including a public option in a healthcare reform bill.
"I also strongly believe that one of the options in the exchange should be a public option in order for us to create some competition for the private insurers to keep them honest," Obama had said in an online town hall on July 1.
135 Comments so far
Show AllDoes anyone out their have the details on the health insurance cooperatives that are being discussed as an option to the public plan and the advantages of the public plan over the cooperatives?
The health insurance cooperatives are private insurers' answer to the public option. For practical purposes, they're no different from the old Blue Cross/Blue Shield coops, the vast majority (all?) of which have been taken private and for profit. Private health insurers pwned the old coops, they'll pwn the new coops. Obama will be able to claim credit for "health insurance reform" and the losers will be the currently uninsured who will no longer have the option of staying that way.
Please note -- I've been uninsured and it's a truly lousy way to have to live in this country. But being forced to buy overpriced health insurance and leave the mortgage unpaid is no great deal, either.
Back during the campaign, I made a lot of Democratic enemies by saying repeatedly that it didn't much matter which Republicrat candidate won. I ended up voting for Obama only because McCain looked old and tired and Palin scared the living crap out of me. (I mean, we'd just managed to barely survive eight years of blithering idiocy. Four more (potential) years of even greater ignorance was just too much of a threat.)
Now I wish I'd voted Green like I wanted to. My "no significant difference" evaluation looks closer to the mark every day.
It sounds like divide and conquer to me. Instead of a single large negotiating bloc, we've got 50+ negotiating blocs. I agree, it's a private insurance company pig, dressed up with lipstick, and a sign saying "racehorse."
Liberals fight on?! When did they start fighting? I must have missed it.
And incidentally, exactly what "public option" are we talking about? The only possiblity that would be worth fighting for isn't even "on the table" and anyone who tries to fight for it gets arrested.
Let's face it. Americans only fight in foreign lands for the corporations, not against them at home.
Good points. Unfortunately, good points.
Obama is very courageous when it comes to killing Afghanis, Pakistanis, and destabilizing other countries--like Honduras--but fighting to enact a major item in his presidential platform--the one that probably got him elected--is proving him a coward. My prediction that this episode would end up being a repeat of 1993-94's failure appears to be correct.
On every single issue of any importance, Obama has proven to be a coward, which isn't really surprising to those of us who researched his background and found it so very shallow. Obama--The Cowardly, Shithead President of a failing Empire.
Right on! The accusations of gutlessness and/or stupidity are much too kind. It's like saying that all the recent and ongoing war crimes were just "mistakes" and "bad judgement."
"Though Democrats are often referred to as "spineless," they are really quite bold & aggressive in fighting for what they believe in."
I would usually here this from Republicans but you're not the first non-Republican I have heard this from.
"Unfortunately, what they believe in is pretty much what Republicans believe in: corporate domination of society, supplemented & abetted by corruption, militarism & imperialism."
Some Democrats I could see that but are you telling me the entire Democratic Party is like that?
Some people say Democrats have no courage, some say they're too bold. Maybe they must be balanced out somewhere? And why would Democrats want to pretend opposition? I'm confused.
Stanley1979 August 17th, 2009 3:23 pm.........I believe you are still under the illusion that there is a difference between the two parties. There may have been at one time, prior to blatant corporate rule, but that was many moons ago. Compare it to MSM wrestling matches. Everyone knows they are fake as hell, but an energy is created in the staged opposition that makes fans go out and pay ridiculous amounts for seats and even PPV. It just keeps the illusion going for a people who are actually pretending to be asleep to the truth. Bread (YOUR bread) and circus (they own the three rings). It's Oz, my friend....time to pull the curtain back abd see who is really running the show...............the USA, INC.
Yes.
In the Empire of Illusion, illusion is the common currency.
Strange Days indeed,
-matti.
I was told before that watching a debate between the Democrats and Republicans is like watching a fake match. I think I'm starting to see what you mean. I understand that the Blue Dog Democrats can be a lot like the Republicans. I just didn't think that all Democrats were bad. The kind of analysis I read here and on truthdig.com I would never find in any newspaper or tv show on the MSM. I'll think about what you and matti said.
Are you kidding?
If not, you need to stop getting your information from Corporatist sources and buck up on your recent political history.
No one is talking about "the entire" anything.
When people like RichM, or myself, or others, write of "Democrats" and "Republicans" we usually mean the leadership of both parties which exert stringent control over the bulk membership of officers and elected officials. Sometimes we mean all or most of the elected officals as well, since their continued membership in the Party represents collusion whether they collude purposely and maliciously or no.
You need to drop the illusionary framework of "Democrats vs. Republicans". It is as untrue a reflection of the real situation in Government and Congress as the "liberal vs. conservative" B.S. is in the population.
The real divide -if we can really call it that- in the political class is between the Corporatist-Imperialists and the Imperialist-Corporatists.
And just like the names imply, the split between them is both vanishingly small and forever flexible, interchangable, and confusing.
All that we the People, who -whether we are of Libertine, Social-Democrat, Progressive, or Constitutionalist bent- are almost ALL Democratists, need to remember about these two groups is that they most certainly are NOT.
And should therefore be approached and listened to only with UTMOST care and caution.
Good Luck,
-matti.
"If not, you need to stop getting your information from Corporatist sources and buck up on your recent political history."
That's why I'm here to learn. Thanks.
"You need to drop the illusionary framework of "Democrats vs. Republicans". It is as untrue a reflection of the real situation in Government and Congress as the "liberal vs. conservative" B.S. is in the population."
When I turn on the tv, the divide you mentioned never stops getting played. My niece told me a few times that this was all a dumbshow but I wouldn't know how. I could be brainwashed and not know it but I don't think I am.
Turn the t.v. off and start reading instead. Start reading leftist blogs and websites.
Not "liberal" blogs - true leftist websites. Most liberals are registered Democrats who support imperialism, war, empire-building, and regressive legislation because, in their world, as long as the "Democrat" is doing it, it's okay. Don't believe me? A good example is the antiwar movement, which has all but disappeared since Obama took office. Obama is practicing the Bush doctrine. Did you know that? It doesn't seem to be pissing off too many "liberals," though.
Better yet, leave the T.V. out on the curb overnight - somebody will take it off your hands for you.
Read Marx's Kapital, and you'll get the entire picture.
RichM, I think you're being too generous to the Democrats. If the whole country actually knew what is going on, yes, it would take guts. But the Democrats don't have to deal with that problem.
However, I grant they are quite bold and aggressive in stamping on any progressives they find. And Obama has shown himself to as diligent as the rest of them at that. How dare he tell us to just shut up about single payer? Who does he think he is? Our master? He's supposed to be our servant. What a joke. I can't believe I once respected him. The joke is on me.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
I would like to comment, but I have to go to the emergency room and have the knife removed from my back. Of course, I don't have an insurance. Maybe I'll get to ride in the chopper though. Just like the old days in 'Nam.
I would like to comment too. But could this administration back up the bus that they threw me under, so I can go to the hospital?
Hey, President Transparency, how come your bill is 1000+ pages, while HR676 is 27?
Has anybody read your bill besides the lobbyists who wrote it?
Hell--most of us were "disappointed" prior to his election. Unlike the hero in the Red Badge of Courage, Obama's been running from himself ever since he won elective office.
This article reflects the almost insane bias of most media. Consider this quote: "The left wing of the Democratic Party already has been irritated by concessions its leaders have made on healthcare to centrists."
So anyone who is even remotely liberal is "left wing." And people who are far to the right of any European conservative party are considered "centrists."
We've been beaten again. At least with the "public option" out of the way, we can devote all health care energies to single payer, as we should have all along.
The moneyed interests have always influenced our country`s policies to some degree, but now they have taken complete control. Our nation will be lucky to survive the greed and corruption we now are witnessing. Big money has perfected the method of making ordinary people work against their own welfare by distorting the truth with the help of the compliant media. The small percent that have most of the assets and income intend to keep it by any way possible regardless of consequences to the country.
Are you saying US elites have USans overheating the bearings on their rat wheels? I noticed that too.
Well, I hope all the "liberals" and "progressives" are satisfied. You have all been betrayed by the Phony In Chief on EVERYTHING! Let's hope you vote for Nader next time. You haven't got the political sense to vote for the man (Nader)and not the image (Oh Bumma). You don't have the guts to speak up when you are betrayed by the jerk you voted into office and you don't have the outrage to take to the streets! Tell me, all you liberal and progressive voters, what are you good for? And, by the way, I'll see you in Hell!
I wrote to the whitehouse.gov this AM after I heard about the idea of losing a worthless "Public" option and restated why I voted for him...I said that the Universal Single-Payer Option (H.R. 676) is the one that he should pass.
I know that it's not in legislature( mostly dead anyway)...my point was to state what I wanted to see...and I'll write to him every day because this issue won't go away.
Now the real prob is my Legislators...the Honorable Sen John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rep Pete Sessions. I have written to them previously about this issue and I'll start bangin' away at them every day from this day forward until.....
I hate to lose, but when the party in the Majority has to give away the farm just to save the horses I must act... act now...act loudly ...act continously.
Was it ever alive or just more of Obama's hot air?
Sebelius sez: ""That's really the essential part, is you don't turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing."
***
You mean, like you did with the financial "services" industry?
The Insurance and Pharmaceutical Lobbyist have won a hands down victory and the stupid, rabid, ignorant, mal- and misinformed idiots who shouted down the town hall meetings have also won a big victory. The ability of Republicans to get poorly informed people to shout for policies that will ruin their own financial future and jepardize their family's well-being is one of these fascinating things that should be studied in political science classes for years to come.
Take a little flag waving, rant about taxes, fail to fund education, conjure the spectre of nigras spending your tax money, claim the other side is soft on crime and terrorists, hint that immigrants are spending your tax money, imply the other side wants your wife to have an abortion, suggest that the gays are spending your tax money, and you can get a conservative moron to vote for just about anyone, including Sarah Palin.
So, "We need a democratic house to get what we want!". Well OK, that didn't work... "We need both a democratic house and senate to get what we want!". Hmm, that didn't work either... "We need a democratic congress AND president to get what we want!.
Right.
Everything from A-Z has been either voted down, nixed or vetoed from these republicans in democratic drag. Every single thing.
Now what, democrats?
They have bailed out everyone but the common People. They continue to expand their murderous illegal wars abroad while continuing to build a police state in our backyards. They refuse to show the photos of their torture. They refuse to give basic healthcare to is citizens while they continue to raid the treasury to take what they want, when they want for whatever they and their friends on K Street want.
moonpie--Do you still send taxes to the national government?
And while this charade goes on, so does the insanity of AfPak, Iraq, Gaza (poor Gazans - now it's 7 articles on 'Healthcare Reform' today on CD.org).
The deficit is ignored, corruption, war crimes, yadda yadda yadda. And soon it'll be election season again.
I posted long, long ago that there will be no reform on this or any other matter. I stand (well, crouch higher, anyway - I am a locust) by that statement.
"Dean also told liberal bloggers gathered last week at the "Netroots Nation" convention that the only piece of reform left in the House bill that is worth doing is the public option."
I doubt it's coincidence that Dean stepped down as DNC chairmen right before they started the push for healthcare.
OK I wrote to them all...that is my legislators.
I will head down to Washington next and start throwing rocks in the Congress halls...
It's time to start the bonfires.
I'll sacrifice myself to get the b******* out of office.
We need to tear it down and start all over again.
Goodbye, you members of the mostly friendly CD community.
I'll think of you as I storm the Bastille and set the prisoners free. Perhaps I might even survive the assault..
Naw what would the be the point of that? Give it all..
They are playing "Good Cop/Bad Cop on us all. It all just cycles and recycles; Republicans in power, voted out; Democrats in power, voted out, etc. Republicans explain and apologize, then Democrats explain and apologize, and on and on. I'll tell you this, Nader ain't the one, but someone with true across the board charisma that actually puts his money where his mouth is, and his actions, with a common sense approach to ALL issues, not beholden to special interest lobbyists, someone like....Brad Pitt? No history to drag him down. Knows how to cut through red tape of bureaucracy, and get things done. Would be welcome in diplomatic circles. On the ticket with Dennis Kucinich. I know that this is going to get blown out of the water.
Brad Pitt? Are you serious, this is what your Progressive Mind comes up with? Brad F'ing Pitt - hahahahaha
No wonder you and your Obama supporters are here bitching about how you get kicked around by BOTH sides of the fence.
You want true reform, True Progress and TRUE FREEDOM and LIBERTY in this country, it is called LIBERTARIAN!
Everyone is FREE to choose the social life they want, without big Government Sperm to Worm Nanny State!
Stop the ILLEGAL Income Tax and ALL Americans would have more Money in their Pockets to get Healthcare.
Stop Spending Billions upon Billions on Killing People in the Middle East - Aka - these ILLEGAL WARS - That Obama keeps EXPANDING - he is a War Monger and He is As Evil if Not More EVIL than George W. Bush!
The Answer lies in Libertarianism - And its Spokesman whom we all (well I already do) should start listening to a little more closely, is RON PAUL!
And then for Congress and Senate we NEED to Vote in People Like Adam Kokesh, Congress New Mexico, Rand Paul, Senate Kentucky and Peter Schiff for Senate as well.
Get off the FALSE Left Right Paradigm and lets Become AMERICANS again, and that Means LIBERTARIANISM!
Ron Paul!
Libertarianism, or "I got mine screw the rest of you", is as bankrupt a political ideology as any of 'em.
I agree.
Can we get back to Planet Earth? Nobody with half a brain over the age of 15 takes libertarianism seriously as a viable political theory.
I do not trust it. I do not trust Ron Paul.
I have followed his speeches over the years.
ONE THING stands out:
while he rails against "big government" - which is correct in the sense ONLY that big government has been USED BY corporations against people - he actually has NEVER spoken out AGAINST corporatISM .
in that sense "libertarianism" is just an APOLOGY for allowing
"survival of the fittest" WITH NO PROTECTIONS whatsoever for the "little people".
BEHIND its facade of "liberty" -- where they emphasize PERSONAL liberty - to do whatever one wishes - regardless of its COST to society -- which is - by extension the SAME kind of :"liberty" oligarchs, tyrants, CORPORATIONS etc...TAKE
in exploiting others --
is really just a "no government that STANDS in the way of EXPLOITING to let ME get MINE"......
it is really a selfish philosophy , imo, pretending to be about "liberty".......
and, imo, is as fake as calling the USA a "democracy" equated with capitalism.
in reality - libertarianism - just listen to ron paul's explanations, but more precisely to what he DOES NOT say (the evils of corporatism , for example, he will NOT TOUCH THAT)...
is just another way of saying "Free market, privatize everything under the sun -- CAPITALISM".
and we all know WHAT THAT does .
all one has to do is SET RON PAUL's Remarks against a SINGLE phrase by the great late canadian,
John Kenneth Galbraith:
"CAPITALISM is the modern way of playing a VERY old game: how to find MORAL justification for GREED and SELFISHNESS".
Libertarianism = capitalism = at its most UNfettered and UNcontrolled
and we have then DOG EAT DOG world.
THAT"s the real "utopia" of people LIKE
very , very RICH Medical Doctor RON PAUL.
no wonder HE's against SINGLE PAYER
"they'll take MY money as taxes to give to those LAZY BUMS who are NOT like ME and MY libertarian FRIENDS"..........
AYN RAND ANYONE?
THAT"s where ron paul and his "libertarianism" REALLY comes from , folks.
Brilliant!
Allow for only a corporately crafted health care reform bill, block single payer, then abandon support for the corporate bill, forcing liberals to either support what they oppose or get nothing.
Isn't lesser-evilism great? Isn't it nice to have the comfort of the lesser-evil instead of fighting for what you feel is right?
As righteously angry as we all are, I think we should note that the Fascists totally out-organized us on this, as they have on just about everything lately. They have a big chunk of partisan media to help them organize. They have the churches. And of course, they are doing the work of the powerful, so they don't have to do as much to have an effect.
The left has only the rapidly-shrinking unions and a bunch of interest groups. We did put millions in the streets to prevent the iraq war, but when they ignored us, there was no plan B. The fact is, we have a strong far-right in the U.S., a very weak Left, and a fascist-minded ruling class. It's not hard to see where this is going.
I just don't know what we can do about it.
True, good points.
I'm not sure what we can do about it either. The Right does have the media and the churches and all, and the Left is shrinking and ineffective.
There are only two things I can see that we can do, and these are the only two options that keep coming around: 1. We give up on our all-or-nothing approach and make some concessions, and/or 2. We opt out of the corporate system as much as we can.
I've been involved with progressive issues for quite a few years and don't see the first happening - we're too wedded to ideological purity. That leaves the second option, yet there is not real movement to do this, though certain movements do support living lightly and appropriately (permaculture, simple-living, etc.). I have brought these up in the past here, but not many have picked it up, so I just figure the subject is not sexy enough.
Suffice it to say that I don't go to many progressive events anymore. The same old, tired people mouthing the same old, tired platitudes.
And the young people? I hope they will come to life and demand change, but I'm not holding my breath. Too many distractions and too much comfort. We all have too much of everything (except health care), so that makes it damned hard to get folks to pay attention and fight for themselves.
Anyway, I still hope that we will get a little something out of this bastard child of a health insurance bill. While biding my time for another opportunity, I'm not too proud to take some crumbs. I hear it's better than starving.
You are quite right about permaculture and light living. However, too few know anything about how to do it. Perhaps a movement spearheaded by folks here to educate as to the goals and methods of said movements would catch on? There are some very bright people here commenting, and as an answer to a question somewhere above (oldest first) as to what can we do? I am not young, but I am still very active, I am a small farmer growing foodstuffs, and I try to instill into those that I know who are willing to listen the values of sustainable farming and light living, and I practice both.
Be Buddist... The Fascist Revanche has arrived... Not with a big bang nor even a whimper... But it is Amerika... If you're young enough, go to Canada... Otherwise wait for the sweet rest of death...
The laughable Liberals and Progressives still do not understand that the Obama-rot began many months ago when this President not only continued the constitutionally questionable "Faith-Based Programs" of his predecessor who believed that God told him what was "right" but also increased the funding of FBP. One of the arguments of our commander-in-spirituality was that "government cannot do everything". That may well be true but Liberals and Progressives should have immediately asked "give us a list of all of your cases, Mr. President". And they should have told our commander-in-spirituality that the continuation of FBP with increased funding would result in political divorce. Now it is much too late. Liberals and Progressives are so compromised already that the conservative core of the Republicans has no trouble swallowing you alive. A person who deeply believes in FBP has not great problems ignoring "single payer health insurance" or drop "public options" when that is needed to save his political skin.
Speaking of "Faith-Based Programs", it pretty much describes the entirety of what liberals and progressives have been left with. I wouldn't count on much charity in return for your faith however.
You may have noticed that I did not use the moniker "Faith Based Initiative" or FBI!
That's surely true. I was really taken aback when the Faith-based Program stayed and expanded. Constitutional Law professor indeed. Remember what happened the last time we had an ivy league professor/college president as President? Hint: Woodrow Wilson, who was, ironically a racist.
The C-Street Family has been organizing and putting their people in positions of media, government and business for 70 years.
Their initial goal was to reduce the power of the unions and roll back the New Deal social programs like Social Security and Medicare.
These people have so many people in their pockets and they operate under the guise of Christianity...although it is no Christianity that most of us would recognize.
In their version of Jesus, he made them rich and powerful in order to bring about his elite kingdom on earth. Thus they can do anything. According to them Hitler was a good example to emulate. The rest of us are not rich and powerful because we are unimportant to Jesus. That, according to C-Streeters, is where church type religion got off course -- worrying about the unimportant people who have no power.
If we are going to defeat these religious despots, we need to identify them, out them and eradicate them from media, government and business.
According to Jeff Sharlet who wrote "The Family" these are just a few of the current politicians who are under control of this cult:
Men under the Family's religio-political counsel include, in addition to Ensign, Coburn and Pickering, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, both R-S.C.; James Inhofe, R-Okla., John Thune, R-S.D., and recent senators and high officials such as John Ashcroft, Ed Meese, Pete Domenici and Don Nickles. Over in the House there's Joe Pitts, R-Penn., Frank Wolf, R-Va., Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and John R. Carter, R-Texas.
Forget public option! Try Medicare for all. It's a simpler piece of legislation to pass. People on it, love it, abortions aren't allowed and no death panels. Just extend it to everyone and let them buy in at 100-200 a month for a family. Poor could easily be subsidized.
Only downside--insurance companies are against it--that's good, no?