NY Times says President Obama isn't backing away from the Public Option. Don't you love our media?
The news has been fast and furious as we approach Labor Day with media outlets trying to out-do each other with "breaking news stories" about what President Obama will or will not support in the health care fight as we enter the the final few innings of this debate.
Administration officials said Wednesday that Mr. Obama would be more specific than he has been to date about what he wants included in the plan. Doing so amounts to an acknowledgment that the president’s prior tactic of laying out broad principles and leaving Congress to fill in the details was no longer working and that Mr. Obama needed to become more personally involved in shaping the outcome.But the officials said Mr. Obama was unlikely to unveil a detailed legislative plan of his own. And they insisted that Mr. Obama had not given up on the provision that has attracted the most fire from the right, a proposal for a government-run competitor to private insurers, although many Democrats say the proposal may eventually be jettisoned.
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For now, White House officials said, Mr. Obama remains committed to the goal of insuring all Americans and still prefers to foster competition for insurance companies by creating a new government insurance program, or public option.
Chuck Todd said on MSNBC that the White House was only going to support the Baucus Dogs:
...what Chuck Todd thinks, he just said unequivocally on Andrea Mitchell that the Finance Committee bill is Obama's preferred bill, that it is being done with the cooperation of the White House, and that once it is released, Obama will do everything in his power to pass that bill.
The Politico said that Obama was not backing the public option.
We have been saying all along that the most important part of this debate is not the public option, but rather ensuring choice and competition,” an aide said. “There are lots of different ways to get there.”
And Ed Henry on CNN said yesterday in their big breaking story that the White House was negotiating to get a Snowe job.
Ed Henry: My colleague Dana Bash and I have learned from a source, each one of us, that this White House right now is very quietly in serious conversations with Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, a key moderate.
She is basically the last Republican out of those gang of six senators who have been negotiating, really the last Republican that has an open line to this White House right now.
What we're hearing that she's talking about with White House staff is sort of a scaled-back bill that would focus on insurance reforms that both sides could agree to, but would not have a full public option, instead, would have a so-called trigger. What that means in layman's terms is basically that the insurance companies would have a couple of years to make some dramatic changes.
If they do not make those changes, then a public option would be triggered. So, it would be used down the road. They would hope that this would appease liberals by saying it's not completely off the table. And the big hope is that this could bring along another moderate Republican, like maybe Susan Collins of Maine, some conservative Democrats, like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu in the Senate, who don't want a public option, but would sort of potentially be open to a trigger like this.
Basically we still don't know what's actually going to happen until the president takes the stage and speaks to the nation and then even after that, the Baucus Dogs still have to release their bill. And then we move on to the next step in the process. This is a massive clusterf*&k, but getting any type of health care reform passed was never going to be easy. We all knew it, I just thought Axelrod's team would have handled it better from the start.
OK, what's the next big breaking story and what will it contradict? I can just see a bunch of WH aides jotting down suggestions and putting them in a shoe box. When a reporter comes sniffing around, they take turns pulling out a piece of paper from the box and passing along their tip. Repeat as often as necessary. Then at night, all the aides go to the bar, get hammered and laugh as it appears in the news.
Like I've been saying and saying, until we actually have a bill and know what is in it, everyone including the magic mind of chuck todd is just simply guessing what will be in it and trying to appear to be relevant.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
These talking heads and RW pundits are as clueless as ever.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
I thought McSame lost the election. Guess I was wrong.
Not only did he lose the election but his running mate seems to have created a monster in Levi Johnson. She forced him on the campaign trail with the family and now that he's seen fame, he's staying in the news. Funny how Karma works, huh Sarah?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Flailin palin is soon to be hoist by her own petard.
Not sure that its pieces of paper in a hat, I suspect it's blindfolded WH aides sticking a pin in a paper elephant. And besides, Trigger is stuffed.
vote against anybody who obstructed Universal single payer or a Medicare option or who thinks that insurance is a public option.Gobernment is setting itself up for a major house cleaning. Once they're gone, HR-676 can be passed, no matter what kind of screwing the current crop of crooked clowns passes. There is nothing these ass-wipes do that cannot be undone and set to right once they're gone.
First thing...Chuck Todd doesn't think. He blathers. He spews right wing talking points when he is not picking Lindsey Graham's pubes from his lip fur.
is a better pseudonym
will pull the trigger?
Every single politician fighting the public option and in favor of a "trigger" - and what an apt name that is for the metaphorical gun pointed at the head of the uninsured and uninsurable - needs to be confronted with this question:
Exactly how many unnecessary American deaths will it take to pull the trigger?
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fai...
"In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and "transformative" purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner."
And if they're putting the info on their own home page, the apparent intent is dissemination.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
this groop of a-holes are nothing but a repug based bullshit mouth pice.
Giveing them any air time is just like giving fux,drugie,hannide(you can waterboard me=NOT). Why do it. or is it just to keep up the bullshit on boath sides.
Obama is sending out "feelers" to us? If so, he needs to know AGAIN, that we will NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING LESS than a REAL PUBLIC OPTION.
Going to See Whose Naughty or Nice....
I'm not sure where Obama / Ralm is taking us. I don't put much stock in reports from Politico and Roll Call. Those rags make a living sucking up to the Washington Beltway Villagers. And reporting from the Washington Post can make your eyes burn.
What I am sure of is that the Netroots are starting to loose patience with the President. Obama may be losing Progressives, Labor, and the Youth Vote, and that would be a very bad thing for Obama and the Democratic Party. Obama needs their trust.
In Florida, Sen. Nelson (D) has been wishy-washy about the public option. Lately, in townhalls, Nelson has voiced skepticism that he would support a public option. Sounds like he's tanking the public option. It must be noted, Nelson has been fairly Liberal on Medical Issues considering FL is a very big Medicare state. Is Nelson the trend in Washington? Are they killing the Public Option with 1000 paper cuts?
In the past, I've considered myself pragmatic regarding politics. But recently, the public option debate has forced me to make a Donation & Support List in my head. Support the issue and you get a pass. Vote against a strong & vigorous Public Option and I may never trust the likes of you again, as well as my wallet.
Note: If Washington wasn't so corrupt, HR676 would have been passed a long time ago.
If the republican party were sensible instead of being dedicated to the failing of this president, this country would be a hell of a lot better off. If you take the attitude of we just want him to fail along with the right wing nut jobs out of the equation, the rest of country is supportive of anything that will slow down if not halt the hellish rising costs of health insurance.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Is'a been F-ed up for the last 30 years. the guy who started this shit was Nixon. he started the bullshit HMO's and they have F-ed over American people from day one. I knew a lady who worked at a Dr's office. he did not come into work till 9:00am. he started booking women at 8:00am. every 15 minutes.? hell most of the womwn did not see the Dr, they saw a nurse!!!got charged for seeing a Dr. what kind of bullshit is this.
I went to a Dr. had a 2pm appt. got there on time, was put in a room. at about 5:15 pm I got up and opened the door to see just where the Dr was. He was comming down the hall and said it would be a few more minutes. I told him YOU don't have a few more minutes. He kinds got pissed. what do you mean by that. I told him I had a 2pm apt. it is now 5:15 pm. wellI have been backed up. I said,Not my issue, if you have to many people to see, you should not over book. I will give you a half hour, any thing after that, you can pay me for MY time. He said, if I did not like his srevices I could go see some one else. I told his, what service. I told him, you were hired by me for a service, I have had NO service. You are Fired and left. this asshole sent me a bill!!! He never seen me. I sent him a bill for 3hr.
Ant this is the wonderfull medical the right wing nuts want to keep.
we have the best congerssmen in the world. Hell the drug companies and the health insurance companies have been paying them for years,and they don't care if they have a R or a D after there name.
The people with the Gold, control the Gold and every thing else.
know just when we had REAL news in this country. You know, news that has Facts to back it up.
In 2000, there was so much shit out there that had facts to back it up on bush, but not one T V News did any air time on just how immoral, unethical, dishonest, crooked,shady, fraudulent the bush fanily is. Because they did not have any interest in telling the American people the truth. look what NOT telling the truth does.
I expect all the plundits to begin referring to the upcoming speech as "the most important of his Presidency!"
For the most part the media gave bush a pass on everything he did. During that time it was looked at as being un-American and unpatriotic to question the president. Now it seems to be not only American but patriotic to criticize everything the president does. But in both cases the media doesn't bother to actually get out and find facts. Google has become the the replacement for hitting the streets and demanding the tough answers to tough questions.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
I suspect this is the White House throwing out test balloons to see what the reaction is. Here is my reaction:
If Obama does not back a public option he will lose the next election. His base, the people who gave him $10, $20, $50 and went around knocking on doors and registered to vote for the first time or voted for the first time in years, well, these people will just not show up on voting day and will ignore the plea for money. Of course it will not be everybody but how many will it take for Obama to lose the election? This is not a threat, it is just a fact. And also we do not know what the final/end/last bill will be when he signs it so we still have a long way to go.
Many of the 66,882,230 people who voted for Obama did it out of the expectation for "change" and "transparency" - as promised. Anythng less than that will be seen as business as usual and turn off a lot of those voters in 2010 and 2012.
Its not that the repugs will have some one that is worth a shit, people will just stay home. this is just what the repugs want.
...and left stay home in droves, it's the same as casting a vote for a repugnicant.
I don't want to stay home. I want to vote for Obama again but if he turns out to be just like the rest of them what is the point? I voted for some kind of change. I understand that he can't do everything I would like and all that but god damn it. This particular subject was a cornerstone of his campaign. If he loses the election because he did what he said he would do then so be it. At least he fought the good fight. It would be a lot better to lose the election because he did the correct thing than lose the election because he let down his base.
...if he does the right thing, he will go a long way towards energizing the base and getting them out to vote again.
Bingo!!!!
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/healthcare-o...
The wingnut that punched him tried to escape but was held by others until the cops arrived.
Nelson on the public option:
That isn't wishy-washy..its pretty clear he doesn't support the public option.
The weather's nice, sunny, and hot -- 70-80% humidity. Mix the weather and politics and some feisty South Floridians with an arsenal of Spanish insults, you'll never know what you'll get.
At least they aren't biting each other fingers off like in sunny California.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-finger-...
Also, Sen. Nelson can truly suck at walking the tightrope of 50-50 Florida. He just sucks.
I too am willing to wait and see. I don't trust the media. Period! But, if Obama doesn't demand a public option after telling us for 2 years that he would, the Dems will see a serious backlash and I for one WILL stay home. They have a huge majority and if they allow the Snowe, a single member of the minority party and the duplicitous Blue Dogs to put in some bullshit trigger, they're dead. Elections have consequences. Obama and the Dems need to know this as well. Still, I'm willing to wait and see.
Up next...Obama begins working with the Republicans to keep us in Afghanistan.
And he's kept up Bush's domestic spying, hasn't prosecuted Cheney, et al, (And don't forget about FISA).
...work this morning, I heard CNN report that Obama has been meeting with Olympia Snowe to discuss a "compromise" bill that would eliminate a public option and include a "trigger".
If this turns out to be the case, it will be as good as nothing which is what I pretty much expected from the outset.
We have already compromised on a "Single Payer Plan!" That's the Public Option!
...unfortunately, I don't think Obama views it that way. That's why he should have come out very strongly in the first place in favor of single payer. He is so damn desparate to get something done, that he is willing to put through something so watered down as to be no change at all.
and he has no spine! "Change" you can believe in? Yeah, tell me another one!!!
The insurance companies have had more than enough time to reform. They aren't interested in reform. They like their profits just fine thank you. A trigger would be an out and out deal breaker. Jame this lelgislation through with 51 votes! Those who don't vote for it will be dead without union support. In fact, I hope that the Blue Dogs get voted out whether they vote for a public option or not in the end. They've already shown ther willingness to keep things just as they are. They're all dead to me already. I'll be keeping a close eye on their races when the time comes and will be cheering for their defeat!
Sorry, that's jam! By the way, I saw that idiot Scarborough this morning that if the Dems do this through reconciliation, it will destroy Obama's presidency! What a buch of crap that is. What did Scarborough think when Bush did it twice with 54 and 58 votes? I'm seriously hoping Obama delivers a clear and resounding speech and vows to fight for a strong public option. It will not only be a turning point for us, but it will be great to see all the talking heads pissed off that their predictions were so wrong. Let's hope that this is what happens to these trolls! The Republicans will be dead for years to come.
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/white...
I won't use Polito's take, or Raw's or Salon's. All put up within the day. Of course, trigger option isn't new. But pick the outlet that floats your boat.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsv... (link to this same thing, when it first came up months back)
I think it is like the twelve days of Christmas .. but the seven days of pre-speech health care floats.
...a test of House Dem's will, I would hope that their response is still that no bill will get through the House that doesn't contain a public option. I would hope that a trigger would make it DOA.
I have no idea what the game is. Just hit the WSJ now too. Guess you know when someone gets in and read the e-mails. Like the (can back off the?) public option yesterday, it smells like a float.
I agree with you on the progressive House dems.
is language constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning.
what Todd and Henry do for anything that's been constructed.
There's nothing new with Brittney or Chris Brown or Michael Vick or Michael Jackson so the media, with pages and airwaves to, has taken to idle and empty-minded speculation on politics (again).
which is a "kick the can down the road plan".
I'ts the Political Cowardice plan disguised as affirmative action. Why do the heavy lifting of risk taking when you can just push it off on somebody else in the future?
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
what Chuck Todd or Ed Henry think. What are journalists saying???
'IF' the WH backs away from the will of the PEOPLE and the PUBLIC OPTION after taking SINGLE PAYER and using it to demonstrate the LACK of RESPECT for PROGRESSIVES....
Prez Obama and rham emmanuel FDRk YOU!!
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