Rahm Reassures Angry House Members that Obama Backs Public Plan, No Trigger
UPDATE: Harry Reid has kissed and made up with the Finance Committee Republicans. So much for that momentary attack of leadership!
I think it's pretty clear that Rahm's original statements were some kind of trial balloon. I know some of you would like to think Rahm was acting as a loose cannon, but that's just not the way political operations are run, especially at the White House level.
It's just as clear that the pushback from every direction has sent a very strong message to the White House. That's why Rahm rushed to meet with members of the Democratic caucus last night: to quell the firestorm. Nice work, everyone! Don't let up on the pressure, because Obama may yet compromise on the public option:
Liberal groups on Tuesday made it clear that they are not happy with news reports that the White House may be considering alternatives to a public plan in health care reform.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chairman of the 77-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, fired off a letter to President Barack Obama warning him against dropping a public insurance option from health care reform plans.
Grijalva described the “alarm and dismay” he felt after reading a Wall Street Journal story that cites White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel offering support for a “trigger” mechanism, under which a public plan option is only part of health care if the marketplace fails to provide sufficient competition on its own.
“I want to be crystal clear that any such trigger for a strong public plan option is a non-starter with a majority of the Members of the Progressive Caucus,” Grijalva said.
“Moreover, I consider it unacceptable for any of the cost savings that you are negotiating with hospitals and other sectors of the health care industry to be made contingent upon a robust public plan option not being included in the final legislation,” Grijalva continued.
Obama sought to ease liberals’ concerns by issuing a statement that reaffirms his support for a public option. But many House liberals remain concerned that Emanuel is still pushing a deal for hospitals.
And in a meeting last night with House Democrats, Rahm Emanuel reassured rebellious members the president strongly backs a government-run public plan:
Progressive Caucus Co-Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) warned Emanuel that he would lose the caucus’ votes if the White House compromised on the issue and included a “trigger” that could delay a public insurance plan indefinitely. The trigger idea is backed by conservative Democrats but is anathema to liberals.
“We have compromised enough, and we are not going to compromise on any kind of trigger game,” Woolsey said she told Emanuel. “People clapped all over the place. We mean it, and not just progressives.”
Now, let's parse what Rahm continues to say. Obama "strongly backs" a government-run public plan - but is not willing to draw a line in the sand? What, then, does "strongly back" mean to Obama? He simply shrugs and says, "Whatever"?
Emanuel met with House Dems yesterday to reassure them that the President remains firmly behind the public option. But it’s still not quite clear what Rahm said or how strongly the White House remains committed to it.
Here’s how Rep. Henry Waxman, who says he was reassured by the meeting, characterized what Rahm said:
“He doesn’t stand by that trigger,” Waxman said. “He said the president and his administration and he are for a public plan as one of the options.”
The claim that Rahm “doesn’t stand by” the trigger is a bit opaque. If it means that Rahm took back his claim that the White House sees the “trigger,” which many see as a back-door way to kill a public plan, as a viable option, that will reassure many Dems.
However, if Rahm said that the President backs the public plan as “one of the options,” that doesn’t really go much further than what the President said yesterday, which left the White House plenty of wiggle room on this question.
In other words, it looks now like Rahm told House Dems that the President strongly backs the public option, but isn’t willing to draw a line in the sand over it. Which, of course, is what Obama has been saying all along.
that Dems should get their sh*t together and agree on a plan: single payer ot public.
If you need funds to pay for essentials, you have a revenue problem
If you need funds to pay for frivolity, you have a spending problem
Obama and the Democrats *have* drawn a line in the sand -- they're against single payer.
Bill Maher had it right when he said that the Democrats are the new Republicans, and the Republicans are just nuts. Truly progressive and liberal ideas have essentially no Senatorial representation.
Sanders and Feingold off the top of my head.
to represent the progressives.
The 2 party system has failed us.
I would settle for a second party.
Currently we ONLY have the REPUBLICRATS!
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Find a way to get rid of the electoral college and have instant run-off elections and the public financing of elections.... HOLY SHIT, we'll get a truer representative government.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
Call it the DFH's.
George W. Bush confirmed in me the fact that I was a Progressive. Today, it's the Demo Senate that telling me that I may not be a Democrat.
Kleptocracy is so confusing sometimes.
As John Lennon sang in "A Day In the Life"... "... we know how many
assholes the are in the House of Lords." I say get rid of the present Senate and give us a unicameral proportional representative body as the House of Rep or Parliament. This 200+ year old compromise is for the birds.i don't understand! ever heard of al haig?
hozacome that doesn't make me feel any better...
rahm and his fellow neoliberal thugs are the crux of the dem's problems today.
Stop saying 'health care reform'. At least until there is reform in the PAYMENT for health care.
Health care payment must come from a single source.
Single payer.
Healthcare reform will follow.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
This is the letter I just sent to the President:
Dear Mr. President,
While you and your staff of loose cannons may not want to draw a line in the sand on a public option, you need to realize that up to 75% of Americans are drawing a line in the sand. Most of those Americans wanted Universal Healthcare that took the profit completely out of our healthcare system, but since you have taken it off the table completely without the consent of the American people who put you in office in the first place, a public option is as far as I am willing to compromise on this issue...PERIOD!!!! That is my line in the sand Mr. President. Make note of it!!!!
It's good to know others are saying the same thing the same way that I am. Somehow it makes me feel a little less threatened.
I can't help feeling Rahm answers that email box at the WH.
Open Letter to the Democratic party
Haven't drawn a line in the sand? Okay, let me help with that:
No public option, no support.
Not one thin dime.
Not one cast vote.
Public health care or no support, no vote, no money, no nothing for any Democrat, ever again. Ever.
I grew up under Reagan and after seeing what that vicious bastard did to this country, I vowed never to ever, ever, ever vote for anyone who would associate themselves with that party. And I haven't.
I'm at that point with the Dems. Either we get this, or I'm Green/Indy from now until the rapture.
Oh, and I swear, if any of you say "elect more Democrats" I'm going to sock you in the eye.
I am beyond frustrated.
Oh, and LOL at your last sentence. Nicely put!
This really is the last straw with me. I have no tolerance or charity left in me for corrupt Democrats, no matter how slight" the corruption. Not an iota.
Likewise here.
Not one whit of tolerance for any more corruption.
I am sick of it.
There won't be 60 votes in the senate.
Let the Blue Dogs howl. If the Democratic party can't deliver unity on this, then they're not a party and they don't deserve any more support or attention.
The Democrats can join the Republicans on the trash heap of history if they screw this up.
Pressure the Whitehouse by going to 'firedoglake' and telling your Congress member to take the PLEDGE!
http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/publicoption
They need to Take the Pledge to vote against any health care bill that doesn't have a public plan which is:
available nationwide
on day one
and accountable to Congress and the voters
If they haven't taken the Pledge, CALL THEM!!
'Public Option' is bollocks
me-oww!
to a strong public option that is administered solely by the government, is open to all without condition or any manner of limits, includes long term care, mental health and is free of any form of qualification hurdles that I will accept without retribution in the polling booth, is HR-676( which should and would have been at the very top of the list, if only the people running the show actually gave a happy damn about the welfare of all Americans).
It is insane that we are even considering a system that includes insurance companies, for profit hospitals and HMO's and an unregulated Pharma oligopoly. It's batshit, crazy insane. Even more unbelievable is that we have to fight for a single payer system or its red-haired step child, half-assed substitute: the "Public Option"...especially since we never seem to have any trouble at all coming up with trillions on short notice for wars without end(Amen), giga-corporate welfare programs to bailout the bankster industries or a myriad other scams all designed to fleece the people and the nation of its wealth by transferring it into greedy underserving private coffers.
Politicians who screw the People out of a strong, conditions free Public Option should make sure their resumés are up to date, so that they can go to work for the corporations that bribed them once they have been voted out of office.
Right on. Because, even if we "win" and get the public option, they'll strangle it in its crib.
I think that that is the only reason they are putting forward a public plan...so that they can kill it and make it ineffective after the fact. The only comfort I can take is knowing that there is nothing these corrupt bastards can do that cannot be undone and set to right once they have been tossed out of office.
The gov't of Amerikka (Dem/Rep) has been moving more and more to the right. There are no liberals in gov't just bought and paid for Dems and Reps; one leaning to the right the other so far right that we may need to invent another word for that direction.
with an administration that got its way - no exceptions - on some of the most pernicious legislation ever passed. Remember "If you're not with us, you're against us"? If the Democrats cannot work with the WH and deliver a coordinated, forceful, impassioned message on legislation that will actually HELP people and then DELIVER on that message without mixed signals or "trial ballons" or hemming and hawing, then we are really sunk.
Obama needs to step up to the plate and say "this is what I want and this is why I want it and if I don't get it there will be hell to pay" with the full backing of his administration.
..I'm all for marching on DC if it isn't passed. I'm all for the third party-never-voting-for-D's ever again and a lot of what's been said,..
There is a line in the sand. If the USA doesn't get Single Payer, there will be a lot of noise rising from the electorate.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
when the march happens and I will be there.
:)
Corruption favors the wealthy.
!
There are a lot of really pissed off people in this country, and we're ready to air our grievances...
Now...all I gotta do is figure out the logistics of gettin to DC from the keys on a shoestring budget, AND get back in time to keep my job.
There are Rally's all over the country tomorrow at noon. Go to MoveOn.org to find the one in your area. Then, you can save some money and the environment at the same time. HT to fiver
Thanks!
There's two in Miami tomorrow, one at 12, and one at 4...
Gonna try go to the one at 4.
Thursday, July 9
174 Rallies Nationwide (so far)
Take a Lunch. Bring your friends.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
signed up and will be at Sen. Cornyn's office tomorrow at Noon. Thank you very much for the information!!!!
it's SINGLE PAYER, all the way baby.
Public option will leave a gaping hole for the private sector to jump into, they'll whine about costs being unfair, then the gov't will fuck US over, to placate the private insurers, guaranteed. It's happening now, and we've had this Public/Private bs since LBJ.
OK we compromised. In the 60s. And you assholes want HOW MANY MORE DECADES to prove your way won't work ever?
PS. Rahm Emanuel is the same sack of poop I said he was in January, maybe worse, now that he's drunk on power -- the power of a gatekeeper to the Pres. Very bad asshole to be in that position.
me-oww!
Didn't Obama and Sebelius make some remarks about how the public option would be rigged to NOT become single payer. Who wants to bet it'll have income requirements as well as limits to how many people can sign up for it and other idiotic restrictions? This assuming it even makes it past all the "negotiating and compromising".
What with the carnival barking, Three Card Monty, pea under the shell wagers, fortune telling, other frauds and fictions, Congress should pack its tents, go on the road and leave governing to the corporations that actually own the carnival.
Oops, moved comment here
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
I have an idea! Why do all you Liberals feel that we owe you Free Health Insurance paid for by the rest of us?? Have you ever thought about getting a real job or is that too much like REAL work. Who is gonna pay for all this crap?? You probably don't work so you won't pay the higher taxes. I have worked for 42 years+ and no one has given me anything and I haven't asked for anything. Give that a try!
not all real jobs offer insurance, not all "real" jobs pay enough to support insurance costs for families. please dont be such a retard as to assume that the only people calling for single payer or some sort of public funded solution are all unemployed liberals. thats just dumb.
Another parody poster.
Great winger imitation, son. Have a nice day.
me-oww!
this is an excellent example of someone who can't grasp anything past the twinkie on the dashboard
you motherfuckin troll bastard.
What I DON'T have is HEALTH INSURANCE!
Bring something real to the table or STFU!
Fuckin POS redneck troll bastard.
I BET you wouldn't say shit like that to my fuckin face you shit talkin coward.
Y'all need to recognize, y'all don't run shit anymore. Your pathetic little GOP lost and hoooo-dawgies did they lose big.
So either, step aside, let us fix y'alls clusterfuck, or get the fuck out of MY country so we can live without your constant BS projection and cognintive dissonance.
Ditto.
*
a real job and I have health insurance and I am a liberal, but I hate the idea that corporations make money off of other people's misery and I'm sick and tired of seeing people suffer without health insurance. Bet you are glad you only had to work a 40 hour work week and get paid overtime when you work over 40 hours? That's liberalism in action baby!!!! Like one poster said. STFU and move out of the way so we can fix your f**ked up mess.
Idiot.
My last job in the US to offer health insurance was Engineer II at Motorola back in 1998. They basically started laying people off after their satellite internet service dream went up in smoke aka Celestri/Teledesic for those of you familiar with the project. After that, none of my employers offered any.
My last job in the US certainly didn't offer it, I had to pay for my own and I was paying $1100 a month and it didn't even cover prescriptions. Also had ridiculously small number of doctors available to me as not everyone accepted that insurance.
Seems to me that if you were any good at it (in this mythical meritocracy) you could have retired by now.
You'd probably be less grumpy too.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Don't you want free health insurance paid by yourself? Or do you prefer that your tax money didn't go to yourself?
You don't want to pay higher taxes and finally get something for YOURSELF in return? You prefer to pay higher taxes so the Iraqis can have universal healthcare and all the other countries in our empire.
Doofus. I have worked for 42 years also, and I want my tax money to go to me - SINGLE PAYER MEDICARE FOR ALL. I guess you prefer to pay your own way with private insurance. Good luck with that.
I'm truly impressed . . . .
*
If the Dems screw this up I am not sure if they will win the next election but it will be by default if they do. I expect many people will not bother to vote for either party and it might be the best time for a third party to form. Lord knows a third is needed because these two are now more or less the same party playing good cop, bad cop.
Why do Repukes cry and whine about who will pay for it when they didn't say a f%$!n word for 8yrs when Bushco ran the country into the ground.
Weren't they also spending a billion a week of your precious tax dollars on Iraq; wouldn't that have paid for universal health care so that America could join the rest of the western world. It's always the same with some; I've got mine Jack....f&^!you.
...tries to set the stage for a sell-out, if there is a huge outcry from Congress and concerned citizens, the odds are good that the administration will retreat.
It's hard to believe there is anyone left in the US who doesn't understand that Obama won't lead from the front -- he has to be pushed, shoved, threatened, and cajoled from behind. There is no chance that we'll get a single-payer health care system out of this president and Congress, but the public option remains a possibility if we keep the pressure on our senators, representatives, and president.
While I don't have much hope that the public option will provide the reform we need to make our health care system significantly better, it is a step (baby step) in the right direct. Successful passage of a strong public option is excellent practice for the really big challenge ahead -- junking the worthless system we have now and replacing it with a universal single-payer system.
and the will thus treat you like the repugs treat democrats. if you do not stand up for single payer, you will never get single payer.
________________
common sense matters as much as truth
How DARE he be honest and straightforward!?!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/08/howa...
I want a universal, socialist, government-run national health care system. So do most Americans. If it's run as well as our socialist public school system, then that will do nicely. Nobody demands or expects perfection from a national public health system, but we do expect our leaders to be honest about it, and we do expect our leaders to make it a real, practical, viable alternative to the vampire middlemen of the private HMO system.
Oh, and who do these people think they're fooling if they try to fake it in any way? Do they think the American people are as stupid and blind as we were ten years ago, before the internet? Do they think they can sneak a bogus plan through congress and sell it to us like some cheap used car huckster?
Grow up, get real, be honest and do your god damned job. We see you now. You won't get away with sneaking anymore. We'll tell The People, and We won't be pleased.
It's playing for time. Billions are still being made every month. If they can delay this for three years, how much is that worth? It's simple math; it just has lots of zeros.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
I think it's pretty clear that Rahm's original statements were some kind of trial balloon. I know some of you would like to think Rahm was acting as a loose cannon, but that's just not the way political operations are run, especially at the White House level.
It's just as clear that the pushback from every direction has sent a very strong message to the White House.
If "pushback" actually worked, then why in the hell isn't C&L pushing for Single Payer healthcare instead of riding Mr Obama's (and the Demoblican Party's) coat tail to devastation?
Are you people this dense or Party clownish as to not see the hypocrisy?
Sucks.
That's it. That's what the Dems and Obama need to call it - Medicare for All (MFA). It's that simple. Who's going to be against that? People currently on Medicare? I don't think so.
Drop the Single Payer nomiker and Socialized Medicine. It's simply Medicare for All. Phase out the insurance companies (although I would prefer an immediate drop) and cover all Americans with Medicare (then you can get rid of Medicaid and make the conservatives happy).
Medicare for All.
Medicare for All.
Medicare for All.
Keep pushing that title until it sticks. Everything is marketing.
Well - for starters - the public plan sucks and isn't what it should be - single payer. That is absolutely the system we should be getting.
However - if Rahm, or Obama - or any of the know-nothings trying to bamboozle the American people - think that they can get away without giving us REAL reform this time - then they'd better think again.
Americans can't afford to wait any longer and we aren't going to roll over for their BS this time.
*
I'm getting emails from various organizations who imply that Obama's idea of a Public plan is insurance reimbursements of some sort. That is not going to cut it, because it still forces me to deal with the criminals who run the insurance rackets. Public option had damn better mean Medicare or the equivalent, or that the government becomes the single payer.
Giving these criminals tax payer's money is itself a crime.
These Democrats better get their act together and pass health care with a public option. It was no mistake why these people were elected to hold a super majority and the reason was to get these things done. To turn their back on the American public and take the lobbyist positions and cash is a slap in our face and we will vote you out next time. The internet has become our great equalizer and your legacy is in the balance.
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