I spoke about this happening a few weeks past over at KOS and has expected many individuals started trying to whip my ass for saying such a horrible thing. However, for those of us who have been around the block a few times knew that the perverse penchant for bipartisanship, muddled message, and backroom deals with the exact entities we should be writing legislation to prevent the damage they are doing was going to take its toll.

I again say without a shadow of a doubt that if President Obama, Axelrod, and Plouffe do not regain the message that inspired a nation and leave it to Rahm and the Blue Dogs his numbers will be in the 30-40% overall and in the 60% range with Democrats. The Progressive Base is not much into selling out – even if it comes from a President that has what we perceived to be all the potential in the world for greatness.

I can’t believe Rahm didn’t see that train coming

oooh may I ?

Jane,

have been thinking about this very thing since you laid out the WH gambit so clearly these past few days

Why should he have seen this coming ? they have never been challenged like this before – not on the Occupation, not FISA/civil liberties, nuttin’. He had no reason to suspect the Hamsher Express would start in so early in the process and stay on task. Afterall, he built the damn veal pen. I know it’s simple but the difference was significant.

plus I’m of the opinion, Master of the Electoral Universe clearly saw this as just one more game to play – albeit with bigger, more influential players with the usual arm twisting thrown in – but when you treat everything like a damn board game, a mere means to amass more power and cash instead of a genuine opportunity to effect positive change for your country – you may not hear that train whistle

Rahm is way overated.

What did he really accomplish under Clinton?

That’s why he didn’t figure it out. They really are not that good at what they do.

Jane and Glenzilla have done a lot of work in exposing the Obama /Rahm Heath reform gambit as primarily a “device” to funnel more campaign donations from Health Insurance Co.’s and Big Pharma and to reduce the GOP’s portion of the cash. Basic whoredom & protection racket shit.

In six short months Obama has revealed himself to be the opposite of change.
.

I think that the other thing that should concern Democratic leadership, at least among those who want to keep their jobs, is that one consequence of their actions is likely to be increased voter apathy. If neither party is going to help make our lives better, then why vote? That’s a question a lot of folks will be asking themselves. As Nate Silver showed last week, that apathy will work in the Republicans’ favor.

Imagine what O’s numbers would be if he would just do what 77% of the country wants and fight to create a public option.

Hmmm. The guys at the top lost their way and we have to show them that political power is not as worthy a goal as progress towards universal healthcare. Hmmmm. They want to punish the messengers in the progressive part of their party for nudging them softly back to their aspiration for a public plan. Hmmm. They resort to barking dogs strategies of intimidation. Hmmm. A lot of young people who were schooled in the George Bush school of politicization are in for a Democratic shock-a-roo. Hmmm. Will healthcare be their version of our Vietnam?Hmmm. Time to stand up and be counted. Time to fight back. Your future depends on it.

That’s the whole problem with the corporate New Dem/DLC/Blue Dog garbage. They sold their souls for corporate cash, then act all surprised when the corporations who bought them still donate to the GOP.

No kidding. Consider what the numbers would look like if the media wasn’t actively out to kill any real reform. The fact that so many Americans can see past the GOP/Media bull is heartening.

That very same thing, in reverse, bothered Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay. It’s an old game, and it’s not going to change. What I suspect most pols worry about is the difference between what the GOP gets and what the DP gets. With the kind of bucks the financials can throw around, that can make a big difference.

Hopefully, they can pull this thing around before we end up with Clinton II. It’s time for Obama to feed the base, which is the majority of the American people.

One minor disagreement: I’m not sure how much young people care about health care. The costs are cheaper for young single folks and they don’t think as much about health.

“He will lose young people and the left if he forces them pay tribute to Blue Cross with no cost controls and no competition”

The mention of the big blue monster caused me to go into a momentary panic as I realized that I had no idea where my Anthem PPO card is… haven’t seen it in weeks ;-P Ya know, there’s probably a song in there somewhere: Blue Cross, Blue Dog, Blue Fail , or something.

Obama may be able to take some comfort that he’s still polling in the high 70s in Kenya and China, according to random news articles I saw this week. ‘course, they’ll have their own problems and have never heard of BC/BS.

I think that the other thing that should concern Democratic leadership, at least among those who want to keep their jobs, is that one consequence of their actions is likely to be increased voter apathy.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. I know I’m not the only life-long Democrat who’s thinking, “for this I worked, canvassed, gave ’til it more than hurt, bugged my friends with calls & e-mails, made calls to strangers in other states urging them to vote for the “transformative” Obama — and THIS is what we got. No f’ing thanks!’

But the critical part of the equation is that the loss of support is coming from Democrats

I am SO glad to see you address this question, Jane. I have been screaming at the tv for weeks as the reports of “Obama’s drop in support on health care” dribbled in, with the inevitable “see, he should be going more towards the Republican side” by the commentators.

NO ONE has had the brains or balls to ask the very question you’ve pointed out: how much of Obama’s drop in support is from Democrats who are disappointed in his weakness and cowardice. I suggested as much about a month ago over at TPM and was roundly pummeled.

One minor disagreement: I’m not sure how much young people care about health care. The costs are cheaper for young single folks and they don’t think as much about health.

As the parent of two “young people,” one still in college and one a recent graduate — they care. And their parents care, and worry.

While in school [college] kids are covered by the health insurance they can buy through their school, but after that . . . particularly if they’re over 21 when they graduate.

If “young people” have parents with ANY degree of brains, they will care, particularly if a)they can’t get health care outside a job; and b) they can’t find a job.

Maybe rahm doesn’t care about serving obama and the party as much as serving himself and big business … and maybe israeli interests as well. That would seem to be a reasonable conclusion to come to … he has never wavered in his support of big business interests even after being head pimp for the clinton administration in their nafta campaign that likely cost democratic seats in subsequent elections.

The party nor obama made him $16.2M in 2 1/2 years once he left the clinton administration.

Z

i’m a moderate independent .yet i do back a lot of progressive causes .. and very frankly ..i’m madder than a wet cat about this …

imo .. an individual mandate without a public option is nothing more than giving the insurance a license-to-rape those of us with pre-exisitng conditions ..

i’ms so damn sure rahm nad the blue dogs are going to screw the pooch on this .. i started my paperwork to re-enter the VA system this afternoon …

I generally don’t like California’s proposition system, but it would save a lot of time and money if we could have a national health care proposition on the 2010 ballot.

I think Obama is wedged in now.

Because their message was so weak it allowed the GOP message to take root so fiercely. The birthers dominated the media because Steny Hoyer let the August recess work its magic. They can’t turn around now and fight for the public plan without drawing all that fire down on Obama. They’re stuck selling “Obama: you know him, you like him, just trust him” as his numbers are dropping and it’s time to close the sale.

Telling Rahm to blow up all these deals is like handing the Pope a stick of dynamite and telling him to blow up Vatican City. It’s not that he wouldn’t fuck everyone in a heartbeat, but at that point he draws all that stakeholder cash down on the heads of vulnerable Dems in the House, and probably blows up healthcare to boot. He destroys everything he worked for and politics as he understands it.

There are no good options for them now. They’ll keep trying to jam through Rahm’s piece of shit bill and it’s going to get ugly. Professional liberals will be sent out from the veal pen to tell everyone this is a great bill and if they don’t, they’ll be excommunicated (at best) or Sistah Soulja’d (or worse). They will have to sacrifice their credibility in order to satisfy Rahm’s demands (which I’m actually happy about — delegitimizing the corrupt legitimizers is important) or lose their funding. You know what eventually happens in the veal pen — it turns into a rendery.

They’ll do some feel-good blitz about all the people who will be helped by the goodybag, and then the brutal arm twisting will begin. We’re gonna see ugly like we haven’t seen in a long, long time.

I intentionally don’t meet with members. If I run into them fine, but I don’t go out of my way. I know where this is headed and I’d rather just keep it clean.

Agreed! We all know what he accomplished in the case of Chris Cegalis, a lady who built a grass roots organization and almost unseated Henry Hyde (R IL-06) in 2004 by her own devices. Rahm brought in Tammy Duckworth, the decorated amputee veteran, who won the Dem Primary but failed to win the General Election, resulting in Rep. Peter Roskam [R-IL6] – GovTrack.us.

Look Obama has an economics team that never saw an $8 trillion housing bubble. The capacity for these guys not to see the obvious is staggering. And it’s not just Rahm or even Obama. It is our political elites, and elites in general. It’s the Ambinder effect. They think they are right even when they are wrong. They think they know better than we do no matter how many times they fail.

Jane stop bringing up Rahm Emanuel. I am sure he likes nothing better than being singled out as the man there.

I’m not sure how much young people care about health care. The costs are cheaper for young single folks and they don’t think as much about health.

My 20 and 23 year old daughters understand. Since I retired in June, I can only afford catastrophic coverage for them. Any doctor visits will be out of their pockets. One daughter is shocked that she’ll be getting an eye exam, contacts and glasses as a birthday gift!

au contraire, the young folks these days have tattoos on their necks and their nether regions, and they are not buying the ‘Vote Democratic, just because’ line many previous generations internalized.

if there are no significant differences between how the two halves of the Corporate Party govern, then many youth who care about such things will seek alternative options, while many more will simply opt out of the whole charade.

Your candidate Obama burned down the “Hope and Change” phrase for them – they’ll remember that and scoff.

damn .. forgot my manners .. thank you jane .. keep slugging it out ..eh ??

and to the feckless dems i’d point out that extending the carrot of health insurance to 49 million people ..and then sucking it back could sure as hell cost ya a lot of votes … why go to the polls when even those running on “change” just warp the status quo in a red ribbon and call it “change” .. it’s not only keeping me sick folks .. it’s making me more sick by the minute ..

It was probably a few months ago but I wrote about how Obama’s lack of following through on a “change” agenda would cost him his credibility. Another thing I think these guys don’t understand (among so many others) is that once that is lost it never comes back. Americans go from giving him to the doubt to questioning everything he does. Their stupid persistence in seeking to force a conservative agenda on us and calling it “change” is destroying this Presidency.

Hugh,

I don’t buy for a second that they didn’t see this housing bubble coming. They and their pals have been getting personally rich from this and other wall street corruption (except maybe their tool geithner, but his payoff will come later) so that’s why they all act like they didn’t see it coming … like it was an asteroid that fell from the sky. Otherwise, they’d have to admit they looted the world’s economy for their own insanely greedy gain. Somehow this asteroid that no one saw coming led to all these particular “dumb” people getting filthy rich. I saw it coming and I’ve taken exactly one college course in economics and somehow these wall street mavens and their teams of brilliant mathematicians never had an inkling. NO F’ING WAY!!! They’re corrupt, not stupid.

They think that what is best for them is best for this country, They think they own this country. They think of us as their subjects.

Ideas for health care slogans:

Unselfish Seniors For Universal Health Care: We have it and we want our children and grandchildren to have it too

Universal Health Care: To Save Lives and Livelihoods

Z

They thought … and probably still think … that obama’s celebrity appeal will carry the day. Remember what they did during the aig bonus fiasco … which by the way they did not a g’damn thing about despite the pope of hope’s soundbites and photo-ops declaring otherwise … they sent him out on the late night show tour and many idiot americans, due to their childish celebrity worship, fell in love again. It worked then and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the American Idol president back on the late night show circuit doing his stand-up act once again … acting like he is standing up for the American people.

Z

Why anyone thinks Rahm is a worthy political mind is unclear to me.

Jane Hamsher, on the other hand, is brilliant. If any substantial healthcare reform comes out of this fiasco, it is because of your tireless efforts. Thank you.

Jane – your term “the veal pen” is I think what both my Czech and German sides of the family calls (in english) the “Finishing Pen.” Has a certain finality about it, no?

There’s a meet in Thornton tomorrow for both Perlmutter and Polis, and I’m really not excited about going to it to defend against the tea-hord. I can empathize with you not wanting to meet members.

First time post: how will the deficit numbers affect the public option part of the bill…and the bill’s passage itself?

My impression of those in their 20’s is that a large percentage of them thought Bush was a decent President and had the misfortune of 9-11 and some bad advice. So far as health care goes, they don’t think much about it. “Activist young”–the sort who engaged in the election of 2000–are not the majority in my view. The majority are presently just looking for a job and that occupies them more than anything. The older “young” (in their 30’s) probably pay more attention to what is going in in this debate, and they will probably be disillusioned if Obama fails to come off-center and use his political capital to achieve a solid win. But Obama is giving every indication that he will be content with half-a-loaf. That is not a solid win.

Washington Week has health care discussion based mostly on viewers’ questions…lively & interesting. Will continue online.

Thanks for going, Kelly. I’m hearing that Dems are outnumbering tea baggers across the country now (they probably got their media pop and are on to the next ratfuckery). So may not be so crazy and miserable. And if you get a chance to ask ‘em to sign on to the letter, take it!

hi and welcome – congratulations on your first comment and what an excellent question.

i don’t know the answer but i’m sure looking forward it.

It seems to be that the pressure is on to stop with the BS and focus on getting legislation which the polls are telling the pols to do.

But the pols are listening to pols and the K street and it’s hard to ignore the public here and not feel like they will get their ass booted regardless of the K street filled campaign chests.

I see that the message is getting through, I hope Obama is caught here and he has to stop the BS and actually do what he promised and actually fight for it. Maybe he’ll read the lake from the vineyard?

in my experience, many 20 somethings hated Bush with a passion, but didn’t/wouldn’t vote, because whats the point?

Bush lost a lot of the macho types towards the end, as well, many of the more thoughtful ones went and pulled the lever for Obama, but they may have kept that to themselves.

Colbert and Stewart are their Walter Cronkite, as well.

I totally agree — I wrote this when Rahm’s name was being mentioned for Chief of Staff:

[I]t’s not conservatism Rahm hates, he’s actually quite fond of that. It’s Republicans.

When Rahm works to get legislation passed, he beats up Democrats, he doesn’t reach across the aisle and try to negotiate with Republicans and make them happy.

Rahm doesn’t really operate from an ideological standpoint. He sees political parties more like sports teams.

What I didn’t see at the time was that he would use the taxpayer trough to buy off corporate interests that could fund a Republican resurgence, and that there was no electoral promise he wouldn’t sell out to do it.

Or that he’d use “bipartisanship” as the excuse to push through the corporate-friendly crap he auctions off.

I have that letter in my backpack, along with the cam. :)

I think I’ll threaten to kiss Jared on cam if he won’t take the pledge. Think that’ll work? :)

About 2 weeks after Rahm was appointed, I sent an e-mail to the WH saying that Rahm was bad news and would greatly harm the President because he just wanted to amass his own power.

Rahm is all hype and no substance. It wasn’t him who engineered the 2006 takeover of Congress, it was Howard Dean. Rahm tried to take credit for it, though. Rahm has a rep of a brilliant political mind, but as we have seen through this health care debacle, it’s an inflated reputation, much like many political minds. I never thought Rove or Carville were the geniuses they were made out to be either.

This “strategy” of the Obama/Rahm machine has really blown up in their faces. I think they just thought the left would accept any bill, even one without a public option.

Snowe admitted today that there’s no public option even in the Senate bill.

Like someone said above, this is going to get ugly, and Obama (and especially Rahm) are the ones to blame.

The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to roughly $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week. This will make any public option impossible to pass.

How long will it take for progressives get back on board with Obama, resurrect his poll numbers and resolve to tackle reform after the economy has a chance to recover?

Progressives nominated this charismatic political opportunist and now we are stuck.

Rahm has one option left that might be good for the country: resignation.
I don’t think he’ll take it, because it would mean admitting he screwed up big time, and I think his ego is big enough he can’t do that in public. (Maybe, possibly, in private.)
Obama has to push him, though, and that requires doing more than making another speech.

Blame us for everything, whether we had anything to do with it or not.
A heck of a lot of that deficit is the result of Reagan, Bush41, and Bush43, all of whom were spend-but-cut-taxes presidents.

Who was responsible for all the MIC spending,the wars, the Fin industry bailouts… right the progressive were!

Push him? FIRE HIM!!!!

Z

Pay no attention to the troll. Such a lie, progressives nominated Obama? My ass. This troll somehow expects someone to swallow that lie? How stupid!

Have read this site for a long time and one thing is so obviously missing. Since the republicans are dead and bought off and it seems the dems are no better,ISN’T IT TIME FOR A THIRD PARTY.Think about it.We don’t need huge numbers,just enough to take away a majority from both partys.In the senate that would be two seats. The time has never been better AND I’M SURE WE COULD BANKROLL TWO SEATS. Surely ther are some more Bernie Sanders out there. How about the Patroit Party.

Nice if you have ten or twenty years to get it organized and working in enough states with enough voters to get on ballots at more than the local level.
The Greens are having trouble doing it, and they’ve been around for a while. The Peace and Freedom party faded, too.

It’s a tough call. This country is run by big money, or has been during my lifetime, which is long. Obama knows this. So the problem of a reformer knowing that he is against the people who actually run the country (and may have knocked off JFK, who knows?) is going to try to thread the needle. The last Democrat with balls on this point was Lyndon Johnson,and he lost the left because of the war. The new data here is Jane’s ability to raise quick cash. I don’t think Rahm expected that. He will bend, if we stay strong. I think Obama wanted public care, but believed it couldn’t happen given the amount of money against it. So he weazeled, just as Clinton did. This is the country we live in.

yep, its the right thing to do.

but self-styled ‘pragmatists’ are allergic to the notion of doing anything just because it is the right thing to do.

thats when you hear their distinctive call “Yes, but…”

They know withdrawal of imperial forces from occupied lands is the right thing to do, but on a timetable, not too hasty. How about 2028?

they knew Impeachment was the right thing to do, but oh, it would be too ‘partisan’ keep your powder dry and elect a Democrat for President in 2008, and then the new Admin would hold Cheney/Bush accountable. Ha!

And this great piece relates hearing the call of the “Yes, buts” more than 20 years ago, in regards to Single Payer health care, of course.

The “political feasibility” argument is used exclusively by proponents of universal health insurance who profess to admire single-payer systems but who refuse to support single-payer legislation in any meaningful way (and often support legislation that impedes single-payer’s progress) on the ground that single-payer cannot be enacted, soon or at all. Merton Bernstein and Ted Marmor refer to these people as “political yes buts.”

seems the “Yes, but” response is more like some sullen, passive aggressive evasion than actual argumentation, and was rather absent from the vocabularies of great and successful movement leadeers like Martin Luther King, Jr.

You know – Rahm ain’t the President. Not saying he gets a free pass, but the buck stops elsewhere.

Jane,

You and Glenzilla have really opened my eyes to what has been happening. It makes perfect sense: the PO has a bargaining chip, funnel money away from Repubs, Obama’s lack of passion and leadership (everything has been settled- why bother trying to convince anybody).

But 2 questions 1) why haven’t the Repubs yet exploited this 2) why the August recess? If , as Glenzilla suggests, Baucus is really doing WH’s work, what caused the delay ? What elements does this Darth Vader WH not control?

Oh I think the Senate is every bit as pissy and uncontrollable as everyone says — and they would also certainly like some Republican cover so the Dems don’t own this in 2010.

It comes down to whether the pampered souls of the Senate will vote against a Democratic health care bill by joining with the Republicans to filibuster it. And I say they won’t, if it came to it — but it’ll only “come to it” if the House throws up a road block.

Otherwise they’ll just tsk-tsk and say “well, we don’t have the votes.”

I like this. This is more like what it is.

I remember, during last year’s prez campaign, voicing my concerns about OB on the YKBOO listserv. I remember the pro-OB rants from fellow progressives. My grown kids questioned my sanity. I remember telling them all that Obama’s treacherous reversal on FISA was an omen. I was roundly booed. Now look what is happening. Quel surprise, or should I say, no surprise. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

No wonder why I lean to voting for Nader in every election. At least I can look myself in the mirror after voting for Nader. And I would be thrilled if Obama had proven my cynicism and pessimism wrong. He didn’t.

Time to keep fighting.

The original Medicare bill was 68-21 in the Senate. Fifty-seven Democrats. This is when you actually had a Republican Party that was partly more liberal–or “progressive” by today’s terminology–than the Democrats. (The South was mostly made up of Democratic Senators.)

All the major social insurance bills of the 20th century had this kind of dynamic to them. And in the end, the liberals (of both parties) stuck together and passed them.

Why would the drama of this time be any different? (Just now, there aren’t any more Republican liberals?)

The thing I don’t get is, why did they trade the public option away so cheaply? Let the medical/pharma/HI money flow to the Repulblicans, it’s not going to be enough to bring the R brand back from the crapper for the midterms. And with the reconciliation plan, you could still get the health bills through and enacted even if you lose a couple Congresscritters because of the additional ads.

Agreed. The mere appearance of some resolve and aggressiveness would be sufficient.
Obama looks like a guy hiding under bodies in a foxhole.

I hope he’s using his vacation to gather his energy for a big push.

Of course, I would also like a pony delivered please.

From a different thread:

Is Tom Daschle worth listening to? On any topic?
Bloomberg…

The president and his advisers have started devising a strategy to pass a measure by relying only on the Democratic majority in each house of Congress, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In a separate interview, former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle said Obama is losing patience with negotiations between three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, the only congressional panel seeking a bipartisan consensus on a plan to remake the nation’s health- care system.

“He’s waited and waited,” Daschle said yesterday after meeting with the president. “He has indicated, much to the chagrin of people in his party, that virtually everything’s on the table. And he’s gotten almost nothing in return for it.”

Exactly, that was one of the tea leaves I’m reading there.

So he would appear to be deploying Dr./Gov. Dean and Daschle, or he’s making sure that there is such a swarm of views that whatever he picks can seem reasonable.
I wish that made the glass half full.

Team o’ Rivals at last? Anything that puts Rahmbo in a box — and I can’t help but think bringing Dr. Dean into the inner sanctum would do exactly that — can’t be bad, much. And I like Howard a lot, he’s a hell of a lot smarter than Rahmbo. Rahmbo’s more cunning than smart.

First, I want to join the Jane Cult – where do I sign up?

Second, Obama is Bill Clinton/DLC redux, just even slicker, if that’s possible.

Third, most of you won’t remember this, but the Huge Blue Crosses we have today are nothing like the non-profit co-ops they began as. They were basically actual non-profit fee-clearing agencies for doctors and hospitals, spreading risk among members and making sure that no healthcare providers – doctors or hospitals – were out of line. Today’s Blues are unrecognizable, with their for-profit subsidiaries (and tell me – HOW does a non-profit have a for-profit sub.?), their bloated-beyond-all-actuarial-need “reserves” (read: slush funds and shareholder capital for when they go Public), and their odious executive compensation packages. There was a time – not so long ago – when working for a Blue paid far less than working for the government.

All the Public Option has to do is emulate the Blues of old, and the Insurance Behemoths we have today will indeed go the way of the brontosaurs. And doctor and hospital fees will return to the original model of cost-plus-modest-profit-margin they once were, instead of the 50 and 60% mark-ups they now bill at (at a minimum).

If you want to be a millionaire, go work on Wall Street, not at St. Eleanor’s Hospital.

I just want to note that the Clinton redux comment is as to the types of policies being pursued.

A closer comparison regarding how this administration operates goes back to Reagan: A charismatic, yet ultimately soulless frontman, controlled by a behind the scenes group of power addicts who would gladly sell the country out to establish and maintain power. But even here, you have to remember that Ed Meese was not nearly as despicable, and far more competent, than Rahmie Boy. The naming of Rahm was the clear indicator that Obama was not his own man after all.

In the CLinton Administration, at least you had the certain knowledge that Bill was always the smartest man in the room. By hitching his team’s cart to Rahm’s resume of failure, you knew immediately that Obama is just not that smart… and would inevitably be taken advantage of. Here, PhRMA and the insurers have had their way with him. He has surrounded himself with second-tier advisors (see, e.g., Tiny Tim Geithner et al.), and he has gotten second-rate advice.

The only surprise is how quickly it has all gone to shit! Firing Rahm tomorrow may already be too late.

If the Dems and us let the coservatives run wild during this congressional recess without a counter offensive. They will feel embolden and provide Obama with a Waterloo.

The Dems can give the right heartburn in the elections for some time to come if they come together and pass a single payer or at the least a strong Public Option.

In the mean time, Republicans are showing us how they play at recess on the playground. They need more time outs by standing up against the penalty wall.

Third, most of you won’t remember this, but the Huge Blue Crosses we have today are nothing like the non-profit co-ops they began as. They were basically actual non-profit fee-clearing agencies for doctors and hospitals, spreading risk among members and making sure that no healthcare providers – doctors or hospitals – were out of line. Today’s Blues are unrecognizable . . .

I like this point. And it’s really the marketing that is the twist. They still use “Blue Cross” and “Blue Shield”. This makes many people think they are still nonprofit. But in reality, they’re not! They are, at best, for-profit entities held in a non-profit shell. Some are straight for-profit, right?

All these manipulable people out there see the Cross and the Shield, and they’re not even thinking that they pay a tack-on for something that looks in all senses like a profit. (Called “surplus”, but not really a nonprofit’s surplus anymore.)

This is how Sallie Mae got to grow into the monster it became in the student lending market. A lot of parents still tought it was the government. But it wasn’t.

Don’t ask me how folks began to think Medicare was NOT a single-payer government program, however. Probably the 1965 generation passed on and the current users were apathetic 20-somethings on the issue back then . . .

He has surrounded himself with second-tier advisors (see, e.g., Tiny Tim Geithner et al.), and he has gotten second-rate advice.

The only surprise is how quickly it has all gone to shit! Firing Rahm tomorrow may already be too late.

But in reality, what has been going on since November is they are lurching from one crisis to the next.

Even before then, they wanted to win the primary from Hillary and yet keep the party together. Then, they had to survive a general election with the Republicans–which isn’t easy because the Republicans through every cooking pot and utensil at you. Including the sharp ones.

They win, and then they have to deal with all the various messes left them by the second Bush Administration. An administration which was a clear failure by the way, even by the standards of second administrations.

- A financial crisis that only had its comparison to either 1974 or 1933.

- Two purposeless regional wars.

- A bad recession throwing a ton of people out of work in an environment where companies don’t see the obligation to keep everyone who can working (unlike the 1940’s or ’50’s).

The major mistake I see is that they thought the Republicans had class and would stop the negative campaign after the voters spoke. But that’s NOT how the Republican Party plays. It’s never how the Deep South, their modern base, played it either. Never.

Probably Obama trusted Rahm to be his bully so that the President himself didn’t always have to be in there with the gloves off. I am not so much convinced that Rahm doesn’t have a lot of talent–I think he does—but that he reverts back to the techniques that got him success a prior time. And implementing strategies that would “triangulate” the issues in the mid 1990’s worked big then.

Only now, triangulate is stupid. As I said on my blog, if Point C of the triangle keeps being moved, how do you keep the triangle together? There is only so much hypotenuse.

I agree Rahm is so overrated that he can’t even control the Blue Dogs that he got elected. I was a Hillary supporter and was beaten up by my daughter and her friends when I told them that Obama besides his great speeches, when push came to shove he would fold like a cheap beach chair. When is he and the other Dem’s going to learn that they are winners because of us and stop kissing Grassley ass.

Slightly OT – that research and polling effort that Kos set up has been a goldmine of information. The transparency of the polling process and all the supporting data have made it much easier to reliably gage (guage?) what the heck people are thinking. Still just a poll, but its one I see frequently referenced here and in many other progressive venues.

fyi – I bookmarked the posts you wrote when Rahm was nominated – knowing they would come in to play

you are on fire

Should we be surprised?

An recent Abc/Washington Post poll attributes Obama’s declining support from Democrats and liberals. I support this president, but I’ve grown weary of him, he’s consistent with inconsistencies and too often compromises principle for republican bipartisanship. And Rahm Emanuel, well, he’s been a disaster from the start; something about Rahm is not right.

“Unlike Glenzilla, I’m not worried about the Naderization of the left, nor am I worried that Obama will lose young people if he fails to appease the liberal base. He will lose young people and the left if he forces them pay tribute to Blue Cross with no cost controls and no competition. There is no constituency who supports that. I could run the campaign against that tomorrow. I very well may. But even if I don’t, the Republicans will.”

Thank you Jane! Thank You, Thank You, Thank YOu!!! I’ve been making this point over and over in multiple blogs. To pass a bill with no public option and no negotiation power with Phrma but loaded with taxes and mandates is a DISASTER! It perfectly plays into the stereotype of Democrats. Who is so stupid that they believe this is a good idea? And how the hell did they convince Obama of this? The Democrats will be run out of town on a rail if they pass such a travesty.

Those young people have parents and grandparents. Do you really thing they are oblivious to seeing their families threatened or facing destitution because of one accident or unexpected health issue?

Because we are clearly not talking to the same young people, if so.

If you have a working plan to build a new national third party-remember, have to get on the ballot state by state, (and they all have their own protectionist rules), I would truly love to hear it.

Because Dems in power keep thinking “where are you guys gonna go, to the Republicans”. They forget that apathy is a player as well. Just because people are disgusted with Republican lies doesn’t mean they’ll tolerate Democratic ones.

They’ll just stop playing. And then the entrenched corp interests will get to play D vs R against each other again.

All because the Ds didn’t have the guts to deliver on their promise of change.

I am new to this site and what has attratacted me most of all the admirable qualities of Jane Hamsher is her her attitude, which is how I feel as well. This is an attitude of contempt for those who would prey on you.

No one who would act against our public interest should be exempted from this contempt. While it is true that Obama and the present congress is what has to be dealt with, they do need to be dealt with. Action is called for not just grumping.

Donating money to our supporters is one aspect surely and one should should reward those officials who act on our behalf, although it is rather unseemly to go that route. But there are many other options for the public who is being taken for fools and dupes to react. There is something craven in not doing so.

Obama is unreliable and has made his proclivities for siding with big comapnies already clear, there is no need to doubt that these are his truly held preferences because he acts on those. What we need to do is to likewise act on our own behalf. It is action that is called for.

Whatever form this action takes it must show results. Incessant protesting to our reprentatatives to commit to the PO publicly and factually revealing in print whatever may be compromising their reluctance to do so should be pursued.

However one should seriously think about forming a concerted campaign based on the single issue of public finacing of health care at least to a significant extent. The goal should be to make our representatives, congressmen and senators alike, commit to that publicly. That is an attainable goal and it will make a difference. Their unwillingness to do so will mean that we will support a candidate who is willing to commit to that.

To pass a bill with no public option and no negotiation power with Phrma but loaded with taxes and mandates is a DISASTER! It perfectly plays into the stereotype of Democrats. Who is so stupid that they believe this is a good idea? And how the hell did they convince Obama of this? The Democrats will be run out of town on a rail if they pass such a travesty.

I’ve been warning about this “clear and present danger” for a long time now. Health insurance reform that includes mandates without a public option to effectively negotiate for lower prices is a multiple billion dollar government engineered theft from the middle class to the corporations involved in health care. This should now be clear to everyone and beyond dispute.

Rahm-Obama-Bing-Bang know this and want it to happen. They specifically have put off the date it will go into effect until after the 2012 national election because they know re-election will be impossible if the bill passes and goes into effect before then.

I do not believe it’s a coincidence that Obama’s actions since he took office are entirely consistent with the Chicago School’s neoconservative goal to remake the world into America’s corporate empire. Professor Leo Strauss, the neocon godfather taught Political Philosophy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Milton Friedman, virulent free market and pure capitalist enthusiast, taught in the Department of Economics. The University of Chicago is infected with their acolytes and Obama taught Constitutional Law at the law school. I doubt everyone who teaches at the University of Chicago endorses the evil theories of those two monsters, but what I’m seeing causes me to ask myself if Obama subscribes to their views.

I believe the University of Chicago connection merits serious study, given the circumstantial evidence of linkage, and I intend to do that. In the meantime, just for fun, I encourage each of you to assume for the sake of argument that he is a Machiavellian corporatist neocon free market enthusiast who plotted and planned all of his actions to get elected so that he could do exactly what he has done since he took office. Does such an explanation for his decisions since taking office make more or less sense to you than theories based on notions that he’s too idealistic and too committed to compromise and bipartisanship?

Also ask yourself why he is so nonjudgmental about the right wing and so judgmental about progressives? Is this not a quintessential neocon view?

I am not so much convinced that Rahm doesn’t have a lot of talent–I think he does—but that he reverts back to the techniques that got him success a prior time. And implementing strategies that would “triangulate” the issues in the mid 1990’s worked big then.

I’m curious – what would you consider Rahm’s past successes? Or “triangulation’s” for that matter? Clinton’s health-care plan? DADT? They balanced the budget, mostly on the backs of the Poor (and Marjorie Margolies Mezvinsky), which kept Wall Street fat and happy. The Clinton administration was HIGHLY overrated, and didn’t move this country forward. They mostly just avoided making major blunders through an overabundance of caution, and only look good by comparison with the complete incompetency and utter venality of the gang that rode in behind them. The incestuous relationship between the Clintons and the major investment banks (where Chelsea now brings down seven figures) is as sickening as the one between the Bush family and the hedge funds…

If participating in that non-victory is Rahmie-Boy’s clam to fame, I rest my case, both as to his incompetence and Obama’s poor selection.